I.P Address.

If a person knows what your I.P Address is....

[ineedhelpplease]

....what sort of damage could they do?

I have had my I.P address posted on a site where I'd rather it wasn't.

I'm worried sick now, and I'm not sure what to do. I can't mention it to my Hubby, even though he would know the answer to my question.

Please forgive my ignorance. I know as long as there are no alerts floating around, the computer is protected. That's as far as my knowledge of internet security goes.

Many many thanks if you can help me.

[Rugles]

Nothing to worry about, unless there is a crime involved. All they will find out is your ISP and the approximate location. Go to google and type in "what is my IP address", go to the site and it will show the information the other person can see about you. Its not much info they get. Obviously your ISP knows you exactly location and they dont give that information to anyone but the police ... if you live in a western country.

If you are using a cable modem, unplug it for a day and you may acquire a new IP address.

[ineedhelpplease]

Cheers for your reply. I over-react badly sometimes.

[Reflections]

Go to whois.ws. Put your site and it will show you the IP address.

[weeks]

I can't mention it to my Hubby

Sure you can. You can tell him anything. He loves you.
But, anyway, the point R is trying to make is that everyone knows your number. But, it's just a number--it's not linked to your name, just your computer.

With wireless, it's possible that someone else can ride along on a number if it is not protected. In my neighborhood, there are several open signals.

[Reflections]

By knowing your IP address no one can harm you. Because this is the IP address of your PC, not the address of your website.

[wheel]

Your ip address can give a general idea of where you live since it will be tied to your ISP. And a reverse lookup may give out further information. Some ISP's may lock your username to your IP address if you have a static IP. So it's possible that someone could figure out who you are specifically using that information, assuming that's the way your ISP set up your account.

In addition, given your IP address someone could do some sort of attack on your machine specifically.

However, what is much more likely is that your IP address isn't static. It probably changes routinely, and likely every time you reset your modem. So the easiest fix is probably to just turn your modem on and off. That'll give you a new IP address. (that's not perfect, but it's close as you can get I think).

Once you've cycled your modem, Google 'what is my IP address' to check your IP address - see if it has changed.

[Reflections]

Yes, Your IsP IP is Dynamic and always changes.

[topr8]

>>Yes, Your IsP IP is Dynamic and always changes.

not always true! some isp's give out fixed ip addresses and some people request them (and get them) for various reasons.

for instance last time i checked my isp gave out static ip addresses for an extra $2 a month.

[Reflections]

Really ..

[raedthakur]

yup.... they give out fixed ips on request

[Reflections]

By knowing simple IP address no one can harm you.

[rich_b]

With respect, the original poster should treat your advice with the appropriate level of caution reserved for someone who didn't know that some ISPs issue their customers with static IP addresses.

[Reflections]

Static IP address can be obtained searching through "whois.ws".
Without knowing your password no one can harm you.