Technology keeps making things easier for humans in the contemporary era. The ease and evolving trends allow the swatters to conceal their identity without any issue. Swatting attack is a form of harassment most commonly used by members of the online gaming community. It is the act of inducing a phony emergency law enforcement reaction against a target victim. Swatters accomplish this by fraudulently reporting a violent emergency scenario, such as a shooting or a hostage crisis, to emergency lines such as 911.
Protecting personal information is a significant cause of concern for the masses. Therefore, people are encouraged to use residential proxies to hide their digital footprint; one example is the Brazil proxy. using Brazil proxies allow users to mask their IP address with an actual IP address from a device located in Brazil. This makes the users appear as if they are browsing the internet from there. This also spoofs their location, keeping hackers and swatters at bay. Getting a residential proxy subscription can be expensive, but the security benefits that users can avail of from proxies outweigh the associated costs.
Random surfers do not have direct access to your data, schedules, apps, or files unless they have your private IP address. Proxies reroute requests through their servers, connect to the internet and retrieve your required information. As a result, the user’s personal information and password get an extra layer of protection if the server has encryption capabilities. It’s better to be safe than sorry,
Table of Contents
Swatters Hijack for Fun
Swatters frequently regard their actions as a joke, but they can have significant repercussions. Swatting attacks take up law enforcement response teams, preventing them from responding to real crises. Swatting cases in which law enforcement officers have been a target is not unusual. At one point, the swatting victim was shot and killed by law enforcement.
Los Angeles police surrounded the home of Black Lives Matter activist Melina Abdullah in August 2020. A scene in which armed officers surrounded her home was live-streamed by the co-founder of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles. The episode turned out to be a swatting attempt, in which a caller falsely reported a hostage scenario “to send a message.”
Criminals are using weakly-secured smart gadgets to live-stream or film swatting acts, according to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.
How to be Safe from Brute Force Attacks
Some plugins and scripts safeguard your login page from brute force attacks by blocking the attacker’s IP address. A login-protection script, for example, may automatically block the related IP address and foil the attack if someone or something makes ten unsuccessful login requests. As a result, the attacker increases the number of “undetected” login attempts while lowering the chances of being blocked by utilizing various IPs.
The attackers might quickly get around any IP blocking technique by using readily available open proxy lists. They can use two or three attempts per proxy because most sites do not block one unsuccessful password. Without being stopped, an attacker with a list of 1,000 proxies can attempt 2,000 or 3,000 passwords.
However, things are different when we have a residential proxy, such as a Brazil proxy, to keep us safe. All addresses in the IP pool consist of real devices from a predetermined location, in this case, Brazil. This subnet of proxies makes detecting real IP difficult. Hackers and websites can easily detect data center proxies because numerous users share a single data center IP address since they are publicly available. There are chances that the IP is already banned on certain websites.
Effective Tips for Users
Some people use proxies for personal reasons, such as faking their location to watch movies online. However, companies can also use residential proxies to fulfill several essential functions by following some basic tips.
- Get Increased Security: To stop prying eyes from seeing your information, enable your proxy server to encrypt your web requests. You can also use the proxy server to block access to known malware sites.
- Limit the Number of Login Attempts: On most directory systems, brute force attacks increment some failed login attempts — Locking out users after a few failed tries is a good defense against brute force attacks, effectively nullifying the attack in progress.
- Use Strong Passwords: By requiring users to enter secure passwords, you may effectively prevent swatting assaults. For example, you might specify that the password has a certain length and contains specific characteristics, such as a mix of upper and lower case letters, digits, and special characters. Some tips would include not using the same passwords, keeping a longer password, etc.
- Multi-Factor Authentication: You may select a basic two-step process, such as credentials followed by an email, or allow the user to choose from various alternatives, such as credentials, social media, email, SMS, and more. Multi-factor authentication provides a layered security arrangement to each login attempt by requiring human participation, effectively preventing a brute force attack.
Read Also: Bitcoin vs Stocks: A Comparative Guide for Investors
Conclusion
With the growing threat of swatting attacks, taking the help of proxies has become a necessity for anyone who wants to protect their data. There are numerous solutions available to support the prevention of a successful attack. The nature of such attacks varies from one case to another; this is why there isn’t truly a one-size-fits-all solution for prevention.
As a result, combining numerous tactics to establish a sturdy line of defense may be the best option. For that matter, one can consider using a proxy to protect themselves from any threat. It will keep your internal networking safe from every dangerous thing present on the internet.