The U.S. Justice Department announced the seizure of 13 domains linked to DDoS-for-hire services as part of a coordinated international law enforcement effort known as Operation PowerOFF.
DDoS-for-hire or ‘booter’ services allow registered users to launch order DDoS attacks without specific knowledge.
According to DoJ, data relating to the operation of DDoS-for-hire services seized in the past by law enforcement show that hundreds of thousands of registered users have used these platforms to launch millions of attacks against millions of victims.
In December 2022, the FBI seized 48 domains linked to DDoS-for-Hire service platforms as part of the same Operation PowerOFF. Ten of the new 13 domains seized now are reincarnations of booters that were seized in December.
According to a press release published by DoJ, the investigations into booter services are still ongoing.
According to the affidavit in support of the seizure warrants, the FBI tested the booter services whose domains were seized by opening or renewing accounts with each of them and assessed the effects on target computers via DDoS attacks launched on computers controlled by the agency.
These tests helped confirm the booters’ functionality, with the FBI saying that some attacks took the targeted devices offline even though they were using high-capacity Internet connections.
Four defendants charged in late 2022 also pleaded guilty earlier this year to federal charges, admitting that they were either involved in or operated some of the booter services targeted by law enforcement.
The defendants include Jeremiah Sam Evans Miller, aka “John The Dev,” of San Antonio, Texas, Angel Manuel Colon Jr., aka “Anonghost720” and “Anonghost1337,” of Belleview, Florida, Shamar Shattock, of Margate, Florida, and Cory Anthony Palmer, of Lauderhill, Florida.
Law enforcement’s recent seizures show their commitment to targeting booter service platforms, even though some previously taken down domains have resurfaced.
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