Thought Leadership
There are special platforms on the internet that enable DDoS attacks. Several such “stresser services” have now been identified and shut down. Arrests have also been made.
In an international operation against cybercrime, 27 criminal platforms have been taken offline and three suspected administrators have been arrested in Germany and France. “The data was secured as evidence and over 300 users were identified,” announced the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) in Wiesbaden. Four of the platforms were hosted in Germany and have now been shut down.
The BKA is taking action against cybercriminals together with the Central Office for Combating Cybercrime (ZIT), which is based at the Public Prosecutor General’s Office in Frankfurt, and law enforcement authorities from a total of 15 countries. The main focus of this campaign is taking place this week.
Strike against platforms that enable DDoS attacks
“The “Power Off” operation coordinated by Europol focuses on so-called stresser services,” it said. These are certain criminal service platforms on the internet that enable so-called DDoS attacks to be carried out quickly and easily. In such attacks, servers are overloaded by mass requests.
“The international operation “Power Off” against criminal platforms once again demonstrates the ability and strength of our security and law enforcement authorities in the fight against cybercrime,” explained Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD).
Faeser: “No one can feel safe from prosecution here.”
“DDoS attacks cause serious damage. Investigation successes like this show: No one can feel safe from prosecution here,” said the Minister.
The suspects who have now been arrested are accused of providing and administering the criminal infrastructures used for computer sabotage by means of so-called DDoS attacks on the Internet, the investigators explained.
Motives behind DDoS attacks vary
According to the information provided, a so-called stresser service is a web-based platform that offers its customers targeted DDoS attacks and other web-based services – without the need for in-depth technical skills. “As a result, DDoS attacks are made accessible to a wide range of users.”
The motives behind DDoS attacks vary. These include economic sabotage and the generation of financial profits, the concealment of other cyber attacks, but also political and ideological reasons.
dpa
