What Is An IP Reputation Attack?

Sixty percent of the businesses, according to the poll, fail and score a C or lower on IP Reputation. This outcome illustrates an unpleasant truth. Your IP assets might be used for harmful purposes, and because you might not be aware of it, your IP addresses might end up on blacklists. So, let’s start with the basics.

What is an IP address ?

An IP address is a unique numerical label assigned to each device connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. An IP address serves two principal functions: host or network interface identification and location addressing.

IP addresses are written and displayed in human-readable notations, such as 172.16.254.1 in IPv4

What is IP reputation?

IP Reputation are based on past actions, both good and bad, just like in real life. In order to generate an opinion, providers examine a wide range of facts. For instance, a history of low bounce rates and spam complaints makes your IP address more reliable, whereas a high number of complaints to your hosting provider will damage your IP’s reputation.

IP reputation is a system that rates the trustworthiness of an IP address based on its past behaviour. This system is used by various organizations to decide whether to accept traffic from an IP address. A good IP reputation is important for ensuring that your website or service is not blocked by major ISPs or blacklisted by security companies.

An IP address will have a high reputation if it has a long history of benign relationships and non-malicious activity, which means it has never been linked to bad behaviour, has never been taken over by bad actors, and is otherwise solely linked to nice websites, places, and internet objects. However, there is a significant probability that the IP poses a risk to internet users if it has been seen hosting malware in the past (even if it is now innocuous) or is related to domains that are known for hosting phishing sites, distributing malware, or engaging in other criminal behaviour. The repute of an IP declines with risk.

What is an IP reputation attack?

Malware is a serious threat to businesses of all sizes. Not only can it damage your computer systems, but it can also put your sensitive data at risk. Even more concerning, malware can be used to compromise your IP address reputation. When employees download malware inadvertently (e.g, by clicking on a malicious link), they open the door for adversaries to send spam emails, enrol your computer in a botnet or carry out attacks without your knowledge against other companies or websites. This could reflect poorly on your company.

What can affect my IP reputation ?

Your IP reputation is basically the measure of how much faith internet service providers (ISP) and email services have in your IP address. A good IP reputation is essential for deliverability – if your emails can’t get delivered, then you’re not going to be able to reach your audience. So what can affect your IP reputation? Well, sending spam, obviously, is a big no-no. But even if you’re not deliberately sending spam, your IP address could get flagged if your computer is enrolled in a botnet (a network of computers that are controlled by malware without the owners’ knowledge) or if it’s been infected with malware that’s sending out spam emails.

How is the IP reputation calculated?

The IP reputation is calculated using a range of factors, including:

• The number of complaints received about send emails sent from your IP address
• The number of spam traps hit by emails sent from your IP address
• The number of attacks caught by honeypots, threat intelligence services and cyber deception service.
• IP addresses category
• Hosting geographic location
• Age of the IP addresses
• History of the IP addresses
• Domain reputation
• Associated URL reputation
• Previous association with malicious IoT
• Presence of downloadable files or code
• Popularity
• Actions of the IP address on the internet

All of these indicators are analysed for a particular ip address and an IP reputation score is calculated by an IP reputation service such as Lupovis Prowl. It is important to note that email marketing categorized as SPAM can have a big impact on the sender score and in turn create a negative reputation for the domain.

What IP reputation tools are available?

The majority of IP reputation solutions fall into one of two categories: either they allow for manual IP reputation searches or they let you block IPs with bad or suspicious reputations.

• IP reputation lookup

Knowing your IP reputation (and having a good one) will assist ensure that customers can access your website, receive your emails, see your website in search results, see your advertising when surfing, and more if you run a business. For a reputation check, use a lookup service. Some services may let you argue their score or even work with you to figure out why or how the reputation damage happened if it’s not correct or where you want it to be.

• IP reputation intelligence

Static lists that can be included into firewalls, network appliances, and threat intelligence solutions frequently contain IP reputation intelligence. However, due to the dynamic nature of IP addresses, static lists frequently become out-of-date practically immediately after being released. The best option is a real-time IP intelligence service that can offer context and nuance to businesses and technology suppliers, so they can better defend clients and end users against threats related to IP.

How can I check my IP reputation?

Lupovis Prowl is the perfect solution for anyone looking to check their IP address reputation or obtain threat intelligence. Prowl combines IP reputation lookups and reputation intelligence into a single tool. Prowl provides users with valuable information about an IP address, such as its location or any attack the IP address has been associated with. With Prowl, you can be sure that your IP address is safe and secure

Prowl

Prowl is a free solution that allows you to check if an IP address is malicious. At Lupovis we maintain an IP reputation list and constantly monitor for data points, threats, malicious IP addresses, virtually hosted domains, and malicious behavior on the internet.

Step 1 – Input the IP address

It is important to monitor the same IP address over a period of time to ensure that the domain hasn’t become malicious. The IP addresses can belong to public hosts, domain, servers, etc.

Step 2 – Identify if the IP address is malicious or not

If an IP address is associated with cyberattacks, its threat status will be displayed.

Step 3 – What should I do if my Prowl determines that an IP address is associated with a threat ?

If you’ve been notified that your IP address has been identified as malicious, it’s important to take action immediately. Not only could this be a sign of an infection on your network, but it could also indicate that your personal information has been compromised. Lupovis can help you investigate the incident and determine the best course of action. We have a team of security experts who will work with you to identify the source of the problem and make sure that your information is safe. We understand the importance of keeping your personal data secure, and we’ll do everything we can to help you resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

How to prevent negative reputation?

There are a few things you can do to prevent your IP address from getting a bad reputation. 

• Monitor servers for malware infections using Prowl
• Define the reasons for hosting a public proxy server
• Set up a web application firewall (WAF)
• Monitor for connections to command-and-control (C&C) servers on your network.
• Review all subdomains associated with your organisation
• Set up an SSL/TLS certificate

How to improve IP reputation?

If your IP reputation is bad, it can impact your ability to conduct business. Here are a few things you can do to improve your IP reputation,

In regard to emails, there are a few things you can do to improve your IP reputation:

• Send high-quality, wanted email. This means avoiding spam traps, maintaining a consistent sending volume and cadence, having a low bounce rate, and more.
• Warm up your IP address. Start by sending smaller volumes of mail to gradually increase your reputation. A cold domain can impact email marketing. Increase your spam rates and decrease email deliverability.
• Use a good email service provider. They can help you with IP warm-ups, deliverability issues, and more.

With regard to your domain

• Monitor your IP reputation. Use tools like Prowl to IP addresses that are north of your firewall. If one of your IP addresses reputation issues, Prowl will pick it up.

Monitor your cyber reputation

As we’ve seen, a good IP addresses reputation is key for your organization to function.

Bad reputation on the other hand could lead to blacklisting and other damaging consequences. If you want to protect yourself and your business, it’s important to start monitoring your online reputation. Contact us today to get started, or try Prowl out.