Internet troll created a large-scale botnet “Dark Frost” and directed it to the gaming community

Company specialists Akamai discovered new botnet, which carries out DDoS attacks against ordinary users and entire companies in the gaming industry. According to security researcher Allen West, the “Dark Frost” botnet (originally called “DarknessBotnet”) is based on various malware such as Gafgyt, QBot, Mirai, and combines hundreds of infected devices with different architectures.

Game companies, game server hosting providers, online streamers, and even ordinary members of the gaming community with whom the attacker came into contact become the targets of the attacks. According to Akamai, the botnet has been active since the middle of last year, and its potential is about 629.28 Gbps.

It is noteworthy that only one person is behind the creation and activity of the botnet, whose nickname the researchers decided not to disclose in order not to contribute to its popularity. A novice cybercriminal likes to periodically “drop” the servers of one or another online game for the sake of laughter, launching a live broadcast for his fans, or “dirty” in some other way. All attacks are also documented by screenshots that the author publishes in his Discord-channel.

“The attacker boasts about his achievements on social networks and uses the botnet even to resolve small online disputes,” West said.

Screenshot in cyberbandit’s Discord channel

In addition, on the same Discord channel, the attacker offers his DDoS services to anyone who can finance them. Apparently, the Internet bully plans to develop a full-fledged cybercrime DDoS hiring business.

The Dark Frost botnet is an example of how easy it is for novice cybercriminals with low skill levels to use malware already available in the public domain to cause serious damage to both ordinary people and entire companies and infrastructures.

“While not the most advanced or stunning attacker, the Dark Frost botnet was still able to amass hundreds of compromised devices to carry out the criminal’s orders. The threat that these single actors can pose is striking in its scale, even despite the lack of novelty in their methods, ”concluded the analyst.