An IP address won’t hand over your passwords, but it can give attackers somewhere to aim
In November 2021, Twitch streamer xQc lost his internet connection shortly after playing "Crab Game." The game's developer then warned streamers to avoid public lobbies after discovering that the game could expose players' IP addresses to distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. Although xQc couldn't confirm an attack caused that specific outage, the developer soon switched to newer Steam networking to hide IP addresses.
IP addresses basically help route data to and from websites and games. Now, most home routers let multiple devices share one public IPv4 address, while IPv6 can give each device its own public-facing address. But before you pull out the tinfoil hat, understand that neither type of IP address gives someone access to your passwords or personal data. However, both can give a hacker a target to aim at, and that's enough to raise an eyebrow.
An IP lookup is a quick way to reveal your internet service provider and approximate city or region. Back in 2016, a Kansas family sued MaxMind after its database mapped approximately 650 million unrelated IP addresses to their farm, prompting repeated law enforcement visits over incidents involving people elsewhere.
A typical DDoS attack floods a target with traffic from multiple sources. It's the same kind of attack Bluesky blamed for its server outages , and on a smaller scale, it could interrupt gaming sessions, video calls, or even an entire household internet connection. A firewall may offer little help once the internet connection is overwhelmed.
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