What is a Proxy Detection Solution?

proxy detection solution

A proxy detection solution is a tool that scans, checks, and blocks connections to your website or app from IP addresses that are suspected of being proxied. It can help reduce fraud, increase security and compliance, improve customer experience, and maintain the integrity of your website’s network track.

Proxy detection solution measures analyze several critical attributes of an internet connection such as the real IP address, identifying if a user is connecting through a VPN or proxy, and determines the characteristics of the internet service being used. This data is then compared with an internal and external list of known proxies to identify risky connections.

While there are many ways to detect a proxy in PHP (header test, port scan, and blacklisting), complete proxy detection is often best left to an API service. A well-resourced API solution will be able to build out an extensive array of ports to scan, recognize a number of common proxy open ports such as 3128 and 1080, and perform advanced checks such as comparing the device timezone with the IP header to see if there are any mismatches that may indicate a proxy or bot activity.

Defending Against Proxy Connections: Choosing the Right Proxy Detection Solution

Fraudsters use proxies to hide their identity, spoof their location, and engage in activities like multiple account creation, bonus abuse, payment fraud, and more. These activities can cause huge peaks in traffic and degrade the performance of your servers, application, or website. A robust proxy detection API will not only detect these types of connections but also prevent them from causing any damage by blocking them before they can do any harm.