WHOIS IP Lookup: Find IP Address Owner & Network Info

An IP WHOIS lookup queries the Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) — ARIN, RIPE, APNIC, LACNIC, and AFRINIC — to find the organization that owns or operates an IP address or IP address block. Unlike domain WHOIS, IP WHOIS returns network information including the assigned organization, country, abuse contact, and the range of IP addresses in the block. This is particularly useful for network operators, security researchers, and system administrators.

How to Use the WHOIS IP Lookup Tool

1. Enter an IP address — Type any IPv4 or IPv6 address (e.g., 8.8.8.8 or 2001:4860:4860::8888).
2. Click Lookup — The tool queries the appropriate RIR database based on the IP's region.
3. Read the network record — Results show the organization, network range, country, and abuse/tech contact email.
4. Use the abuse contact — If the IP is associated with spam or attacks, the abuse contact email is the correct channel to report it.

Example IP WHOIS Output

# IP: 8.8.8.8 (Google Public DNS)
NetRange:     8.8.8.0 - 8.8.8.255
CIDR:         8.8.8.0/24
NetName:      GOOGLE
Organization: Google LLC (GOGL)
OrgId:        GOGL
Country:      US
RegDate:      2023-03-14
Updated:      2023-03-14
OrgAbuseEmail: [email protected]
OrgTechEmail:  [email protected]

Why Look Up IP WHOIS Records?

• Identify the owner of a suspicious IP — If your server logs show attacks from an IP, WHOIS tells you the organization responsible and how to report it.
• Verify server identity — Confirm that an IP claiming to belong to a partner or vendor actually resolves to their organization's netblock.
• Network range planning — Find what CIDR block an IP belongs to, which is useful for firewall rule planning.
• Report abuse — IP WHOIS records include abuse contact emails required for reporting spam, DoS attempts, or unauthorized access.

Understanding RIR Regions

The five RIRs each manage IP allocations for different geographic regions:

• ARIN — North America
• RIPE NCC — Europe, Middle East, Central Asia
• APNIC — Asia Pacific
• LACNIC — Latin America and Caribbean
• AFRINIC — Africa

When you look up an IP, the query is routed to the appropriate RIR. The returned record shows the allocation hierarchy: from the RIR's regional block down to the specific organization's assigned netblock.

IP WHOIS vs. IP Geolocation

IP WHOIS returns ownership and network registration data — who owns the IP block and their contact details. IP geolocation estimates physical location (city, country) from IP assignment data and third-party databases. They serve different purposes: use WHOIS to find who owns an IP; use geolocation to find where it is physically located. An IP registered to a company in the US may be physically hosted in Europe via a cloud provider.

Look up IP ownership records with the WHOIS Lookup tool — find network owners and abuse contacts for any IP address.