Authorities in 21 countries have seized 53 domains, arrested four people and disrupted DDoS-for-hire services used by more than 75,000 cybercriminals in an international action called Operation PowerOFF.
KEY FACTS
- Seizures 53 domains tied to commercial DDoS services were taken down.
- Arrests Four people were arrested in the operation.
- Reach Authorities said they obtained access to databases with more than 3 million criminal user accounts.
- Scope 21 countries took part, including the U.S., the U.K., Germany and Japan.
Authorities also issued 25 search warrants and began sending warning emails and letters to identified users. Europol said the takedown disrupted the technical infrastructure behind the services and blocked access to the DDoS-for-hire platforms.
Booter services let users launch attacks against websites, servers or networks by flooding them with junk traffic. The report said the services lower the barrier to entry for cybercrime because users need little technical skill to carry out attacks at scale.
The article said DDoS activity can be driven by extortion, hacktivism or simple disruption of competitors. Some operators have tried to mask their business as stress-testing tools.
The action follows earlier moves under the same campaign. In August 2025, U.S. officials announced the takedown of RapperBot, a DDoS botnet used in attacks against victims in more than 80 countries since at least 2021.
WHY IT MATTERS
The crackdown targets services that make disruptive attacks easier to buy and use. By seizing infrastructure and identifying customers, authorities aim to reduce access to tools that can knock websites and networks offline.