# Best Practices for IP Filtering on Confluent Cloud IP filtering best practices help you organize access controls, monitor security events, and maintain clear audit trails for your Confluent Cloud resources. While not a substitute for other security measures, IP filtering can help you reduce the likelihood of unauthorized access to your Confluent Cloud resources. ## Use meaningful names for IP filters and IP groups Meaningful names make IP filters and IP groups easier to identify and organize. Use descriptive names that indicate the source location or purpose. **Example** IP filter: “Access from US Offices” Associated IP groups: “SF Office” and “NYC Office” ## Monitor audit logs for access attempts Monitor for access-denied events due to IP filtering in audit logs to identify unauthorized access attempts or compromised credentials for users or service accounts. If an attacker uses compromised credentials from an unauthorized IP address, the request is denied and logged. Audit logs help identify legitimate client calls that should be granted access through IP filters. For details on monitoring IP filter events, see [Audit Logs](../../../monitoring/audit-logging/cloud-audit-log-concepts.md#cloud-audit-logs) and [IP Filter Authorization Auditable Event Methods on Confluent Cloud](../../../monitoring/audit-logging/event-methods/ip-filter-authz.md#ip-filter-authz-auditable-events). ## Avoid downtime for network changes To avoid downtime due to planned network changes, you can include required IP addresses in your IP groups and IP filters in advance. After network transitions complete, you can safely remove retired networks. ## Related content * [IP Filtering (overview)](overview.md#ip-filtering) * [Manage IP Filters](manage-ip-filters.md#manage-ip-filters) * [Manage IP Groups](manage-ip-groups.md#manage-ip-groups) * [Confluent CLI Reference: confluent iam ip-group](https://docs.confluent.io/confluent-cli/current/command-reference/iam/ip-group/index.html) * [Confluent CLI Reference: confluent iam ip-filter](https://docs.confluent.io/confluent-cli/current/command-reference/iam/ip-filter/index.html) * [Confluent API Reference: IP Groups (iamv2)](/cloud/current/api.html#tag/IP-Groups-(iamv2)) * [Confluent API Reference: IP Filters](/cloud/current/api.html#tag/IP-Filters-(iamv2))