Four IoT Botnets Pulled Offline in Historic Global Strike
On 2 January 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice, in coordination with Canadian and German authorities, dismantled the online infrastructure of four prolific IoT botnets—Aisuru, Kimwolf, JackSkid and Mossad. The operation, spearheaded by the Defense Criminal Investigative Service within the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, seized command‑and‑control servers, domain registrars and hosting assets, effectively neutralizing the networks that had powered some of the largest distributed denial‑of‑service (DDoS) campaigns of the past year.
Key Takeaways
- Joint international effort: U.S., Canada and Germany combined resources and legal tools to target the botnets’ global footprint.
- Four botnets dismantled: Aisuru, Kimwolf, JackSkid and Mossad lost their command‑and‑control infrastructure, halting ongoing malicious activity.
- Record‑setting DDoS backdrop: The botnets were linked to several high‑volume attacks that disrupted cloud services, financial platforms and critical infrastructure.
- Legal precedent: The seizure marks one of the most comprehensive cross‑border actions against IoT‑based malware to date.
- Future deterrence: Authorities highlighted enhanced monitoring of IoT device hygiene and stricter supply‑chain oversight as essential to prevent resurgence.
