Extreme Threat
IP 103.132.243.250 is a critical-risk address operated by Ishans Network in India that has been extensively documented conducting SSH brute-force attacks against honeypot infrastructure, accumulating 2,028 abuse reports from 20 separate automated sensors between November 2025 and May 2026. With a threat level of 10/10 and an activity frequency rated 8/10, this IP represents a sustained, high-volume intrusion threat that network operators should treat as definitively malicious.
The volume and consistency of reporting leave little ambiguity about this address's intent. Fail2ban systems logged between 25 and 29 SSH brute-force violations per instance across multiple detections, while Suricata sensors independently confirmed active SSH brute-force sessions targeting expected SSH ports. The 2,028 total reports spanning six months demonstrate persistent rather than opportunistic behaviour, suggesting an automated bot or compromised host engaged in continuous credential stuffing at scale. The IP's placement within AS45117 under Ishans Network identifies its upstream provider, which may be relevant for abuse reporting and upstream filtering coordination.
SSH brute-force attacks systematically attempt to guess server credentials by cycling through common username-password combinations, exploiting weak or default passwords on exposed SSH daemons. Successful authentication grants attackers direct command-line access to the target system, enabling data exfiltration, lateral movement within networks, deployment of secondary payloads, or incorporation into botnets. Even failed attempts consume server resources and generate security log noise that can obscure genuine incidents, while the volume observed here signals an aggressive, automated campaign rather than manual probing.
Network administrators should immediately block IP 103.132.243.250 at the firewall level given its confirmed malicious activity. Deploy key-based authentication exclusively for SSH access and disable password-based authentication entirely. Configure fail2ban or equivalent tools to dynamically ban repeat offenders after a small number of failed authentication attempts, and consider changing the default SSH port to reduce noise from automated scanners. Regular audit of SSH configuration, enforcement of strong passphrase policies, and monitoring of authentication logs will further harden exposure against credential-based attacks from this and similar hostile addresses.