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Byteful maintains a comprehensive list of restricted domains to ensure network security, prevent abuse, and maintain compliance with regulations.

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Direct IP Address Traffic

From 7 September 2026, traffic sent directly to IP addresses is blocked by default.This kind of traffic carries a higher risk of abuse, so we are restricting it across our network.If your use case requires it, you can request access by opening a ticket in your dashboard with a short explanation of what you need it for. Requests are reviewed case by case and typically require KYC verification.

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Why We Restrict Certain Domains

We block access to a large number of financial, banking, NSFW websites, and all government domains for several important reasons:
  • Security Purposes: To protect sensitive financial and government infrastructure
  • Abuse Prevention: To proactively stop any abusive activity from appearing on our network
  • Regulatory Compliance: As an IWF (Internet Watch Foundation) member, we enforce some of their blocklists
  • Risk Management: To reduce the risk of fraudulent activities through our proxy services

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Types of Restricted Domains

The main categories of restricted domains include:
  • Government Websites (.gov domains and country-specific government domains)
  • Banking & Financial Services (banks, payment processors, financial institutions)
  • NSFW Websites (adult content and related services)
  • Payment Processors (PayPal, Stripe, etc.)
  • Mail Services (national postal services)
  • Select E-commerce Platforms (case-by-case basis)
  • Direct IP Addresses (requests that target an IP address instead of a hostname)

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Indicative Examples Only

Our full blocklist contains over 6,000 items and grows dynamically every day. Many entries are entire top-level domains (TLDs) — for example blocking gov or mil restricts millions of individual websites in a single rule. The examples below are indicative, not exhaustive. They illustrate the kinds of domains we restrict; they are not the complete list.
We do not publish or share our full blocklist. Keeping it private is a deliberate part of how we prevent fraud and abuse across the network. If you have a legitimate use case and need to know whether a specific domain is accessible, our support team can review your use case and confirm. Contact support@byteful.com.

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Reporting Domains That Should Be Blocked

No blocklist is ever complete, and we welcome help keeping ours current. If you are affiliated with an organisation that should be shielded from proxy traffic but does not appear to be covered, such as operators of essential or public-interest services, please contact us at compliance@byteful.com with the relevant domain, your connection to it, and why it warrants protection. We may ask you to confirm your affiliation, and we prioritise reports involving genuine safety, security, or compliance risk. We are not able to act on requests to restrict commercial websites simply because they carry valuable public data, as that falls outside the purpose this list serves.

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Impact on Proxy Usage

When attempting to access restricted domains through our proxies, you may experience:
  • Connection failures
  • Access denied errors
  • Network timeouts
  • HTTP 403 errors

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Requesting Exceptions

In certain cases, legitimate business needs may require access to specific domains that are on our restricted list. If you have a legitimate use case that requires access to a blocked domain:
  1. Contact our support team at support@byteful.com
  2. Provide details about the specific domain you need access to
  3. Explain your legitimate use case
  4. Our team will review your request on a case-by-case basis
Please note that exceptions are rarely granted for government, banking, and financial domains due to security and compliance requirements.

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Staying Informed

Our list of restricted domains is regularly updated to maintain security and compliance standards. For the most current information: