European and American authorities dismantled the SocksEscort malicious proxy network and froze $3.5 million in crypto assets.

CoinFeed reported on March 13 that, according to Decrypt, Europol, in conjunction with the US Department of Justice and other agencies, announced the dismantling of a malicious proxy service network called "SocksEscort" and the freezing of $3.5 million in cryptocurrency related to the case. The network allegedly compromised over 369,000 routers and IoT devices in 163 countries worldwide, providing users with over 35,000 proxies in recent years. Europol stated that the operation seized 34 domains and 23 servers in seven countries, and payment platforms associated with the service are estimated to have received over $5.7 million in cryptocurrency. The investigation, which began in June 2025, found that the infected devices were primarily used to facilitate ransomware, DDoS attacks, and other criminal activities.