DDoS attacks can be extremely harmful in more ways than one – also known as a “distributed denial of service” attack, they make the host of a network completely unattainable to the connected users. This results in stalled work flow, security red flags, the list goes on. For the time being, however, it seems that the perpetrators behind the vast majority of DDoS attacks hitting unsuspecting companies have been thwarted. Though this doesn’t mean that DDoS attacks have been stopped completely, it is a major step toward keeping those who would threaten cyber security off the IoT.
Reported by multiple sources, a major online attack service ‘vDOS’ ceased its operations due to a hack on its own website. Run by two Israeli teens and assisted by a larger group situated throughout the US, this website reportedly instigated many of the DDoS attacks over the past two years – and that’s just from the initial information provided in the data dump. Having earned over $600,000 in just two years, those numbers could easily rise to astronomical levels if and when the rest of the data is released, which stems back to the early 2000s. The group operated through sales of DDoS attack subscription services that varied from $20 – $200 per month and offered varying degrees of attack impact.
The group finally met its maker due to a user investigating a similar insecurity within another attacker-for-hire service called PoodleStresser. Once that vulnerability was exploited on the vDOS website, the user was able to delve deeper and gain access to protected user files, financial records, and more. Interestingly enough, one way that authorities were able to deduce that the attackers were located in Israel is through customer complaints on the website. Specifically, they were unable to order attacks for websites hosted within Israel because vDOS creators barred such an action from occurring.
While we do not know the exact percentage of attacks that stemmed directly from vDOS, we do know that they are one of the bigger players in the DDOS attack-for-hire field and posed a massive threat to the cyber security of all users online. Using a cyber security monitoring and management service like Neovera’s, the 24x7x365 support provided by trained cyber security professionals can allow businesses of all sizes to rest assured that their network will not become the next victim of a DDoS attack.