14 DAY TRIAL // Security and encryption services provider Proxy.sh has admitted intercepting traffic on one of its US servers in an effort to identify a hacker.
Interestingly, the VPN provider wasn’t forced by law enforcement to do so. Instead, the company took matters into its own hands after being alerted by the family of a girl who was harassed online.
“We are unfortunate to announce that there have been abuse complaints about hacking activities on our U.S. Illinois 1 node. We have been saddened to learn that these actions were harmful to individuals (human beings),” Proxy.sh stated after being notified of the hacker’s activities.
“As a result, we will open this node again and monitor it with Wireshark for a period of 7 days. If you are the hacker, please stop your activities and leave our network. You are not welcome here. Our heaven is reserved to those who are not harmful to other human beings. If you do not leave, we will find you and report your activities to NGO and press officers.”
The company has told TorrentFreak that the hacker came forward and apologized soon after the announcement was posted on the website, so they quickly stopped monitoring the server. However, this answers some questions regarding the trustworthiness of VPN providers.
Proxy.sh has argued that the decision to sniff traffic is in line with its ethics policy, which condemns harmful activities. The provider highlights the fact that it’s transparent regarding such issues.
“We will only intervene into our traffic when we believe there have been activities infringing our ethical terms – that is when activities harmful to human beings (not corporations or entities) are taking place on our network,” Proxy.sh told TorrentFreak.
“In such case, we do not privilege law enforcement agencies but rather communication, transparency and assistance from NGOs.”