How to Trace Any IP Address

In my earlier post I had discussed about how to capture the IP address of a remote computer. Once you obtain this IP address it is necessary to trace it back to it’s source. So in this post I will show you how to trace any IP address back to it’s source. In fact tracing an IP address is very simple and easy than we think. There exists many websites through which you can trace any IP address back to it’s source. One of my favorite site is ip2location.com.
Just go to http://www.ip2location.com/demo.aspx and enter the IP address that you want to trace in the dialog box and click on “Find Location”‘. With just a click of a button you can find the following information for any given IP address.
1. Country in which the IP is located
2. Region
3. City
4. Latitude/Longitude
5. Zip Code
6. Time Zone
7. Name of the ISP
8. Internet Speed
9. Weather Station
10. Area Code and
11. Domain name associated with the IP address.
A sample snapshot of the results from ip2location.com is given below

You can also visually trace route any IP address back to it’s location. For this just visit http://www.yougetsignal.com/tools/visual-tracert/ and enter the IP you want to trace in the dialog box and hit the “Proxy Trace” button. Wait for few seconds and the visual trace route tool displays the path Internet packets traverse to reach a specified destination. Hope this helps. Please pass you comments.

How to Trace Any IP Address

In my earlier post I had discussed about how to capture the IP address of a remote computer. Once you obtain this IP address it is necessary to trace it back to it’s source. So in this post I will show you how to trace any IP address back to it’s source. In fact tracing an IP address is very simple and easy than we think. There exists many websites through which you can trace any IP address back to it’s source. One of my favorite site is ip2location.com.
Just go to http://www.ip2location.com/demo.aspx and enter the IP address that you want to trace in the dialog box and click on “Find Location”‘. With just a click of a button you can find the following information for any given IP address.
1. Country in which the IP is located
2. Region
3. City
4. Latitude/Longitude
5. Zip Code
6. Time Zone
7. Name of the ISP
8. Internet Speed
9. Weather Station
10. Area Code and
11. Domain name associated with the IP address.
A sample snapshot of the results from ip2location.com is given below

You can also visually trace route any IP address back to it’s location. For this just visit http://www.yougetsignal.com/tools/visual-tracert/ and enter the IP you want to trace in the dialog box and hit the “Proxy Trace” button. Wait for few seconds and the visual trace route tool displays the path Internet packets traverse to reach a specified destination. Hope this helps. Please pass you comments.

How to Trace Any IP Address

In my earlier post I had discussed about how to capture the IP address of a remote computer. Once you obtain this IP address it is necessary to trace it back to it’s source. So in this post I will show you how to trace any IP address back to it’s source. In fact tracing an IP address is very simple and easy than we think. There exists many websites through which you can trace any IP address back to it’s source. One of my favorite site is ip2location.com.
Just go to http://www.ip2location.com/demo.aspx and enter the IP address that you want to trace in the dialog box and click on “Find Location”‘. With just a click of a button you can find the following information for any given IP address.
1. Country in which the IP is located
2. Region
3. City
4. Latitude/Longitude
5. Zip Code
6. Time Zone
7. Name of the ISP
8. Internet Speed
9. Weather Station
10. Area Code and
11. Domain name associated with the IP address.
A sample snapshot of the results from ip2location.com is given below

You can also visually trace route any IP address back to it’s location. For this just visit http://www.yougetsignal.com/tools/visual-tracert/ and enter the IP you want to trace in the dialog box and hit the “Proxy Trace” button. Wait for few seconds and the visual trace route tool displays the path Internet packets traverse to reach a specified destination. Hope this helps. Please pass you comments.

What are Private and Public IP Addresses

Internet Protocol (IP) addresses are usually of two types: Public and Private. If you have ever wondered to know what is the difference between a public and a private IP address, then you are at the right place. In this post I will try to explain the difference between a public and a private IP addres in layman’s terms so that it becomes simple and easy to understand.

What are Public IP Addresses?

A public IP address is assigned to every computer that connects to the Internet where each IP is unique. Hence there cannot exist two computers with the same public IP address all over the Internet. This addressing scheme makes it possible for the computers to “find each other” online and exchange information. User has no control over the IP address (public) that is assigned to the computer. The public IP address is assigned to the computer by the Internet Service Provider as soon as the computer is connected to the Internet gateway.
A public IP address can be either static or dynamic. A static public IP address does not change and is used primarily for hosting webpages or services on the Internet. On the other hand a dynamic public IP address is chosen from a pool of available addresses and changes each time one connects to the Internet. Most Internet users will only have a dynamic IP assigned to their computer which goes off when the computer is disconnected from the Internet. Thus when it is re-connected it gets a new IP.
You can check your public IP address by visiting www.whatismyip.com

What are Private IP Addresses?

