How to Trace an IP Address to Catch a Hacker

Hacking.

No word strikes fear in the hearts of executives all over the world quite the same way as that one.

A successful hack can result in all kinds of damage. It can kill your company’s reputation. It could paralyze your operations. Many hacks just flat-out steal money. Whatever the case, the end result always involves at least one component: a loss of capital.

The worst part may be the fact that it’s actually becoming much easier to hack, too. Someone without any real technical capabilities can use a “plug-and-play” program that allows them to become just as proficient as some of the most proficient hackers in the world.

Catching a Hacker’s IP Address

Fortunately, you have options for catching these criminals, especially the less sophisticated ones we just mentioned.

The best way to do this is by catching the IP address of the hacker. Their IP address is basically a fingerprint you can use to track where the attack came from.

There are three main ways to do this:

• Google Analytics
• Hosting logs
• NetStat

There are a number of other tools, too, and you can expect that list to grow as more and more companies become victimized.

Without getting overly technical, though, all of these tools keep track of the IP addresses of your visitors. After a successful attack, then, you can go back and check these logs to find which one was responsible for the hack.

What to Do with an IP Address

The key to actually using an IP address to track a hacker is the traceart command. This will give you the hostname of the owner of the IP address. The Princeton website also offers a very user-friendly trace-route tool. As long as you have the IP address in question, it will do the rest.

Another good one is the GEOIPTool. It will at least give you a rough idea of the hacker’s location.

What to Do with the Hacker’s Location

Keep in mind that your options for retribution are limited. You should definitely block the hacker’s IP address going forward. This will make sure your website, network, etc. will no longer accept traffic coming from that IP address.

You can also give this information to their hosting provider. An IP address is like an actual address in a city, so you can tell the people in charge that they have someone in their “city” that is hacking companies. As a result, they should ban that user.

However, to seek justice, you’ll need to turn the insights you gain from the aforementioned tools over to the authorities. They can take steps to track down the individual in ways most companies can’t. Of course, they also have the option to jail or fine the offender.

Be Proactive

The above advice only works after you’ve suffered an attack. At that point, the damage will be done. While blocking that IP address going forward is a good reactive approach, you should take proactive ones, too.

Make sure you’re using high-quality security software. It must always be updated. Hackers are very good about knowing when even the best security software isn’t being optimized and striking at this vulnerable time.

Train your employees to know what to look for, as well. Phishing is the most popular form of cyber attack, yet it’s also one of those that doesn’t necessarily require any technical acumen.

Unfortunately, we live in a world where hacking takes place every day. Worse still, there is no reason to think that this is going to change anytime soon. Nonetheless, you don’t have to simply accept these attacks. Using the above advice, you can track the IP address of the hacker and then take steps to make sure they’re punished.