FAQs

Q: How fast does Spur detect a VPN or Proxy?

New VPNs or proxies are typically identified within 24-48 hours depending on where it is hosted and how it is being used. Monocle will detect all new VPNs and proxies on first use. All new identifications are available immediately in our API products. On-prem solutions will be update on their next update cadence or in real-time if that option has been added.

Q: What Proxy or VPN services are known bad?

Some services tend to be more abuse than others. It is important to remember that because abuse is ultimately driven by the users of a service, this can ebb and flow depending on different threat actors, techniques, and targets. We recommend looking for services that explicitly enable anonymous purchases without logging and services that are frequently sourced by malware.

Q: Can a single IP address be associated with more than one proxy or anonymization service?

Yes. Shared infrastructure, reseller arrangements, and overlapping proxy ecosystems can result in an IP being associated with multiple services. Determining the exact service responsible for a specific event often requires additional context and investigation.

Q: How quickly can Spur identify and classify newly discovered VPN or proxy infrastructure?

Spur continuously researches emerging infrastructure and updates classifications as new intelligence becomes available. New infrastructure is often identified and incorporated rapidly, allowing customers to benefit from current intelligence through the API and data products.

Q: Does Spur identify legitimate privacy-focused users as well as malicious actors?

Spur identifies infrastructure characteristics and anonymization technologies, not intent. Organizations determine how to use those signals based on their business requirements, risk tolerance, and policies.

Q: How does Spur detect VPNs, residential proxies, and ISP proxies?

Spur uses a combination of network intelligence, infrastructure analysis, behavioral signals, routing characteristics, historical observations, and proprietary research to identify and classify IP addresses. Multiple signals are evaluated together to determine the likelihood that an IP belongs to a VPN, residential proxy network, ISP proxy service, hosting provider, or other category.

Q: Why are residential proxies more difficult to detect than traditional VPNs?

Residential proxies route traffic through real consumer internet connections, causing activity to appear as if it originates from legitimate users. Because the IP addresses belong to trusted ISPs rather than known hosting providers, traditional reputation and geolocation controls are often less effective.

Q: Why might a residential IP be classified as a proxy?

Some residential IPs participate in proxy-sharing networks, malware-based proxy networks, commercial residential proxy services, or other infrastructure that causes them to exhibit proxy-like behavior. Spur evaluates multiple indicators before making classifications.

Q: Does the use of a VPN always indicate malicious activity?

No. Many users rely on VPNs for privacy, remote work, travel, or security. VPN detection should be viewed as an additional signal that helps organizations better understand the context of a connection rather than as evidence of malicious intent.

Q: What should an ISP, hoster, or ASN owner do if they discover residential proxy activity within their address space?

Organizations should investigate affected customers or devices, review acceptable-use policies, validate indicators, notify impacted parties when appropriate, and coordinate remediation efforts. Infrastructure owners are often in the best position to disrupt abuse occurring within their networks.

Quick answers to common questions about Spur products and data.

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