How Safe is it to Conceal Your IP Number?

Many of you want to do things that are not detected by other online users. Changing email addresses, employing different aliases and surfing without letting others know of your presence all may lead you to believe that your privacy is intact but unfortunately this is not the case. The net just makes you believe that complete privacy is possible but your computer at any given time can reveal your personal information without your knowledge.

Internet is the network of computers worldwide where all the computers are known by their IP addresses which consists of a sequence of numbers. IP which means Internet Protocol is actually a number which is assigned to identify a specific computer in the vast network of computers. In the past each system was given a specific number which was constant but nowadays the Internet Service Provider gives you a dynamic IP address which is susceptible to change whenever you sign in. This can be a shared number in your Local Area Network (LAN). If you do a search online with the given number, you can get the name of the server and the area where it is located.

Apart from the public IP address your system is also assigned with a separate private IP address. This address is given by the internet service provider to find out those who are using the net at any particular time. Thus your public IP can be seen by all and both the private one and the public address are known to your server. The usage data for many months and even years can be maintained by your internet service provider and a particular subscriber who uses the net can be identified by the network administrator. This is also possible with schools and offices using computer networks.

So is it possible to conceal your IP address so you can escape from tracing? Yes it is possible to some extent using proxy servers. A proxy server acts as a liaison between you and the sites you are dealing with. It helps to relay messages acting as a messenger and a simple one will reveal your public IP number. But you can set up an anonymous proxy which hides the original IP and enables you to download, surf at your will and chat in privacy.

Using an anonymous proxy does not guarantee a hundred percent privacy and such a thing is entirely impossible unless you refrain from using the net! The maximum thing that an anonymous proxy can do is protect you from the usual hacker but these proxies keep data like the internet service provider and under pressure from forces of law your privacy is sure to be trespassed.

Software like BlowCrypt or PGP affords some amount of security but the best thing in the circumstances would be to refrain from all illegal actions online whether you have a proxy or not. If you have nothing to hide then you need not fret about how to conceal your IP number.