JackSkid

Dysphoria Botnet Compromises Nearly 300,000 Devices for DDoS Attacks and Residential Proxy Services

The Dysphoria botnet has infected approximately 296,000 devices, including routers, IP cameras, gateways, and embedded Linux systems. Researchers first observed the threat in the first quarter of 2026, noting rapid evolution from the jackskid and fbot families. The infrastructure is primarily used for DDoS attacks but has expanded to offer residential proxy capabilities. Infection occurs through brute-force attacks on Telnet and SSH services with weak credentials, as well as known remote code execution vulnerabilities in IoT equipment. A key technical advancement involves the use of Ethereum and Solana blockchain domains for command-and-control infrastructure, making takedowns significantly harder. Compromised devices can also function as relays by leveraging UPnP to expose ports and hide criminal traffic origins. Operators advertise attack capacity of up to 4 Tbps and sell DDoS services in structured commercial packages targeting internet services and gaming platforms worldwide.

DDoS-Guard Reports Record 540,000 L7 Attacks in June 2026 Amid Botnet Fragmentation

DDoS-Guard recorded a sharp 70% increase in L7 attacks during Q2 2026, with June alone seeing 540,000 incidents. Global volumetric attacks doubled compared to all of 2025, including peaks of 1.64 Tbps and 1.58 Tbps. Law enforcement dismantled four major IoT botnets—Aisuru, KimWolf, JackSkid and Mossad—in March, yet long-duration L7 campaigns surged 380%. Attackers shifted focus to application-layer exhaustion using browser automation and AI agents while targeting HR platforms and news sites. Europol’s Operation PowerOFF led to 75,000 warnings and 53 domain takedowns across 21 countries. Experts attribute the June spike to attacks aimed at protection providers themselves rather than single domains.