Know How Proxyware Apps Can Create Hijacking Risk to Your Bandwidth

Know How Proxyware Apps Can Create Hijacking Risk to Your Bandwidth

Lots of articles and blogs online talk about making "easy money" by letting others use your extra computer power and bandwidth sharing. When people install this kind of software on their computers, their systems join a big network. The people in charge of this network can make money by selling proxy services to people who pay for them.

Even if the websites promoting the "easy money" software say it's for good reasons, but we have discovered that downloading this software can be risky. That's because some of the people paying for these proxy services might be using them for things that aren't right or even against the law.

In our research, we looked into a bunch of popular "easy money" apps. These apps make the computers they run on act like home internet connections, and people buy these connections to use as their own. The apps are usually advertised through programs where famous YouTubers and bloggers recommend them to others.

We also looked into developers who sneak in "easy money" apps with other programs. This means when you download something, you might not even know you are getting these money-making apps, and the money goes to the developers instead of you. This puts users at a bigger risk because they can't control what's being done with their home or mobile internet addresses.

Make Money Online By Sharing Unused Bandwidth

Lots of blogs and YouTube channels share guides on making "easy money" with simple, step-by-step instructions. The people who write these guides often earn money by recommending these methods and promoting various "easy money" apps at the same time.

Here are some companies that use the "sharing network bandwidth" way to make money: HoneyGain, TraffMonitizer, Peer2Profit, PacketStream, and IPRoyal Pawns, among others. These companies let people make money by simply downloading and running their special software. Users usually share their internet connection and, in return, get credits that can be turned into real money later on. This is one of the easiest ways to make passive income.

People who want to earn money will have to download the software to share their internet connection. However, the companies selling the software use that shared connection to provide proxy services to customers. These customers might need proxies for things like checking demographics, playing games from different locations, finding good deals, or for privacy. The company websites mention these reasons as some of the uses for their proxy services.

You can easily find these companies with a quick search. Just type "passive income unused bandwidth" into Google, and you will see names like IPRoyal Pawns, Honeygain, PacketStream, Peer2Profit, EarnApp, and Traffmonetizer. People on internet forums even recommend installing several of these apps at once or running multiple virtual machines to try and make more money.

Sharing your internet connection might not be the main source of money for regular users. Based on a blogger's shared dashboard, more than half of their income (shown in a chart) comes from referrals. Referrals play a bigger role in how much money the blogger is making.

Things That Actually Happen

These services that share internet bandwidth say they will use your internet connection mostly for marketing research or similar stuff. So, when people share their internet, they are not just making money online; they are also helping the "industry" with tasks like marketing research.

But is that really the case? To figure out the risks someone might face by joining these programs, we looked at and studied the network traffic from many computers that had these network bandwidth-sharing services installed. These computers are called exit nodes.

Between January and September 2022, our source kept track of the data flowing through exit nodes connected to some of these companies offering passive income. It looked into what kind of information was passing through these exit nodes.

When we checked, we found out that traffic from other app partners was being directed to our exit node. Most of it seemed okay, like people browsing news or shopping online. But, we also noticed some connections that seemed suspicious. These connections showed that some users were doing things that might be considered shady or even against the law in certain countries.

Most of the time, the people who make the app won't be held legally responsible for any shady or harmful stuff done by others using their proxy services. However, those who installed the "network bandwidth sharing" apps have no way of keeping an eye on or controlling the kind of traffic passing through their exit node. That's why we label these network-sharing apps as riskware, specifically calling them proxyware.

Suspicious Activities from Proxyware

We noticed a bunch of times when automated tools were used to access services that provide temporary SMS (Short Message Service) numbers. These services are often used to sign up for a bunch of accounts on different websites all at once.

Now, why do people pair these services with proxy networks? Well, these accounts are usually tied to a specific location, and that location needs to match the phone number used during registration. So, users of these SMS services want their internet connection to look like it's coming from the same area as the phone number, and sometimes they use a special service if a website is only accessible in a particular region.

But here's the tricky part: these accounts, helped along by residential proxies and SMS services, are often used for sketchy stuff. Like, they might be used to trick regular people through scams or social engineering. Or, they could be used to exploit sign-up bonuses and promotions from online businesses, leading to big financial losses.

