Dutch Authorities Dismantle Massive Botnet Comprising Millions of Infected Devices
Dutch law enforcement, in collaboration with the National Cyber Security Center (**NCSC**), have successfully disrupted a large-scale botnet. The botnet, consisting of at least 17 million compromised devices, was being used to conduct malicious cyber attacks.
Dutch authorities have announced the takedown of a botnet that enslaved millions of infected devices, including computers, tablets, smartphones, and IoT devices, to carry out malicious attacks.
The bot network, according to the Dutch **Politie** and the **National Cyber Security Center (NCSC)**, comprised at least 17 million infected devices. Over 200 servers located in the Netherlands served as the platform's backend infrastructure.
According to a statement issued by the **NCSC**, police officials seized a subset of these servers from a hosting provider. The provider reportedly took the botnet offline after discovering its use for criminal activities.
While the botnet's name was not officially disclosed, local news outlet NL Times reported that the service in question was **Asocks**, a company offering residential proxies. In April 2024, **HUMAN**'s Satori Threat Intelligence team identified a campaign called PROXYLIB involving Android devices infected with proxyware from **LumiApps** and **Asocks**.
**Asocks**' website advertises corporate, residential, and mobile proxies for monthly subscriptions ranging from $5 to $15, with discounts for bulk purchases.
Residential proxies have legitimate uses for accessing geo-restricted content. However, the ecosystem is also rife with malicious actors who purchase access to compromised devices to route malicious traffic and launch cyberattacks.
"Devices can become part of a botnet when they are accessible to malicious actors," **NCSC** stated. "After gaining access, attackers can install malware that allows the device to be controlled remotely. This enables the device to become part of a network used for cybercriminal activities."
### Mitigation Strategies
To mitigate the threat posed by botnet malware, consider the following:
* Keep operating systems up-to-date.
* Maintain visibility of edge devices like routers.
* Use strong, unique passwords.
* Enable two-factor authentication (2FA) wherever possible.
* Install apps from trusted sources only.
* Change default passwords on devices.
* Secure Wi-Fi networks with WPA2 or WPA3 encryption.