The U.S. Justice Department announced on Apr. 16 that it has taken court-authorized actions to disrupt several leading Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Internet of Things botnet services.
These actions are part of ongoing efforts to address the growing threat posed by DDoS-for-hire, or “booter,” services, which enable users to launch powerful attacks against targeted computers and servers for a fee. Such attacks can prevent victims from accessing the internet and have affected a wide range of targets including schools, government agencies, gaming platforms, critical infrastructure resources, and millions of individuals both in the United States and abroad.
Authorities in the District of Alaska seized eight domains associated with DDoS-for-hire services such as “Vac Stresser” and “Mythical Stress,” which reportedly facilitate tens of thousands of attacks per day. Searches were also conducted on backend servers linked to these operations. The announcement follows previous cases where more than 11 defendants have been charged over four years in Anchorage and Los Angeles for facilitating similar illegal activities, resulting in the seizure of over 100 related domains.
To further deter potential offenders and educate the public about the illegality of DDoS activities, law enforcement agencies—including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Department of War Office of Inspector General’s Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), and Netherlands Police—have launched an advertising campaign targeting search engine keywords associated with DDoS activity.
“Criminal DDoS-for-hire services impact internet services for victims across the country, including Alaska,” said U.S. Attorney Michael J. Heyman for the District of Alaska. “This threat highlights the continued need to combat cybercrime services like booter providers. We continue to prioritize addressing these threats through collaborative domestic and international partnerships to safeguard critical internet infrastructure and services for all Americans.”
Special Agent in Charge Kenneth DeChellis from DCIS Cyber Field Office said: “Today’s announcement is the result of continued partnership between law enforcement and the private sector, targeting criminal DDoS services that threaten the integrity of the internet. DDoS is a clear threat to the Department and will continue to be a target of our investigative efforts.”
The operation was carried out as part Operation PowerOFF—a coordinated international effort involving EUROPOL; various U.S., European, Japanese law enforcement agencies; private sector partners; academic institutions; and others—aimed at dismantling criminal infrastructures behind illegal online attack-for-hire businesses.
