The US Justice Department has announced the successful dismantling of the 911 S5 botnet and the arrest of its administrator, YunHe Wang.
The 911 S5 botnet, active since 2014, had infected over 19 million IP addresses, enabling widespread fraud, cyber-attacks, and access to child exploitation materials.
It was reportedly responsible for stealing $5.9 billion (£4.64 billion).
YunHe Wang a 35-year-old national of China and St. Kitts and Nevis, faces multiple charges, including conspiracy to commit computer fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering.
The botnet's reach extended across nearly 200 countries, compromising more than 613,841 IP addresses in the United States alone.
Wang allegedly profited by offering cybercriminals access to these compromised addresses, amassing approximately $99 million in the process.
Wang is accused of distributing malware through VPN programs and pay-per-install services, compromising millions of residential computers worldwide. Cybercriminals then used these compromised IP addresses for various illicit activities, including financial fraud, identity theft, and child exploitation.
The operation also led to the seizure of assets valued at approximately $30 million, including luxury cars, real estate, and cryptocurrency wallets.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said: “Working with our international partners, the FBI conducted a joint, sequenced cyber operation to dismantle the 911 S5 Botnet—likely the world’s largest botnet ever.
“We arrested its administrator, Yunhe Wang, seized infrastructure and assets, and levied sanctions against Wang and his co-conspirators.”
“This Justice Department-led operation brought together law enforcement partners from around the globe to disrupt 911 S5, a botnet that facilitated cyber-attacks, large-scale fraud, child exploitation, harassment, bomb threats, and export violations,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland.
“This case makes clear that the long arm of the law stretches across borders and into the deepest shadows of the dark web, and the Justice Department will never stop fighting to hold cyber criminals to account.”
Wang faces a maximum penalty of 65 years in prison.