OP 03 November, 2024 - 12:40 AM
Law enforcement strikes DDoS platforms: Operation PowerOFF eliminates Dstat.cc
The international operation "PowerOFF", organized by the Central Cybercrime Office (ZIT) at the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor's Office together with the German Federal and State Police, led to the dismantling of the Dstat.cc platform , which was used by cybercriminals to coordinate DDoS attacks. As a result of the operation, two suspects were detained - men aged 19 and 28 - involved in managing the platform and simultaneously administering the Flight RCS synthetic drug market , accessible on the open Internet.
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What is Dstat.cc and how did it work? Dstat.cc, which operated as a “review service,” did not provide DDoS services directly, but served as a place to share experiences and recommendations on so-called “stressors” — services originally created for the legal stress testing of websites. In practice, stressors are often used to overload target servers with a huge number of requests, causing them to become temporarily unavailable. The Dstat.cc platform allowed attackers to coordinate attacks through a Telegram channel with about 6,600 members. The channel has now been blocked and the messages have been deleted.
Scale and international coordination: Operation PowerOFF involved searches and seizures at seven locations in Germany, France, Greece, Iceland, and the United States. The operation is part of an international cooperation aimed at stopping the activities of DDoS services. Similar platforms have previously been blocked in the UK and Poland, and users of such services have been warned of the consequences.
Goals and impact: Dstat.cc has been used by activists and cyber groups such as Killnet and Passion to attack important infrastructures in Europe and the US, including hospitals and healthcare systems. DDoS attacks have become a popular tool for political pressure and blackmail , including among hacktivists, who see them as a means of influencing governments and businesses.
Statements from officials: “We have once again proven that cybercriminals cannot hide even behind the ‘anonymity’ of the Internet. We identify them and destroy their infrastructure,” said Dr. Benjamin Krause, head of ZIT.
Martina Link, Vice President of the Federal Criminal Office, emphasized that this success is the result of coordinated international cooperation: “We continue and will continue to effectively combat cybercrime. Security and law and order are also important in the digital world.”
The international operation "PowerOFF", organized by the Central Cybercrime Office (ZIT) at the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor's Office together with the German Federal and State Police, led to the dismantling of the Dstat.cc platform , which was used by cybercriminals to coordinate DDoS attacks. As a result of the operation, two suspects were detained - men aged 19 and 28 - involved in managing the platform and simultaneously administering the Flight RCS synthetic drug market , accessible on the open Internet.
What is Dstat.cc and how did it work? Dstat.cc, which operated as a “review service,” did not provide DDoS services directly, but served as a place to share experiences and recommendations on so-called “stressors” — services originally created for the legal stress testing of websites. In practice, stressors are often used to overload target servers with a huge number of requests, causing them to become temporarily unavailable. The Dstat.cc platform allowed attackers to coordinate attacks through a Telegram channel with about 6,600 members. The channel has now been blocked and the messages have been deleted.
Scale and international coordination: Operation PowerOFF involved searches and seizures at seven locations in Germany, France, Greece, Iceland, and the United States. The operation is part of an international cooperation aimed at stopping the activities of DDoS services. Similar platforms have previously been blocked in the UK and Poland, and users of such services have been warned of the consequences.
Goals and impact: Dstat.cc has been used by activists and cyber groups such as Killnet and Passion to attack important infrastructures in Europe and the US, including hospitals and healthcare systems. DDoS attacks have become a popular tool for political pressure and blackmail , including among hacktivists, who see them as a means of influencing governments and businesses.
Statements from officials: “We have once again proven that cybercriminals cannot hide even behind the ‘anonymity’ of the Internet. We identify them and destroy their infrastructure,” said Dr. Benjamin Krause, head of ZIT.
Martina Link, Vice President of the Federal Criminal Office, emphasized that this success is the result of coordinated international cooperation: “We continue and will continue to effectively combat cybercrime. Security and law and order are also important in the digital world.”