To stop crims, Google starts dismantling residential proxy network they use to hide

Crims love to make it look like their traffic is actually coming from legit homes and businesses, and they do so by using residential proxy networks. Now, Google says it has "significantly degraded" what it believes is one of the world's largest residential proxy networks.

Google's Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) describes IPIDEA as a "little-known component of the digital ecosystem" and says that in a seven-day period in January 2026, it observed more than 550 threat groups using IPIDEA exit nodes.

GTIG said that proxy network operators sometimes pay app developers to embed proxy SDKs so that any device that downloads the app is enrolled in the network.

IPIDEA is also known to distribute proxy software and SDKs that enroll devices in its network, sometimes marketed as a way for users to "monetize" spare bandwidth.

The Googlers said that not only do these networks allow bad actors to ...