The importance of protecting your IP address

There is a broad misconception that hiding an IP address is only done by criminals or those with a malicious intent. However, hiding your IP is not only legal, it is advisable. Hiding your IP can protect you from online monitoring which ultimately results in spamming; you can also be protected from spyware and even those annoying pop up advertisements.

Your IP is your unique address for your computer. The address normally consists of four numbers separated by periods. These numbers represent your computer, the domain, the sub network and the network. You may be unaware that there are many sites on the internet, simply monitoring your movements. This way, a profile about you and your habits is formulated which can then be used for marketing, leading to spam and junk email.

Here are some reasons for why you should be protecting your IP

• Masking your IP address protects you from spyware. Because many people download things online, some webmasters embed spyware into the downloads, causing your computer to install spyware as the download occurs.

• If you would like to avoid those annoying pop up advertisements on your screen, then hiding your IP is the best way to do this. There is nothing worse than time-consuming pop-ups when you are researching online.

• One of the most important reasons for hiding your IP is to protect you from financial fraud. Increasingly people are using online banking services for financial transactions and fraudsters are always on the look out for your personal information. Knowing your IP address is protected may add to your peace of mind.

To ensure your online safety, hiding your IP address is one of the best ways how and the most common way of doing this is with a proxy server. Proxies are computers that offer you invisibility by becoming the middleman between you and the internet. There are also proxy servers which use an add-on installed in your browser.

Netregistry is a domain name and web hosting company. Visit www.netregistry.com.au.

Netregistry is exhibiting at the Internet Show Melbourne. Visit us at booth 29 from 30 April – 1May 2012.