FBI Seizes 48 Domains Used for DDoS-for-Hire Attacks
Law enforcement officials have seized 48 domains and filed charges against six suspects involved in operating DDoS-for-hire platforms. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, all of the accused managed so-called “booter” and “stresser” services. A booter is a service that allows cybercriminals to order DDoS attacks on any website or internet-connected device, while a stresser offers similar functionality but claims to be intended for legitimate testing of web service and server reliability.
Although most of these sites require clients to confirm they will not use the services for attacks, many are openly advertised on hacker forums and the dark web. In many cases, the platform owners themselves promote their services, distribute coupons among criminals, or use affiliates who earn commissions for advertising.
“Some sites use the term ‘stresser,’ and one might assume such a service could be used to test infrastructure resilience. However, I believe this is just a front, and these services exist solely to conduct DDoS attacks,” said FBI Special Agent Elliott Peterson in his testimony.
The Department of Justice states that among those charged are one resident of Texas, three from Florida, one from New York, and one from Hawaii. These individuals are believed to have operated various DDoS-for-hire sites, including RoyalStresser.com, SecurityTeam.io, Astrostress.com, Booter.sx, Ipstressor.com, and TrueSecurityServices.io.
International Operation PowerOFF and Domain Seizures
The FBI also announced that as part of a large-scale international operation called PowerOFF, 48 domains used to organize DDoS attacks worldwide have been confiscated (see the list below).
Some of these services had a massive number of registered clients and attacks carried out. For example, ipstressor.com boasted 2 million registered users, half of whom conducted DDoS attacks. The service carried out or attempted 30 million DDoS attacks between 2014 and 2022. Securityteam.io reportedly carried out or attempted 1.3 million attacks and had over 50,000 registered users. Astrostress.com carried out or attempted 700,000 DDoS attacks and had over 30,000 registered clients.
FBI and International Partners Target DDoS-for-Hire Advertising
The FBI reports that, in cooperation with the UK’s National Crime Agency and Dutch police, they are exploring ways to display ads in search engines to people looking for DDoS-for-hire services. For example, searching for “booter service” on Google may display an ad stating: “Looking for DDoS tools? Booting is illegal.”
In the UK, such ads lead to the Cyber Choices page, which offers information on how people can “make informed choices and use their cyber skills legally.” Similar FBI ads lead to a special page managed by the Alaska division, explaining that DDoS attacks are against the law.
List of Domains Seized by the FBI
- anonboot.com
- api-sky.xyz
- astrostress.com
- booter.sx
- booter.vip
- brrsecurity.org
- buuter.cc
- cyberstress.us
- dragonstresser.com
- dreams-stresser.io
- freestresser.so
- instant-stresser.com
- ipstress.org
- ipstress.vip
- ipstresser.wtf
- orphicsecurityteam.com
- ovhstresser.com
- quantum-stresser.net
- redstresser.cc
- royalstresser.com
- silentstress.net
- stresser.app
- stresser.best
- stresser.gg
- stresser.is
- stresser.net
- stresser.org
- stresser.one
- stresser.so
- stresser.top
- supremesecurityteam.com
- truesecurityservices.io
- vdos-s.co
- zerostresser.com
- ipstresser.xyz
- kraysec.com
- securityteam.io
- blackstresser.net
- ipstresser.com
- ipstresser.us
- stresser.shop
- exotic-booter.com
- mcstorm.io
- nightmarestresser.com
- shock-stresser.com
- stresserai.com
- sunstresser.com
- bootyou.net
- defconpro.net