We also noticed something called potential click fraud from these networks. Basically, some computers with special software are set up to automatically "click" on online ads in the background. The problem is that the advertisers end up paying for these clicks even if no one actually sees the ads. It's like having a bunch of invisible clicks, and it can cost businesses a lot of money.

SQL injection is a prevalent security scan that seeks to exploit vulnerabilities in user input validation, potentially leading to unauthorized access, modification, or deletion of database content. Numerous automated tools facilitate this process, but conducting security scans without proper authorization or explicit written permission from the website owner is considered illegal in many countries, with potential prosecution consequences. Instances of probing for SQL injection vulnerabilities often originate from "best passive income" software, introducing legal risks for users who share their connections.

Another set of risky activities involves scans attempting to access the /etc/passwd file, exploiting various vulnerabilities. Successful exploitation signifies vulnerability to arbitrary file exposure, allowing attackers to obtain the password file on a server. Engaging in such activities without the server owner's written permission is illegal and subject to legal consequences. Hackers leverage these vulnerabilities to retrieve arbitrary files from compromised websites, emphasizing the importance of ethical and authorized testing.

Crawling government websites may not inherently be illegal, but there are typically terms of fair use that require users to avoid excessive querying simultaneously. Some websites employ technical measures, such as captcha services, to prevent heavy crawling. Notably, automated tools equipped with anti-captcha features attempt to bypass these restrictions when accessing government websites. Additionally, there are instances of crawlers scraping legal documents from law firms and court websites.

While crawling personal identifiable information (PII) may not be explicitly illegal in all countries, it raises ethical concerns due to the potential misuse of such information. A concerning example involves a suspicious crawler downloading bulk information about Brazilian citizens, including names, dates of birth, gender, and CPF (equivalent to national SSN). Investigations into such activities would likely involve "passive income" software users, as their IP addresses would be logged on the targeted websites.

Individuals who register numerous social media accounts often do so for various purposes, including online spam, scam campaigns, and the deployment of bots to spread misinformation and promote fake news. Additionally, such accounts are frequently utilized to provide deceptive reviews of products and services. In our traffic data, we've observed the registration of TikTok accounts with unconventional email addresses. While not inherently illegal, users employing "passive income" software may encounter challenges in proving their identity or navigating additional "validate you are a human" tests during regular browsing. This is because a high volume of registered accounts from their home IP address could lead to misidentification and association with dubious campaigns.

For those skeptical about the gravity of these examples, a noteworthy case from 2017 involved the arrest of a Russian citizen on terrorism charges. The individual operated a Tor exit node, which was exploited by someone to disseminate pro-violence messages during anti-government protests. Proxyware, akin to a Tor exit node, channels traffic from one user to another. This case underscores the potential legal repercussions for individuals who unknowingly facilitate objectionable activities through their computer as an exit node. Understanding the activities of those using your computer's resources is crucial to avoiding unintended legal entanglements.

Some Proxyware Operates Without User Consent

Some free software tools we found seem to secretly turn users' machines into proxy nodes without clear notification. These applications, like Globalhop SDK, may or may not explicitly mention this in the end-user license agreement (EULA). However, relying solely on the EULA, a document few users read, doesn't seem fair in informing users that installing the app could lead to unknown third parties using their devices as proxy nodes.

Either way, these kinds of software pose risks to users, and the developers are the ones getting paid for the "passive income." Users of the software typically only benefit from the free application itself without receiving any "passive income." Some software examples are given below;

• Walliant, an automated wallpaper changer

• Decacopy Clipboard Manager, a program designed to store users’ recent copy-pasted content

• EasyAsVPN, unwanted software often installed by tricking users

• Taskbar System, an app that changes the color of your taskbar

• Relevant Knowledge, an adware

• RestMinder, a clock software that reminds users to take a rest

• Viewndow, software that keeps selected app window pinned

• Saferternet, DNS based web-filtering software

Note: If you want to share your bandwidth without any kind of problem, then you must rely on Pocketsinfull. This is a legitimate website that offers various online side hustles through which you can earn tons of money.