The FBI has seized the domains of NightmareStresser under court-issued warrants, the US Justice Department announced on September 15. PCMag reports that the service had been selling access to DDoS attacks, which knock websites offline by flooding them with traffic, since at least 2020.
According to the Justice Department, the evidence behind the warrant shows NightmareStresser was used to launch or attempt hundreds of thousands of DDoS attacks on victims around the world since 2022. Its main domain now shows only an FBI seizure notice. This isn’t the first hit the service has taken. Back in 2022, the bureau seized another domain tied to it, and six people suspected of running dozens of similar DDoS platforms were charged.
NightmareStresser had a sizable customer base. Cybersecurity firm Searchlight Cyber counted more than 566,000 registered users as of 2023. Anyone could order an attack, with prices ranging from $25 to $19,999 depending on the method and firepower. The site billed itself as “the longest-running, most powerful and most reputable platform of its kind,” built by the most experienced DDoS specialists, and claimed it had never gone offline in more than eight years.
Officially, NightmareStresser presented itself as a stress-testing tool, meant to check whether a website can handle heavy load. In practice, the FBI says, it was used to attack victims in the District of Alaska and across the rest of the US. DDoS attacks remain a live threat for media sites too: this month, Ukrainian broadcaster FREEДОМ saw its website hit by an hours-long attack.
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Still, seizing the domains doesn’t guarantee NightmareStresser is gone for good. The service could resurface at a new address.
