What exactly can others do with your IP address?

Question

I've been told or led to believe that if someone gets your IP they can "use" it...."follow" your activity, find you etc. Also, if you use forums/message boards - like this I suppose - people can identify you. Anyone?

So how do "they" get it if it wasn't directly from your computer? Can someone install a program or "trace" and just sit and watch whatever you do?

So they get in and track your IP trail whenever/wherever? Do you have to do something "stupid" to let them "in your house"?

Answer 1

Every computer connected to the Internet has a unique identifier called an IP address.

Every thing you do on the Internet is tied to your IP address. It is simply the address of your computer while you are on the Internet. Your computer sends the IP out every time you go to a web site.

Your Internet Service Provider "loans" you an IP for a given period of time called a "lease. Then it either renews or is changed. Dial-in gives you a new IP every time you log on.
Cable DSL leases you one. (For Windows XP go to Network connections in the control panel- right click on the local area connection and click on status, then click on the support tab and click on the details button. Your lease information is displayed.)

The site you go to knows your IP and returns the information you want, back to your computer using the IP address. Normally it is a web page, but sometimes a ftp file, pdf file or the like. This is transparent to you but it is necessary in routing information on the Internet.

For example go to http://www.whatismy.com/ and your IP will be displayed.

Don't worry about it. Only your ISP can Identify you from an IP address. The closest anyone else can get is the Internet Service Provider that owns the IP address. Your ISP's policy will normally be NOT to give out who is using what IP without a court order. You can detemine their policy if you read the fine print in the service agreement you signed, when you signed up for service with them.

Answer 2

They can much more than that; they could simply hack into your PC and miss up your files!
Consider the IP as a house and the house has rooms with doors; imagine the doors to be the ports you have associated with IP.
Hackers would ping your IP, scanning all ports you have, so it's like knocking the doors inside your house and waiting for some one to say "yes?" that's when they find some open ports, which is a way to enter inside your PC!!
So they have your IP and they know now your open ports; all what's remaining is to try pass some trojans through those ports and attempt to execute them inside your PC and finally take over or spy on you.
It's a serious issue if the attacker is skilled and the target victim is unaware of the general safe usage guidelines of using an operating system.

Answer 3

They can see where & what you have done, get any personnal information that might be there like D.O.B, SS #, mailing address as well as email address. If you've ever seen that movie called "The Net" where this woman's identity is stolen, it can really happen by any personal information you send on the internet. Nothing is a secret, if a person knows how to do this, they can and you may be (the 'f' word).

Answer 4

An ip cope with is how the information superhighway works. it rather is a numerical region code which makes it obtainable for info to be "routed" (directed) the international over between networks. it rather is likened to a postal handle. inspite of the undeniable fact that, many IP addresses are recycled, so faster or later X might use that quantity, a distinctive day Y might. inspite of the undeniable fact that, X and Y might desire to be making use of an identical community provider to ensure that that to ensue. A community provider (ISP) has a 'pool' of numbers they're in a position to apply - they often have greater consumers than numbers. it rather is like asserting "submit field 456, New Jersey". interior the destiny that PO field in line with possibility used Joe Bloggs, the subsequent Jane Doe, yet each and every persons might desire to flow to or be in New Jersey to choose the mail up! optimal the police/government can music you down by making use of ability of IP cope with to a small passable actual section to do any merely suitable - the different party could be abusing the counsel protection rules in the event that they tried to take action. The technicalities of the information superhighway additionally ability that, for representation, the seven-hundred+ machines i glance after on the back of my firewall all share the equivalent 500 IP addresses, and how the map onto the seven-hundred differences minute by making use of ability of minute - it rather is nicely-referred to as community take care of Translation (NAT). A catch 22 situation no longer too some time past confronted by making use of the music industry watchdogs attempting to provide up unlawful downloaders is that an IP cope with (as seems on the information superhighway - the take care of the region your broadband link enters your place) might have been utilized by making use of a skill-via prompt attacker to download some thing illegally - the companies might ought to hold close your computers and in looking the real report until now than they might prosecute - IP evidence by making use of myself should not be sufficient. If this is happening on a bulletin board, then you ought to rfile it to the moderator. quickly: An IP handle does now no longer continually uniquely set up one pc. It greater often than no longer uniquely identifies an information superhighway provider provider, who often operates interior a super geographical section. making use of an IP cope with it rather is especially possible to tell the rustic, even the state or county, inspite of the undeniable fact that no longer in maximum circumstances city or highway the region that IP handle is in use.

Answer 5

They can scan your tcp and udp ports and possibly hack your computer. They can also snoop your network activity and log your onlie activity. If they can extract a mac address, from your network traffic, they may be able to track you down through you ISP.

Answer 6

FBI uses them to track your movements on internet other people can use them for all kinds of evil

Answer 7

the only thing i can think of is that who ever has your ip can track you down that's it

Answer 8

all 'they' can find is your provider. keep out of porn sites