Google Disrupts NetNut Residential Proxy Network Spanning 2 Million Home Devices

Google has taken decisive action against one of the largest residential proxy networks in operation, dealing a significant blow to an infrastructure that has been covertly hijacking home devices worldwide. In a coordinated effort with federal law enforcement and industry partners, Google's cybersecurity division has successfully dismantled a major portion of the NetNut proxy network, also known as Popa, which operated by compromising millions of residential devices across the globe. This operation highlights the ongoing battle against unauthorized proxy services that exploit consumer hardware to facilitate potentially malicious activities.

According to Google's Threat Intelligence Group, the recent operation has reduced NetNut's pool of compromised devices by millions, effectively crippling its ability to reroute traffic through unwitting victims' home networks. The initiative involved collaboration with the FBI, Lumen Technologies, and other cybersecurity entities in a multi-pronged approach to identify, map, and neutralize the infrastructure that NetNut had built over years of operation. By degrading this network, Google and its partners have prevented threat actors from anonymizing their malicious activities through these residential proxies.

Residential proxy networks like NetNut affect ordinary consumers whose devices are incorporated