WASHINGTON (AP) — An international law enforcement team has arrested a Chinese national and disrupted a massive botnet that authorities say he operated for nearly a decade, amassing at least $99 million in profits by reselling access to criminals who used it to commit financial fraud, including identity theft, child exploitation and pandemic relief scams.
The “911 S5” botnet, a network of malware-infected computers spanning nearly 200 countries, is likely the world's largest, the Department of Justice said Wednesday, citing FBI Director Christopher Wray.
The Department of Justice announced in a news release that 35-year-old Wang Yunhe was arrested on May 24. Wang was arrested in Singapore and search warrants were executed in Singapore and Thailand, FBI Deputy Assistant Director for Cyber Operations Brett Leatherman said in a LinkedIn post. Authorities also seized $29 million worth of cryptocurrency, Leatherman said.
According to an indictment filed in the Eastern District of Texas, cybercriminals used Wang's network of zombie home computers to “steal billions of dollars from financial institutions, credit card issuers and account holders, and federal lending programs since 2014.”
Wang sold access to 19 million hijacked Windows PCs, including more than 613,000 in the United States, to criminals who “used that access to commit a staggering array of crimes, including victimizing children, endangering public safety, and defrauding financial institutions and federal lending programs,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in announcing the investigation.
He said criminals who bought access to the zombie network from Wang caused an estimated loss of more than $5.9 billion by defrauding relief programs. Authorities estimated that 560,000 fraudulent unemployment insurance claims originated from the compromised IP addresses.
Wang allegedly controlled the botnet through 150 dedicated servers, half of which he leased from a U.S.-based online service provider.
According to the indictment, Wang used his ill-gotten gains to purchase 21 properties in the United States, China, Singapore, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and St. Kitts and Nevis, and obtained citizenship through his investments.
In a news release, the Ministry of Justice expressed gratitude to the Singapore and Thai police and other authorities for their assistance.
