- Jan 24, 2011
- 9,378
Europol announced today that law enforcement agencies around the globe arrested 34 users and questioned and warned 101 more on charges of launching DDoS attacks using DDoS-for-hire services.
The suspects, mostly under the age of 20, are accused of renting DDoS booters (also called DDoS stressors) to launch DDoS attacks against gaming providers, government agencies, internet hosting companies, schools and colleges.
Law enforcement agencies in Australia, Belgium, France, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States participated in this action, codenamed Operation Tarpit.
Netspoof DDoS-for-hire service at the heart of Operation Tarpit
At the source of Operation Tarpit is Operation Vulcanalia, an older investigation by the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA), into the activity of a DDoS-for-hire service called Netspoof.
Behind Netspoof was a UK teen, Grant Manser, 20, of Kidderminster, a town near Birmingham, who between January 2012 and November 2014 created and managed Netspoof and three other DDoS booter services such as Dejabooter, Vexstresser, and Refinedstresser.
Authorities said Manser made around £50,000 ($63,200) from his DDoS-for-hire services, and that his operations grew so large, that he had to hire support staff.
According to court documents, Manser's sites had 12,800 registered users, of which 400 bought his tools, launching 603,499 DDoS attacks on 224,548 targets.
UK Police saidManser charged between £4.99 and £20 ($6.3 and $25), and payments were handled via PayPal. Authorities eventually tracked down Manser through his PayPal accounts.
Netspoof DDoS booter website (Credit: Sam Bowne)
In April 2016, a UK judge sentenced Manser to two years youth detention suspended for 18 months, 100 hours of community work and a fine of £800 ($1,130).
The judge said he went easy on Manser because he built safeguards in his tools to prevent users from attacking police, hospitals, and other government institutions. The judge was also impressed that Manser saved his money, instead of blindly spending it on lavish objects such as cars and jewelry, like other crooks.
Read more: 34 Users Who Paid for DDoS Attacks Arrested by Police, 101 More Questioned
The suspects, mostly under the age of 20, are accused of renting DDoS booters (also called DDoS stressors) to launch DDoS attacks against gaming providers, government agencies, internet hosting companies, schools and colleges.
Law enforcement agencies in Australia, Belgium, France, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States participated in this action, codenamed Operation Tarpit.
Netspoof DDoS-for-hire service at the heart of Operation Tarpit
At the source of Operation Tarpit is Operation Vulcanalia, an older investigation by the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA), into the activity of a DDoS-for-hire service called Netspoof.
Behind Netspoof was a UK teen, Grant Manser, 20, of Kidderminster, a town near Birmingham, who between January 2012 and November 2014 created and managed Netspoof and three other DDoS booter services such as Dejabooter, Vexstresser, and Refinedstresser.
Authorities said Manser made around £50,000 ($63,200) from his DDoS-for-hire services, and that his operations grew so large, that he had to hire support staff.
According to court documents, Manser's sites had 12,800 registered users, of which 400 bought his tools, launching 603,499 DDoS attacks on 224,548 targets.
UK Police saidManser charged between £4.99 and £20 ($6.3 and $25), and payments were handled via PayPal. Authorities eventually tracked down Manser through his PayPal accounts.
Netspoof DDoS booter website (Credit: Sam Bowne)
In April 2016, a UK judge sentenced Manser to two years youth detention suspended for 18 months, 100 hours of community work and a fine of £800 ($1,130).
The judge said he went easy on Manser because he built safeguards in his tools to prevent users from attacking police, hospitals, and other government institutions. The judge was also impressed that Manser saved his money, instead of blindly spending it on lavish objects such as cars and jewelry, like other crooks.
Read more: 34 Users Who Paid for DDoS Attacks Arrested by Police, 101 More Questioned
