Sandvine warns about zero-rating ‘fraud’

A new report from broadband equipment maker Sandvine Corp. says that some Internet users are avoiding data charges by disguising Internet traffic to look like zero-rated content. “Enticed by the potential of receiving unlimited data for minimal (or no) cost, subscribers have a strong incentive to engage in circumventing behaviour,” the company said in its Global Internet Phenomena Spotlight report, released Wednesday. Sandvine sells services that allow telecoms to identify such circumvention, it said in the report and in a press release. The report used data from a case study of an anonymous Sandvine client. It said in the release that “subscribers suspected of using HTTP header injection to commit fraud averaged 805MB of usage each month,” which is more than 300 per cent “higher than the 2G and 3G network subscribers' mean monthly usage.” It added that while only one per cent of “subscribers are suspected of committing fraud, they were responsible for 140 TB of total network traffic in a single month. The operator of this network believes zero-rating fraud could be responsible for 10% of total network traffic.” The report said there are a “variety of applications” available online that help users engage in this behaviour. “For instance, a subscriber could purchase a zero-rated Facebook plan and use one of the either free or commercially available techniques that make all data traffic look like it was associated” with Facebook Inc.’s social network, the report said. “Should these techniques become widespread, then the result could significantly prevent ability to suit the needs of individual subscribers with more tailored plans.” While the company referred to such behaviour as “fraud,” it noted that not all service providers’ terms and conditions forbid such behaviour. The report comes as the CRTC is scheduled to issue a decision Thursday on whether zero-rated plans are allowed in Canada, following a hearing it held on the issue last year.

Sandvine warns about zero-rating ‘fraud’

Brief | April 19, 2017

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Sandvine warns about zero-rating ‘fraud’

Brief | April 19, 2017

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