Gavin Howe
Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are almost certainly illegal, with a maximum punishment of ten years in prison. The Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the US Department of Justice handles cases of DoS and DDoS. In one example, in July 2019, Austin Thompson, aka DerpTrolling, was sentenced to 27 months in prison and $95,000 restitution by a federal court for conducting multiple DDoS attacks on major video gaming companies, disrupting their systems from hours to days.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Maximum punishment | 10 years in prison |
| Intention | To take down a website, however temporarily |
| Distribution of tools | Can be an offence |
| Jurisdiction | 156 countries, or 80% globally, have enacted cybercrime laws |
| US law | May be considered a federal crime under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act |
| US penalty | Years of imprisonment |
| UK law | Only 'one significant link' is needed between the acts taking place and the United Kingdom for domestic Courts to have jurisdiction |
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What You'll Learn
- DDoS attacks are illegal in many countries
- DDoS attacks can result in a prison sentence
- The Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the US Department of Justice handles DoS and DDoS cases
- DDoS attacks are executed by a network of compromised devices
- DDoS attacks are severely detrimental to online businesses
DDoS attacks are illegal in many countries
Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are illegal in many countries. In the US, denial-of-service attacks may be considered a federal crime under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, with penalties that include years of imprisonment. The Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the US Department of Justice handles cases of DoS and DDoS. In one example, in July 2019, Austin Thompson, aka DerpTrolling, was sentenced to 27 months in prison and $95,000 restitution by a federal court for conducting multiple DDoS attacks on major video gaming companies, disrupting their systems from hours to days.
DDoS attacks are severely detrimental to an online business because they completely stop the flow of traffic or slow a website down to the point of it being unusable. Even distributing tools to use in DDoS attacks can be an offence. It does not appear that merely having the software would be illegal.
The law in this area is particularly confusing, with little case law on it. However, it is clear that DDoS attacks are almost certainly against the law, with a maximum punishment of ten years in prison. One merely needs to act with the intention of taking down a website, however temporarily, for the law to apply.
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DDoS attacks can result in a prison sentence
Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are almost certainly against the law, with a maximum punishment of ten years in prison. The Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the US Department of Justice handles cases of DoS and DDoS. In one example, in July 2019, Austin Thompson, aka DerpTrolling, was sentenced to 27 months in prison and $95,000 restitution by a federal court for conducting multiple DDoS attacks on major video gaming companies, disrupting their systems from hours to days.
One merely needs to act with the intention of taking down a website, however temporarily, for the law to apply. Even distributing tools to use in DDoS attacks can be an offence. It does not appear that merely having the software would be illegal.
In a SYN flood attack, the server sends an ACK message to a spoof IP address that doesn't respond, preventing the handshake loop from closing. Because the server is forced to wait for multiple ACK responses that never arrive, its resources are depleted. A DoS attack is executed by a single computer whereas a DDoS attack is executed by a network of compromised devices. The cumulative effect of DDoS attacks makes them substantially more destructive to web servers.
DDoS attacks are severely detrimental to an online business because they completely stop the flow of traffic or slow a website down to the point of it being unusable. Many jurisdictions have laws under which denial-of-service attacks are illegal. UNCTAD highlights that 156 countries, or 80% globally, have enacted cybercrime laws to combat its widespread impact.
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The Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the US Department of Justice handles DoS and DDoS cases
Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are almost certainly against the law. In the US, they may be considered a federal crime under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, with penalties that include years of imprisonment. The Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the US Department of Justice handles DoS and DDoS cases.
In one example, in July 2019, Austin Thompson, aka DerpTrolling, was sentenced to 27 months in prison and $95,000 restitution by a federal court for conducting multiple DDoS attacks on major video gaming companies, disrupting their systems from hours to days.
DDoS attacks are executed by a network of compromised devices. The cumulative effect of these attacks makes them substantially more destructive to web servers. They are severely detrimental to an online business because they completely stop the flow of traffic or slow a website down to the point of it being unusable.
Even distributing tools to use in DDoS attacks can be an offence. It should be noted that this area of law is particularly confusing, with little case law on it.
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DDoS attacks are executed by a network of compromised devices
Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are almost certainly against the law, with a maximum punishment of ten years in prison. DDoS attacks are executed by a network of compromised devices, which makes them substantially more destructive to web servers than a Denial of Service (DoS) attack, which is executed by a single computer. The cumulative effect of DDoS attacks means they can completely stop the flow of traffic to a website or slow it down to the point of being unusable. This can be severely detrimental to an online business.
Even distributing tools to use in DDoS attacks can be an offence. It does not appear that merely having the software would be illegal.
Many jurisdictions have laws under which denial-of-service attacks are illegal. In the US, denial-of-service attacks may be considered a federal crime under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act with penalties that include years of imprisonment. The Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the US Department of Justice handles cases of DoS and DDoS.
This area of law is particularly confusing, with little case law on it.
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DDoS attacks are severely detrimental to online businesses
Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are almost certainly against the law, with a maximum punishment of ten years in prison. In the US, denial-of-service attacks may be considered a federal crime under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, with penalties that include years of imprisonment. In the UK, the maximum prison sentence is two years.
DDoS attacks are executed by a network of compromised devices. The cumulative effect of these attacks makes them substantially more destructive to web servers than a regular Denial of Service (DoS) attack, which is executed by a single computer.
The law is clear that even distributing tools to use in DDoS attacks can be an offence. Anyone considering making or distributing such tools or software should be aware that it could be illegal to do so.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, DDoSing is illegal in many jurisdictions.
The punishment for DDoSing can include years of imprisonment. In the US, the maximum punishment is ten years in prison. In the UK, the maximum sentence is two years.
A DDoSing attack is executed by a network of compromised devices. The attack completely stops the flow of traffic or slows a website down to the point of it being unusable.
A DoS attack is executed by a single computer, whereas a DDoS attack is executed by a network of compromised devices.
No, distributing tools to use in DDoS attacks can be an offence.
