Pierluigi Paganini November 04, 2024

German police shut down DDoS-for-hire platform Dstat.cc and arrested two men accused of operating the site used for launching DDoS attacks.

German police shut down the DDoS-for-hire platform Dstat.cc that allowed its customers to launch DDoS attacks. Two men, aged 19 and 28 from Darmstadt and Rhein-Lahn, were arrested in Germany for allegedly managing criminal infrastructure used for DDoS attacks and large-scale drug trafficking.

Authorities accuse them of running the online platform “Flight RCS,” which sold designer drugs and synthetic cannabinoids. The suspects are facing charges of operating a criminal trading platform for commercial and gang activities and are set to appear before a judge today.

The international operation was coordinated by the Central Office for Combating Internet Crime ( ZIT ) of the Public Prosecutor General’s Office in Frankfurt am Main, the Hessian State Criminal Police Office ( HLKA ) and the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA). Authorities from France, Greece, Iceland, and the U.S. also took part in the operation.

“In addition, the two suspects are accused in the BKA ‘s investigation of having been involved in the operation of the online platform “Dstat. CC “. This is a central scene platform which, with a comprehensive list and evaluation of stresser services, enabled the simple and quick execution of DDoS attacks in order to attack websites or other web-based services and restrict their availability or make them completely unresponsive.” reads the press release published by Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA). “The platform made such DDoS attacks accessible to a wide range of users, even those without any in-depth technical skills of their own.”

The BKA states that stresser services are becoming increasingly popular in the threat landscape, hacktivist groups such as “Killnet” largely use them. The current measures are part of the international Operation PowerOff, which targeted a large number “DDos-as-a-service ” platforms.

Police seized both Dstat.cc and Flight RCS platforms, they also searched seven properties in Germany.

This operation marks a significant action against the underground economy and underscores the strength of international law enforcement in fighting digital crime.

“The new blow against the underground economy on the Internet shows that criminal trading platforms exist not only in the darknet but also in the so-called clearnet, on which prohibited goods and services are offered. But the blow also shows that law enforcement authorities are able to destroy the IT infrastructure of these platforms and identify and arrest the people suspected of being behind them.” said The head of the ZIT, senior public prosecutor Dr. Benjamin Krause.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, DDoS-for-hire)