IP address

IP address, number that uniquely identifies each computer on the Internet. A computer’s IP address may be permanently assigned or supplied each time that it connects to the Internet by an Internet service provider. In order to accommodate the extraordinary growth in the number of devices connected to the Internet, a 32-bit protocol standard, known as IPv4 and which could handle 2³² (over 4 billion) addresses, began to be replaced by a 128-bit protocol, IPv6, which could handle 2¹²⁸ (over 3.4 × 10³⁸) addresses, in 1999. IP address blocking, also called IP banning, is the configuring of a network to refuse requests sent from specific IP addresses. IP addresses are blocked for multiple reasons, including to enforce standards for online behavior (e.g., a school restricting its students from accessing certain websites), protect networks against attacks, and censor access to information. See also TCP/IP; domain name; URL.