A new report says millions of American internet connections are being hijacked to commit crimes. It might be happening in your home, and you may have no idea.
The report, released Thursday by the nonprofit Digital Citizens Alliance, found an estimated 20 million U.S. internet connections are exploited annually by cybercriminals abroad.
These criminals use hijacked residential IP addresses to appear legitimate, enabling them to conduct financial fraud, cyber-attacks, download and share child sexual abuse material and even conduct national security attacks.
The exploitation allows criminal traffic to bypass detection systems used by websites, banks and security systems by making it seem as though the activity originates from a trustworthy American household.
The Digital Citizens Alliance report indicates a broad risk to Americans, particularly given that researchers say the median American home contains 17 internet-connected devices. Criminals leverage these compromised connections to avoid detection while carrying out various illicit activities.
Executive Director Tom Galvin for the Digital Citizens Alliance, highlighted the severe consequences for homeowners.
“Their home becomes a launch pad for financial fraud and even the spread of child sexual abuse material,” Galvin said. “If the law enforcement detects this, they go to the family house, not to where the criminal is.”
Steve Guris, Threat Intelligence Lead for risk3sixty Armada Advanced Technical Services, noted how average individuals might detect a problem.
“The most likely indicator that your average person is gonna see first is disruption in their online activity, be that online shopping, going into their banking, or even just accessing their email,” Guris said.
The hijacking of connections often stems from risky online behaviors. These include downloading free VPNs, using apps that offer payment for your extra bandwidth, plugging in piracy devices or using old routers and smart devices.
Avoid these apps and devices, and be mindful of the age of your internet devices.
“The older they are, the more vulnerable they become,” Galvin said.
Devices vary on how often they should be replaced, but researchers say a good rule of thumb is to replace internet devices every five years.
Keep your operating systems, software and firmware up to date too.
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