My current IP address is linked to a GPS location 40 km from my location. I found the same GPS coordinates using both iptrackeronline and maxmind. If this means that there is a hacker on my line, this may mean that he sees this too. What am I to do if I have a hacker on my line?
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3IP localization is approximated. E.g., if you're in London it might just point to the center of London which could coincidentally be close to the street you live in.– ArminiusJul 15, 2017 at 14:45
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If there's a "hacker on your line" (which is very broad and meaningless, but let's assume you're talking about an attacker being able to intercept traffic from your network connection) you have worse things to worry about.– André BorieJul 15, 2017 at 21:49
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André Borie, could you tell me how to ascertain that nobody is intercepting my Internet communications?– Jean-Victor CôtéJul 17, 2017 at 0:13
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@Jean-VictorCôté It's not really possible for an end-user like yourself to be confident that nobody is intercepting your communications (and in fact, your ISP or other companies may systematically scan your traffic). The best solution is to understand and use safe (encrypted) browsing habits. Without a more specific threat it's hard to be more specific about how to keep yourself safe.– DavidJul 17, 2017 at 1:42
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@David Thanks. The Web is becoming a minefield, it seems.– Jean-Victor CôtéJul 17, 2017 at 1:50
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2 Answers
Getting the location from the IP address is simply done by a database lookup and different providers might use the same database or at least similar sources. This explains why you find the same physical location with different providers.
The accuracy and precision of the entries within the database varies widely. To cite from whatsmyipaddress.com: How accurate is IP GeoLocation?:
- Accuracy rates on naming the city from an IP address vary between 50%-80%.
- Determining the nation of an Internet user is 95%-99% percent accurate, for reasons that have to do with how IP addresses are allocated and registered.
- Determining the physical location of the user, down to a city or ZIP code, is trickier and less accurate.
answered Jul 15, 2017 at 15:20
It doesn't mean that at all. Geolocation of IP addresses is usually not precise. This can happen for a variety of reasons, e.g. the last person that had that address was located near there. Or it could be that location is the one that your ISP used to register a particular block of IP addresses.
It's nothing to worry about.
