Operation PowerOFF, an international law enforcement campaign supported by Europol, targeted DDoS-for-hire platforms and warned over 75,000 users while resulting in arrests and domain takedowns. The operation dismantled booter-service infrastructure across 21 countries, seized criminal account databases, and is entering a prevention phase with awareness campaigns and search‑engine and on‑chain disruption measures. #OperationPowerOFF #Europol
Keypoints
- More than 75,000 users of DDoS-for-hire platforms were warned by email and letters.
- The operation was coordinated across 21 countries with support from Europol.
- Authorities arrested four people, took 53 domains offline, and issued 25 search warrants.
- Booter services rent DDoS swarms made from compromised routers and IoT devices and often masquerade as legitimate stress-testing tools.
- The prevention phase includes awareness campaigns, targeted search ads, removal of 100+ promoting URLs, and on-chain payment warning messages.