IP Address query

[PudseyBearHST]

If someone has had their IP address leaked and a scammer is allegedly threatening to use this to ruin their life, is there much a scammer can actually do with just an IP address? Thanks in advance all

 

[mikeg]

Probably not too much unless it's traceable to them or they have evidence of nefarious activity coming from said IP. Anyone connecting directly to them can see it anyway if they know how. Also the majority of people in the UK have dynamic IP addresses so it's just a case of switching the router off and back on again and bingo Presto new IP address

Given that I've run servers before ive often publicised my IP address

 

[PudseyBearHST]

Probably not too much unless it's traceable to them or they have evidence of nefarious activity coming from said IP. Anyone connecting directly to them can see it anyway if they know how. Also the majority of people in the UK have dynamic IP addresses so it's just a case of switching the router off and back on again and bingo Presto new IP address

Given that I've run servers before ive often publicised my IP address

Thank you for the quick response, Mike!

 

[najaB]

If someone has had their IP address leaked and a scammer is allegedly threatening to use this to ruin their life, is there much a scammer can actually do with just an IP address? Thanks in advance all

Nope. An IP address is just a 32-bit number at the end of the day. The worst that a scammer can do is tie the IP address to the access logs of a niche-interest website or two in an attempt to blackmail.

 

[PudseyBearHST]

Thanks

 

[najaB]

As a further point, this is why VPNs are probably oversold. Most people probably have no need for one.

The whole "hackers will steal your credit card info" is oversold, since if they can crack TLS (used by secure websites), they can likely also crack the encryption used by the VPN. In addition, you're only moving the problem one step - the hacker doesn't have access to any of your browsing information or data, but the VPN provider could/does. NordVPN was famously hit by a data breach a couple of years back, though they say that they don't believe any customer data was stolen. Interestingly, they themselves said that encrypted traffic would have been safe.

The valid use cases are really people who have a genuine need for anonymity, people who have a need to bypass geo-IP restrictions (eg. out of country streaming media, etc.), rather than someone who just browses the web and does online shopping, and so on.

 

[PudseyBearHST]

As a further point, this is why VPNs are probably oversold. Most people probably have no need for one.

The whole "hackers will steal your credit card info" is oversold, since if they can crack TLS (used by secure websites), they can likely also crack the encryption used by the VPN. In addition, you're only moving the problem one step - the hacker doesn't have access to any of your browsing information or data, but the VPN provider could/does. NordVPN was famously hit by a data breach a couple of years back, though they say that they don't believe any customer data was stolen. Interestingly, they themselves said that encrypted traffic would have been safe.

The valid use cases are really people who have a genuine need for anonymity, people who have a need to bypass geo-IP restrictions (eg. out of country streaming media, etc.), rather than someone who just browses the web and does online shopping, and so on.

Interesting, thanks!