Europol coordinates the takedown of 27 DDoS service providers

On December 11, 2024, Europol announced it had coordinated the takedown of 27 international platforms used to conduct DDoS attacks. Authorities deliberately chose this date to prevent the “annual Christmas attacks.” The holiday season is particularly vulnerable to DDoS offensives, targeting e-commerce websites or transportation booking platforms.

Law enforcement agencies from 15 countries, including France, participated in this operation, dubbed “PowerOFF.” The operation resulted in the shutdown of 27 booter and stresser sites, including popular platforms like zdstresser.net, orbitalstress.net, and starkstresser.net. These sites rented out simultaneous connection capacities, either legally or through botnets, to overwhelm a website with requests and cause it to crash.

Authorities also arrested three administrators of these platforms in France and Germany and identified 300 users who had already planned future DDoS attacks. Europol further launched a communication campaign, including targeted emails and online advertisements, to discourage hacktivists and cybercriminals from engaging in such hacking activities.