Proxies and mirrors are an effective way to get around the court-ordered blockade of torrent sites in a number of countries. Those knowledgeable enough to look for workarounds are likely also aware of the risks associated with such sites although few are probably aware of just how risky it can be.
As Torrent Freak points out, proxy sites were initially used to help users gain access to their favorite torrent sites. Here lately, however, such services and tools are being abused by those looking to make a quick buck. They're doing so by adding in their own scripts, most of which are less than desirable.
Security researcher Gabor Szathmari recently sampled 6,158 proxy sites and found that more than 99 percent added in their own code. Just 21 sites sampled didn't tamper with the original site. Of those that did add code, most did so with malicious intent such as malware or click-fraud, he added.
The publication spoke with several of the source torrent sites including The Pirate Bay, Kickass Torrents and ExtraTorrent, all of which said they are aware of the issue and are doing their best to mitigate the damage by blocking proxies and mirrors that are suspicious in nature.
ProxyHouse, which operates most of the proxies that Szathmari sampled, said they've contacted their advertising network regarding the malicious ads.