News
Europol pursues users of DDoS-for-hire service, Webstresser: comment from security vendor, Link11
January 2019 by Marc Wilczek, managing director at Link11
Here’s comment from cloud anti-DDoS vendor Link11, responding to the news of Europol’s actions in pursuing users of the DDoS-for-hire service Webstresser, which was taken down in April 2018 (link here: https://www.europol.europa.eu/newsroom/news/authorities-across-world-going-after-users-of-biggest-ddos-for-hire-website).
In the UK, several webstresser.org users have been visited by the police who seized over 60 personal electronic devices for analysis. UK police are also conducting a number of live operations against other DDoS criminals; over 250 users of webstresser.org and other DDoS services will soon face action for the damage they have caused.
Marc Wilczek, managing director at Link11 said: “This action sends a strong signal to hackers that setting up and using DDoS-for-hire services is being treated as a serious criminal offence. DDoS is never a victimless crime, and we fully support the actions that Europol is taking in tracking down Webstresser’s users. Without the support of users, these services would not continue to exist.
“Webstresser had over 150,000 registered accounts, and was used to launch over 4 million attacks for as little as 15 euros per month. After the site was taken down in April 2018, Link11’s Security Operation Center saw a 60% decline in DDoS attacks in Europe, which highlights just how widespread and damaging the use of the service was. However, the risk from DDoS attacks remains extremely high, so organizations need to take proactive steps to mitigate that risk and protect their business.”
