diff --git a/src/Countries.php b/src/Countries.php
index 0075051..6dc6089 100644
--- a/src/Countries.php
+++ b/src/Countries.php
@@ -332,7 +332,7 @@ public function name(string $code) : string
     }
 
     /**
-     * Checks whether the given country is in the EU
+     * Checks whether the given string is a country code in the EU
      *
      * @param string $code
      *
@@ -344,6 +344,17 @@ public function inEurope(string $code) : bool
         return in_array($code, self::$eu);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Checks whether the given string is a valid public IP address
+     * 
+     * @param string $ipAddress
+     * @return bool
+     */
+    public function validateIpAddress(string $ipAddress) : bool
+    {
+        return (bool) filter_var($ipAddress, FILTER_VALIDATE_IP, FILTER_FLAG_NO_PRIV_RANGE);
+    }
+
     /**
      * Gets the country code by IP address
      *
@@ -355,7 +366,7 @@ public function inEurope(string $code) : bool
      */
     public function ip(string $ipAddress) : string 
     {
-        if (empty($ipAddress)) {
+        if (empty($ipAddress) || !$this->validateIpAddress($ipAddress)) {
             return '';
         }
 
diff --git a/src/Validator.php b/src/Validator.php
index 10d03b6..799850d 100644
--- a/src/Validator.php
+++ b/src/Validator.php
@@ -52,10 +52,11 @@ class Validator {
      *
      * @param Vies\Client $client        (optional)
      */
-    public function __construct( Vies\Client $client = null ) {
+    public function __construct(Vies\Client $client = null) 
+    {
         $this->client = $client;
 
-        if( ! $this->client ) {
+        if (! $this->client) {
             $this->client = new Vies\Client();
         }
     }
@@ -67,16 +68,17 @@ public function __construct( Vies\Client $client = null ) {
      *
      * @return boolean
      */
-    public function validateFormat(string $vatNumber) : bool {
-        $vatNumber = strtoupper( $vatNumber );
-        $country = substr( $vatNumber, 0, 2 );
-        $number = substr( $vatNumber, 2 );
+    public function validateFormat(string $vatNumber) : bool 
+    {
+        $vatNumber = strtoupper($vatNumber);
+        $country = substr($vatNumber, 0, 2);
+        $number = substr($vatNumber, 2);
 
-        if( ! isset( self::$patterns[$country]) ) {
+        if( ! isset(self::$patterns[$country]) ) {
             return false;
         }
 
-        $matches = preg_match( '/^' . self::$patterns[$country] . '$/', $number ) > 0;
+        $matches = preg_match('/^' . self::$patterns[$country] . '$/', $number) > 0;
         return $matches;
     }
 
@@ -88,10 +90,11 @@ public function validateFormat(string $vatNumber) : bool {
      *
      * @throws Vies\ViesException
      */
-    public function validateExistence(string $vatNumber) : bool {
-        $vatNumber = strtoupper( $vatNumber );
-        $country = substr( $vatNumber, 0, 2 );
-        $number = substr( $vatNumber, 2 );
+    public function validateExistence(string $vatNumber) : bool 
+    {
+        $vatNumber = strtoupper( $vatNumber);
+        $country = substr($vatNumber, 0, 2);
+        $number = substr($vatNumber, 2);
         return $this->client->checkVat($country, $number);
     }
 
@@ -104,7 +107,8 @@ public function validateExistence(string $vatNumber) : bool {
      *
      * @throws Vies\ViesException
      */
-    public function validate(string $vatNumber) : bool {
+    public function validate(string $vatNumber) : bool 
+    {
        return $this->validateFormat($vatNumber) && $this->validateExistence($vatNumber);
     }
 
diff --git a/tests/CountriesTest.php b/tests/CountriesTest.php
index 3e09fdc..8f91b2e 100644
--- a/tests/CountriesTest.php
+++ b/tests/CountriesTest.php
@@ -34,6 +34,23 @@ public function testInEurope() {
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * @covers Countries::validateIpAddress
+     */
+    public function testValidateIpAddress() {
+        $countries = new Countries();
+        $map = [
+            'foo' => false,
+            '192.168.1.10' => false,
+            '8.8.8.8' => true,
+            '54.18.12.111' => true,
+        ];
+
+        foreach($map as $ip => $expected) {
+            self::assertEquals($expected, $countries->validateIpAddress($ip));
+        }
+    }
+
      /**
      * @covers Countries::ip
      */