A suspected member of an online extortion gang has been arrested, police have said. Officers said they believed they had apprehended a key member of the group DD4BC, while another suspect was also in custody after raids. Forces from various European countries, including Scotland Yard detectives, worked together on the operation. The group is accused of taking down companies’ websites and demanding ransoms to stop.
Speaking on DDoS ransom attacks, Dave Larson, Chief Operating Officer at Corero Network Security, stated that “The collateral damage associated with successful DDoS attacks can be exponential. When service providers lack proper protection mechanisms to defeat attacks in real-time, the costs associated with the outages are wide ranging and the impact to downstream or co-located customers can be devastating.” He went on to add “Further fueling this epidemic is the payout on these ransom related threats. DDoS attack tools are easy to come by and perhaps even easier to use. This is an easy and anonymous recipe for anyone looking to make a quick buck, and the victims are proving this every day. Properly prepared organizations can stem this tide by refusing the ransom requests, secure in the knowledge that they are protected and can withstand the storm.”
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ORIGINAL SOURCE: BBC
