What is IP address? Types of IP addresses

 

What is IP address?

An IP address is a unique address that identifies a device on the internet or a local network. IP stands for "Internet Protocol," which is the set of rules governing the format of data sent via the internet or local network.

In essence, IP addresses are the identifier that allows information to be sent between devices on a network: they contain location information and make devices accessible for communication. The internet needs a way to differentiate between different computers, routers, and websites. IP addresses provide a way of doing so and form an essential part of how the internet works.

Types of IP addresses

There are different categories of IP addresses, and within each category, different types.

Consumer IP addresses

Every individual or business with an internet service plan will have two types of IP addresses: their private IP addresses and their public IP address. The terms public and private relate to the network location — that is, a private IP address is used inside a network, while a public one is used outside a network.

Private IP addresses

Every device that connects to your internet network has a private IP address. This includes computers, smartphones, and tablets but also any Bluetooth-enabled devices like speakers, printers, or smart TVs. With the growing internet of things, the number of private IP addresses you have at home is probably growing. Your router needs a way to identify these items separately, and many items need a way to recognize each other. Therefore, your router generates private IP addresses that are unique identifiers for each device that differentiate them on the network.

Public IP addresses

A public IP address is the primary address associated with your whole network. While each connected device has its own IP address, they are also included within the main IP address for your network. As described above, your public IP address is provided to your router by your ISP. Typically, ISPs have a large pool of IP addresses that they distribute to their customers. Your public IP address is the address that all the devices outside your internet network will use to recognize your network.

Public IP addresses

Public IP addresses come in two forms – dynamic and static.

Dynamic IP addresses

Dynamic IP addresses change automatically and regularly. ISPs buy a large pool of IP addresses and assign them automatically to their customers. Periodically, they re-assign them and put the older IP addresses back into the pool to be used for other customers. The rationale for this approach is to generate cost savings for the ISP. Automating the regular movement of IP addresses means they don’t have to carry out specific actions to re-establish a customer's IP address if they move home, for example. There are security benefits, too, because a changing IP address makes it harder for criminals to hack into your network interface.

Static IP addresses

In contrast to dynamic IP addresses, static addresses remain consistent. Once the network assigns an IP address, it remains the same. Most individuals and businesses do not need a static IP address, but for businesses that plan to host their own server, it is crucial to have one. This is because a static IP address ensures that websites and email addresses tied to it will have a consistent IP address — vital if you want other devices to be able to find them consistently on the web.

This leads to the next point – which is the two types of website IP addresses.

There are two types of website IP addresses

For website owners who don’t host their own server, and instead rely on a web hosting package – which is the case for most websites – there are two types of website IP addresses. These are shared and dedicated.

Shared IP addresses

Websites that rely on shared hosting plans from web hosting providers will typically be one of many websites hosted on the same server. This tends to be the case for individual websites or SME websites, where traffic volumes are manageable, and the sites themselves are limited in terms of the number of pages, etc. Websites hosted in this way will have shared IP addresses.

Dedicated IP addresses

Some web hosting plans have the option to purchase a dedicated IP address (or addresses). This can make obtaining an SSL certificate easier and allows you to run your own File Transfer Protocol (FTP) server. This makes it easier to share and transfer files with multiple people within an organization and allow anonymous FTP sharing options. A dedicated IP address also allows you to access your website using the IP address alone rather than the domain name — useful if you want to build and test it before registering your domain.

 

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Change IP Address on Windows usin command prompt

Change IP Address on Windows using command prompt in Less Than 30 Seconds

 

Step 1.  Click "Start" in the lower left corner of the screen

 

Step 2.   Click "Run"

 

Step 3.  Type "command" and press OK

You should now be at the MSDOS prompt screen.

 

Step 4.  Type “ipconfig /release” in the same way, and hit “Enter”

 

Step 5.  Type "exit" and leave the prompt

 

Step 6.  Right-click "Network Places" or "My Network Places" on your desktop.

 

Step7.   Click on "Properties"

 

You should now be on a screen with something titled "Local Area Connection", or something close to it, and,

If you have one network connected, so will all your other networks.

 

Step  8.  Right click on "Local Area Connection" and click on "Properties"

 

Step   9.  Double-click "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" from the list under the "General" tab.

 

Step   10.  Click on "Use the following IP address" under the "General" tab

 

Step   11.  create an ip address

 

Step   12.  Press "Tab" and it should automatically fill in the "Subnet Mask" section with the default numbers.

 

Step   13.  here press the "ok" button

 

Step   14.  Hit the "Ok" button again

You should now be back at the "Local Area Connection" screen.

 

Step   15.  Right-click on "Local Area Connection" and go to Properties again.

 

Step   16.  Go back to "TCP/IP" settings

 

Step   17.  This time, select "Obtain an IP address automatically"

 

Step   18.  hit "ok"

 

Step   19.  hit "ok" again

 

you now have a new ip address

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Top 5 Phishing Simulators

 

Phishing

Phishing is the fraudulent attempt to obtain sensitive information or data, such as usernames, passwords and credit card details or other sensitive details, by impersonating oneself as a trustworthy entity in a digital communication. 

