Dutch police have taken down one of the largest malware botnets discovered this year — a network called Asocks that quietly infected 17 million devices worldwide, including ordinary phones, tablets, and home computers. Victims had no idea their devices were being used to launch cyberattacks, route criminal traffic, and mine cryptocurrency for someone else.
The Dutch National Police and the Netherlands’ National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) seized over 200 servers used to run the botnet. Asocks marketed itself as a “residential proxy” service, renting out infected devices to paying customers who needed to disguise their online activity behind real home internet connections. This is a common tactic: criminals pay a fee, and their malicious traffic appears to come from your device — not theirs.
How to check if you’re affected
Affected devices are any computer, phone, tablet, or smart router that may be running unknown background processes, running unusually hot, draining battery faster than expected, or sending unexpected network traffic. You can take these steps to reduce your risk:
- Change default passwords on your home router and any smart devices — many botnets spread by guessing factory-default credentials.
- Update your firmware and operating system — Asocks and similar botnets exploit outdated software to gain entry.
- Disable remote management on your router unless you actively use it (usually found under “Advanced” settings).
If you suspect your device was compromised, a factory reset and fresh software install is the most reliable way to clean it.