With VPN detection API becoming increasingly common, detecting visitors using privacy tools is crucial for businesses. These tools can help protect against fraud, limit location spoofing, and enforce copyright policies. However, they can also be used for more nefarious purposes. Fraudsters often use VPNs and proxies to circumvent content restrictions, avoid man-in-the-middle attacks over public Wi-Fi, or access restricted online services.
There are a variety of methods for VPN detection, but most require the IP address to be queried against publicly accessible databases, which raises concerns about user consent and data protection. Some also involve invasive probing of open network ports, which can cause privacy violations and may result in false positives, such as when these ports are configured for legitimate reasons.
What Is a Fingerprint in Cybersecurity and How Does It Work
Fingerprint uses a more responsible method for VPN detection that doesn’t require querying an external database. Instead, it analyzes the network signature of HTTP requests sent to a web server and compares it to a known operating system fingerprint. An OS mismatch indicates that a device is attempting to spoof the user agent and may be connecting via a proxy. In addition, it checks whether an IP addresses falls within a range of publicly published networks, such as those operated by AWS or Digitalocean, which are known to host proxies.
ipXapi combines VPN detection with all the device intelligence signals you need for geolocation, risk analysis, and fraud prevention—including IP blocklist matching and browser bot detection—in one API call. Its accuracy is unmatched and it includes all of the features of our standard geolocation offering plus VPN detection.