Google has disrupted a network that sold the ability to route internet traffic through consumer devices all over the world to bad actors who could then use this ability to mask their illicit activities. Complete the form to unlock this article and enjoy unlimited free access to all PYMNTS content — no additional logins required. By hijacking IP addresses owned by internet service providers and used to provide service to residential or small business customers, the network made it more difficult for network defenders to detect and block these malicious activities, Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) said in a Wednesday (Jan. 28) blog post. “We believe our actions have caused significant degradation of IPIDEA’s proxy network and business operations, reducing the available pool of devices for the proxy operators by millions,” GTIG said in the post. “Because proxy operators share pools of devices using reseller agreements, we believe these actions may have downstream impact across affiliated entities.”GTIG said in the post that while it believes it has disrupted IPIDEA, which was one of the biggest threats in this area, the residential proxy providers industry is growing rapidly.