Google & FBI Take Down Global Residential Proxy Network Powered By Millions of Devices

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A coordinated operation involving Google’s Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG), the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), internet infrastructure providers, and cybersecurity partners has significantly disrupted a large residential proxy network and seized hundreds of domains linked to NetNut, a large residential proxy service operated by the publicly traded Israeli company Alarum Technologies Investigators believe it relied on millions of internet-connected consumer devices around the world.

The enforcement action comes approximately two weeks after KrebsOnSecurity published reports from multiple cybersecurity firms linking NetNut to the Popa botnet—a network of at least two million devices compromised by malware, often without the knowledge or consent of their owners.

The action represents another step in an increasingly aggressive campaign by technology companies and law enforcement agencies to dismantle commercial networks that enable cybercriminals to disguise their online activity behind legitimate residential internet connections. While officials say the operation has substantially reduced the network’s capacity, they caution that similar services continue to operate globally and remain a persistent challenge for defenders.

Residential proxies have become a critical cybercrime tool

Unlike traditional proxy servers hosted in commercial data centers, residential proxy services route internet traffic through ordinary household internet connections. To websites and security systems, requests appear to originate from legitimate homes rather than from cloud infrastructure or known malicious servers.

This capability has transformed…

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