Google Targets NetNut Residential Proxy Network Operating Across Two Million Devices

Several international authorities have coordinated operations to disrupt the infrastructure behind a large residential proxy network, also known as Popa, after Google dealt a significant blow to one of the internet’s largest residential proxy ecosystems. 

Through the action, which was conducted in collaboration with Lumen Technologies, the FBI, and other industry partners, millions of compromised Android-powered devices, including smart TVs, streaming boxes, and other internet-connected consumer hardware, were prevented from accessing the network. This significantly reduced the network’s operational capacity. 

In the network, ordinary household devices were covertly transformed into proxy relays that permitted cybercriminals and state-linked threat actors to route malicious activity through legitimate residential IP addresses while masking their identities while provoking suspicions among unsuspecting individuals. 

According to security researchers, there are at least two million compromised devices worldwide comprised of the botnet, indicating both its scope and the growing misuse of consumer IoT infrastructure in modern cyber campaigns.

In addition to its sheer scale, NetNut has become an integral component of the underground residential proxy market, providing infrastructure to hundreds of cybercriminals and espionage-linked threat actors. 

Several domains were used to conduct the operations of the service, including netnut.com, seized as a result of the FBI’s disruption efforts.
Researchers at the Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) observed 316 distinct threat clusters that leveraged suspected NetNut exit nodes during one week last month, illustrating the platform’s substantial operational reach. 

As a result of the analysis, attackers were not only able to hide access to their own infrastructure, but also were able to conduct password-spreading campaigns and establish covert connections into targeted environments by using trusted residential IP addresses.
NetNut operators are dependent on Google to provide malware command-and-control (C2) services, so Google disabled their accounts and cloud services, effectively cutting them off from their critical backend infrastructure. 

The company notified affected Android users and deactivated malicious applications associated with the botnet simultaneously through Google Play Protect, and it distributed technical intelligence on NetNut’s software development kits (SDKs) and C2 architecture to platform providers, law enforcement agencies, and cybersecurity researchers in order to strengthen coordination in detection and mitigation. 

Moreover, Google emphasized that the disruption is likely to spread beyond a single botnet, as NetNut’s reseller model has provided infrastructure to multiple residential proxy providers for many years, making the operation potentially significant for the entire illicit proxy ecosystem. Investigations into the operation have also highlighted the commercial infrastructure that underpins the proxy network. 

A report from Qurium, Synthient, Nokia Deepfield, and Spur in June linked the Popa botnet to NetNut, an Israeli public company owned by Alarum Technologies. During controlled testing, Synthient demonstrated that traffic routed through NetNut’s commercial gateway originated from a device that was intentionally enrolled in the Popa network, providing evidence that the commercial

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