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Yes: criminals can route their internet activity through a compromised home router, making it appear to come from the household’s internet connection. The FBI has warned about residential-proxy networks and, in a separate 2025 alert, end-of-life routers breached with variants of TheMoon malware. That does not mean every old router is compromised—or that its owner knowingly rented it out. Here’s how the threat works and what to check.
What it means for someone to “rent” your router
A residential proxy routes another person’s internet requests through a consumer device and its household IP address. To the sites or services receiving that traffic, it can look as though the requests came from that home. The outside user may thereby obscure their own location or identity.
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“Rented” is shorthand in this context: a criminal proxy operator may use a household connection without the owner’s informed consent. The FBI says residential-proxy access can also be acquired through arrangements users may not understand, such as hidden terms in some free VPN apps or bandwidth-sharing offers. Compromised connected devices, apps containing software development kits (SDKs), malware-bearing downloads, and suspicious free-content devices are other routes into proxy networks. The FBI’s March 12, 2026 residential-proxy warning describes these pathways.
Criminals may use proxy traffic for phishing, identity theft, spam, fake accounts, data theft, brute-force attacks, location concealment, or account takeovers. Those are possible uses of residential proxies, not proof that a particular compromised router was used for each—or any—of them.
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Two FBI-related router cases that should not be confused
There are two distinct campaigns in the recent warnings. They involve different actors and techniques; the available information does not establish that they are one botnet or a single attack.
TheMoon malware and end-of-life routers
The FBI’s 2025 alert says cybercriminal proxy services breached end-of-life routers using variants of TheMoon malware. End-of-life equipment may no longer receive security patches, leaving known weaknesses uncorrected. The FBI advises replacing an end-of-life router where possible. Its alert is available at Cybercriminal Proxy Services Exploiting End-of-Life Routers.
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The alert’s available official information does not establish how many household routers were enrolled in the specific proxy service. It is not a basis for assuming that every old router, or any particular owner’s router, has been compromised.
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A separate GRU DNS-hijacking operation
In a separate matter announced on April 7, 2026, the Department of Justice said Russian military intelligence actors had exploited known vulnerabilities since at least 2024 to steal credentials for thousands of TP-Link routers worldwide. The actors changed DNS settings so affected devices used resolvers they controlled. Fraudulent DNS answers for selected services could enable adversary-in-the-middle attacks if a user proceeded past a certificate warning. The DOJ said the actors harvested passwords, authentication tokens, emails, and other sensitive information. The DOJ announcement and a joint FBI/IC3 advisory describe this operation.
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That case concerned DNS manipulation and credential theft, not the TheMoon proxy campaign. The FBI’s Boston field office said the affected routers had been used in more than 23 states; that figure describes geographic reach, not the number of routers or households.
How to check whether your router needs attention
There is no single symptom that proves a router is part of a proxy network. A practical first check is whether the exact device still receives security updates. Find the model and hardware revision on the router label or in its management interface, then check the manufacturer’s support page for end-of-life status and current firmware.
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For example, D-Link’s March 24, 2026 notice about FBI-referenced AVrecon/SocksEscort devices lists end-of-service dates of May 1, 2017 for DIR-818L and DIR-818LW, March 1, 2020 for DIR-850L, and May 1, 2018 for DIR-860L. This is a model-specific notice, not a complete list of vulnerable routers.
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- Look for the latest firmware and whether the vendor still provides security updates.
- In the router’s settings, review DNS servers and confirm they are the ones you intend to use.
- Check whether remote management is enabled for access from the internet, and turn it off if you do not need it.
- Review connected devices and investigate unfamiliar devices or unusual network activity. These checks can raise questions, but they do not by themselves prove criminal proxy use.
What to do if your router is supported
- Install current firmware. Use the manufacturer’s instructions for your exact model and hardware revision; do not install firmware intended for a different device.
- Change default administrator credentials. Set a strong, unique password for the router’s management interface.
- Review DNS and remote access. Confirm DNS settings are expected and disable internet-facing remote management unless it is needed and securely configured.
- Reduce risky downloads and apps. Avoid unofficial app stores, sideloaded applications, pirated downloads, suspicious free-content streaming devices, and free VPN or bandwidth-sharing offers whose terms you do not understand.
- Watch for possible account exposure. If you suspect personal information or accounts were affected, contact the relevant account providers, change passwords, and report suspected criminal victimization to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). Include incident details and router information when available.
When replacing the router is the safer choice
If the manufacturer says the router is end-of-life or end-of-support, replacing it with a model that still receives security updates is the most durable way to address the lack of future patches. Choose based on the exact model’s support status, update process, and your household’s needs—not on an assumption that a particular brand or product has FBI approval.
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For a replacement, useful security checks include whether the manufacturer clearly identifies supported hardware revisions, publishes firmware updates, makes updates straightforward to apply, and lets you review DNS settings and disable remote management. These are practical criteria drawn from the agencies’ guidance, not a product ranking or test.
Does rebooting or factory-resetting remove router malware?
Not reliably in every case. The FBI warns that some devices infected at the factory may remain infected after a factory reset, and D-Link says rebooting alone may not remediate certain infections. A reset can also erase configuration without installing a security fix.
The separate Operation Masquerade DNS-hijacking disruption involved court-authorized changes that DOJ says could be reversed by a hardware reset or management-page settings. That case-specific remediation does not make resets a universal cure for malware or other router compromises. If compromise is suspected, follow the manufacturer’s instructions and FBI guidance rather than treating a reboot or reset as proof the device is clean.
What the warnings do—and do not—mean
The FBI’s warnings establish that residential proxies can use compromised home devices and that end-of-life routers have been targeted. They do not show that every unsupported router is infected, identify a verified total for households enrolled in the specific cybercriminal proxy service, or establish that a particular slow or unusual connection is evidence of proxy use. The useful response is to check support status, keep supported equipment updated, and replace devices that no longer receive security fixes.
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