Internet's largest hacking forum removed its DDoS-for-hire section after being linked to Mirai attacks
The internet's largest and most popular hacking forum – HackForums – has removed its DDoS-for-hire section in an unprecedented move. The administrator of the forum, who goes by the pseudonym Omniscient, announced the decision to axe the DDoS services section in the wake of the massive Mirai attacks on Dyn, which nearly brought down the US internet.
Omniscient said his decision to remove the SST (Server Stress Test) section, which is the name commonly given to DDoS-for-hire services, came after the US authorities increased scrutiny into the security if IoT (Internet of Things) devices, Softpedia reported.
The HackForums' admin said: "I'm going to be shutting down the SST forum. No new threads can be created there. All non-stickies are closed. Once the current paid stickies expire the section will be removed entirely. I will be adding new policies to the Help Docs to concerning SST topics for the rest of the forum. Existing policies disallowing SST in any section besides SST currently still apply until I update the Help Docs. Unfortunately once again the few ruin it for the many. I am sure this is going to upset some members but also please many, some of whom aren't even members. I'm personally disappointed that this is the path I have to take in order to protect the community. I loathe having to censor material that could be beneficial to members. But I do need to make sure that we continue to exist and given the recent events I think it's more important that the section be permanently shut down."
