Booter services are dangerous because they make it very easy and cheap to launch DDoS attacks clients can choose from subscription services that offer attacks that vary in volume or duration.

Stresser services are commonly marketed as a way for clients to test their own infrastructures against attacks, but in reality, they are used to attack other sites and networks. According to Krebs on Security, Gatrel’s co-defendant and partner in the business, Juan “Severon” Martinez of Pasadena, Calif., pleaded guilty just before the trial. He was one of several cybercriminals charged in 2018 when the US FBI collaborated with a number of international agencies and industry partners to crack down on booter-stresser services. The California court found him guilty and sentenced him to two years in prison. Many AmpNode customers were themselves operating for-profit DDoS services.” Even today, the AmpNode website is still online, and promotes its spoofing servers, stating, “We believe in privacy and network freedom and with our own private networks, we ENABLE spoofing!” He also provided the infrastructure and resources for other cybercriminals to run their own DDoS stresser businesses.Ī press release from the US Attorney’s Office of the Central District of California explains, “Records from the DownThem service revealed more than 2,000 registered users and more than 200,000 launched attacks, including attacks on homes, schools, universities, municipal and local government websites, and financial institutions worldwide. Between 20, Gatrel had thousands of clients who paid him to launch more than 200,000 Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. He was convicted of selling “spoofing” servers that can be pre-configured with DDoS attack scripts and lists of vulnerable “attack amplifiers” used to launch simultaneous cyberattacks on victims. U.S Law enforcement officials have prosecuted Matthew Gatrel, an Illinois man who owned a “booter” service called DownThem and a server hosting service called AmpNode.

Online ddos booter