What they can know or do with the IP
When surfing the net we always leave traces. Every time you do a search on Google, visit a web page, log in to Facebook… You leave a series of data about everything you do. That does not mean that it is something negative, but if you are looking for maximum privacy you should know that you are exposing information. And this obviously includes the IP address.
Location
The first and most common thing they can find out with the IP address is the geographic location. They can easily know the country we are in, but even the approximate location of the street or area of the city where you are. This information will be used for the web pages you visit.
Think, for example, when you put in Google “restaurants nearby” or “what the weather is going to do”. You will get results related to the location where you are. This is so thanks to the IP they obtain and they can send you information that is really of interest in your location.
internet operator
They might as well know what is the internet operator that you are using to surf the net. It is a data that is obtained through the public IP when browsing the network and is easily traceable. Someone who finds out your IP address will be able to quickly know which operator it belongs to.
This information could be used for certain attacks, as we will see below. That could endanger not only your privacy, but also the security of the devices.
Block access to a service
Another thing you can do with the IP address is block access to an online service. For example a game, a web page or any platform. They can block access to that particular IP address so you can’t get in, one more problem if someone finds out this information.
This can even be something automatic and linked to what we saw earlier. Think, for example, when you are in a country where they do not allow you to use a social network or watch Netflix content. The service will block access due to the IP and location it detects.
attacks
A very important problem in case a cybercriminal managed to find out the IP address is the attacks. You can become a victim of various types and your personal data and the security of your devices could be compromised. It is a major problem to be avoided.
Most commonly, they carry out phishing attacks. For this they need to find out data about the victim and through the IP we have explained that they can find out the Internet operator or the geographical location. They could use that information to impersonate the Internet company that asks us for certain data, for example.
They can also use the IP to carry out DDoS attacks. They could cause the connection to malfunction through multiple unwanted requests. One way to harm a person and that a cybercriminal could take advantage of is knowing the IP and having the necessary knowledge and tools.
Impersonate your identity
On the other hand, yet another risk of someone finding out the IP is that it could impersonate your identity online. It could route the connection through your IP address and thus act as if it were really you. Think of any illegal acts they can perform on the Internet on your behalf.
Without a doubt, this is an obvious problem that could affect your security. You could have legal problems if they carry out criminal actions in your name, supplanting your identity.
So is there any way to hide the IP address? The truth is yes. For example, you can use a good VPN that encrypts the connection and hides this information. This will prevent them from carrying out attacks or obtaining information as we have explained in this article by knowing your IP.