Introduction: The Unfair Advantage
You are one kill away from winning a tournament, and suddenly your internet completely drops out. Ten minutes later, it’s fine. You probably didn't have a glitch—you were hit by a Booter (also known as a Stresser).
How They Work
A Booter is an illegal 'DDoS-as-a-Service' website. If a malicious player can discover your home IP address (usually through a P2P voice chat or game lobby), they enter your IP into the Booter site and pay $5. The site then commands thousands of infected computers to send garbage data to your home router all at once. Your router becomes overwhelmed and crashes.
How to Protect Yourself
The only protection is keeping your IP a secret. Avoid joining third-party voice servers (like old TeamSpeak servers) run by people you don't trust, and use a VPN if you play games that don't use dedicated servers.
Conclusion
Booters are a real threat to competitive gaming. Guarding your IP address is as important as having good aim. Verify your IP security here.