DDoS attacks involve millions of simultaneous accesses to a website to bring it down
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The Federal Police carried out Operation Power OFF to dismantle a group that sold DDoS cyberattacks, with the support of the FBI, with the aim of combating crimes that threaten essential services in Brazil.
On Wednesday, the third of this month, the Federal Police carried out Operation Power OFF to dismantle a group that provides online cyber attack services of the type DDoS, which is the English abbreviation for Distributed denial of serviceor denial of distributed service.
A DDoS attack occurs when criminals make thousands or millions of simultaneous accesses to a website or system. The goal is to disable the service, leaving the page offline or extremely slow.
Currently, illegal platforms called booters or stressers sell this type of attack on demand. Anyone, even without knowing how to program, can rent the service by paying a fee. Attacks can harm essential government services, delay services, and compromise the security of sensitive information.
The National Police executed four search and seizure warrants and two temporary arrest warrants in the cities of São Paulo (SP), São Caetano do Sul (SP), Rio de Janeiro (RJ), and Tubarao (SC).
The investigators are the administrators of the illegal platforms and the users who carried out the attacks. They may be liable for criminal association, interruption or disruption of remote services or public information.
The investigations received international support from Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from the United States, as these services operate on servers spread across several countries and serve customers around the world. According to PF, users of these platforms have already been responsible for attacks against important systems in the country, including:
- Federal Police, in 2020;
- SERPRO (Federal Data Processing Service);
- DATAPREV, which manages Social Security data;
- Brazilian Army Integrated Communications Center, 2018.
Operation Power OFF brings together police, international agencies and academic institutions. According to PF, the goal is to strengthen the fight against cybercrime that directly affects the functioning of essential services in Brazil.