It’s 2025, and yet the internet is still a lawless Wild West where scammers, malware pushers, and phishing sites run rampant—all because CDN and hosting providers refuse to take responsibility for their own networks. Instead of being proactive, they sit back and hide behind legal loopholes, waiting for court orders and official complaints before lifting a single finger. he internet is still a lawless Wild West Let’s be honest: This isn’t about technical limitations. These companies have the power to block harmful domains, takedown scam websites, and cut off malicious traffic at the source. But instead of using this power for good, they choose to do nothing—because, let’s face it, bad actors are paying customers too. The “Not Our Problem” Excuse is a Joke Hosting providers and CDNs like Cloudflare, AWS, and others love to act like neutral entities, claiming they just “deliver content” and “provide infrastructure.” Meanwhile, they provide a safe haven for cybercriminals and fraudsters, who use their services to distribute malware, launch phishing campaigns, keep themselves hidden, and run outright scams. How many times have researchers and cybersecurity professionals reported shady domains to hosting companies only to receive the same tired response? “We require a court order or legal request before we can take action.” Seriously? By the time the legal system catches up, the scam has already run its course, stolen thousands of dollars, and moved on to another domain. “We require a court order or legal request before we can take action.” The Industry is Profiting From Fraud It’s no secret that money is the real reason providers refuse to act. A bad website still pays for hosting. A phishing scam still buys bandwidth. Even botnets, which flood the internet with spam and fake traffic, line the pockets of CDNs that happily process their requests. At some point, we have to call this what it really is: negligence with a profit motive. These companies are knowingly facilitating cybercrime, and no amount of “neutrality” jargon changes that. Simple Solutions, Zero Excuses The technology to identify and block malicious sites already exists. CDNs and hosting providers have access to real-time threat intelligence, blacklists, and automated monitoring tools. If email providers can filter out phishing emails before they hit your inbox, why can’t CDNs do the same for malicious websites? Here’s what needs to happen: Automatic blocking of known bad actors – Malware distribution, phishing domains, and scam sites shouldn’t need a court order to be shut down. If it’s malicious, block, suspend, or cancel it.


Transparency and accountability – Hosting providers should publish lists of the bad domains they’ve blocked, instead of hiding behind vague policies.


Heavy penalties for inaction – If a CDN or hosting provider refuses to act against fraud, they should be held legally responsible for enabling cybercrime. Automatic blocking of known bad actors – Malware distribution, phishing domains, and scam sites shouldn’t need a court order to be shut down. If it’s malicious, block, suspend, or cancel it. Automatic blocking of known bad actors – Malware distribution, phishing domains, and scam sites shouldn’t need a court order to be shut down. If it’s malicious, block, suspend, or cancel it. Automatic blocking of known bad actors Transparency and accountability – Hosting providers should publish lists of the bad domains they’ve blocked, instead of hiding behind vague policies. Transparency and accountability – Hosting providers should publish lists of the bad domains they’ve blocked, instead of hiding behind vague policies. Transparency and accountability Heavy penalties for inaction – If a CDN or hosting provider refuses to act against fraud, they should be held legally responsible for enabling cybercrime. Heavy penalties for inaction – If a CDN or hosting provider refuses to act against fraud, they should be held legally responsible for enabling cybercrime. Heavy penalties for inaction Enough is Enough The internet doesn’t have to be a free-for-all for criminals. The companies that control its infrastructure need to stop playing dumb and start enforcing their own rules. If they don’t, then regulators need to step in and start treating them as accomplices. The bottom line? If you’re hosting scams, phishing sites, or malware, you’re part of the problem. And if you’re a CDN, DNS, or hosting provider allowing it to happen, you’re just as guilty. The Lack of Accountability Let’s talk about the absolute lack of accountability among internet service providers (ISPs), data centers, CDN, Proxy providers, and hosting companies when it comes to internet fraud. It’s a joke. A scammer sets up shop on their network—phishing sites, fake online stores, botnet operations, spam email farms—you name it. And what do these companies do when it’s reported? Nothing. Nothing. Oh, wait, correction: they pass the buck. They ignore reports, claim they need “official law enforcement action,” or—my personal favorite—pretend they don’t see any wrongdoing. Excuse me? You’re the ones providing the infrastructure these criminals are using to rip people off. It’s your IP addresses hosting scam sites. Your servers blasting out phishing emails. Your network provides the backbone for some dodgy operation that ruins lives. But instead of cutting them off, you sit back and wait for a court order? A subpoena? A lawsuit? Here’s a radical idea: if someone reports fraudulent activity on your network, investigate it. And if it checks out? Shut. It. Down. Immediately. Don’t give fraudsters a safe haven because you’re too lazy, greedy, or indifferent to act. It shouldn’t take weeks, months, or legal action to remove a scam site that’s tricking people into handing over their credit card details. Here’s a radical idea: Shut. It. Down. The longer it stays up, the more damage it does. The longer it stays up, the more damage it does. And let’s be honest—most of these fraud-friendly networks know what’s happening. They just don’t care. Why? Because those scammers pay for hosting like everyone else, and as long as the money keeps rolling in, these companies are perfectly happy looking the other way. know Well, here’s some news for them: You’re just as complicit. You’re facilitating crime. And every time you ignore a legitimate fraud report, you make the internet worse for everyone—except, of course, for the criminals lining your pockets. You’re just as complicit. So, to any ISP, hosting provider, or data center still dragging their feet when it comes to fraud operations running on your networks: Do better. Stop protecting scammers. Stop pretending it’s not your responsibility. And for the love of all things ethical, if your network is being used for fraud, shut it down. Do better. shut it down.

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CDN and Hosting Providers Need to Step Up: Stop Protecting Bad Actors

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