US Is Seizing 48 Websites In Sting of Cyberattack-For-Hire Services

The US seized dozens of internet domains and charged six people in a sting intended to bring down a network of cyberattack-for-hire services, the Department of Justice announced on Wednesday. Bloomberg reports: In all, the US obtained a court order to seize 48 websites, and six people were criminally charged in relation to the takedowns, according to federal prosecutors. The FBI was in the process of seizing the websites, officials said Wednesday. The websites were used to launch, or attempt to launch, millions of so-called DDoS attacks around the world, the DOJ said in a statement. Short for distributed-denial-of- service, DDoS attacks direct huge amounts of junk internet traffic at a website or computer network to knock it offline.

DDoS-for-hire services often refer to themselves as 'stresser' or 'booter' tools that purport to offer a way for individuals to test the resilience of websites and services they operate, according to cybersecurity experts. In reality, the services are often used for harassment, extortion and criminal mischief, they say. The sites seized by the FBI include royalstresser, securityteam and dragonstresser, among others.

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