The U.S. dismantles a global network of cybercriminals responsible for record attacks

The United States Department of Justice, in coordination with federal agencies and international partners, dismantled a network of cybercriminals operating some of the largest botnets in the world, used to launch large-scale attacks against digital infrastructures.

An official statement informs that the operation -authorized by a court- allowed for the disruption of the command and control (C2) infrastructure of four botnets identified as Aisuru, KimWolf, JackSkid and Mossad, responsible for globally distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.

According to the authorities, these networks infected over three million devices worldwide, including cameras, digital recorders, and WiFi routers.

Many of these devices were remotely controlled by cybercriminals, who used them to carry out coordinated attacks against servers and computer systems.

Some of the attacks reached unprecedented levels, with peaks of up to 30 terabits per second, regarded as among the largest recorded to date.

The illegal actions caused significant financial losses to the victims, in addition to disruptions in digital services.

The operation was carried out simultaneously with actions in Canada and Germany, where authorities acted against the alleged operators of these botnets.

In the United States, domains, virtual servers, and other infrastructure linked to criminal activities were seized, including attacks targeted at the Department of Defense's networks.

Research reveals that the perpetrators operated under a model of "cybercrime as a service," selling access to the infected devices so that other criminals could launch attacks or extort their victims.

The federal prosecutor for the district of Alaska, Michael J. Heyman, emphasized the importance of international cooperation in addressing this type of threat.

For its part, the FBI emphasized that the operation reflects the joint commitment to protect digital infrastructure and combat cybercrime on a global scale.

The operation also involved multiple agencies and technology companies, which significantly weakened the ability of these networks to continue their illegal activities.