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According to the US Department of Justice (DOJ), 48 domains were seized after it was discovered that they were offering distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on-demand as a service that criminals could exploit.
This information was provided in a press release from the office of E Martin Estrada, the United States Attorney for the Central District of California. This release was intended to inform the public that in addition to these seizures, six defendants are being charged with crimes in connection with operating these platforms.
With the addition of the DDoS attacks which are plaguing the internet, this news brings back to the forefront the concept of Cybercrime-as-a-Service, outlined in the Microsoft Digital Defence Report (MDDR) released in November 2022.
What is DDoS?
It is a platform for performing distributed denial-of-service attacks (DDoS attacks) that primarily allows anyone to purchase and execute such attacks for free. Based on the software as a service (SaaS) business model, these services are lucrative because they allow the owner of an IoT botnet to conduct low-overhead attacks.
DoS-for-Hire Services
Until recently, the majority of cybercrime-as-a-service reports have covered cybercrime using the context of ransomware, or a threat actor encrypting data and locking it out so that people cannot access what they want (usually until a ransom has been paid), or droppers bots that spread malware via delaying software updates.
Despite this, DDoS-as-a-service (sometimes known as "booters" since they boot targeted systems from the internet) continues to be one of the most popular cybercrime methods for those who wish to commit a crime without having the necessary knowledge.
According to the US Attorney's office, the websites seized during the operation launched "millions" of DDoS attacks, attacking victims around the world, with some claiming to provide legitimate services for your business to cope with stress.
With booter services such as these, anyone can launch cyberattacks against victims, causing grave harm to individuals, and compromising the internet access of everyone, said US Attorney Estrada, noting the ease with which the attacks are carried out, allowing for maximum damage to be done.
This week’s sweeping law enforcement activity is a considerable step in our ongoing efforts to eradicate criminal conduct that threatens the internet’s infrastructure and our ability to function in a digital world.
There are several organizations, including the FBI, the National Crime Agency, the Netherlands Police, and the National Crime Strategy, which are taking a much softer approach towards anyone who shows an interest in using the DDoS-for-hire services that are available.
To deter would-be cybercriminals from investing in these services and to educate the public about the dangers of DDoS activity, an advertorial campaign will be conducted using placement ads in search engines on common keywords related to DDoS-for-hire activity. The campaign aims to target the use of common keywords related to DDoS-for-hire activity. As part of its commitment to victims, the FBI has also pledged to assist them whenever possible.
"The FBI is ready to work with victims of crimes whether they launch them independently or hire a skilled contractor to execute them," said Donald Alway, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Los Angeles Field Office.
American victims of cybercrime are encouraged to contact their local FBI field office or to file a complaint with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.
