Want to Rent an Internet Address at the White House?

White House staffers are reportedly using residential proxy services that make their internet addresses available for rent by others, security experts have warned. The issue stems from a Russian company, King Servers, which ran a web hosting business that was central to cyberattacks on election systems in Arizona and Illinois in 2016.

Layer3 Intel, a security firm, detected multiple proxy nodes on the internet address network used by the Executive Office of the President between October 5 and November 3. These proxy nodes exited the White House network 236 times during that period. Infatica, a proxy program often integrated into free applications, was also found to be running on Windows 11 installations within the network.

This situation highlights the widespread availability and potential risks of residential proxy services, which can be used to anonymize web traffic or spoof locations. These services are often resold at low prices, enabling easy access to confidential networks, including those of government and corporate entities.