Your Home Is Being Used to Commit Crimes — Without Your Knowledge.

Our new investigative report reveals how criminals and foreign adversaries — including state-sponsored hackers from Russia, China, and Iran — are secretly hijacking millions of Americans' home Internet connections to commit fraud, launch cyberattacks, and evade law enforcement. Your smart doorbell, streaming device, or free VPN app may already be part of their network.

Picture of rooms with internet connections.

20M+

U.S. Internet connections are collected annually for use in residential proxy networks — often without the knowledge of the device owner.

85%

Of IP connections examined across seven residential proxy providers had already been flagged for fraud or criminal activity — they're being used repeatedly.

$50B+

Estimated annual global losses driven by crimes enabled by illicit residential proxy networks, including fraud, credential theft, and state-sponsored attacks.

$B

In fraudulent unemployment claims filed during the COVID-19 pandemic using hijacked U.S. residential IP connections from the 911 S5 botnet operation alone.

You didn't sign up for this.

Your devices did.

Millions of Americans have unknowingly handed criminals and foreign governments access to their home networks — through apps they downloaded, trusted, and use every day.

Consider Honeygain — a popular app marketed to students that pays users to share their unused Internet bandwidth. Investigators signed up and monitored the traffic. They found it routing connections through entities in China and Russia, including a bank sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department. Users earn roughly $0.10 per gigabyte. Most have no idea what their connection is being used for. And if a crime is traced back to that connection, investigators don't find the criminal — they find the student.

Woman speaking on the phone turning air condition on.

Free Apps

Free VPNs and "earn money with your bandwidth" apps silently enroll your device in criminal networks. The FBI has specifically warned about these.

Cheap Streaming Devices

 Off-brand Android TV boxes frequently come pre-infected from the factory. The FBI has specifically warned about these devices — once plugged in, many contact servers in China and accept remote commands.

Old Routers & Smart Devices

 Devices more than 5 years old that no longer get security updates are open doors. Your router controls access to every device in your home.

Americans can’t defend against what they don’t know. Most don’t realize that downloading a sketchy app or plugging a piracy device into their home network can hand criminals control of their Internet connection, turning an ordinary household into an unwitting launchpad for financial fraud and even the spread of child sexual abuse material.”

— Tom Galvin, Executive Director, Digital Citizens Alliance

Many Americans Don’t Realize How Many Internet-connected Devices are in Their Homes.

The Median American Home has 17 Internet-connected devices.

56%

of Americans think they have 10 or less Internet-connected devices in their home

84%

of Americans think they have 17 or less Internet-connected devices in their home

Those who engaged in risky behaviors -- such as downloading questionable apps such as free VPNs or connecting a piracy streaming device to their network -- are more likely to report safety issues:

Risky Behaviors - Yes

0 /month

Risky Behaviors - No

8 /month

Risky Behaviors - Yes

Risky Behaviors - No

Reported Malware/Ransomware

30%

ISP suspicious-activity notification

34%

Connection accessed by someone unknown

28%

Financial / personal info breached

33%

10%

Those who reported sharing their IP connection (usually for a fee) are more likely to report issues:

Share IP Connection – Yes

0 /month

Risky Behaviors - No

8 /month

Share IP Connection – Yes

Risky Behaviors - No

Unexplained slowdowns in your home Internet speed

82%

37%

Online account flagged for suspicious activity

75%

16%

Unfamiliar devices or connections appearing on home Wi-Fi network

68%

Foreign adversaries are using American living rooms as launchpads for attacks on U.S. infrastructure.

No agency is responsible for stopping it.

Residential proxy networks are now foundational infrastructure for state-sponsored attacks on the United States. China's Volt Typhoon used compromised American home routers to pre-position inside U.S. water, energy, and transportation systems. When the FBI dismantled the network, it was rebuilt within weeks.

The United States has no coherent legal framework to address this threat. Jurisdiction is split across FCC, FTC, DOJ, CISA, and Commerce — with no agency accountable. The Netherlands opened an investigation into IP leasing without consent in early 2026. The U.S. has no comparable standard.

It’s time for the United States to take action.

Your Home Is Being Used to Commit Crimes — Without Your Knowledge.

Has Your Router Been Compromised?

Criminals Don't Stop At One Device

Is Your Smart TV Controlled By Malicious Actors?

Has Your Doorbell Been Hacked?

20M+

85%

$50B+

$B

You didn't sign up for this.

Your devices did.

Your Internet Connection Has Been Weaponized. You Probably Don't Know It. Here’s How:

Free Apps

Cheap Streaming Devices

Old Routers & Smart Devices

Many Americans Don’t Realize How Many Internet-connected Devices are in Their Homes.

The Median American Home has 17 Internet-connected devices.

56%

84%

Those who engaged in risky behaviors -- such as downloading questionable apps such as free VPNs or connecting a piracy streaming device to their network -- are more likely to report safety issues:

Risky Behaviors - Yes

Risky Behaviors - No

Those who reported sharing their IP connection (usually for a fee) are more likely to report issues:

Share IP Connection – Yes

Risky Behaviors - No

Foreign adversaries are using American living rooms as launchpads for attacks on U.S. infrastructure.

No agency is responsible for stopping it.

Additional Resources

Digital Citizens Alliance Launches National Campaign to Prevent Hijacking of Home Internet Devices by Cybercriminals and Foreign Threat Actors

How Global Piracy Networks Became Organized CrimeSyndicates – And What Needs to be Done About it

How Millions of Digital Home Devices Are Secretly Powering Cyberattacks