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US man arrested over Aussie DDoS attacks

US man arrested over Aussie DDoS attacks

Businesses in the US and Canada were also affected by the 2015 DDoS attacks

Credit: Dreamstime

A 37 year-old US citizen has been arrested in connection with serious offences relating to distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.

The arrest was the result of a two-and-a-half-year joint investigation between the Australian Federal Police (AFP), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Toronto Police Department.

It relates to DDoS attacks that hit several businesses across Australia, Canada and the US in early 2015, according to the AFP. The attack to the IT systems was followed by the businesses being contacted by a person making demands.

The man was arrested early Wednesday US time in Seattle by the FBI after appearing in the United States District Court for the State of Washington.

According to media outlet, SeattlePI, the 2015 attack hit Fairfax Media’s servers in Los Angeles. The situation began with a man who was trying to have articles removed from the news outlet page as those reported his alleged past crimes committed in Canada.

AFP Manager Cyber Crime Operations, Commander David McLean, said the successful outcome to this long running investigation is a testament to the close working relationships the AFP has with its overseas partners.

“This is a timely reminder to cyber-criminals that international law enforcement is a team sport.  Our ability and willingness to work together at a distance and across borders has never been greater,” said Commander McLean

“I would like to thank our international partners for their cooperation as well as for their patience and persistence in bringing about this result.  I would also like to acknowledge the companies who were victims of the attacks for their ongoing cooperation.”

In April, a study from NTT Group found that distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks were still the tool of choice for cybercriminals targeting Australian organisations despite the recent influx of ransomware. The study found that 22 per cent of all attacks targeting Australia were related to denial of service. 

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Tags ddosdistributed denial of service (DDoS)Australian businesses

More about AFPAustraliaAustralian Federal PoliceCommanderFairfax MediaFBIFederal Bureau of InvestigationFederal Police

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