Why is everyone so obsessed w/checking IPs & finding a way to get them?

Question

Also, doesn't the IP show your exact location the city and state? Or does it show the location of the internet service provider?

Answer 1

For a lot of reasons really.  Some sites use them to track visitors for marketing.  For example, if they see a lot of people from the east coast visiting their site, they may want to focus sales on that certain area.

Also for security reasons as well.  If someone is trying to hack a system, they then have a possible log of who may have done it.

On the down side, some people use this maliciously for hacking, or Denial of service attacks against you.

Answer 2

It shows the service provider and in some cases may give the Name or Address of who is using it.  Depends on the program/service used to check the IP.  People are so crazy about getting them because of malicious attacks, virus/malware/trojun problems are way to common these days.

Answer 3

One's IP can give other person a lot of information. For example, your provider, your type of connection, an approximation of your geographical location and lets the other party run test on it to find even more.

One of those test could find vulnerabilities on your computer or your private network and the chance to exploit it. It's a common approach to install trojans, malware, adware and that kind of pests that can have the capability to control your computer and use it for their purposes.