An IP address is considered private if the IP number falls within one of the IP address ranges reserved for private networks such as a Local Area Network (LAN). The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) has reserved the following three blocks of the IP address space for private networks (local networks):

10.0.0.0 – 10.255.255.255 (Total Addresses: 16,777,216)
172.16.0.0 – 172.31.255.255 (Total Addresses: 1,048,576)
192.168.0.0 – 192.168.255.255 (Total Addresses: 65,536)

Private IP addresses are used for numbering the computers in a private network including home, school and business LANs in airports and hotels which makes it possible for the computers in the network to communicate with each other. Say for example, if a network X consists of 10 computers each of them can be given an IP starting from 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.10. Unlike the public IP, the administrator of the private network is free to assign an IP address of his own choice (provided the IP number falls in the private IP address range as mentioned above).
Devices with private IP addresses cannot connect directly to the Internet. Likewise, computers outside the local network cannot connect directly to a device with a private IP. It is possible to interconnect two private networks with the help of a router or a similar device that supports Network Address Translation.
If the private network is connected to the Internet (through an Internet connection via ISP) then each computer will have a private IP as well as a public IP. Private IP is used for communication within the network where as the public IP is used for communication over the Internet. Most Internet users with a DSL/ADSL connection will have both a private as well as a public IP.
You can know your private IP by typing ipconfig command in the command prompt. The number that you see against “IPV4 Address:” is your private IP which in most cases will be 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.1.2. Unlike the public IP, private IP addresses are always static in nature.
Unlike what most people assume, a private IP is neither the one which is impossible to trace (just like the private telephone number) nor the one reserved for stealth Internet usage. In reality there is no public IP address that is impossible to trace since the protocol itself is designed for transperancy.

What are Private and Public IP Addresses

Internet Protocol (IP) addresses are usually of two types: Public and Private. If you have ever wondered to know what is the difference between a public and a private IP address, then you are at the right place. In this post I will try to explain the difference between a public and a private IP addres in layman’s terms so that it becomes simple and easy to understand.

What are Public IP Addresses?

A public IP address is assigned to every computer that connects to the Internet where each IP is unique. Hence there cannot exist two computers with the same public IP address all over the Internet. This addressing scheme makes it possible for the computers to “find each other” online and exchange information. User has no control over the IP address (public) that is assigned to the computer. The public IP address is assigned to the computer by the Internet Service Provider as soon as the computer is connected to the Internet gateway.
A public IP address can be either static or dynamic. A static public IP address does not change and is used primarily for hosting webpages or services on the Internet. On the other hand a dynamic public IP address is chosen from a pool of available addresses and changes each time one connects to the Internet. Most Internet users will only have a dynamic IP assigned to their computer which goes off when the computer is disconnected from the Internet. Thus when it is re-connected it gets a new IP.
You can check your public IP address by visiting www.whatismyip.com

What are Private IP Addresses?

An IP address is considered private if the IP number falls within one of the IP address ranges reserved for private networks such as a Local Area Network (LAN). The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) has reserved the following three blocks of the IP address space for private networks (local networks):

10.0.0.0 – 10.255.255.255 (Total Addresses: 16,777,216)
172.16.0.0 – 172.31.255.255 (Total Addresses: 1,048,576)
192.168.0.0 – 192.168.255.255 (Total Addresses: 65,536)

Private IP addresses are used for numbering the computers in a private network including home, school and business LANs in airports and hotels which makes it possible for the computers in the network to communicate with each other. Say for example, if a network X consists of 10 computers each of them can be given an IP starting from 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.10. Unlike the public IP, the administrator of the private network is free to assign an IP address of his own choice (provided the IP number falls in the private IP address range as mentioned above).
Devices with private IP addresses cannot connect directly to the Internet. Likewise, computers outside the local network cannot connect directly to a device with a private IP. It is possible to interconnect two private networks with the help of a router or a similar device that supports Network Address Translation.
If the private network is connected to the Internet (through an Internet connection via ISP) then each computer will have a private IP as well as a public IP. Private IP is used for communication within the network where as the public IP is used for communication over the Internet. Most Internet users with a DSL/ADSL connection will have both a private as well as a public IP.
You can know your private IP by typing ipconfig command in the command prompt. The number that you see against “IPV4 Address:” is your private IP which in most cases will be 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.1.2. Unlike the public IP, private IP addresses are always static in nature.
Unlike what most people assume, a private IP is neither the one which is impossible to trace (just like the private telephone number) nor the one reserved for stealth Internet usage. In reality there is no public IP address that is impossible to trace since the protocol itself is designed for transperancy.

What are Private and Public IP Addresses

Internet Protocol (IP) addresses are usually of two types: Public and Private. If you have ever wondered to know what is the difference between a public and a private IP address, then you are at the right place. In this post I will try to explain the difference between a public and a private IP addres in layman’s terms so that it becomes simple and easy to understand.

What are Public IP Addresses?

A public IP address is assigned to every computer that connects to the Internet where each IP is unique. Hence there cannot exist two computers with the same public IP address all over the Internet. This addressing scheme makes it possible for the computers to “find each other” online and exchange information. User has no control over the IP address (public) that is assigned to the computer. The public IP address is assigned to the computer by the Internet Service Provider as soon as the computer is connected to the Internet gateway.
A public IP address can be either static or dynamic. A static public IP address does not change and is used primarily for hosting webpages or services on the Internet. On the other hand a dynamic public IP address is chosen from a pool of available addresses and changes each time one connects to the Internet. Most Internet users will only have a dynamic IP assigned to their computer which goes off when the computer is disconnected from the Internet. Thus when it is re-connected it gets a new IP.
You can check your public IP address by visiting www.whatismyip.com

What are Private IP Addresses?

