Polish authorities have arrested four people suspected of running illegal DDoS-for-hire services that allowed users to launch cyberattacks on websites and servers worldwide, according to Europol. Unlike traditional botnets, the so-called "booter" or "stresser" services allow users to flood a website with traffic by simply entering a target’s IP address and paying a fee. In a previous phase of the operation in December, police shut down 27 booter platforms in a global sweep across 15 countries, identifying 300 users and arresting three administrators in France and Germany. The suspects, aged 19 to 22 years old, allegedly operated six platforms — Cfxapi, Cfxsecurity, Neostress, Jetstress, Quickdown and Zapcut — that offered distributed denial-of-service attacks for as little as 10 euros. As part of the latest action, U.S. authorities seized nine domains linked to illegal DDoS services. The arrests were part of “Operation PowerOFF,” a coordinated international effort led by Europol and the FBI, with support from law enforcement agencies across multiple countries. Beginning in 2022, the services targeted educational institutions, government websites, companies and gaming services. During raids, officers seized computers, phones, SIM and payment cards, cryptocurrency wallets containing about $30,500 in digital currency, as well as cash and vehicles.
This Cyber News was published on therecord.media. Publication date: Wed, 07 May 2025 14:35:09 +0000