Security News > 2022 > June > Owner of ‘DownThem’ DDoS service gets 2 years in prison
An Illinois man was sentenced to two years in prison for operating a distributed denial of service platform that allowed threat actors to conduct over 200,000 attacks.
The sentenced man, Matthew Gatrel, 33, had created and operated the websites "Downthem.org" and "Ampnode.com." The former sold subscriptions to a powerful DDoS arsenal, and the latter was a bulletproof hosting service that also aided customers in launching their own DDoS attacks.
"Gatrel himself often used the DownThem service to demonstrate to prospective customers the power and effectiveness of products, by attacking the customer's intended victim and providing proof, via screenshot, that he had severed the victim's internet connection."
While DownThem was a DDoS service, the DOJ says Ampnode is a bulletproof hosting service that allowed threat actors to conduct attacks without fear of abuse and takedown requests by victims.
Clients of the AmpNode hosting service were also found to be running their own DDoS-for-hire platforms using pre-configured attack scripts provided by the hosting service.
"Records from the DownThem service revealed more than 2,000 registered users and more than 200,000 launched attacks, including attacks on homes, schools, universities, municipal and local government websites, and financial institutions worldwide," said the DOJ announcement.