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Disrupting the largest residential proxy network

by cdrnsf on 1/28/2026, 10:46:38 PM

https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/disrupting-largest-residential-proxy-network

Comments

by: londons_explore

We need <i>more</i> residential proxies, not less.<p>I&#x27;ve had enough of companies saying &quot;you&#x27;re connecting from an AWS IP address, therefore you aren&#x27;t allowed in, or must buy enterprise licensing&quot;. Reddit is an example which totally blocks all data to non-residential IP&#x27;s.<p>I want exactly the same content visible no matter who you are or where you are connecting from, and a robust network of residential proxies is a stepping stone to achieving that.

1/30/2026, 9:23:40 PM


by: progbits

I&#x27;m surprised by the negative takes...<p>Yes, proxies are good. Ones which you pay for and which are running legitimately, with the knowledge (and compensation) of those who run them.<p>Malware in random apps running on your device without your knowledge is bad.

1/30/2026, 10:36:34 PM


by: xyzzy_plugh

&gt; These efforts to help keep the broader digital ecosystem safe supplement the protections we have to safeguard Android users on certified devices. We ensured Google Play Protect, Android’s built-in security protection, automatically warns users and removes applications known to incorporate IPIDEA SDKs, and blocks any future install attempts.<p>Nice to see Google Play Protect actually serving a purpose for once.

1/30/2026, 8:48:39 PM


by: whartung

My understanding is that routing through residential IPs is a part of the business of some VPN providers. I don&#x27;t know how above board they are on this (as in notifying customers that this may happen, however buried in the usage agreement, or even allowing them to opt out).<p>But, my main point, is that the whole business is &quot;on the up and up&quot; vs some dark botnet.

1/30/2026, 9:16:52 PM


by: scirob

so that only google and anthropic are allowed to scrape the web. No one else may have workarounds

1/30/2026, 9:59:25 PM


by: direwolf20

All of this sounds legal, so on what basis did they get them shut down?

1/30/2026, 9:35:20 PM


by: htx80nerd

nice to see in the comments how many people didnt even do a 30 second scan of the article before clicking `add comment`

1/30/2026, 10:35:06 PM


by: kotaKat

I&#x27;m actually a little shocked seeing that there was a <i>WebOS</i> variant of the residential proxying SDK endpoint. Does that mean there might be a bit more unchecked malware lurking behind the scenes in the LG ecosystem?<p>Personally I&#x27;m surprised they didn&#x27;t have a Samsung option.

1/30/2026, 8:56:51 PM


by: samsullivan

The need for proxies in any legitimate context became obsolete with starlink being so widespread. Throw up a few terminals and you have about 500-2k cgnat IP addresses to do whatever you like.

1/30/2026, 9:18:26 PM