QuickTake:

The plea agreement is a major development after federal prosecutors said last year said then-22-year-old Ethan Foltz was behind powerful for-hire cyberattacks launched against a U.S. government network and many tech companies.

A Springfield man behind the “Rapper Bot” denial-of-service cyberattacks that reportedly targeted companies and governmental networks reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors Friday, Aug. 21.

Ethan J. Foltz will plead guilty to aiding and abetting computer intrusions, according to the agreement filed in U.S. District Court in Alaska and signed by Foltz.

He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, but his sentencing will take into account his criminal history and other factors. Prosecutors last August described a U.S. government network, a social media platform and “many” U.S. tech companies as among “Rapper Bot” targets, giving Foltz’s age at the time as 22 years old.

According to the plea agreement, Foltz developed, maintained and deployed “Rapper Bot” from “on or about” Jan. 1, 2021, through early August of last year.

A botnet is a collection of online devices, infected with malware, which can be used for malicious purposes. Device owners are typically unaware of how their devices – such as WiFi routers or digital video recorders – are being used.

Foltz deployed “Rapper Bot” to “conduct distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks for his own benefit and that of his paying customers,” the plea agreement states.

In DDoS attacks, large volumes of online traffic flood victim computers and servers.

“Rapper Bot” consisted of “tens of thousands of devices,” the plea agreement states. From April through August 2025, it was behind “no fewer than 370,000 attacks targeting at least 18,000 unique victims in the United States and abroad,” according to the plea agreement, which states the court may order Foltz to pay restitution.

Foltz has yet to appear before a judge to enter a guilty plea, after which a date for his sentencing will be set, said Reagan Zimmerman-Hartzheim, a spokesperson for Alaska’s U.S. Attorney’s Office.