May 30, 2024 at 05:15AM
The U.S. Department of Justice dismantled the world’s largest botnet, 911 S5, involving 19 million infected devices in 190 countries, operated by Chinese national YunHe Wang. The botnet facilitated cyber attacks, fraud, identity theft, and child exploitation. Wang faces multiple charges and sanctions alongside the seizure of $30 million in assets.
Certainly! Here are the key takeaways from the meeting notes:
1. The U.S. Department of Justice announced the dismantling of the world’s largest botnet, known as 911 S5, which consisted of 19 million infected devices leased to other threat actors for various illegal activities.
2. The primary administrator, YunHe Wang, a 35-year-old Chinese national, was arrested in Singapore and has been charged with several offenses including computer fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering, facing a maximum penalty of 65 years in prison if convicted on all counts.
3. The botnet was used for cyber attacks, financial fraud, identity theft, child exploitation, harassment, bomb threats, and export violations.
4. Wang allegedly generated millions of dollars by offering cybercriminals access to the infected IP addresses through the residential proxy service.
5. Wang is estimated to have received approximately $99 million from selling access to the hijacked proxied IP addresses, using the ill-gotten money to purchase luxury items and multiple properties across different countries.
6. The takedown was a result of a coordinated effort between the U.S., Singapore, Thailand, and Germany, resulting in the disruption of domains and servers that were the core of 911 S5, as well as the seizure of assets valued at approximately $30 million.
7. The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) levied sanctions against the defendant and his co-conspirator, as well as three Thailand-based entities owned or controlled by Wang.
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