There are warning signs that your home network has been compromised, such as unusual traffic patterns and slowdowns in system performance, but now there’s a simple tool to help determine if your router or connected devices are being used for malicious activity. Check the IPfrom threat monitoring firm Greenice, will alert you if your IP address has been spotted scanning the Internet as part of a botnet or residential proxy network.
As GREYNOISE diagramthe residential IP compromise is often not obvious to the user because you are still able to do business as usual, such as streaming, email, and web browsing. All the time, though, threat actors are driving malicious activity through your home IP address and can potentially exploit your network for everything from account takeovers to malware distribution.
Check your IP address for suspicious activity
To use IP Check, you simply need Open the tool in a browser window, and you’ll get one of several results. If your IP is clean, it means that your network has not been caught scanning the Internet (nor does it belong to any business service infrastructure).
Credit: Emily Long
Your IP may also be flagged as being in the Greenvoice database, which is not a sign of compromise – this is likely because you’re using a VPN, corporate network, or cloud provider, and the tool can distinguish between an IP belonging to a data center and one that’s being exploited. (Note that Apple users browsing in Safari with Private Relay will likely see “Possible Echo Traffic Detected”, which isn’t necessarily cause for alarm. Try checking your real IP in a different browser like Chrome or Firefox to confirm.)
What do you think so far?
Credit: Emily Long
If you have an IP is Recognized as malicious or suspicious, you should investigate further. If you toggle the Scanner’s Observed Activity section, you can see when the first and last instances of scanning behavior occurred and what types were detected along with actionable next steps.
As Bleeping computer notesyou can get into the weeds with detecting malicious activity by reviewing device logs, network traffic, and activity patterns, but checking your IP address is the easiest place to start.