Web scraping attacks using residential proxies continue to escalate, overwhelming websites with traffic. Recent observations indicate that media-streaming devices are increasingly being exploited to carry out these malicious activities, presenting challenges to the open web.
Scraper attacks have continued to escalate since the initial article on the topic was published in early 2025. Although there were temporary reductions in traffic following the takedown of the IPIDEA bot network by Google, the surging activity has resumed, making it difficult for websites to manage traffic effectively.
The majority of scraping traffic originates from residential and mobile networks, often directed by centralized command-and-control nodes. Software installed on ordinary devices fetches web pages upon command and returns data to the attacker, usually without the owner’s awareness.
Various operators manage residential-proxy networks for the purpose of scraping. Some are purely criminal, employing malware to commandeer user devices. The nature of these attacks complicates efforts to identify and block scraping effectively.
Recently, media-streaming devices have been recognized as significant conduits for malicious scraping software. These devices are sometimes compromised directly or used as part of a botnet, further complicating the web scraping landscape and the broader issue of maintaining a stable open web.
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Web scraping attacks using residential proxies continue to escalate, overwhelming websites with traffic. Recent observations indicate that media-streaming devices are increasingly being exploited to carry out these malicious activities, presenting challenges to the open web.