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Do these VPN services actually work on consumer websites? They conveniently list their providers here [1]. For an online shop we operate, we have blocked most

by aeyes 4y ago

Do these VPN services actually work on consumer websites? They conveniently list their providers here [1]. For an online shop we operate, we have blocked most of these ASNs because 99% of the traffic we saw from them was malicious. [1] https://mullvad.net/en/servers/ https://mullvad.net/en/servers/

OneLeggedCat 4y ago
In the case of Mullvad, my experience is that something like 5% of websites get pissy about it, and I have to turn it off, or Tor, or whatever else to get around it.
stjohnswarts 4y ago
95% of the time, sure. You will hit some companies that will ID it as VPN and refuse though. I just don't do business there and send them an email to update their security policy and I'll try again at some future date. I even have a template email that I keep just for that purpose.
- aeyes 4y ago
  If I received such an email I wouldn't do anything about it. 99.9% of the traffic we see from M247 is malicious and there is no chance that I would unblock this ASN on an online shop.
  - stjohnswarts 4y ago
    And that's fine! That's the beauty of the freedom of choice. I can take my business elsewhere and the company that banned the mullvad IP can have one less potential (but not really a) hacker to worry about.
  - zo1 4y ago
    Malicious how?
nabaraz 4y ago
No, Netflix, Hulu all fail for me.
AtNightWeCode 4y ago
To my knowledge there are three somewhat used rules that can have an impact on these types of services. 1. Only allow known/cleared bot traffic from any non-consumer ISP. 2. Block any ASN where bad traffic comes from especially if there is no good traffic. 3. Block any VPN services. I don’t know if Mullvad have their own ASNs or if they are hosted at services with ASNs that is classified as consumer ISPs or not. It is probably a mix. I know for instance that OVPN have servers at some shady non-consumer ISPs. So, it sometimes gets blocked. It is also, unfortunately, not uncommon that VPN connections are used for attacks. And if the VPN uses a smaller service provider, then that whole ISP may get blocked. If the VPN uses a shady service provider. The VPN may fall victim to other user activity from that ISP. I have not worked with any site that blocks VPN all together. Tor is often blocked along with some countries. Some streaming services blocks VPN though. Most sites do not, I think. The way things are going right now is that these types of services will become more difficult to use on legal commercial sites over time.

by aeyes 4y ago

OneLeggedCat 4y ago

In the case of Mullvad, my experience is that something like 5% of websites get pissy about it, and I have to turn it off, or Tor, or whatever else to get around it.

stjohnswarts 4y ago

95% of the time, sure. You will hit some companies that will ID it as VPN and refuse though. I just don't do business there and send them an email to update their security policy and I'll try again at some future date. I even have a template email that I keep just for that purpose.

aeyes 4y ago
If I received such an email I wouldn't do anything about it. 99.9% of the traffic we see from M247 is malicious and there is no chance that I would unblock this ASN on an online shop.
- stjohnswarts 4y ago
  And that's fine! That's the beauty of the freedom of choice. I can take my business elsewhere and the company that banned the mullvad IP can have one less potential (but not really a) hacker to worry about.
- zo1 4y ago
  Malicious how?

nabaraz 4y ago

No, Netflix, Hulu all fail for me.

AtNightWeCode 4y ago

To my knowledge there are three somewhat used rules that can have an impact on these types of services. 1. Only allow known/cleared bot traffic from any non-consumer ISP. 2. Block any ASN where bad traffic comes from especially if there is no good traffic. 3. Block any VPN services. I don’t know if Mullvad have their own ASNs or if they are hosted at services with ASNs that is classified as consumer ISPs or not. It is probably a mix. I know for instance that OVPN have servers at some shady non-consumer ISPs. So, it sometimes gets blocked. It is also, unfortunately, not uncommon that VPN connections are used for attacks. And if the VPN uses a smaller service provider, then that whole ISP may get blocked. If the VPN uses a shady service provider. The VPN may fall victim to other user activity from that ISP. I have not worked with any site that blocks VPN all together. Tor is often blocked along with some countries. Some streaming services blocks VPN though. Most sites do not, I think. The way things are going right now is that these types of services will become more difficult to use on legal commercial sites over time.