Internet tips to protect your online identity

Digital crooks – whom cybersecurity experts and law enforcement officials politely refer to as bad actors – use elements of modern cyber communications to track your online activities. These items hide in plain sight, but they’re easy to reveal once you know where to find them.

You can throw out false clues to hide your activities or at least leave some false leads behind to ward off potential wrongdoers from your trail. It is not illegal to hide your online activity if you do not engage in criminal prosecution.

When you use your computer, mobile phone, or tablet to access the Internet, you are easily visible through your Internet Protocol (IP) address assigned by your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and Media Access Control (MAC) address. that identifies each item. computer equipment you use. We’ll cover them again in a minute.

The same is true when using a mobile device with cellular connectivity, as it pings nearby cell towers to provide connections wherever you are. So, surfing the web or using email on your cell phone or tablet provides another channel to access your IP address. But your mobile device’s IP address is different, giving those determined enough two ways to find and track you.

Keep in mind that your ISPs (landline and mobile) have direct access to your location when you connect. They may also monitor your digital activities and be ordered by law enforcement to release such information under certain conditions. Even the websites you visit can say it’s you and what you’re doing while you’re there. Just like the others who spy on you.

Read on to find out how you can deter others from following you digitally. Then apply these policies to prevent malicious actors from using your IP address to load malware onto your devices, serve you ransomware, hack into your financial accounts, or steal your entire online identity. Read on to find out how you can deter others from following you digitally.

Network Basics

The Internet is made up of separate channels that are interconnected. An Internet Protocol (IP) address is a unique set of numbers that identifies a device connected to this series of networks. When you subscribe to a service provider, you are assigned a unique IP address, which may change as your device connects and disconnects.

A Media Access Control (MAC) address is a 12-digit hexadecimal number displayed with a colon or hyphen separating every two digits. Hardware manufacturers assign MAC addresses to every computer, tablet, and phone that end users cannot change.

Once your IP address has been determined, it indicates the origin of your connection and the source from which your e-mails are sent. IP addresses are assigned to companies rather than countries. Just seeing a string of numbers makes it difficult to locate a place. But an IP lookup tool makes it easy to extract information from the IP address to locate you.

Unlike IP addresses, routers generally use dynamic IP addresses, which means that they are not fixed or permanent. So it’s easy to interfere with bad actors tracing his location. Every time you turn it off and on again, the router grabs a brand new IP address from the ISP’s network.

Safer, but not entirely hidden

Remember that you want to hide your physical location to thwart the efforts of others to hack or steal your identity. Our goal is not to conceal illegal activity, and nothing offered here will hide you from your ISP or the police.

Network managers can still track your online activity and they have your address from when you signed up for the service. Law enforcement agencies can work with ISPs to detect suspicious online activity and find out who and where you are.

Also consider that some apps query your IP address for your device’s location in order to serve personalized content. Hackers can create websites or apps that contain links that harvest IP addresses, which is one of the ways individuals and businesses become victims. Knowing your IP address allows criminals to hack into your computer, attack a corporate server or stalk a person.

How to Cover Your Digital Leads

Knowing how to avoid exposing your IP address at home or on the go will make it much harder for anyone with bad intentions to target your location. Protect yourself from potential problems from anyone who knows your IP address by using these strategies.

Premium Virtual Private Network Services

A VPN channels your internet connections through its own servers connected to its own network lanes. This hides your IP address so you can surf the web anonymously.

Someone trying to track you can only go so far as to see the VPN you are using, not where you are connecting to that VPN from. This includes law enforcement without court intervention or the willingness of the VPN company to help. Be aware that not all VPNs are created equal. Free services often sell your data to cover costs, and they may not encrypt your data.

Web proxy services

Like VPNs, web proxies transport your connections through their own servers. This filtering conceals your IP address. Proxy servers – unless you pay for a good one – have a few drawbacks. For example, hiding an IP address is not the same as hiding it entirely. You set up proxy connections in your web browser settings, but that doesn’t prevent ISPs and savvy hackers from seeing your IP address.

Some web proxy services to investigate include Kproxy, Whoer.Net, HMA, Zyte, GeoSurf, Anonymouse, and Proxysite.

Check Public Wi-Fi Security

Many legitimate businesses, airports, hotels, restaurants, etc. offer guests Wi-Fi as a courtesy.

However, public Wi-Fi hotspots are usually not encrypted and therefore less secure to use. They also pose security risks because it is easy for malicious actors to set up spoof connections to lure users.

Be sure to verify that a legitimate organization is actually sponsoring any public Wi-Fi network you access. Then you can probably connect to it safely without exposing your IP address.

Better yet, use a VPN to access public Wi-Fi.

Use specialized browsers

Some web browsers provide a free built-in VPN through their own servers. Opera is one of them. The TOR browser is perhaps the most notorious browser for hiding your online activity. Its name stands for The Onion Router. TOR can be downloaded and used for free to hide your IP address. It connects you to the TOR network and sends your data through random relay servers hosted by volunteers around the world.

Email Alternative: Become Anonymous

Most people don’t realize that the email they send is the equivalent of posting their home address online. This is a flashing beacon alerting others to your base location.

To further hide this rallying signal, use an anonymous messaging service. It sets up fake clues by obscuring the email header affixed at the top of your email.

It blocks more than your IP address. Email headers contain the IP addresses of all the computer systems that relayed your message between sender and recipient, providing all the handy email metadata. Hackers use these details to trace the source of the email.

To throw them off your track, consider these two options:

• Send your email through a dedicated anonymous email provider such as ProtonMail, StartMail, Tutanota, Cyber ​​Atlantis, Guerilla Mail or others. These services conceal your IP address and make it much more difficult to access your true location.
• Use a fake email account. Known as burn, disposable, temporary, and disposable email addresses, most work the same way. The service generates a random email address and returns replies from its servers to your real designated email address, which the sender or responder does not know.

This approach allows you to sign up or sign up for various website programs without disclosing your real details. Some well-known fake email providers are 10MinuteMail, Temp-Mail, Minute Inbox, and EmailOnDeck. They all provide you with a new unique email address.

Stay cyber secure

More than ever, the information superhighway is laying down ramps for digital attacks and detours of traffic to dangerous places. You can fight off cybercriminals with these tactics to hide your online movements and protect your digital security.