Ethical Hacking News
U.S. Justice Department, along with authorities from Canada and Germany, successfully disrupts four sophisticated botnets that compromised over three million IoT devices and launched record-breaking DDoS attacks capable of knocking nearly any target offline.
Law enforcement agencies from the US, Canada, and Germany disrupted four highly disruptive botnets that compromised over three million IoT devices. The botnets were responsible for record-smashing DDoS attacks capable of knocking nearly any target offline. The operation was a culmination of months-long efforts by law enforcement officials working together to dismantle the online infrastructure behind the attacks. Law enforcement agencies seized control of key components of the botnets, preventing further attacks and limiting their ability to launch future attacks. The individuals in control of the botnets used them to launch hundreds of thousands of DDoS attacks, often demanding extortion payments from victims. The disruption of the four botnets marks an important turning point in the fight against sophisticated cybercrime networks using IoT devices for DDoS attacks.
In a significant operation targeting some of the most sophisticated cybercrime networks on the internet, law enforcement agencies from the United States, Canada, and Germany have successfully disrupted four highly disruptive botnets that compromised over three million Internet of Things (IoT) devices. These botnets were responsible for a series of record-smashing distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks capable of knocking nearly any target offline.
According to officials from the U.S. Justice Department, the four botnets in question - named Aisuru, Kimwolf, JackSkid, and Mossad - are the result of an extensive operation that involved multiple agencies working together to dismantle the online infrastructure behind these highly disruptive DDoS attacks. The operation was a culmination of months-long efforts by law enforcement officials from around the world who were determined to bring those responsible for launching these devastating attacks to justice.
The Justice Department stated that its Department of Defense Office of Inspector General's (DoDIG) Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) executed seizure warrants targeting multiple U.S.-registered domains, virtual servers, and other infrastructure involved in DDoS attacks against Internet addresses owned by the DoD. This marked a significant turning point in the operation as it allowed law enforcement agencies to seize control of key components of these botnets and prevent them from launching further attacks.
The government alleges that the individuals in control of these four botnets used their sophisticated crime machines to launch hundreds of thousands of DDoS attacks, often demanding extortion payments from victims. Some victims reported tens of thousands of dollars in losses and remediation expenses. The oldest of the botnets - Aisuru - issued more than 200,000 attack commands, while JackSkid hurled at least 90,000 attacks. Kimwolf issued over 25,000 attack commands, the government said, while Mossad was blamed for roughly 1,000 digital sieges.
The DOJ stated that the law enforcement action was designed to prevent further infection of victim devices and to limit or eliminate the ability of these botnets to launch future attacks. The case is being investigated by the DCIS with help from the FBI's field office in Anchorage, Alaska, and the DOJ’s statement credits nearly two dozen technology companies with assisting in the operation.
In an official statement, Special Agent in Charge Rebecca Day of the FBI Anchorage Field Office stated that "By working closely with DCIS and our international law enforcement partners, we collectively identified and disrupted criminal infrastructure used to carry out large-scale DDoS attacks." This statement highlights the importance of collaboration between law enforcement agencies in combating cybercrime.
The emergence of these botnets is a significant development in the world of cybersecurity. In late 2024, Aisuru, one of the four botnets in question, began launching record-breaking DDoS attacks as it rapidly infected new IoT devices. By mid-2025, Aisuru was using its sophisticated spreading mechanism to rapidly infect devices hidden behind the protection of user's internal networks.
However, this success came at a cost - multiple sources familiar with the investigation revealed that the operation also led to other IoT botnets emerging and competing for the same pool of vulnerable devices. According to the DOJ, the disruption of these four botnets coincided with law enforcement actions in Canada and Germany targeting individuals who allegedly operated those botnets, although no further details were available on the suspected operators.
Recently, a 22-year-old Canadian man was identified as a core operator of the Kimwolf botnet by KrebsOnSecurity. Multiple sources familiar with the investigation told KrebsOnSecurity that the other prime suspect is a 15-year-old living in Germany. The revelation of these individuals comes as part of a wider effort to dismantle cybercrime networks and bring those responsible for launching devastating DDoS attacks to justice.
In conclusion, this significant operation marks an important turning point in the fight against sophisticated cybercrime networks that use IoT devices to launch devastating DDoS attacks. The successful disruption of four highly disruptive botnets highlights the effectiveness of international collaboration between law enforcement agencies and demonstrates a growing commitment to combating these types of threats.
U.S. Justice Department, along with authorities from Canada and Germany, successfully disrupts four sophisticated botnets that compromised over three million IoT devices and launched record-breaking DDoS attacks capable of knocking nearly any target offline.
Related Information:
https://www.ethicalhackingnews.com/articles/Feds-Disrupt-Sophisticated-Botnet-Infrastructure-Behind-Record-Breaking-DDoS-Attacks-ehn.shtml
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2026/03/feds-disrupt-iot-botnets-behind-huge-ddos-attacks/
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ak/pr/authorities-disrupt-worlds-largest-iot-ddos-botnets-responsible-record-breaking-attacks
https://foresiet.com/blog/category/apt-cyber-espionage/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Scams/comments/15g47df/concerning_email_about_a_apt_hacker_group/
https://cybernews.com/security/handala-ex-mossad-research-head-emails-leaked-stryker-contained/
https://netcrook.com/mossad-email-hack-handala-shine-leak/
Published: Thu Mar 19 21:00:40 2026 by llama3.2 3B Q4_K_M
