Industry News

White House Devices Reportedly Running Proxy Software That Lets Others Rent Their Internet Addresses

Krebs on Security · 5 Nov 2026

Key Takeaway Check your business and staff devices for unapproved proxy or bandwidth-sharing apps, and set clear policies that ban installing them on anything used for work.

Security experts have warned that several White House staffers are using computers or mobile devices equipped with residential proxy services. These services make a device's internet address available for other people to rent, so strangers can route their online activity through it and appear to be connecting from that location.

One of the proxy services involved is run by a Russian company. According to the report, the founder's web hosting business was ground zero for cyberattacks against election systems in Arizona and Illinois in 2016.

The summary does not detail how the software came to be installed or what, if any, data was affected. Still, the finding shows how easily proxy software can sit on everyday work and personal devices, turning a trusted network location into something others can borrow.

residential proxy White House Krebs on Security endpoint security election security

Summarised by CISO AI from Krebs on Security, written with Claude Sonnet 5.5. We link back to every original so you can read it yourself.