Authorities Across The World Going After Users Of DDoS-For-Hire Website

It has been reported that Europol and its many law enforcement partners have obtained a list of the 151,000 register users of webstresser.org, one of the most notorious ‘booter’ sites for launching distributed denial of service attacks, which was taken down and seized last year. According to the law enforcement body, more than 250 users of the seized DDoS services will soon face action for the damage they have caused and in the United Kingdom a number of webstresser.org users have recently been visited by the police, who have seized over 60 personal electronic devices from them for analysis as part of Operation Power OFF. The countries to join the fight against DDoS attacks are Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden, Australia, Colombia, Serbia, Switzerland, Norway and the United States.

Europol and its many law enforcement partners are now targeting former registered users of notorious website https://t.co/PzBgxBAJRt, which provides DDoS as Service. #infosec #DDoS https://t.co/0uCDsDUcBm

— Muhammad Malik (@drmuhammadmalik) January 29, 2019

Sean Newman, Director Product Management at Corero:

“It’s encouraging to see law enforcement agencies around the globe continuing to crack down on cybercriminals.  However, the numbers speak for themselves in this case.  With those prepared to launch DDoS attacks, on just this one service, well into six figures, and only 250 currently being pursued for their crimes, it’s indicative of how easy it is for the perpetrators to mask their true identities.  The ease with which any individual can use an anonymised email account for communications and make payments in cryptocurrency, ensures it is extremely hard-going trying to track down the individuals concerned.

Although this is positive news on the whole, organisations shouldn’t become complacent about the need for real-time DDoS protection, as Corero continues to see attacks on the increase year on year.”