198.244.242.238📋 Copy

# INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: 198.244.242.238

## Executive Summary

IP address 198.244.242.238 presents a MODERATE RISK profile (risk score: 40) associated with legitimate cloud hosting infrastructure. While the IP itself shows no direct threat indicators, it operates within a high-abuse density subnet requiring enhanced monitoring. The address resolves to Ahrefs Pte Ltd infrastructure hosted on OVH cloud services in London, GB.

## Technical Profile

• Organization: Ahrefs Pte Ltd Dmytro (AS16276, OVH SAS)
• Location: London, England, GB (geo-plausible: true)
• Infrastructure: CloudCompute/Hosting (OVH provider)
• PTR Hostname: proxy-uk007-san238.ahrefs.net
• DNS Domain: ahrefs.net
• Network Role: Firewalled / No Services (no open ports detected)
• BGP Prefix: 198.244.128.0/17

## Threat Assessment

Current Threat Status: No direct malicious indicators detected.

• Blacklist count: 0
• Known attacker/spam source: false
• Tor exit node: false
• Known campaigns: none identified

Control Plane Status:

• DNSBL listed: 1 of 8 lists
• Operator score: 0.2174 (Minimal)
• Route stability: false

## Neighborhood Analysis

The /24 subnet (198.244.242.0/24) exhibits HIGH ABUSE characteristics:

• Abuse density: 0.6641
• Total subnet siblings: 256
• Active siblings: 207
• Threat siblings: 170
• Inherited risk score: 26
• Risk distribution: 100 medium-risk IPs, 0 high-risk, 0 low-risk

The elevated neighborhood abuse density suggests shared infrastructure usage that may correlate with broader scanning or abuse activity, though the specific IP remains clean.

## Historical Observations

Analysis of 26 historical observations reveals:

• Recent activity detected as of June 2026
• Consistent operator score (0.2174) across observations
• Routing signals show AS16276 (OVH) with some threat indicators in historical data
• No evidence of escalating threat behavior or persistent malicious activity

## Recommended Actions

SOC Analyst Actions:

1. Monitor subnet-level activity – The 198.244.242.0/24 subnet shows elevated abuse density (0.6641). Correlate traffic from related IPs for anomalous patterns.

2. Allow with logging – No immediate blocking required. The IP is associated with legitimate Ahrefs infrastructure. Implement logging for traffic analysis.

3. Whitelist consideration – If ahrefs.net is a legitimate business domain, consider whitelisting the subnet based on the cloud hosting classification.

Firewall/Network Rules:

• Permit inbound/outbound traffic with logging enabled
• No specific drop/allow rules recommended at this time
• Monitor for service enumeration or port scanning activity from associated subnet addresses

## Risk Conclusion

This IP represents LEGITIMATE BUSINESS INFRASTRUCTURE (Ahrefs SEO toolset) with MODERATE OVERALL RISK due to neighborhood context. No immediate blocking is warranted. Focus monitoring on subnet-level activity patterns and correlate with broader threat intelligence regarding OVH hosting abuse in the 198.244.0.0/16 range.

*Intel produced: IPDebrief Intelligence Platform*

This summary was generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies. Verify critical details independently.