Tech companies working with US law enforcement “significantly degraded” the NetNut residential proxy network as part of an ongoing effort to disrupt the tools cybercriminals use to conceal their activity, say researchers.
The work was carried out by Google, Lumen, Shadowserver, the FBI, and others, and marks a continuation of the IPIDEA proxy network disruption from January.
According to Google Cloud, those working on the operation believe NetNut was among the most popular residential proxy network providers and had at least 2 million devices enrolled in its botnet, comprising mainly small TV-streaming hardware. Crims often use residential proxy networks to make it look like their traffic is actually coming from legit homes and businesses.
Read more…
Source: The Register
Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- Meta, Starlink and Microsoft team up with the FBI to delete over 1.4 million accounts and seize millions in cryptocurrency related to huge scam networks targeting Americans
June 4, 2026
Dozens of people have been arrested, and millions of dollars in cryptocurrency seized, in a large-scale, multi-national operation against internet scammers and fraudsters. On May 18, the US Department of Justice, the FBI, Secret Service, law enforcement agencies in the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Thailand, as well as multiple commercial businesses such as Meta, ...
- Dutch cops wrest 17M devices from mystery botnet’s clutches
May 29, 2026
Dutch police say they dismantled a large botnet this week comprising at least 17 million infected devices. After being tipped off by a researcher at the Netherlands’ National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC-NL), police began an investigation, which resulted in the discovery of 200 servers underpinning the botnet’s infrastructure located in the country. Cybercrime specialists at The Hague ...
- Cybercriminal VPN used by ransomware actors dismantled in global crackdown
May 21, 2026
A VPN service used by cybercriminals to conceal ransomware attacks, data theft, and other serious offences has been dismantled in an international operation led by France and the Netherlands, with support from Europol and Eurojust. For years, the service, known as ‘First VPN’, was promoted on Russian-speaking cybercrime forums as a trusted tool for remaining beyond ...
- German Citizen Charged with Laundering Funds Linked to Prominent Darknet Marketplace “Dream Market”
May 13, 2026
Owe Martin Andresen, the suspected main administrator of Dream Market, one of the largest illicit darknet marketplaces before its 2019 shutdown, has been indicted for an alleged scheme to launder funds from Dream Market’s administrator accounts. Andresen was arrested last week in Germany on parallel charges brought by the German government. “Andresen allegedly channeled commissions earned ...
- Disgraced US gov software contractor found guilty of database destruction
May 8, 2026
A Virginia man, Sohaib Akhter, faces decades in prison after a jury convicted him of being involved in a scheme to delete approximately 96 databases containing US government data. The events of the case transpired around two weeks before the twin brothers allegedly involved were fired from their jobs at a software supplier to the US ...
- Police arrest SMS blaster crew that sent malicious messages to thousands across Toronto
May 7, 2026
Police have arrested and brought 44 charges against three men for allegedly operating an SMS blaster in downtown Toronto. The scheme, which began in November 2025, is the “first known instance” of an SMS blaster operating in Canada, according to the police report. In a statement, the Toronto Police Service said it believes tens of thousands of ...