Investigation pathway
I have been given an IP address
Use this route to establish what the record actually contains, preserve the right supporting information and avoid treating an address as a person.
3 practical steps
Orientate
Establish what you have
Identify the address, timestamp, timezone, source system and investigative question before drawing conclusions.
Open IP-001 Challenge attribution
Could the connection have been shared?
Consider household, workplace, public access, NAT, CGNAT, VPN, proxy and compromised-device explanations.
Open IP-017 Preserve and request
Secure the supporting records
Move from the address alone to provider, account, device and contextual records while they may still exist.
Open IP-032 Pathway outcome
Ask IF Digital You should now be able to frame the next decision
The pathway does not promise attribution. It helps identify what the address contributes, what remains unknown and what evidence should be pursued next.
