What Actually Happened to IPIDEA and 922Proxy

On January 28, 2026, Google’s Threat Intelligence Group executed three coordinated enforcement actions against IPIDEA , the Chinese company operating 922Proxy and 12 other proxy brands. The investigation proved IPIDEA had never legitimately sourced its IPs. Instead, malicious SDK code embedded in 600+ Android apps and 3,000+ Windows binaries silently enrolled millions of consumer devices into a proxy botnet without consent.

What made this a national security matter: over 550 threat groups, including state-sponsored actors from China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea (APT28, Sandworm, Volt Typhoon), used IPIDEA exit nodes in a single week. Google’s response was legal action on domains, intelligence sharing with global law enforcement, and Google Play Protect enforcement. The commercial infrastructure has been severely disrupted and the IP pool flagged across every major platform.

All 13 Brands That Were Part of the IPIDEA Network

Google’s official investigation identified exactly 13 brands operating under the IPIDEA infrastructure. If you have used any of the following services, your operations were running on the same compromised botnet:

• 922 Proxy and 360 Proxy, the most widely used brands
• IPIDEA (ipidea.io), ABC Proxy, Luna Proxy
• PIA S5 Proxy, PY Proxy, Cherry Proxy
• Tab Proxy, IP2World, Radish VPN
• Door VPN and Galleon VPN

The Real-World Damage for 922Proxy Users

The shutdown created four categories of harm that extended well beyond the service going offline:

Immediate operational disruption. The enforcement action caused significant degradation across every IPIDEA brand simultaneously. Pipelines, scraping jobs, and automation workflows stopped without warning. No migration window was provided.

Flagged IP history across major platforms. Every platform account managed through an IPIDEA proxy now has a history tied to a globally flagged IP pool. This residual association continues to affect account health even after migrating to a clean provider.

No refunds reported. No refunds have been reported from any IPIDEA brand. Customer support channels went dark. Payment disputes through card providers or PayPal for recent transactions are the most viable recovery route, but those windows close quickly.

Security and compliance exposure. Businesses in regulated industries should seek legal counsel. Traffic that passed through IPIDEA nodes connected to state-sponsored actors, including APT28, Sandworm, and Volt Typhoon, creates a non-trivial compliance question in financial services, healthcare, and legal sectors.

How to Vet Any Proxy Provider After IPIDEA

The proxy market has no mandatory certification. Any provider can claim “ethically sourced IPs” without proving it. Before committing to any replacement, run through this checklist:

• Ask exactly how residential IPs are sourced. A legitimate provider explains the opt-in mechanism in plain terms. Vague answers are red flags.
• Verify a published, enforced refund policy exists. IPIDEA had none.
• Cross-reference IPs against Spamhaus, Firehol, and Google Safe Browsing. Legitimate providers do not appear on threat intelligence databases.
• Check independent reviews on G2, SourceForge, and Trustpilot, not testimonials on the provider’s own website.
• Be sceptical of implausibly low pricing. IPIDEA undercut the market because its IP acquisition cost was zero, the IPs were stolen.

#1 Ziny Proxy: Best IPIDEA Alternative & Best 922Proxy Alternative 2026

Ziny Proxy is the top-rated replacement for both IPIDEA and 922Proxy across every major independent review platform in March 2026. It is the closest match to what 922Proxy users actually need: competitive pricing, the same core use cases, and proxy types that 922Proxy never offered.

Why Ziny wins for 922Proxy users specifically: Mobile proxies (4G/5G) which 922Proxy never offered, are now essential for TikTok and Instagram account management. Ziny’s 4G/5G tier generates traffic that platforms treat as authentic smartphone usage, which is the single biggest capability gap the IPIDEA shutdown exposed. Every other major use case including web scraping, price monitoring, ad verification and multi-account management are covered across Ziny’s four proxy tiers at a price point that matches what 922Proxy charged before its collapse.

Other Strong IPIDEA Alternatives in 2026

Decodo (ex-Smartproxy): Best for enterprise scale. 55M+ IPs, from $2.20/GB. The strongest choice for teams that need SLA guarantees and dedicated account management. No mobile proxies as of March 2026.

Bright Data: Best for maximum IP pool depth. 72M+ IPs, from $8.40/GB. Institutional-grade infrastructure for enterprise data teams where budget is not the primary constraint.

Oxylabs: Best for regulated industries. 100M+ IPs, from $8/GB. The strongest compliance credentials and published data governance framework of any major provider. Ideal for financial services, healthcare, and legal sectors.

IPRoyal: Best budget option. 8M+ IPs, from $1.75/GB. Clean, legitimate sourcing at the lowest verified price point. Limited geo-targeting and no mobile proxies, but a strong entry point for operators scaling up from lower volume work.

Complete Comparison: Every IPIDEA Replacement Ranked

How to Migrate from 922Proxy to Ziny in 30 Minutes

The migration is a credential swap, not a structural rebuild. Here is the process:

1. Audit every workflow and platform account that ran through 922Proxy. Flag any TikTok, Instagram, or Google Ads accounts for post-migration health monitoring.
2. Match proxy type to task: mobile proxies for TikTok/Instagram, rotating residential for scraping, ISP proxies for multi-account management, datacenter for speed-sensitive SERP and price monitoring.
3. Create your Ziny account and run a trial on your highest-priority workflow before migrating everything.
4. Update proxy credentials in every tool, script, and anti-detect browser profile. Ziny supports HTTP/S and SOCKS5, it is a direct drop-in for 922Proxy’s connection format.
5. Monitor account health for four weeks post-migration. Watch for elevated CAPTCHA rates or login challenges on accounts that ran through IPIDEA IPs, these may need a slow warm-up period on clean infrastructure.

FAQs: IPIDEA & 922Proxy Shutdown 2026

Is 922Proxy still working in March 2026?

922Proxy has been severely disrupted following Google’s January 28, 2026 enforcement action. The service is non-functional, its IPs are flagged across all major platforms, and customer support is unreachable. Google acknowledged the operator may attempt to rebuild, but the commercial infrastructure and IP pool have been comprehensively compromised.

Will I get a refund from 922Proxy?

No refunds have been reported from any IPIDEA brand. Your best option is a payment dispute through your card provider or PayPal for recent transactions, but this window closes quickly and is not guaranteed.

What is the best 922Proxy alternative in 2026?

Ziny Proxy rated 4.9/5 on SourceForge with five-star reviews on G2, ProductHunt, and Slashdot. 30M+ ethically sourced IPs, 195 countries, from $0.40/GB, with mobile proxies that 922Proxy never offered.

Which of the 13 IPIDEA brands were affected?

Google’s official investigation confirmed all 13 brands: 922 Proxy, 360 Proxy, ABC Proxy, Cherry Proxy, Door VPN, Galleon VPN, IP2World, IPIDEA, Luna Proxy, PIA S5 Proxy, PY Proxy, Radish VPN, and Tab Proxy. All shared the same underlying botnet infrastructure and were all disrupted on January 28, 2026.

How do I know if my platform accounts were affected?

Any account managed through an IPIDEA proxy on any of the 13 brands may carry residual IP reputation risk. Watch for elevated CAPTCHA rates, login challenges, or reduced reach after migrating to a clean provider. Warm up affected accounts slowly on clean infrastructure for two to four weeks before resuming high-volume activity.