Email bomb threats were issued to several schools in Delhi and Noida, yet the police have not discovered any actual bombs. The investigation now focuses on identifying the sender(s) of these ominous emails, with reports suggesting the Special Cell has traced an IP address linked to a foreign country. It is possible an individual in India is behind this, masquerading their location using a foreign IP.
How can someone disguise their IP to seem as if it's from another country? It's surprisingly simple: anyone can mask their IP address using a proxy or VPN service. There's a common misconception that emails sent via VPN can't be traced, but let me tell you, it's more than possible to backtrack an email, no matter how it's sent.
Most VPN and proxy services offer free usage, but the quality of these services is often subpar, making any communications via these channels easily traceable. High-quality, paid VPNs employ strong encryption which does make tracing more difficult, yet not impossible.
Despite this, the police report the emails were sent through multiple servers, complicating the location tracking. They've also mentioned seeking international cooperation for the investigation.
What is a VPN?
A Virtual Private Network, or VPN, is a technology that secures and privatizes your internet connection. It employs encryption and routes your internet communications through special servers to prevent data leakage. A VPN essentially creates a virtual or 'fake' IP address for your device, masking its real IP, which often leads to the trace leading to a different location.
What are IP addresses?
IP (Internet Protocol) addresses serve as unique identifiers for all devices connected to the internet. They are not randomly generated numbers but are mathematically created and allocated by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), operating under ICANN, a non-profit organization. IPV4 is now in uses, offering billions of unique addresses.
How can emails be traced?
Even if an email is sent using a VPN or proxy service, the government can often pinpoint its source with the cooperation of email providers, internet service providers, and law enforcement agencies. The header of an email can yield an IP address. However, for privacy purposes, certain providers like Gmail mask IP addresses, which appear to originate from Google's servers, complicating the tracing process. If law enforcement can obtain a criminal's public IP, it opens the door to locating them as internet and mobile operators assign IPs based on geographical regions, which helps in deducing likely locations.
Government agencies first determine the network from which an email was sent and then approach both network and email providers. After a court order, metadata provided by these companies can reveal both the source and sender of the email. If the email was sent via mobile, the location can also be fetched through mobile tower connections, as every smartphone features a unique identity, indicating the user's location.
