The U.S. dismantled four botnets that had infected more than 3 million devices and were attacking Pentagon infrastructure

Co‑operative operation by the United States, Germany and Canada destroyed four major botnets

In a joint effort by the governments of North America and Europe, law enforcement carried out an operation against four botnets—Aisuru, KimWolf, JackSkid and Mossad. It turned out that these networks infected more than three million devices worldwide, including hundreds of thousands in the United States.

What the botnets used
* Targets – mainly U.S. Department of Defense infrastructure and other critical servers.
* Methods – mass DDoS attacks, as well as extortion of money from affected users.

Types of infected devices
Most targets were Internet‑of‑Things devices:
- webcams
- digital video recorders
- Wi‑Fi routers

The botnets launched hundreds of thousands of DDoS attacks, and in some cases demanded ransoms.

How the operation was conducted
* The operation took place simultaneously in the United States, Germany and Canada.
* The goal was to eliminate botnet operators and halt their activities.

Kenneth DeKellis, head of the Division at the U.S. Department of Defense’s Investigative Service (DoW), emphasized:
> “Today’s takedown of four powerful botnets underscores our commitment to eliminating emerging cyber threats to the War Ministry and its servicemembers.”

Participants in the operation
* Technology companies – Amazon Web Services, Google, PayPal, Nokia.
* International assistance – the PowerOFF Europol team (the EU law‑enforcement agency), active since 2017 in fighting cybercriminals specializing in DDoS attacks.

Thus, the joint efforts of three countries and leading technology firms led to a significant reduction in the threat posed by major botnets, protecting critical infrastructure and users worldwide.