Until its closure in the fall of 2016, vDoS was considered the most reliable and powerful booter service in the cybercrime scene. Such botnets can consist of hundreds of thousands of compromised computers and IoT devices that are remotely exploited for illicit activities such as DDoS attacks. DDoS-for-hire service providers now primarily offer easy access to self-operated or rented botnets, which have a significantly higher potential for damage.

Their firepower was thus limited by the number and performance of the servers used. In the past, operators of web-based IP stresser or booter services rented a handful of servers from hosting providers, which they concealed behind proxies and used for targeted DDoS attacks on behalf of their clientele. A mass of automated requests or data packets deliberately overloads the system and network resources of websites, web applications, APIs, or IT infrastructure, rendering them completely unavailable or only available to a limited extent for legitimate users. With just a few clicks in the web interface, criminal customers can select the desired type of attack, specify their target’s IP address, and launch the attack using the booter service’s attack infrastructure. Services range from an intuitive user interface to customer support and video tutorials. Providers of DDoS-for-hire services are adopting an increasingly professional approach. Payment is made anonymously in the form of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Prices range from a low double-digit amount to several hundred euros – depending on the duration and number of simultaneous attacks carried out. They usually offer a subscription model: Depending on the type of subscription, criminals can launch single attacks, a limited number of attacks, or an unlimited number of attacks lasting a few seconds to several hours. IP stresser or booter services often offer a variety of different attack vectors to put together attacks using a modular principle.

Free web stresser