Dutch authorities have dismantled a significant botnet of 17 million devices, seizing more than 200 servers from a local provider that supported the operation. The action followed an investigation conducted by the Police in collaboration with the **NCSC**. ### Botnet Infrastructure Seized According to authorities, the seized servers were used to control "computers, tablets, and smartphones to carry out cyberattacks." Botnets are networks of compromised devices often leveraged for illicit activities, including distributed denial-of-service (**DDoS**) attacks, malicious traffic proxying, and cryptocurrency mining. “The investigation revealed that the botnet consisted of at least 17 million infected devices and that the 200 servers used to host the infrastructure were located in the Netherlands,” the **NCSC** stated. "The police subsequently seized several botnet servers from a hosting provider for investigation purposes. The hosting provider took the botnet offline because it was being used for criminal activities.” ### Suspected Link to Asocks Proxy Service While authorities have not officially named the botnet, local media reports suggest a connection to **Asocks**, a service advertising itself as a “universal proxy service” boasting 7 million IP addresses, 150 locations, and 100,000 clients. **Asocks** offers corporate, residential, and mobile proxies via monthly subscriptions ranging from $5 to $15, with discounts for bulk purchases. While some proxy services rely on users voluntarily donating bandwidth in exchange for compensation, the **NCSC**'s intervention indicates that the devices within this botnet were likely compromised without the owners' knowledge or consent. **BleepingComputer** has reached out to **Asocks** for comment but has yet to receive a response as of publication. ### Mitigation Recommendations To safeguard networking devices against botnet infections, security professionals recommend the following: * Change default credentials to unique, strong passwords. * Apply the latest firmware updates promptly. * Disable remote administration panels when not actively required. <div> <p><a rel="noopener nofollow" href="https://hubs.li/Q048zztN0"><img alt="article image" src="https://www.bleepstatic.com/c/p/validation-gap.jpg"></a></p> <div> <h2><a rel="noopener nofollow" href="https://hubs.li/Q048zztN0">The Validation Gap: Automated Pentesting Answers One Question. You Need Six.</a></h2> <p>Automated pentesting tools deliver real value, but they were built to answer one question: can an attacker move through the network? They were not built to test whether your controls block threats, your detection rules fire, or your cloud configs hold.</p> <p>This guide covers the 6 surfaces you actually need to validate.</p> <p><a rel="noopener nofollow" href="https://hubs.li/Q048zztN0">Download Now</a></p> </div> </div>