Google Dismantles Massive Proxy Network That Hid Espionage, Cybercrime for Nation-State Actors

Google dismantled IPIDEA, one of the largest residential proxy networks, seizing domains and removing millions of consumer devices that had been converted into proxy exit nodes via embedded monetization SDKs; the infrastructure supported multiple botnets and was used by hundreds of distinct threat groups (including state-aligned actors) to obfuscate attacks and enable espionage and cybercrime, prompting coordinated legal, platform, and research responses and Play Protect remediation.