With the gradual launch of the IP dependency function on Weibo, Tiktok, xiaohongshu, Kwai, Zhihu and other platforms, a number of "big V" and online celebrities "who are" overseas "have emerged one after another, exposing their domestic IP dependency. For a time, some people were laughing at the Internet popularity of rollover, some were worried about whether their privacy was leaked, and some were quietly modifying their IP possessions.
IP dependency function heats up IP proxy service
On the 5th, some media reported that with the launch of the IP ownership function of major platforms, the business of paid IP agents was booming. But in fact, as early as March, when microblog began to try to display IP possessions in some fields, someone was already modifying the microblog IP address.
On March 17, "microblog administrator" issued a statement saying, "Recently, hot events such as the situation in Russia and Ukraine and the domestic epidemic have occurred frequently, which has aroused great concern and discussion among netizens. While strengthening the investigation and disposal of illegal information, the station found that there are still some acts of pretending to be local netizens to publish and disseminate false information. In order to better maintain the communication order, the station will launch the function of" user profile page to show the location of recent posts "in the next week on the basis of the previous function."
"At first, I found that there were problems with the IP ownership of many microblog accounts that spread false information, but soon these accounts modified their IP ownership." For the function of microblog online, some netizens expressed this.
How are these IPS modified?
Business publicity content on a second-hand platform.
Zhongxin finance and economics noted that on the social platform, many netizens asked how to modify their IP address. On some e-commerce platforms, the IP agent modification service has been quietly launched.
The server only costs more than ten yuan a month
"If you want to find such business, you must first search for the right keywords." Although many e-commerce platforms have blocked the keyword search of "IP agent", Zhongxin finance has tried to search several related words and still found many businesses providing "IP agent".
Zhongxin financial observation found that the service prices provided by these businesses vary, often ranging from 4-10 yuan a day, and the monthly price is more favorable on average. Some businesses that provide overseas servers are significantly more expensive, while some businesses indicate that they only provide domestic IP proxy services and prompt that they are prohibited from illegal acts.
Business publicity from an e-commerce platform.
In some product pages, consumers leave a message asking whether it can be used to modify the IP address. After Zhongxin finance and economics asked how to modify the IP ownership, some businesses directly provided operation tutorials.
"Domestic IP proxy is mainly realized through domestic proxy server." An insider explained the principle of IP proxy to Zhongxin Finance: "every time a user sends a network packet, he will first go to the proxy server to unpack and package it, and then forward it to the microblog server. When the microblog server reads the network packet, it obtains the IP of the proxy server, which is judged as the IP possession of the proxy server. After the microblog server returns the packet to the proxy server, the proxy will return it to the user."
"For professionals, the operation is not difficult." Insiders told Zhongxin finance, "the cheapest way to rent a server is more than ten yuan a month."
Guard against personal information disclosure
For the on-line IP territorial function, many platforms said that the original intention was to reduce bad behaviors such as impersonating the parties of hot events, malicious rumor and rubbing traffic.
But some netizens expressed concern about this: "opening up IP territory, I feel that my life privacy has been exposed, and it is also easy to provoke regional discrimination." For various reasons, many netizens also seek to modify the IP address.
A netizen is testing the IP modification software. Screenshot from Weibo
However, is modifying the IP address really protecting your privacy?
In fact, there is still a risk of personal information disclosure using proxy servers. Zhongxin finance and economics noted that some proxy server login requires real name system.
"It's equivalent to logging in to the social platform account and password in someone else's home, and others can see it if they want." Insiders described this as "there are some special scripts that can also find the user IP behind the agent."