Stresser (or booter) services provide denial-of-service attack as a service, usually as a criminal enterprise.[1]
They have simple front ends, and accept payment over the web. Marketed and promoted as stress-testing tools, they can be used to perform unauthorized denial-of-service attacks, and allow technically unsophisticated attackers access to sophisticated attack tools.[2] Usually powered by a botnet, the traffic produced by a consumer stresser can range anywhere from 5-50 Gbit/s, which can, in most cases, deny the average home user internet access.[3]
In 2023 it was revealed that a cross-industry organization called "Big Pipes" with representatives from major Internet companies had been working with law enforcement to find and shut down illegal booter/stresser services for the previous five years.[4]
The UK National Crime Agency has set up numerous "honeypot" websites purporting to be booter/stresser services. The details of people registering with these fake services are logged.[6]
