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US takes down NightmareStresser DDoS-for-hire platform

Authorities say the service launched hundreds of thousands of attacks since at least 2022 and targeted schools, agencies, gaming platforms and streamers.

  • On Tuesday, the FBI Anchorage field office and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police seized domains linked to NightmareStresser, one of the longest-running DDoS-for-hire services, with seized sites now displaying an FBI banner.
  • Officials reported that NightmareStresser facilitated hundreds of thousands of DDoS attacks since at least 2022, allowing cybercriminals to disrupt organizations by inundating servers with junk traffic while posing as legitimate stress-testing tools.
  • Operation PowerOFF has seized more than 100 domains associated with DDoS-for-hire services since 2018 and charged 12 people, according to the Justice Department, as part of the broader dismantling effort.
  • Zach Edwards, a staff threat researcher at Infoblox, noted NightmareStresser operators claimed to operate under the laws of the Russian Federation, potentially complicating prosecution efforts despite the domain seizures.
  • Despite these seizures, Edwards warned that booter services are like playing a game of "Whac-A-Mole," as underground networks quickly shift to new providers when one is taken down.
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The FBI seized two domains linked to NightmareStresser, a contract DDoS service that, according to authorities, facilitated hundreds of thousands of actual or attempted attacks since 2022. The operation, coordinated with Canada, is part of an international campaign against an industry that allows for the rental of low-tech attack capacity.

The FBI has just seized the main areas of Nightmare Stresser, one of DDoS's oldest on-demand services still in operation. Since 2022, the platform has reportedly been used to launch several hundred thousand attacks in the world.

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The Hacker News broke the news on Thursday, September 17, 2026.
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