The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has apprehended Yune Wang, a 35-year-old individual who holds citizenship in both the People’s Republic of China and St. Kitts and Nevis. Wang is accused of being involved in a botnet scam that was utilized for various cybercrimes such as cyber attacks, fraudulent activities on a large scale, child exploitation, harassment, bomb threats, and violations of export laws.
Based on the indictment filed on May 29, Wang allegedly developed and distributed malware that infiltrated and controlled millions of residential Windows computers across the globe. This network, known as the 911 S5 botnet, affected more than 19 million IP addresses between 2014 and 2022. Subsequently, Wang sold these compromised IP addresses to cybercriminals in exchange for cryptocurrencies. The victims of these crimes spanned over 200 countries and encompassed a wide range of computer-enabled offenses, including financial fraud, identity theft, and child exploitation.
A separate investigation conducted by the blockchain analytics firm Chainlysis discovered that the wallet addresses associated with Wang held illicitly earned digital assets worth more than $130 million. Chainalysis researchers commented on this finding, while the DOJ emphasized the severity of Wang’s actions.
To dismantle Wang’s operations, law enforcement officials from the United States, Singapore, Thailand, and Germany collaborated and successfully seized 23 domains and over 70 servers that formed the foundation of Wang’s illicit activities. Additionally, authorities were able to confiscate $30 million in assets linked to the 911 S5 botnet.
In a previous report by Cointelegraph, it was revealed that China allegedly had a “Trojan Horse” within the United States’ Bitcoin mining infrastructure. This was accomplished through the use of locally manufactured application-specific integrated circuit mining rigs. Experts suggest that these rigs may enable Chinese intelligence agencies to engage in cyber espionage, potentially targeting sensitive installations such as military facilities, power grids, or communication networks.
Related: 3AC’s acquisition of $700 million in Worldcoin, China’s battle against crypto spies: Asia Express