(Reuters) - Google said on Wednesday it has taken action to remove domains belonging to one of the largest residential proxy networks in the world, called IPIDEA, in an effort to protect millions of consumer devices from being exploited by cybercriminals and state-sponsored hackers.

Residential proxy networks allow attackers to route internet traffic through hijacked consumer IP addresses, effectively masking malicious activity and bypassing security defenses.

The operation this week, led by Google Threat Intelligence Group, or GTIG, involved taking legal action to seize domains used to control compromised devices and implementing automatic protections for Android users through Google Play Protect, the Alphabet (GOOGL.O) unit said in a 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," Google said.

IPIDEA operated at least 13 residential proxy brands, which were taken offline.

Google identified over 600 Android applications and 3,075 unique Windows files connected to the network's command-and-control infrastructure.