Tips To Help Mask Your Identity Online

Cybersecurity professionals and law enforcement officials kindly refer to these criminals as bad actors. They employ components of contemporary cyber communications to monitor your online activities. These components are concealed, but they are simple to find once you know where to look. To keep prospective evildoers off your trail, you can leave some misleading clues behind or spread fake information to conceal your activity. If you are not pursuing any unlawful activities, hiding your online activity is not against the law.

Your Internet Protocol (IP) address from your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and the Media Access Control (MAC) address that identifies each piece of computing hardware you use make you easily identifiable when you use a computer, smartphone, or tablet to access the internet. We’ll go over these once more shortly.When using a mobile device with cellular connectivity, the same is true because it pings neighboring cell towers to establish connections wherever you are. Therefore, using your mobile device to access the internet or send and receive email provides an additional access point to your IP address.

However, the IP address of your mobile device is different, offering those who are persistent enough two ways to find and monitor you. When you go online, keep in mind that your ISPs (both fixed and mobile) have direct access to your location. They can also keep an eye on your online behavior and, in certain circumstances, be required by law enforcement to reveal that information. Even the websites you visit can identify you and your activities there. Those that spy on you can also do so.Continue reading to find out how to stop people from tracking you online. Apply these techniques to stop hackers from accessing your financial accounts, installing malware on your devices, serving you ransomware, or stealing your entire online identity.

Network Basics

The internet is made up of various channels that are interconnected. A device linked to this collection of networks is identified by a specific set of numbers called an Internet Protocol (IP) address. An exclusive IP address is given to you when you sign up for a service provider; this IP address can change as your device connects and disconnects.

Every two digits of a 12-digit hexadecimal Media Access Control (MAC) address are separated by a colon or hyphen. Each computer, tablet, and phone is given a unique MAC address by hardware makers, which end users cannot alter.Your IP address can be used to pinpoint both the location of your connection’s origin and the email sender. Companies, not countries, are given IP addresses. It is difficult to pinpoint a location simply by looking at a string of numbers.

However, obtaining information from your IP address is significantly simpler when using an IP lookup tool.Routers often employ dynamic IP addresses, which are neither fixed or permanent, unlike IP addresses. Therefore, it is simple to prevent criminals from tracing its whereabouts. The router acquires a brand-new IP address on the ISP’s network each time you turn it on and off.

Safer, but Not Fully Hidden

To prevent attempts by others to hack or steal your identity, keep in mind that you should conceal your physical location. Nothing on this site will keep you hidden from your ISP or the police, which is not our intention.

The administrators of the network have access to your address because you registered for service with them, and they can always monitor your online behavior. To identify you and your location, law enforcement authorities might partner with ISPs to identify questionable online activity.Consider the fact that some applications check your IP address to determine the location of your device in order to offer customised content. One way that people and businesses become victims is when hackers construct websites or apps with links that capture IP addresses. Evildoers can assault a company server, get onto your computer, or stalk someone by using their knowledge of your IP address.

How To Cover Your Digital Tracks

It will be much more challenging for someone with malicious intentions to target your location if you know how to avoid exposing your IP address at home or when you’re on the go. Use these techniques to shield yourself from any potential issues that could arise from someone finding out your IP address.

Premium Virtual Private Network Services

A VPN routes all of your internet traffic through its own servers, which are linked to its own network infrastructure. You can browse the web anonymously thanks to this masking of your IP address.

If someone is trying to find you, they can only find out what VPN you use, not where you are connecting to that VPN. This includes law enforcement actions taken without the involvement of the court or assistance from the VPN provider. Free services may not always encrypt your data and frequently sell it to recoup costs.

Web Proxy Services

Web proxies route your connections through their own servers, much like VPNs do. By using filtering, your IP address is hidden. Proxy servers have some disadvantages, unless you pay for a good one. For instance, masking an IP address completely differs from simply hiding it. You can block ISPs and tech-savvy hackers from seeing your IP address by configuring proxy connections in your web browser’s settings, but this does not work.

Investigate Kproxy, Whoer.Net, HMA, Zyte, GeoSurf, Anonymouse, and Proxysite as examples of web proxy services.

Verify Public Wi-Fi Safety

As a favor to their customers, many respectable businesses, such as hotels, restaurants, airports, etc., offer Wi-Fi to visitors. However, most public Wi-Fi hotspots are not encrypted, making them less secure to use. They also present security problems because it is simple for malicious individuals to set up fake connections to entice consumers.

Any public Wi-Fi you use should be verified to be sponsored by an authorized company. If so, you can most likely connect to it anonymously without disclosing your IP address. Even better, when using public WiFi, utilize a VPN.

Use Specialty Browsers

A free built-in VPN is offered by some web browsers via their own servers. One of such is opera. The TOR browser is arguably the most popular option for concealing your online activity. The Onion Router, as its name suggests. To mask your IP address, you can utilize TOR, which is free to download and use. It links you to the TOR network and routes your data through independent relay servers run by volunteers all over the world.

Email Alternative: Go Anonymous

Most individuals are unaware that sending an email is the same as publishing your home address online. It is a blinking beacon that informs people where your base is. Use an anonymous email service to further conceal this homing signal. By concealing the email header that is attached to the top of your email, it presents deceptive cues.

More than simply your IP address is blocked. Email headers, which provide all the useful email metadata, include the IP addresses of all the computers that have transmitted your message between the sender and the recipient. These specifics are used by hackers to identify the email’s origin.

Think about these two possibilities to get them off your trail:

• Use an email service that specializes in providing anonymous email, such ProtonMail, StartMail, Tutanota, Cyber Atlantis, Guerilla Mail, or another. By hiding your IP address, these services greatly increase the difficulty of discovering your actual location.
• Use a fake email address. The majority function in the same way and are referred to as burner, throwaway, transient, and disposable email accounts. The service creates a random email account and routes replies from its servers to the true email address you specify, which neither the sender nor the recipient is aware of.

With this method, you can register for different internet programs without disclosing your actual contact information. 10.5 MinuteMail, Temp-Mail, Minute Inbox, and EmailOnDeck are a few well-known names in the fake email industry. They all provide you a brand-new email address that is special.

Stay Cyber Safe

The information superhighway presents on-ramps for cyberattacks and traffic diverts to hazardous locations more than before. These strategies to disguise your online activities and safeguard your digital security will help you fend off thieves.