The U.S. Department of Justice has charged Ethan Foltz, a 22-year-old man from Oregon, for his alleged involvement with the RapperBot, a widely recognized DDoS-for-hire botnet.

Foltz faces one count of aiding and abetting computer intrusions, potentially leading to a prison sentence of up to ten years if convicted. This charge emerges from a federal criminal complaint filed in the District of Alaska, marking a significant development in dismantling the botnet, which began operating in at least 2021.

During Operation PowerOff, a raid on Foltz’s residence resulted in the seizure of control over the botnet’s infrastructure, effectively concluding its operations. Tom Scholl, an AWS Vice President, stated that his team collaborated with the Defense Criminal Investigative Services (DCIS) to trace and analyze the botnet’s command and control setup.

The DOJ’s announcement also highlights the involvement of several notable organizations, including Google, Cloudflare, and Digital Ocean, in bringing Foltz’s actions to a halt. Michael J. Heyman, U.S. Attorney for the District of Alaska, praised the investigatory efforts that resulted in this significant disruption to the transnational criminal efforts behind RapperBot.

RapperBot has been notably responsible for thousands of DDoS attacks worldwide, impacting systems in over 80 countries, including U.S. government and large tech firms. Authorities confirm that it executed over 370,000 attacks this year alone, solidifying its reputation as one of the most capable DDoS botnets ever known.