 

1. Phishing Frenzy

While this open-source Ruby on Rails application is designed as a penetration testing tool, it has many features that could make it an effective solution for internal phishing campaigns. Perhaps the most important feature is the ability to view detailed campaign stats and easily save the information to a PDF or an XML file. You can probably guess the “however” part that’s coming up: Phishing Frenzy is a Linux-based application, with installation not to be handled by a rookie.

2. King Phisher

With this open-source solution from SecureState, we are entering the category of more sophisticated products. King Phisher’s features are plentiful, including the ability to run multiple campaigns simultaneously, geo location of phished users, web cloning capabilities, etc. A separate template repository contains templates for both messages and server pages. User interface is clean and simple. What is not that simple, however, is installation and configuration. King Fisher server is only supported on Linux, with additional installation and configuration steps required depending on flavor and existing configuration.

3. SpeedPhish Framework (SPF)

Another Python tool created by Adam Compton. SPF includes many features that allow you to quickly configure and perform effective phishing attacks, including data entry attack vector (3 website templates are included, with possibility of using custom templates as well). While a tech-savvy security professional can have a lot of fun with SPF and will be able to run phishing campaigns against multiple targets, it is still mainly a pentesting tool, with many great features (such as email address gathering) being of little importance for someone performing internal phishing tests.

4. Social-Engineer Toolkit (SET)

Another tool from TrustedSec, which, as the name suggests, was designed for performing various social engineering attacks. For phishing, SET allows for sending spear-phishing emails as well as running mass mailer campaigns, as well as some more advanced options, such as flagging your message with high importance and adding list of target emails from a file. SET is Python based, with no GUI. As a penetration testing tool, it is very effective. As a phishing simulation solution, it is very limited and does not include any reporting or campaign management features.

5. SpearPhisher BETA

This tool isn’t trying to deceive anyone (other than its phishing targets). Developed by TrustedSec, SpearPhisher says it all right in the description: “A Simple Phishing Email Generation Tool.” With an emphasis on ‘simple.’ Designed for non-technical users, SpearPhisher is a Windows-based program with a straightforward GUI. It allows you to quickly craft a phishing email with customized From Email, From Name, and Subject fields and includes a WYSIWYG HTML editor and an option to include one attachment. You can send the crafted email to several recipients via adding email addresses to To, CC, and BCC fields. The program has been in Beta since 2013, so it’s not likely to see any updates in the near future.

 

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What Is Encryption And Its Types

Encryption:

Encryption is a form of data security in which information is converted into ciphertext. Only authorized people who have the key can decipher the code and access the original plain text information.

 

encryption type

Here are some examples of common types of encryption used today.

 

triple dece

Triple Data Encryption Standard (DES), often written 3DES, is a variant of the original DES encryption algorithm that encrypts data three times. Triple DES uses three 64-bit keys, so the key length is 192 bits. Triple DES is a symmetric encryption, and the key is private. Because it encrypts data in 64-bit segments, Triple DES is considered a block cipher. Cipher Block Chaining (CBC), however, is an encryption mode that struggles at high data rates.

 

blowfish

Blowfish is an encryption technology designed by Bruce Schneier in 1993. Similar to Triple DES, Blowfish is a symmetric block cipher. Unlike Triple DES, Blowfish performs variable-length key encryption. Instead of setting 64-bit segments, Blowfish encrypts segments ranging from 32 to 448 bits. Blowfish is a patent-free and unlicensed encryption technology. For this reason, it is free and available for public use.

 

RSA

The RSA encryption key, named after its creators Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir and Leonard Edelman, is the standard encryption technique for protecting critical data. RSA is asymmetric cryptography, so there is a public key and a private key. The RSA algorithm uses prime factorization. Simply put, this key requires factorization of the product of two large prime numbers. Although it sounds simple, figuring out these two numbers can be tricky. Decrypting can be expensive and tedious, even for large computers. While RSA can be very useful, it becomes increasingly inefficient at higher security levels.

 

aes

Due to an increase in brute-force attacks on the original DES, the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) was put into place in 2002. AES is a symmetric block cipher that was originally named Rijndael. This block cipher uses three different keys: AES-128, AES-192, and AES-256. These three keys are used to encrypt and decrypt 128 bits of information. Since its adoption, AES has been used to protect classified government information and sensitive data.

 

ECC

Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) is a very advanced approach. Often based on a common public key algorithm, ECC combines elliptic curves and number theory to encrypt data. These elliptic curves lie within finite regions and are symmetric on the x-axis of a graph. Given these properties, cryptographers can provide strong security with very short and efficient keys. For example, an RSA key of 15,360 bits would be equivalent to an ECC key of just 512 bits.

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