What is IP spoofing and why you should care?

Last updated on May 26th, 2018 in VPN

You probably have heard about dangers you may encounter on the Internet. Viruses, identity theft, hacking, leaks, etc. Some of such attacks are made with the method called IP spoofing. Today we will try to explain what it is. Of course, we will also advise you, what to do to protect yourself against IP spoofing. So here we go – what it is, how it works, and how to protect yourself?!

What is IP spoofing?

The data you send or receive via Internet network is sent in chunks called packets. This is why even if you stream a movie or download something from a torrent network other users can still use your broadband. Your data packets shuffle, sort of like a zipper and its teeth. To make sure each packet goes where it is supposed to contain a header, sort of like an address label. IP spoofing happens when someone ( a software or a person ) changes information in a header.

It might be used to hide the original source of the incoming data but if we are talking about your online security most likely hackers will use this method to present packets of data from them as the one form legitimate source – for example, bank.

IP spoofing is like a Pandora box

If you combine it with other tools and methods of hacking and stealing data it gives almost an endless number of possibilities to use it. You can use it to attach servers, networks or individual users. To give you few examples.

With changed IP of a packet, a hacker can send almost anything to your device and your IP address disguised as some “legal” data from a secure source. Virus, malicious code that will steal your data… all doable.

While travelling, in an unsecured WiFi network, a hacker can pretend to be you and see the websites or services you are accessing. So he will see all the data you send and receive without you knowing about it. This is called “Man in the middle” attack.

How to protect against IP Spoofing?

There are many ways, but for most for most of you, two will be easy to use and sufficient enough. First, use good antivirus software. If you are using Windows 10, you already have a powerful solution built in a system. Secondly, use VPN! Encrypted traffic and encrypted data packets make it extremely difficult to change packet header and use IP spoofing.

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