Botnets powered by residential proxy networks are growing

Botnets powered by residential proxy networks are proliferating, enabling cybercriminals to evade detection by blending in with legitimate traffic, Lumen Technology’s Black Lotus Labs said in a report. The global scale of botnets observed by Lumen is currently approaching 60 million victim IP addresses, with roughly 1 in 4 of those compromised IPs based in the United States, based on information published by cyberscoop.

These botnets are growing in size, with an average of 10 distinct botnets controlling about 1 million active victims daily. The demand for access to these IP addresses fuels opportunities for growth, reselling, and quick rebounds following disruptions. For example, the IPIDEA residential proxy network, disrupted in January, recovered to nearly half its strength within hours and has since surpassed its pre-disruption botnet size. Cybercriminals are exploiting a growing pool of vulnerable devices, with over 1 billion devices currently available to be unknowingly incorporated into botnets. Defenders face a challenge as botnet operators have formed a global supply chain that is difficult to break. Multiple residential proxy services are collaborating, creating the largest cooperative network ever seen on the internet. Black Lotus Labs tracks more than 30 distinct malicious proxy botnet clusters, most boasting over 100,000 daily victims. Taking down individual botnets is likely a short-lived solution, as the malicious proxy environment has created a collective botnet capable of moving millions of IPs quickly. This issue is expected to grow without proper industry and law enforcement regulation.

Source: cyberscoop