- An international operation has disrupted four global botnets
- Botnets operated more than 3 million devices for DDoS attacks
- The United States, Canada, and Germany worked together to disrupt infrastructure and people.
A global botnet responsible for a record 31.4 Tbps DDoS attack has been disrupted by an international operation.
Law enforcement agencies in the United States, Germany, and Canada targeted command and control (C2) infrastructure, virtual servers, and Internet domains used to infect Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
The US Department of Justice said the infrastructure was being used by Aisuru, KimWolf, JackSkid and Mossad, and contained more than three million infected devices worldwide.
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Global botnet disruption
The Justice Department explained that the operation was carried out simultaneously, with partners in Canada and Germany targeting the individuals responsible for operating the botnets.
“Some of these attacks measured approximately 30 Terabits per second, which were unprecedented attacks,” the Justice Department added.
The Aisuru botnet has been used in numerous record-breaking DDoS attacks, including a 15.72 Tbps attack against Microsoft Azure. The KimWolf botnet operated on more than 1.8 million Android devices, while the Justice Department said the lesser-known JackSkid group has “launched more than 90,000 DDoS attack commands.” Mossad botnet launched more than 1,000 attack commands
DDoS botnets typically consist of “smart” devices connected to the Internet, such as digital video recorders, webcams, or Wi-Fi routers, but almost any device connected to the Internet can be used as part of a botnet.
The companies responsible for creating these Internet-connected devices often fail to implement regular software updates, leaving the devices at risk of being hijacked. For example, the KimWolf botnet was largely made up of smart TVs and multimedia devices.
“Today, the United States joined international law enforcement partners in coordinated actions to disrupt DDoS threats affecting Alaskans and victims around the world,” said U.S. Attorney Michael J. Heyman for the District of Alaska.
“Effective collaboration strengthens our collective ability to combat emerging threats. The United States is steadfast in our commitment to safeguarding critical Internet infrastructure and fighting cybercriminals who endanger its security, wherever they live.”
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