Have you stopped to think about the state of the Internet and the role it plays in our daily lives? We are more connected today than ever before. The Internet has unquestionably brought a lot of benefits to our lives.
However, it has also created a lot of risks. As more data is stored over the Internet, we are more vulnerable than ever. In the first six months of 2019, over 4.1 billion records were exposed in data breaches. You must appreciate the risks of possible data breaches and take appropriate measures to prevent them.
One of the ways that you can mitigate the risks of data breaches is by using IP address risk scoring. In order to appreciate the benefits of this new data protection system, you need to understand the background of Internet technology and the evolution of IP addresses.
The History of IP Addresses and the Evolution of IP Risk Scoring in Data Security
The world has changed. Just 20 years ago, you had to use dial up and wait until nobody was using a phone so you could connect to the Internet, and now that is done automatically. We are always connected and not only with our communication devices like mobile phones or personal computers. There are so many different smart devices available all over the world meant to entertain us and make our lives easier. They are everywhere, from a refrigerator that can keep its own shopping list or a vacuum cleaner that can map your home to optimize its cleaning process to watches that can monitor your health or sleep patterns.
But as we all know, there is yet to be a development that is not accompanied by some downsides. When it comes to the development of technology and growing online presence, the biggest downside is cybercrime and fraudulent activities. Fraudsters have also found a way to use these developments to their benefit, which allows them to orchestrate more heinous cyberattacks to steal data. Fraud has turned from a rare occurrence we rarely read about to a widespread threat that can affect anyone at any time. It has become a $300 billion industry as cybercriminals find more shocking ways to steal data and disrupt their targets with ransomware and other terrible software applications.
Luckily, cybersecurity experts have been working hard to develop new security strategies to fight against fraudsters. Implementing a proper cybersecurity strategy can make all the difference when it comes to protecting your business and its customers. For example, according to the article about IP score by SEON, there are ways to identify high-risk users and prevent fraud before it even happens.
This can make all the difference between your business falling victim to cybercrime or staying safe. You can do a lot to help protect your data privacy, even as more people start to believe that is a luxury these days.
What is an IP analysis, and how can it help protect your business?
All of the devices that are able to connect to the Internet have an IP address or Internet Protocol address. It is what allows one internet-connected device to communicate with another device over the Internet and share data. Without it, you wouldn’t be able to be a part of the digital world and do all the actions dear to us, such as online shopping, gaming, or even accessing streaming services. Just like your personal home address, an IP address allows other parties to reach you and send you data. Think about it, without an IP address, how is a website to know where to send you data you need? But IP addresses have even more benefits. It has been used in different business operations such as marketing or even copyright protection. But the most important thing is that they can help protect you and your business from fraudulent actions, which is why IP address analysis has been one of the most common cybersecurity methods throughout history. It can be used to gain more information about your users and to discover their intentions towards your business.
What can IP analysis be used for:
Geolocation: Legitimate IP address can indicate where the user is located. It won’t stop the fraudulent attempt, but it can help you identify it and give you an opportunity to take necessary action to stop it. For example, if the IP address doesn’t match the physical address or if the user is trying to access your website from a completely different country they were in during their recent visits. Streaming services are using this aspect of IP analysis to block certain content due to licensing or copyright.
Internet Service Provider: You can use this aspect of IP analysis to determine if the connection is coming from a web server, residential home, library, or data center.
Spam checklist scan: During this process, all the IP addresses accessing your network are checked with the spam checklist scan to confirm they have never been used for email spamming.
Using an IP analysis can identify any red flags and use this knowledge to determine the IP address risk score. This can help you to determine what is the intention of your users and which ones can present danger to your business and allow you to react on time. This is the first step of any cybersecurity strategy as it gives you a headstart in the fight against cybercrime. But if you want to develop an effective cybersecurity strategy, it can’t be used by itself. By combining it with other fraud prevention methods like data enrichment, device fingerprinting, or email and social media lookup tools, you can ensure your business is protected.
IP Analysis is Crucial for Data Protection
Businesses must take significant measures to protect against data breaches in 2022. Fortunately, IP analysis has proven to be a very useful approach to modern data security. The tips listed above can be very useful.