Between December 2013 and March 2015 the online services for Sony and Microsoft's gaming platforms were targeted by a series of cyber-attacks. It was a tough time for gamers, PSN went down then Xbox Live went down and it happened again and again until at least two suspects accused of playing a role in the attacks were arrested.
The DDoS attacks have tapered off since then (though Blizzard ran into some problem last year), but it looks like it's never too late for justice.
Adam Mudd, now 20-years-old, was 16 when he created the 'Titanium Stresser,' a program that allowed him to carry out more than 1.7m attacks on websites – including Minecraft, Xbox Live, Microsoft, Runscape, and TeamSpeak. In his mix of attacks, Mudd carried out 594 DDoS attacks against 181 IP addresses and crashed his college network – an action that affected 70 other schools and colleges.
Mudd didn't simply use the tool himself, he sold the program's abilities for more than $300,000 to other cybercriminals.
After a two-day hearing, Mudd pleaded guilty. According to the press release issued by the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit, "he was sentenced to 24 months imprisonment for his own DDoS attacks, nine months for running a titanium stressor service and 24 months for money laundering the proceeds made from the stressor service, all to run concurrently.”
[Krebs]
