More than 20 countries collaborated in a coordinated takedown targeting multiple platforms that sold access to cheap distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. ### Global Sweep Targets DDoS Infrastructure **Europol** reported the arrest of four individuals and the execution of 25 search warrants, though specific details about the raids and detainees remain undisclosed. Over 50 domains were seized, and European authorities identified approximately 75,000 users of the DDoS-for-hire sites. U.S. officials announced their own court-authorized seizure of eight websites, including **Vac Stresser** and **Mythical Stress**. Prosecutors from the Justice Department in Alaska stated that they “conducted searches of DDoS-for-hire backend servers.”  The seized sites “purport to launch tens of thousands of DDoS attacks per day,” according to prosecutors. A law enforcement banner now appears on the domains for both **Vac Stresser** and **Mythical Stress**. A **Justice Department** spokesperson directed all inquiries regarding the arrests to **Europol**, which has not yet responded to requests for comment. Court documents from the **DOJ** list the taken-down domains, including Quantum-stress, Stresse, Unknownstresser, Vacstresser, dreams-stresser, Mythicalstress, and others. ### Inside a DDoS-for-Hire Platform An **FBI** agent detailed purchasing a Mythical Stress plan that provided a month of DDoS attacks for $45. This plan allowed targeting three victim IPs simultaneously for 40 minutes per attack. The most expensive plan, priced at $950 per month, offered attacks lasting 500 hours and targeting up to 90 victim IPs. One of the platforms boasted of facilitating over 142 million DDoS attacks. The Justice Department highlighted that these DDoS services targeted a wide range of victims both in the U.S. and internationally, “including schools, government agencies, gaming platforms, critical infrastructure, including Department of War resources, and millions of people.” ### Operation PowerOFF Continues The recent actions are part of an “operational sprint” where countries collaborate with experts to dismantle the infrastructure supporting DDoS attacks, according to **Europol**. Information gleaned from previously seized databases enabled Europol to geolocate over three million “criminal user accounts,” leading to coordinated actions across the globe during the action week. Law enforcement agencies worldwide have been working for nearly a decade to disrupt the DDoS-for-hire industry, arresting administrators and seizing databases in dozens of countries as part of **Operation PowerOFF**. These powerful DDoS tools flood targeted servers with unwanted traffic and are utilized by various online actors, including gamers and nation-states. Despite years of effort, Justice Department officials acknowledged that DDoS services “have continued to proliferate as they offer a low barrier to entry for users looking to engage in cybercriminal activity.” Over the past four years, eleven individuals have been charged in the U.S. with facilitating DDoS-for-hire services, and 100 domains have been seized. Last year, Polish police arrested four individuals allegedly operating six different DDoS-for-hire sites, offering their services for as little as 10 euros.