4 ways to keep your IP address private and secure
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Even if you don’t know what an IP address is, you’ve probably heard of the term. That’s because IP addresses are an important aspect of Internet architecture. Without an IP address, other computers will not be able to connect to your address, and vice versa. But this short string of numbers can also be used to track you, so for this reason, you may want to hide your IP address. In this article, we discuss what an IP address is, and what are some of the ways you can hide your IP address.
This article will explore the topic of IP addresses in detail, explaining what they are and why you might want to keep your privacy. At the end, we will cover some simple ways to hide your IP address.
What is an IP address?
An IP address, which stands for Internet Protocol address, is a unique numeric set that identifies routers, computers, or other devices to allow them to communicate over the Internet. In the same way that your email address allows others to email you, the remote computer needs your IP address to communicate with your computer. IP addresses usually look like this: 185.159.159.140
An IP address is a string of four groups of numbers. Each of these blocks is a value between 0 and 255, which means that each block has 256 possible values. This digital IP system allows for nearly four billion unique IP addresses.
It is relatively easy to find someone’s IP address. Website analytics can track website visitors, and sometimes wikis and comment boards identify contributors with their IP address. Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) also knows your IP address.
Because your IP address can be used to identify you, regulators and privacy advocates consider it a form of personal data. Under the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, organizations are required not to misuse the IP addresses of EU citizens and residents.
However, this does not mean that your IP address is safe from hackers, unethical companies, and oppressive government agencies.
How can your IP address be misused
Like any piece of personal information, there are ways that others can try to exploit it. Some types of abuse can be relatively harmless, such as the unauthorized use of your IP address to track you online and target you for advertising. Other abuse can be very devastating. These are some of the main threats:
- Ad networks Companies like Google and Facebook constantly monitor your online browsing in order to serve you personalized ads. Many people find these ads intrusive and do not want companies to keep a record of their activity.
- censorship The Internet is meant to be a place for the free and open exchange of ideas. Unfortunately, many governments and companies prefer not to do so. Repressive governments often block websites you don’t like, and companies often block IP addresses based on their geographic location.
- Illegal download Cybercriminals can download pirated actions, music, videos – even child pornography – using your IP address to protect their true identity from law enforcement. In many countries, downloading pirated content is a criminal offense.
- Targeted attacks – Hackers who want to harass and intimidate you can use your IP address in many ways. One common form is a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack, in which a criminal bombards your device with data and disrupts your access to the Internet. Your IP address can reveal your actual location with amazing accuracy.
- monitoring When your ISP can see your IP address, they can associate your online activity with you personally. This information can be used to censor or throttle content, and through a subpoena, the government can also gain access to your browsing history.
How to keep your IP address private
Fortunately, it is very easy to prevent your IP address from being exposed to the network. Here are four steps to hide your IP address:
1. Use a VPN
The VPN creates an encrypted tunnel between your device and the VPN server. When you surf the internet with a VPN, all your traffic passes through this encrypted tunnel before reaching the public internet. This way, your real IP address and location are hidden, and the IP address associated with your browsing activity is the address of the VPN server. For more information about VPNs, check out our articles on how a VPN works and why you should use it.
ProtonVPN also has an advanced security feature called Secure Core, which defends against complex network-based attacks that can compromise VPN servers and expose your IP address.
2. Follow basic precautions
In our article “Why online privacy matters and how you can protect your data,” we discussed. We have provided some safe options for browsers, email services, and instant messaging apps that are supposed to help you take control of your privacy.
3. Use Tor
Tor is a free software program developed by The Tor Project, which allows users to mask their Internet traffic. This makes it a useful tool for those interested in monitoring and for those who want to access onion websites. ProtonVPN supports access to the Tor network, making it easy to route your entire Internet connection through the Tor network with a single click. ProtonVPN Tor nodes connect to the Tor network by creating a new path each time a user creates a new VPN session. This way, none of the Tor nodes along the way receive information about the original client, and user details remain hidden even if a malicious Tor node is present.
4. Keep your antivirus up to date, and change the default password on your router
These are easy ways to protect your devices from malware attacks that can expose your data, including your IP address.
There’s no good reason not to keep your IP address hidden: the risks of exposing your IP address far outweigh how easy it is to protect it. Just as you may not want your phone number or home address published online, it may also be wise to keep your IP address private.
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ProtonVPN Team
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