A device that is infected with malware or spyware can track your location even if your location settings are turned off. Malware can also record your online activities, allow cybercriminals to steal personal information, or slow down your operating system.
In 2014, hackers gained access to Signaling System No. 7 (SS7). Once in, they were able to intercept and read text messages, listen to phone calls, and track people's location – all with just a phone number.
If hackers have your IP address, they can uncover your location, online habits, and even your financial assets. Individually, these pieces of personal information may not seem like much.
Home addresses can also be accessed via hacks. For example, let's say your favorite shopping website was hacked. Since your personal data—along with your delivery address—was logged by the website, hackers can get their hands on your home address via an illegal data breach.
While an IP address alone doesn't reveal your identity or precise location, there are some tools an individual can use to learn more about your IP address. Geolocation: Your IP address can reveal the approximate geographic location (such as city or region) of the device connected to the internet.
A GPS service will not technically work without the internet, but the GPS radio can still be detected via satellites for those occasions where you do not have access to data.
You might use a VPN to connect to your corporate infrastructure or have a VPN for home use to get around geographic content restrictions. Hackers can also use VPNs to hide their activities, such as concealing their IP address and location, making it more challenging to trace their activities.
Many online services require users to fill in personal details such as full name, home address and credit card number. Criminals steal this data from online accounts to commit identity theft, such as using the victim's credit card or taking loans in their name.
If scammers know your name and address, they can target you with phishing campaigns, spoofed advertisements, and fake offers. Any information you give them can be used to fully steal your identity.
Most hackers will understand that they can be tracked down by authorities identifying their IP address, so advanced hackers will attempt to make it as difficult as possible for you to find out their identity.
You can hide your IP address by either using the Tor browser, a proxy server, or a free VPN. You can also join a public Wi-Fi network. Is hiding your IP address illegal? In the U.S, hiding your IP address is not illegal.
You may also use 3rd party websites such as Geobytes or Dnsstuff to look up the IP address. The whois lookup will reveal the name of the ISP who owns that IP address, and the country where it originated from. If you're lucky, you might also find the city of origin.
If you want to know if your Android phone is being tracked, look for performance issues such as a rapidly depleting battery or an unusually hot phone. Here's how to check for performance issues that could indicate your phone being tracked: Open Settings > Battery and device care. Tap Battery > View details.
You should also note that your phone can also be tracked with the location services turned off. If you're connected to a mobile network then cell towers will continue to collect the information.
Unfortunately, some attackers want to steal your data just to prove that they can. They are not motivated by monetary gain, access to free resources or the ability to steal your users' identities. They simply want to prove to themselves – and their hacker friends, perhaps – that they can break past your defenses.
If a hacker is in posession of a botnet, they can have control over thousands of IP addresses and can switch between them at will. So there is not really a practical limit to the frequency and speed with which they can change IP addresses.
There are essentially two methods you can choose from to hide your IP address. One is using a proxy server, and the other is using a virtual private network (VPN). Either one will be sufficient, but there are a few cons associated with proxy servers that make VPNs a more optimal choice for many.
You can track someone's location without them knowing by installing a spy app secretly on their target phone. These phone spying apps track almost all targeted phone activities like Calls, SMS messages, Google map's location, Web history, Social Media sites like Facebook, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Telegram, etc.