Thread: IP address is really vulnerable to hackers.

I am not much of a computer geek. Recently, I read an article on the internet stating that our IP address is available to everyone over the internet. It also said that it's really dangerous because my IP address is really vulnerable to hackers. They also recommended an application which hides my IP address, and I downloaded it. Now I am a bit paranoid about this application. Should I go and install the software? And even if I install it, will it really hide my IP address? Will it slow down my Internet speed or do some kind of damage to my system? I have done everything I knew to satisfy myself that the software is not laden with viruses and even scanned the link with Dr Web Antivirus link checker and found it to be clean. Please help me with my issue. Yours truly,

Hello your IP address is available for everyone on the Internet, but it purely depends on your Internet service provider. If your Internet service provider is providing you with a live internet IP address, this IP can be visible all over the internet and a hacker can get through your PC using this IP address. But if your ISP is providing you with an IP address from their server, then you are not using a live iP address. To know this, you can check the status of your network card, which connects the Internet to your Pc. If the IP address is in the series of lO.xx.xx.XX or 192.xx.xx.xx, then you are relatively safer as your IP address is not visible to everyone across the globe, but only to those who are using the same Internet service. You can also cross check your LAN card's IP address with the one that is showing up on the Internet by logging on to the website .Here, the IP address shown on the website is the one of your service provider and the one which is set for your LAN card should be different. So you are relatively safer. You can use third party applications and proxy servers to hide your original IP address from others in order to be safer on the Internet.You can use plug-ins for Firefox or the application 'CyberGhost VPN 2011' to hide your IP address, but in both ways, your Internet connection speed will be slower than usual as you are now tunneling your Internet usage using some other server's Internet connection. In order to be safe on the Internet, have maximum internet speed and restrict hackers from entering your PC, you should use a good Internet security suite and maintain the updates. Norton Internet Security, McAfee and Quick Heal are some of the internet suites that you can opt for to keep your PC secure.