An IP address is considered private if the IP number falls within one of the IP address ranges reserved for private networks such as a Local Area Network (LAN). The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) has reserved the following three blocks of the IP address space for private networks (local networks):

10.0.0.0 – 10.255.255.255 (Total Addresses: 16,777,216)
172.16.0.0 – 172.31.255.255 (Total Addresses: 1,048,576)
192.168.0.0 – 192.168.255.255 (Total Addresses: 65,536)

Private IP addresses are used for numbering the computers in a private network including home, school and business LANs in airports and hotels which makes it possible for the computers in the network to communicate with each other. Say for example, if a network X consists of 10 computers each of them can be given an IP starting from 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.10. Unlike the public IP, the administrator of the private network is free to assign an IP address of his own choice (provided the IP number falls in the private IP address range as mentioned above).
Devices with private IP addresses cannot connect directly to the Internet. Likewise, computers outside the local network cannot connect directly to a device with a private IP. It is possible to interconnect two private networks with the help of a router or a similar device that supports Network Address Translation.
If the private network is connected to the Internet (through an Internet connection via ISP) then each computer will have a private IP as well as a public IP. Private IP is used for communication within the network where as the public IP is used for communication over the Internet. Most Internet users with a DSL/ADSL connection will have both a private as well as a public IP.
You can know your private IP by typing ipconfig command in the command prompt. The number that you see against “IPV4 Address:” is your private IP which in most cases will be 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.1.2. Unlike the public IP, private IP addresses are always static in nature.
Unlike what most people assume, a private IP is neither the one which is impossible to trace (just like the private telephone number) nor the one reserved for stealth Internet usage. In reality there is no public IP address that is impossible to trace since the protocol itself is designed for transperancy.

How to Detect Anonymous IP Addresses

As the fraudsters are now becoming more sophisticated in bypassing the Geo-location controls by using proxies (Anonymous IPs) to spoof their IP address, it has become very much necessary to come up with a means for detecting the proxies so that the authenticity of the users can be verified. Using a proxy (web proxy) is the simplest and easiest way to conceal the IP address of an Internet user and maintain the online privacy. However proxies are more widely used by online fraudsters to engage in cyber crimes since it is the easiest way to hide their actual Geo-location such as city/country through a spoofed IP address. Following are some of the examples where fraudsters use the proxies to hide their actual IP.

 

1. Credit Card Frauds
For example, say a Nigerian fraudster tries to purchase goods online with a stolen credit card for which the billing address is associated with New York. Most credit card merchants use Geo-location to block orders from countries like Nigeria and other high risk countries. So in order to bypass this restriction the credit card fraudster uses a proxy to spoof his IP address so that it appears to have come from New York. The IP address location appears to be legitimate since it is in the same city as the billing address. A proxy check would be needed to flag this order.

 

2. Bypass Website Country Restrictions
Some website services are restricted to users form only a selected list of countries. For example, a paid survey may be restricted only to countries like United States and Canada. So a user from say China may use a proxy so as to make his IP appear to have come from U.S. so that he can earn from participating in the paid survey.

 

Proxy Detection Services

 

So in order to stop such online frauds, Proxy Detection has become a critical component. Today most companies, credit card merchants and websites that deal with e-commerce transactions make use of Proxy Detection Services like MaxMind and FraudLabs to detect the usage of proxy or spoofed IP from users participating online.
Proxy Detection web services allow instant detection of anonymous IP addresses. Even though the use of proxy address by users is not a direct indication of fraudulent behaviour, it can often indicate the intention of the user to hide his or her real IP. In fact, some of the most used ISPs like AOL and MSN are forms of proxies and are used by both good and bad consumers.

 

How Proxy Detection Works?
Proxy detection services often rely on IP addresses to determine whether or not the IP is a proxy. Merchants can obtain the IP address of the users from the HTTP header on the order that comes into their website. This IP address is sent to the proxy detecting service in real time to confirm it’s authenticity.
The proxy detection services on the other hand compare this IP against a known list of flagged IPs that belong to proxy services. If the IP is not on the list then it is authenticated and the confirmation is sent back to the merchant. Otherwise it is reported to be a suspected proxy. These proxy detection services work continuously to grab a list or range of IPs that are commonly used for proxy services. With this it is possible to tell whether or not a given IP address is a proxy or spoofed IP.

 

How to Tell Whether a given IP is Real or a Proxy?
There are a few free sites that help you determine whether or not a given IP is a proxy. You can use free services like WhatisMyIPAddress to detect proxy IPs. Just enter the suspected IP in the field and click on “Lookup IP Address” button to check the IP address. If it is a suspected proxy then you will see the results something as follows.

So for all those who think that they can escape by using a spoofed IP, this post is the answer. I hope this information helps. Pass your comments.