US DOJ took down botnets with help from Google and Amazon

The US DOJ reports that it has worked with government agencies in Germany and Canada, as well as several well-known tech companies, to disrupt botnets and stop a series of DDoS attacks that included DOJ websites among the targets. The botnets reportedly infected more than a few million devices and DDoS attacks were launched using a few different malicious networks, including Aisuru, KimWolf, JackSkid and Mossad, the DOJ said.

According to the report, a majority of the devices that were infected were Internet of Things devices. This includes everything from smart locks to robot vacuums to fans to smart thermostats. Basically, any smart home device is part of the Internet of Things. None of those product categories were explicitly listed by the DOJ, but they are all IoT devices. In addition to Internet of Things devices, the DOJ says that infected devices also included hardware that was connected to the web, such as WiFi routers and webcams.

The DOJ got help from several tech companies to disrupt the botnets

While the US DOJ worked with German and Canadian governments to take disrupt the botnets, it also received help from several tech companies that played a pivotal role. This included the likes of Google, Amazon Web Services, PayPal, and Nokia. It also included the EU’s law enforcement agency team from Europol called “PowerOff.”

As part of the operation, the DOJ says it seized “extensive evidence” that will help with further investigation. In addition to the seized evidence, the DOJ also found several data storage devices and cryptocurrencies that were worth tens of thousands of dollars.

The botnets were reportedly used to target victims across the globe with some victims being extorted for monetary gain. It’s unclear if any of the victims that were targeted actually paid ransoms and if any of the seized cryptocurrency was part of those ransom demands.