Security News > 2023 > November > IPStorm botnet with 23,000 proxies for malicious traffic dismantled
The U.S. Department of Justice announced today that Federal Bureau of Investigation took down the network and infrastructure of a botnet proxy service called IPStorm.
IPStorm enabled cybercriminals to run malicious traffic anonymously through Windows, Linux, Mac, and Android devices all over the world.
The DoJ announcement describes IPStorm as a proxy botnet enabling cybercriminals, scammers, and others, to evade blocks and remain anonymous by channeling their traffic through thousands of compromised devices in people's homes, or offices.
Apart from unknowingly and involuntarily becoming cybercrime facilitators, the victims of IPStorm suffered the consequences of having their network bandwidth hijacked by malicious actors and risked receiving more dangerous payloads at any time.
"The main purpose of the botnet was to turn infected devices into proxies as part of a for-profit scheme, which made access to these proxies available through Makinin's websites, proxx.io and proxx.net" - U.S. Department of Justice.
The law enforcement operation to dismantle the IPStorm botnet have not extended to victim computers.