Proxyware Services Open Orgs to Abuse – Report

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Services that allow consumers to resell their own internet bandwidth for profit to businesses that want to resell it are ripe for abuse, according to researchers.
 
The burgeoning business model is growing in popularity with consumers who earn about $1 for every 10GB of their bandwidth shared with services that include Honeygain, Nanowire, IPRoyal Pawns, Peer2Profit and PacketStream.
 
“These relatively new platforms were built with a legitimate purpose, but attackers quickly found ways to abuse them,” according to a report by Cisco Talos posted Tuesday. Services are delivered as desktop and mobile applications. Apps fall into a category called proxyware, because they turn the device running the software into a type of proxy server.
 
Proxyware services are attractive to businesses that use them for internet-related traffic research, such as search engine optimization. The ability to access residential and geographically diverse IP addresses can be extremely helpful. Uses also include testing potential online advertising campaigns or circumventing commercial network restrictions.
 
For consumers, Cisco points out, proxyware services are “advertised as a means to circumvent geolocation checks on streaming or gaming platforms,” while at the same time allowing consumers to generate income for the use of their bandwidth.

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