How to Identify Data Center IPs and Why They Are Risky

Introduction: The Server vs. The Human

There are two kinds of IP addresses. **Residential IPs** are used by real people at home. **Data Center IPs** are used by servers (like those in AWS, Google Cloud, or DigitalOcean). If you aren't running a website, why would you be connecting from a server? This is why data center IPs are often treated as 'High Risk'.

The Risk Factor

99% of web-scraping bots, credit card thieves, and automated hacking scripts come from Data Center IPs. Because they are cheap and easy to create, criminals used them to hide their tracks. This is why many high-security sites will block data-center traffic by default.

Conclusion

If your IP is identified as a data center, you are more likely to see Captchas and 'Access Denied' screens. Check your IP type here.