Avast reports 20.8 million cyberattacks linked to bandwidth sharing

Researchers at Gen, the company behind Avast, have identified significant security risks associated with residential proxy networks. Between January and mid-September 2026, Gen products blocked 20.8 million distinct attacks on Windows computers that were linked to traffic from residential proxies.

Bandwidth-sharing applications often offer users rewards, such as cash, free VPNs, or ad-free experiences, in exchange for access to their unused internet connection. This process enrolls the user's device into a residential proxy network, allowing third parties to route web traffic through the user's IP address. This can lead to malicious activities, such as phishing attacks, being associated with the user's home connection.

While residential proxy services have legitimate commercial applications, they can be abused by actors seeking to evade security safeguards. Survey data indicates that 29% of U.S. consumers have used such apps, yet only 33% of respondents believe these services pose privacy or security risks.