The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) said it infiltrated and dismantled a major DDoS-for-hire service called digitalstress.su responsible for facilitating tens of thousands of attacks weekly on a global scale. The action was carried out in collaboration with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).

The crackdown follows the PSNI's arrest of one of the site's suspected administrators earlier this month. The NCA took control of the website, disabling its functionality and replacing it with a splash page. This page now warns users that their data has been collected by law enforcement agencies.

In addition to seizing the site, the NCA accessed various communication platforms used by cybercriminals to discuss launching DDoS attacks.

Digitalstress.su operated under a .su domain, an outdated Soviet Union domain often exploited by cybercriminal services under the mistaken belief that it provides a barrier against effective law enforcement investigations.

“The NCA’s activity however has shown that such domains are vulnerable and can be exploited to stop criminal activity and identify those responsible,” the agency said.

The NCA will now analyze user information gathered from the site for further law enforcement action. Data related to international users will be shared with appropriate overseas law enforcement agencies.