Comment by ronsor

Comment by ronsor 10 months ago

7 replies

Residential rotating proxy providers charge very high rates for data, on the order of $1 - $10 per GB. (These providers often do run their proxies through the cellular network, actually.)

SteveNuts 10 months ago

Is this something where end users can get paid for doing nothing other than proxying some traffic through their ISP?

  • r1ch 10 months ago

    The end user typically has their device compromised by using free apps where the developers were bribed $$$ to add the proxy "SDK". The botnet operator then rents out the bandwidth at exorbitant rates to anyone who will pay for it.

    Chrome extensions are also a huge source of this, they look for extensions with a large install base and then make an offer to buy it to turn all the users into proxies.

  • slt2021 10 months ago

    end users install shady VPN apps/extensions to watch pirated content, and become part of residential proxy mesh/botnet

  • mrguyorama 10 months ago

    Sure, if you want a whole bunch of legitimately malicious traffic to be attributed to your internet account.

  • floam 10 months ago

    Yes. Google “honeygain”

  • ronsor 10 months ago

    That's probably where some of the proxies come from.

  • ipython 10 months ago

    If by “some” traffic you mean botnets, sneaker and ticket scalpers, scammers, content scrapers, credential stuffers … generally scummy stuff, sure.

    Based on this blog post I would not do any business with Skyvern, if they indeed do business with this underworld of bottom feeders.