Polish Authorities Charge Seven Juveniles in Profit-Driven DDoS-for-Hire Scheme
Polish police have referred seven minors, aged 12 to 16 at the time of the alleged offenses, to family court for selling DDoS attack tools online in a financially motivated operation. The suspects, identified by Poland’s Central Bureau for Combating Cybercrime (CBZC), are accused of administering and distributing the tools, which were linked to attacks on auction sites, IT services, hosting providers, and booking platforms.
The investigation began in 2025 after authorities traced the group’s activities to a 14-year-old suspected leader in the Masovian voivodeship. Subsequent searches across Masovian, Lublin, Łódź, and Greater Poland voivodeships uncovered evidence, including laptops, smartphones, storage drives, and handwritten records, confirming the group’s collaboration in deploying the attacks.
While DDoS disruptions are often brief sometimes lasting only 15 minutes the CBZC noted that the suspects acted with full awareness of their actions’ impact. Due to their age, the cases will be handled in family court, where Polish law prioritizes rehabilitation over punishment for minors. Under Polish legal standards, children under 13 cannot be held criminally liable, while those aged 13–17 typically face corrective measures unless charged with severe crimes.
Source: https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/10/poland_ddos_teens_bust/
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"id": "SMA1773145861",
"linkid": "smartprotect-program-for-hosting-and-service-providers",
"type": "Cyber Attack",
"date": "1/2025",
"severity": "25",
"impact": "1",
"explanation": "Attack without any consequences"{'affected_entities': [{'industry': 'E-commerce',
'location': 'Poland',
'type': 'Auction sites'},
{'industry': 'Information Technology',
'location': 'Poland',
'type': 'IT services'},
{'industry': 'Web Hosting',
'location': 'Poland',
'type': 'Hosting providers'},
{'industry': 'Travel/Hospitality',
'location': 'Poland',
'type': 'Booking platforms'}],
'attack_vector': 'DDoS attack tools',
'date_detected': '2025',
'description': 'Polish police have referred seven minors, aged 12 to 16 at '
'the time of the alleged offenses, to family court for selling '
'DDoS attack tools online in a financially motivated '
'operation. The suspects, identified by Poland’s Central '
'Bureau for Combating Cybercrime (CBZC), are accused of '
'administering and distributing the tools, which were linked '
'to attacks on auction sites, IT services, hosting providers, '
'and booking platforms.',
'impact': {'downtime': 'Brief disruptions (sometimes lasting only 15 minutes)',
'systems_affected': 'Auction sites, IT services, hosting '
'providers, booking platforms'},
'investigation_status': 'Ongoing (cases referred to family court)',
'motivation': 'Financial gain',
'post_incident_analysis': {'root_causes': 'Profit-driven DDoS-for-hire scheme '
'operated by minors'},
'references': [{'source': 'Poland’s Central Bureau for Combating Cybercrime '
'(CBZC)'}],
'regulatory_compliance': {'legal_actions': 'Referred to family court '
'(rehabilitation-focused)'},
'response': {'law_enforcement_notified': 'Yes (Poland’s Central Bureau for '
'Combating Cybercrime - CBZC)'},
'threat_actor': 'Seven minors (aged 12-16)',
'title': 'Polish Authorities Charge Seven Juveniles in Profit-Driven '
'DDoS-for-Hire Scheme',
'type': 'DDoS-for-Hire'}