A coordinated effort by U.S. and international law‑enforcement agencies shut down the SocksEscort botnet, a network of tens of thousands of compromised home and small‑business routers. The botnet, which powered ransomware, DDoS attacks, cryptocurrency theft and other crimes, had infected over 369,000 devices in 163 countries. Europol and the Department of Justice announced the takedown, noting that the service was marketed to criminals who used it to hide their IP addresses. Cybersecurity firm Black Lotus Labs confirmed the botnet’s size and helped facilitate the operation. Read more →