What is an IP stresser?

An IP stresser is basically a  method where a tool is used for determining the network or server for robustness. It is up to the administrator to create a test for determining whether the prevalent resources in terms of CPU, bandwidth etc is present in sufficient quantity to withstand the additional load. 

There are legalities which bind the responsibility. While it is legitimate to use a stresser  for testing one’s own network or server. However, if the same thing is done  against someone else’s network which may prove to result in denial of service to the actual legitimate users. Hence, such a process stands out to be  illegal in various countries globally

What are booter services?

Booters are popularly referred to as booter services and are on demand DDoS attack services. This procedural norm is usually adopted by criminals for stopping the websites and networks. Therefore, it totally stands out to be another illegitimate use of IP stressers.

Illegal IP stressers 

Illegal IP stressers through the use of proxy server hide the identity of attacking servers. So, technically how it functions is the way where proxies change the route of the attacker’s connection and this is done by masking the IP address of the attacker. 

Booters are synonymous with a packaged theme in terms of email support along with YouTube tutorials. 

Packages range in various forms where it may give one-time service to numerous attacks which are going to be done or multiple attacks within a specific period or for that matter, there are few those with “lifetime” access. 

The cost of a one-month package is roughly $19.99. There are series of payment options in the form of Skrill, credit cards for Bitcoin

What makes IP booters different from botnets?

A botnet is a network of computers while the unfortunate part is that the owners are certainly not knowledgeable about the fact that their computer has been infected with malware. Hence, this can potentially be used towards Internet attacks.  Booters are DDoS for hire services. 

Booters have traditionally been using botnets for launching attacks and their severity is well known. However, with sophistication, they are becoming more advanced and are using extremely reliant and powerful servers.

What are reasons which imply denial-of-service attacks?

There are series of reasons which work towards the same such as testing the hacking skills  or there are conflicts with ideologies, rivalries in business, extortion or  even government-sponsored terrorism. PayPal as well as credit cards have become the most obvious method of payment when it comes to extortion attacks. 

The utility of Bitcoin is very much in use, as it has the potential of disguising identity.  Talking about the attacker’s interest, there is one disadvantage regarding Bitcoin is that fewer people  make use of the same, when compared to other methods of payment.

“Script kiddie” or “skiddie”, well these are the derogatory terms which usually low-skilled Internet vandals use for creating programs or scripts which are then used to launch attacks online.  They go after those loopholes which can be easily exploited and they least consider the consequences come what may.

What are amplification and reflection attacks?

Reflection and amplification attacks use legitimate traffic for overwhelming the server which is the centre of target

This can be stated with an example, like when the situation arises, as the attacker forges the victim’s IP address and pretends to be a victim, it sends the message to the third party. This is what is referred to as IP address spoofing. There is absolutely no way that the third party is able to determine or distinguish the victim’s IP address. Therefore,  a response is directly made to the victim. In the meantime, it should be known that the IP address of the attacker is hidden from a third party server as well as that of the victim. The whole process is termed as reflection. 

This can be understood with another example like the attacker is ordering essentials to the house of the victim and he pretends somewhat else. Here, the victim has to bear the charges, for which it didn’t order those essentials.

Booster attacks mainly use both types of attacks in terms of reflection and amplification. Firstly, the attacker mentions the fake address and sends a message to a third party. Right, at this time when the third party creates a response, the message reaches the faked address. It is to mention here, that the reply seems to be way bigger with respect to the original message, hence it amplifies the size of attack. 

What are the measures to be adopted in case of a DDoS extortion attack?

  • The data center as well as ISP to be informed immediately 
  • Many regard that ransom should be an option. However, it shouldn’t be, as in many of the cases, it often demands escalation of ransom demand
  • One should immediately notify law enforcement agencies
  • One should monitor the network traffic 
  • One should also reach out to DDoS protection plans in the form of Cloudflare’s free of charge plan

What is the process of creating botnet attacks to be less severe?

  • One should install firewalls on server
  • There need to be up to date security patches
  • There is also the need for running antivirus software which has to be on schedule
  • One should regularly monitor system logs
  • One shouldn’t allow unknown email servers to distribute SMTP traffic 

What is the reason which makes booter services extremely hard to be traced?

The person who is in charge of purchasing such unethical services makes use of a frontend website for payment. Mostly, there is no connection which can be identified to the backend which initiates the attack. Hence, the whole process makes it extremely hard for the intentions of criminals to be tracked and proven. Therefore, one needs to be highly sensitive and sensitized towards creating a fool proof safety and security mechanism so that they can avert the possible attacks and create a better safety mechanism for themselves. 

 

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