Why Are IP Address Trackers Important For Cybersecurity And Threat Intel?

Cybersecurity, just as the name applies, is the security of the cyber world’s computer systems, computer networks, data networks, and more. This also includes the protection of all devices that connect to a network, such as cell phones, edge devices, routers, and switches. All data and devices in cyberspace have to be kept safe from all types of attacks, unauthorized users, and intruders. Governments and organizations spend millions of dollars on cybersecurity each year. Unfortunately, no computer network or device is completely secure and safe from such vulnerabilities. This is where the importance of an IP address tracker comes in.

This blog has identified some of the most important ways of making your system safe from cyberattacks. A simple IP tracker, such as the one from ipstack, can help you assess the threat posed by a user, detect fraud patterns, determine the type of attack, and more. Continue reading to discover what threat intel is, different ways of gathering threat intel, and combating malicious attacks using geolocation IP locators.

What Is Threat Intelligence?

Threat intelligence refers to the entire process of gathering and collecting information about various sources that pose a potential threat to a computer system or network. Threat intelligence also refers to a strategy for identifying and locating various sources of cyberattacks. By collecting this intel, governments and various institutions can keep themselves safe from malicious and dangerous software attacks on their system.

What Is A Geolocation IP Address Tracker?

Every device, server, and even a website on a computer network is assigned a unique IP address. When a user communicates with another user, server, or website, this IP address identifies the device on the network in the communication protocol. This way a device becomes accessible on a network and can receive all types of data and services.

A geolocation IP address tracker refers to locating and identifying a user based on the user’s device IP address. This means a geolocation IP address tracker extracts the user’s geographical location, city, region, time zone, and more.

How Can A Geolocation IP Address Tracker API Help Me Fight Against Cyberattacks?

The use of geolocation IP address tracker APIs is now becoming popular to fight this war against cyberattacks. A geolocation IP address tracker API determines the exact geographic location of your users. When a user connects to your app or website, the IP address tracker API pinpoints the physical location and other geo-parameters of this user. With this information, you can check if the connected address is blacklisted because of a history of fraud or other suspicious activities. Hence, you can block such users from connecting to your service.

With IP address location API, you can also keep track of your users and use analytics to detect patterns of safe vs. fraud behavior. Hence, if a user has made previous attempts to hack or harm your system, you can immediately block them.

What Is ipstack IP Address Tracker?

The ipstack APIs locate and identify website visitors by using their IP addresses. You can easily request the information regarding a user’s geolocation by using the following REST API:

As a response you get the following JSON:

You can see that the response object has detailed information about a user’s geolocation. It has the exact geographic coordinates in terms of longitude and latitude, country, city, and region information. Besides this information, there are other detailed objects with time zone, currency, connection, and security. Click this link to see the full documentation of ipstack API.

What Is The Security Object In ipstack API’s Response Object?

An example of the security  object in the JSON response of ipstack’s API is shown below:

The security object is the key to helping you detect potential threats or cyberattacks to your system.

Why Is ipstack’s IP Address Tracker API Useful For CyberSecurity and Threat Intel?

When we look at the security field in the JSON response object, we see various keys related to identifying the security threat posed by a user. Here are a few points to note about the security module of ipstack API.

• The is_proxy key has the value true if the user’s IP is associated with a proxy.
• In case the user is connecting from a proxy, the proxy_type identifies whether the user is connecting from a CGI proxy, web proxy, or VPN proxy.
• The is_crawler value helps you identify whether the given IP belongs to a crawler.
• The crawler_name value holds the name of the crawler if the IP belongs to a crawler.
• If the IP address of a user is associated with an anonymous Tor system, then is_tor contains the value true; otherwise, false.
• The threat_level key has three possible values, which are low, medium, and high.
• The threat_type key has seven possible values that indicate the type of threat. These can be Tor, fake crawler, web scraper, or attack source identified as HTTP, mail, or SSH.

Using the comprehensive information in the security object, you can immediately identify a low, medium or high risk to your system. Once identified as a medium or high risk, you can add this IP address to your list of potentially dangerous addresses and block it in the future. You can also circulate this list to others for building threat intel.

The threat_level and threat_type fields in the JSON response are also easy to access and interpret. You can immediately know if the user is trying to make an HTTP, mail, or SSH attack on your system. Tor, fake crawlers, web scrapers, and more can be easily identified.

How Do I Start Using ipstack APIs?

Getting started with ipstack’s APIs is easy! All you have to do is sign up for a free trial. No credit cards are required. If you are happy with the service, you can subscribe to a paid plan and get more out of your subscription.

Make your system safe against cybercrime and malicious attacks. Head out and get your free API key for ipstack and make the most of your users’ geolocation data!