In a co-ordinated international effort, the law enforcement agencies of 15 countries have made the holiday season a little less stressful for companies and consumers - by seizing control of some of the internet's most popular DDoS-for-hire services.
Operation PowerOFF has disrupted what was anticipated to be a surge of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks over the Christmas period by taking over two dozen "booter" or "stresser" websites offline.
As Europol explains, every year the festive season is a peak period for cybercriminals to launch DDoS attacks, causing organisations financial loss and reputational damage at a traditional time of increased online shopping, as well as causing chaos and misery for consumers.
The latest action by Operation PowerOFF has seen 27 booter and stresser websites taken down, including zdstresser.net, orbitalstress.net, and starkstresser.net. In addition, three alleged administrators of DDoS-for-hire sites have been arrested in France and Germany, and 300 users of the services identified.
Visitors to the seized sites are now greeted with a message from Operation PowerOFF.
OPERATION POWEROFF This website has been seized as part of Operation PowerOFF. Operation PowerOFF is an international law enforcement effort focused on shutting down DDoS-for-hire services, including booters and stressers. DDoS attacks are illegal. For years law enforcement agencies around the world have seized booter databases, arrested administrators, and collected information relating to the operation of these services, including information on the customers of these services. Anyone operating or utilizing DDoS services is subject to investigation, prosecution, and other law enforcement action.
At the same time as Europol's announcement, Dutch police said that they had arrested four men - aged between 22 and 26 years of age. One of the men is alleged to have conducted over 4000 DDoS attacks.
Meanwhile, in the United States, charges have been filed against two men associated with the DDoS-for-hire services.
Operation PowerOFF goes beyond dismantling the infrastructure used for attacks. It also includes a proactive campaign to deter individuals from engaging in DDoS attacks.
This campaign involves online ads targeting young people searching for information about booter and stresser sites, explaining the consequences of participating in DDoS attacks. In addition, users of illegal DDoS services may be sent warning letters or emails or even receive a visit from law enforcement investigators.
Operation PowerOFF is an ongoing, coordinated effort among international law enforcement agencies aimed at dismantling criminal DDoS-for-hire infrastructures worldwide. This year's operation saw participation from the following countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Latvia, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
This is not the first time that law enforcement agencies have taken action against DDoS-for-hire services in the run-up to Christmas, and no doubt it won't be the last.
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed in this guest author article are solely those of the contributor and do not necessarily reflect those of Tripwire.
