In December 2022, we first blogged about a law enforcement takedown of DDoS-for-hire services (often known as “booters”), sharing details about their changing landscape shortly after the initial seizures. Now that we have more data covering a longer period post-takedown, we can form a clearer picture of the impact.

Booters have been around for years, offering anyone with a few dollars the ability to take offline websites that lack protection from protection services. They are often marketed as harmless “stress-testing” tools, but in practice, they are mostly used for malicious purposes. They’re easy to access, cheap to use, and difficult to stop.

Law enforcement had made several attempts to take them down in the past—for example, in 2018—but the effects were short-lived. This time, multiple law enforcement agencies launched what was likely their largest coordinated campaign to date. There were two waves of takedowns, in December 2022 and May 2023, resulting in about 60 domains being seized in total. In addition to seizing websites, authorities also set up deceptive sites and ran influence campaigns on forums and chat channels to deter potential customers.

We measured the impact of this campaign by incorporating a diverse mix of data. Continue reading Taking Down Booters: The Cat-and-Mouse Game →