Honolulu man charged with running for-hire attack website

A 32-year-old Honolulu man was charged Tuesday by federal prosecutors in Alaska with aiding and abetting computer intrusions after he allegedly ran a for-hire attack program for 13 years.

John M. Dobbs was one of six people charged by federal prosecutors in Alaska and California in connection with the court-authorized seizure of 48 internet domains allegedly connected with what is known as “distributed denial of service” attacks.

DDos assaults flood targeted computers with information that prevents them from accessing the internet, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, and those offering to execute the attacks for pay are accused of running “booter” services.

Dobbs allegedly ran a booter service named IPStressor.com, also known as IPS, between 2009 and November. Dobbs will be arraigned in Alaska at 10 a.m. Jan. 4 by U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew McCrary Scoble.

His attorney, Assistant Public Defender Jamie McGrady, did not immediately reply to a Honolulu Star- Advertiser request for comment.

Dobbs attended the University of Hawaii at Manoa and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in computer science in the spring of 2020, then earned a master’s degree in computer science this spring, according to a UH spokesperson.

“These DDoS-for-hire websites, with paying customers both inside and outside the United States, facilitated network disruptions on a massive scale, targeting millions of victim computers around the world,” said Special Agent in Charge Antony Jung of the FBI Anchorage Field Office in a statement. “Potential users and administrators should think twice before buying or selling these illegal services. The FBI and our international law enforcement partners continue to intensify efforts in combating DDoS attacks, which will have serious consequences for offenders.”

FBI agents are seizing the websites that allowed paying users to launch DDoS attacks.

The booter services named in the federal charges filed Tuesday allegedly were responsible for attacking victims in the U.S. and overseas, including educational institutions, government agencies, gaming platforms and millions of people. The attacks can “significantly degrade internet services and can completely disrupt internet connections,” according to a news release from the Department of Justice.

Some of the seized booter services claimed to offer “stresser” services to test network efficiency.

The FBI determined these claims to be a pretense, and “thousands of communications between booter site administrators and their customers … make clear that both parties are aware that the customer is not attempting to attack their own computers,” according to an affidavit filed in support of court-authorized warrants to seize the booter sites.

Also charged out of Alaska on Tuesday was Joshua Laing, 32, of Liverpool, N.Y. Laing is accused of aiding and abetting violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act related to the alleged operation of a booter service named TrueSecurity Services.io between 2014 and November.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Alexander is prosecuting Dobbs and Laing.

The defendants charged in Los Angeles are:

>> Jeremiah Sam Evans Miller, aka “John the Dev,” 23, of San Antonio. Miller is charged with conspiracy to violate and violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act related to the alleged operation of a booter service named RoyalStresser.com (formerly known as Supreme securityteam.com).

>> Angel Manuel Colon Jr., aka “Anonghost720” and “Anonghost1337,” 37, of Belleview, Fla., is charged with conspiracy to violate and violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act related to the alleged operation of a booter service named SecurityTeam.io.

>> Shamar Shattock, 19, of Margate, Fla., is charged with conspiracy for allegedly running a booter service known as Astro stress.com.

>> Cory Anthony Palmer, 22, of Lauderhill, Fla., is charged with conspiracy for allegedly running a booter service known as Booter.sx.

In addition to agents in Alaska and California, assistance in the investigation was provided by FBI field offices in Albany, N.Y.; Honolulu; Miami; Philadelphia; and San Antonio as well as the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency, the Netherlands Police, EUROPOL and the Brandon Police Service in Manitoba.

Private-sector partners who shared expertise and intelligence with federal investigators include Akamai, Cloudflare, Digital Ocean, Entertainment Software Association, Google, Oracle, Palo Alto Networks Unit 42, PayPal, Unit 221B, the University of Cambridge and Yahoo.

For additional information on booter and stresser serv­ices and the harm that they cause, visit fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/anchorage/fbi-intensify-efforts-to-combat-illegal-ddos-attacks.