Cybercrime

DoJ Looking for Victims of ‘Quantum Stresser’ DDoS Service

The U.S. Department of Justice has asked victims of the Quantum Stresser DDoS-for-hire service, whose operator was recently sentenced, to come forward.

Eduard Kovacs

February 7, 2020

The U.S. Department of Justice has asked victims of the Quantum Stresser DDoS-for-hire service, whose operator was recently sentenced, to come forward.

Quantum Stresser was run by 24-year-old David Bukoski of Hanover Township, Pennsylvania. According to authorities, the service had roughly 70-80,000 subscribers between 2011 and 2018, and in 2018 customers launched or attempted to launch approximately 50,000 DDoS attacks aimed at individuals or organizations.

Bukoski was indicted in 2018 and in August 2019 he pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting computer intrusions. He was sentenced on February 4 to five years probation and six months of community confinement — the light sentence is mostly due to his poor health.

Law enforcement agencies in Alaska conducted the investigation into Quantum Stresser and prosecuted Bukoski, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska has now asked victims to come forward before a restitution hearing is held on May 5.

In a restitution hearing the court determines if the offender owes restitution and, if so, how much they owe.

“Due to the large number of potential victims in this case, Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy M. Burgess issued an order directing the government to employ alternative victim notification procedures so that any member of the community at large who believes they may be a crime victim is made aware of their potential rights,” reads a press release published this week by the US Attorney’s Office in Alaska.

“The government is asking that members of the community who believe they may be a victim of Bukoski’s criminal activities, to please contact (907) 271-3041 to reach the Victim-Witness Unit at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Alaska,” it continues.

Security blogger Brian Krebs pointed out that investigators identified Bukoski after he used an email address involved in his illegal activities to order a pizza to his home.

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Written By Eduard Kovacs

Eduard Kovacs (@EduardKovacs) is a managing editor at SecurityWeek. He worked as a high school IT teacher for two years before starting a career in journalism as Softpedia’s security news reporter. Eduard holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial informatics and a master’s degree in computer techniques applied in electrical engineering.

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