Protect Your Network: The Hidden Dangers of Residential Proxies and How to Defend Against Them

May 9, 2025

You pay for your internet connection every month, but you only use it part of the time. What if you could monetize that unused time and turn it into passive income? Residential proxies make this possible. By installing an app on your phone or a program on your computer, you allow a third party to use your network connection in exchange for compensation during the times you’re not actively using it.

However, the people purchasing access to residential proxies often exploit them for malicious purposes. They use your network to run botnets, launch Denial of Service (DoS) attacks against legitimate organizations, or leverage the clean reputation of your IP address to bypass security measures. Many individuals who sign up to sell these services either don’t realize or don’t care that their network is being used for these harmful activities.

Now imagine someone connects a phone running a residential proxy to your Wi-Fi. Your business network could unknowingly become a tool for cybercriminals. This creates serious risks: your IP address could be flagged as hosting malware, leading to email and web servers blocking your business; legitimate users may experience slow network performance; and worse, your network could become entangled in major cybercrime operations.

To protect your network from being exploited, it’s essential to control which devices can connect and what they are allowed to do. Here’s how we can help:

Enforcing Device Policies: Block unknown or unauthorized devices from accessing your network.
Utilizing Network Segmentation: Separate your network into segments to isolate sensitive systems and data from general traffic.
Monitoring Network Traffic: Use advanced tools to track and analyze traffic patterns, identifying suspicious activity in real time.
Conducting Regular Audits: Perform periodic reviews of your network to ensure compliance with security protocols and uncover potential vulnerabilities.
Implementing Firewall Rules: Configure firewalls to prevent unauthorized applications and services from communicating over your network.

If you’re unsure whether residential proxies are affecting your network, it’s crucial to find out. Millions of devices worldwide are unknowingly aiding cybercriminals, but we can help ensure yours isn’t part of the problem. Let us assist you in safeguarding your business against these threats.

Henry Lu: As Security Manager, Henry develops and implements security measures to protect our organization’s assets, employees, and clients. He also works with cross-functional teams to assess risks, develop security policies and procedures, and ensure compliance with industry standards and regulations.

Network 1 designs, builds and supports the IT you need to run your business more securely, productively and successfully. Whether you want to outsource all of your IT needs to a reliable, responsive, service-oriented company, or need to supplement the work of your internal IT staff, we will carefully evaluate where you are now, discuss where you want to go and implement and support a plan to get you there with as little interruption as possible.

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