A Chinese hacker allegedly been apprehended by an international law enforcement team after selling access to cybercriminals for at least$ 99 million in profits.
Fortune information that the U. S. Department of Justice has announced the imprisonment of Yunhe Wang, 35, on May 24, in connection with the functioning of the “911 S5” malware, which FBI Director Christopher Wray described as possible the country’s largest. The malware, a network of malicious- sick computers spanning roughly 200 countries, has been linked to various legal activities, including identification theft, child exploitation, and economic fraud, such as pandemic relief scams.
According to an indictment filed in Texas ‘ southeast area, the scammers who purchased exposure to the bot from Wang have stolen billions of dollars from financial institutions, credit card issuers, accountholders, and federal borrowing plans since 2014. The malware, comprising 19 million seized Windows laptops, with more than 613, 000 in the United States alone, allowed criminals to commit a wide range of crimes that victimized children, threatened public health, and defrauded financial institutions and national banking programs, as stated by U. S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Criminals who obtained access to the zombie network are responsible for an estimated$ 5.9 billion in losses caused by fraud committed against relief programs, which is staggering. Additionally, according to officials, approximately 560, 000 false unemployment insurance claims were created by botnet-associated IP addresses.
Wang allegedly managed the botnet through 150 dedicated servers, with half of them leased from U. S. based online service providers. The indictment reveals that Wang used his illicit gains to acquire 21 properties across the United States, China, Singapore, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, and St. Kitts and Nevis, where he obtained citizenship through investment.
Read more at Fortune here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News, covering issues involving online censorship and free speech.
