The following is a machine translation into English of a press release issued by the Central Bureau for Combating Cybercrime. The original Polish version can be found at https://cbzc.policja.gov.pl/bzc/aktualnosci/162,Zatrzymani-do-sprawy-atakow-DDoS-w-ramach-kolejnej-edycji-miedzynarodowej-operac.html
Date of publication 06/16/2023
Police officers of the Bydgoszcz Department of the Central Bureau for Combating Cybercrime, in cooperation with the District Prosecutor’s Office in Bydgoszcz, detained 2 people involved in the production and sharing of a paid service for conducting DDoS attacks, i.e. the so-called DDoS as a Service. Using the service was possible after making a payment in cryptocurrency, which allowed for cyberattacks that significantly disrupted the operation of IT systems located around the world. The case is ongoing and further arrests are possible.
The CBZC Department in Bydgoszcz is conducting proceedings regarding the activities of administrators of Internet platforms that enable DDoS attacks. The service run by the perpetrators has been operating since 2013 and was successfully blocked as part of the international “Power Off” operation. The activities were carried out in close cooperation with Europol, the US FBI, the police of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium and were coordinated by the J-CAT (Joint Cybercrime Action Taskforce).
In the proceedings, data was obtained from the perpetrators’ server located in Switzerland. More than 35,000 have been established. user accounts, 76 thousand. log-in records to the platform and over 320,000 unique IP addresses of the attacked servers. In addition, 11,000 records of purchased “plans” of attacks” along with the email address of the buyer of the service (for the total amount of approximately $ 400,000), and over a thousand records of purchased “plans” of attacks (for the total amount of approximately $ 44,000).
As part of the implementation carried out by the policemen of the Central Bureau for Combating Cybercrime, 2 people were detained and 10 searches were carried out. Evidence of running and administering a criminal domain was revealed and secured on the computer of one of the suspects. At the moment, charges have been filed against 2 persons under Art. 269b § 1 PC.
In the course of implementation, electronic equipment was secured in the form of 15 hard drives, 5 desktop and 6 portable computers, 10 telephones, 5 USB sticks and 3 SIM cards, a printout of a cryptocurrency wallet with a private key containing 1 BTC and 1 BCH worth over PLN 114,000. zlotys and money in the amount of over 145 thousand. zloty. The total amount of secured property is almost PLN 260,000. zlotys.
The case is ongoing and further arrests are possible.