Terminology

The World Bank RegionsThe World Bank classifies the globe into seven regions, considering factors such as geography, income, and cultural affinity. These regions, along with their associated codes, are:...

Understanding Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) serves as a pivotal routing protocol, facilitating the exchange of information between routers on the internet. It's the linchpin that transforms the internet into a cohesive "network of networks", steering traffic amongst various ...

What is an Autonomous System (AS)?An Autonomous System (AS) is a collection of connected Internet Protocol (IP) networks, routers and other network equipment. The main feature of an AS is that it's administered and operated by a single organisation or entity. Each AS is distinctively identified through a unique number called an Autonomous System Number (ASN). This unique identifier is provided by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA)....

What are FIPS codes?FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standards) codes are a set of numeric codes used to uniquely identify geographic areas within the United States. They were developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to ensure consistent identification of states, counties, and other geographic entities in computer systems and databases. The number of digits in FIPS codes varies depending on the level of geography....

The Hazard Report is BigDataCloud’s consolidated view of IP address risk. It combines reactive signals (evidence of past malicious behaviour) with proactive indicators (likelihood of future misuse) to help you make safer, faster decisions about incoming traffic, users, and transactions....

CIDR ExplainedCIDR, or Classless Inter-Domain Routing, is a technique employed for IP address allocation and routing across both IPv4 and IPv6 networks.IPv4 NetworksIn the realm of IPv4 networks, IP addresses consist of 32-bit figures showcased in dotted decimal notation, like 192.0.2.0. Using CIDR notation, such an IPv4 address is paired with a forward slash and a subsequent number. This number pinpoints the quantity of initial bits in the IP address signifying the network segment. For instance, the CIDR notation 192.0.2.0/24 reveals that the starting 24 bits of the IP address denote the network, with the latter 8 bits indicating the host. This approach enables a more streamlined utilisation of IP addresses and refined routing in expansive networks....

In cybersecurity, identifying and blocking malicious IP addresses is essential — yet traditional methods have limitations. Most conventional approaches rely heavily on past attack signals: if an IP address has been seen attacking elsewhere, it’s likely to be flagged as a threat again. The same logic is often applied when attempting to identify anonymisers such as VPNs or proxies....

The global shortage of IPv4 addresses has led Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to manage their limited IP address space with maximum efficiency. To achieve this, ISPs often allocate a pool of IP addresses to specific sections of their network, which may cover large geographical areas. This method of dynamic address allocation reduces the number of IP addresses required, as it serves only active users rather than the entire customer base....

What are CSD codes?CSD (Census Subdivision) codes are a set of numeric codes used to uniquely identify geographic areas within Canada. They are part of Canada's geographic hierarchy and are used for various statistical and administrative purposes. The number of digits in CSD codes can vary depending on the province and level of geography....

BigDataCloud’s confidence value offers a smarter, more nuanced measure of how accurate and dependable IP geolocation results are—particularly for dynamically assigned IP addresses. Unlike traditional approaches that rely on a single point-location prediction, our method runs ...