Get the latest tech news

Cybercriminals Are Hiding Malicious Web Traffic in Plain Sight


In an effort to evade detection, cybercriminals are increasingly turning to “residential proxy” services that cover their tracks by making it look like everyday online activity.

At the cybercrime-focused conference Sleuthcon in in Arlington, Virginia today, researcher Thibault Seret outlined how this shift has pushed both bulletproof hosting companies and criminal customers toward an alternative approach. Criminals and companies that don't want to lose them as clients have particularly been leaning on what are known as “residential proxies,” or an array of decentralized nodes that can run on consumer devices—even old Android phones or low end laptops—offering real, rotating IP addresses assigned to homes and offices. And, crucially, residential proxies and other decentralized platforms that run on disparate consumer hardware reduce a service provider's insight and control, making it more difficult for law enforcement to get anything useful from them.

Get the Android app

Or read this on Wired

Read more on:

Photo of Plain Sight

Plain Sight

Photo of cybercriminals

cybercriminals

Related news:

News photo

Police takes down AVCheck site used by cybercriminals to scan malware

News photo

Cybercriminals exploit AI hype to spread ransomware, malware

News photo

Authorities carry out global takedown of infostealer used by cybercriminals