Learn about IP addresses in one minute. The Internet is not a lawless place. Please be careful in what you say and do.

You must have seen descriptions of IP addresses on TV or in movies, such as a hacker obtaining the IP address of the victim and then attacking him, or the police arresting a suspect based on the suspect's IP address, and so on.

So what exactly is an IP address? Why is it so important? Why is it so powerful?

IP is the abbreviation of Internet Protocol, which is a protocol for computer networks, and IP address is a rule or a set of definitions in this protocol.

It is similar to the encoding method of a house number in our real life. For example, your home is No. XX, XX Street, XXX Guangzhou Avenue, and the house opposite is No. XX, XXX Street.

The IP address is an address encoded on a computer network. We surf the Internet on computers and mobile phones because we have an IP address. If we don’t have an IP address, we cannot surf the Internet, just like we cannot receive a package without a home address.

The courier must know your home address in order to deliver the package to you. The same is true when we browse the web and play games. We must have an IP address so that the data can be transmitted to your local browser and game client.

The routers and switches in the middle act as couriers, transferring binary data to your computer.

Like your home address, the IP address is unique globally. It is impossible for two identical home addresses to exist, and it is also impossible for two identical IP addresses to exist.

Some people may say that my IP address is 192.168.1.3, and others’ are also 192.168.1.3. Please remember that IP addresses are divided into public addresses and private addresses, and public addresses are unique in the world.

The private address is unique within your local area network. Most of the time, our computers are between inside and outside. For example, your computer in the company is in the company's local area network. The internal network address may be 192.68.1.X, and when you go online, you use the same public network address of the company. This uses a technology called NAT technology to convert the internal network IP to the external network IP. I will not describe it in detail here. Students who are interested, please follow me! Subsequent articles will explain it.

So what are our private addresses?

Private addresses are divided into 3 categories:

• Class A address: 10.0.0.0------10.255.255.255
• Class B address: 172.16.0.0----172.31.255.255
• Class C address: 192.168.0.0---192.168.255.255

That is to say, these addresses can be reused in different LANs. For example, your IP address in Company A is 172.16.1.5, and your IP address in Company B may also be 172.16.1.5.

Why can you be found through your IP address?

No one is safe on the Internet. I believe everyone has heard the saying "The Internet is not a lawless place". There are many netizens who post and spread rumors online. In fact, it is easy for the police to find you. Why?

Because every rumor you post has an IP address, such as an Internet cafe, home, company, or even abroad. No matter where you are, the police can easily locate you.

Think about it, do you have an Internet account when you go online? Is the Internet account registered with your real name? When the telecommunications or mobile Unicom operators assign you an Internet account, they have already assigned you an IP address. At this time, your account and this IP address are already bound. No matter what tools you use to go online, you will use this IP address to communicate with the outside world.

Some people may say, I am using a mobile phone and don’t have an Internet account, so you are naive.

Isn't your SIM card real-name?

Similarly, mobile phone cards and phone cards are bound to IP addresses when you access the Internet. Internet cafes also require you to swipe your ID card to open a card for Internet access. The IP address is also bound to your Internet account. Although the Internet cafe may have an intranet address, it is mapped to the public address of the Internet cafe, and each piece of data can be located to a certain computer.

Nowadays, many public WIFIs, such as those in shopping malls, require you to enter your phone number for verification before you can access the Internet. Why? It is to identify you. Do you think that if you connect to public WIFI, you will be fine and no one can find you?

As long as you can access the Internet, you will have an IP address. Do you want to know how hackers hide themselves? Please follow me and follow up articles will be released.

When someone knows your IP address, it is just like someone knowing your home address, and they can find your hometown.

So I would like to remind all netizens not to post illegal things on the Internet, because the police are watching you every minute.

In addition, on April 15, many platforms including Douyin, Toutiao, Kuaishou, Zhihu, Baijiahao, etc. announced that they will launch a function to display the user's IP location. Although the specific IP address is not displayed, this location is enough to expose most people.

This means that in the future everyone will be able to see the approximate location of your address, and can even be specific to which city or district. At that time, the entire network will be watching you.

This article is reprinted from the WeChat public account "IT Archives", which can be followed through the following QR code. To reprint this article, please contact the IT Archives public account.