US Sanctions 3 Chinese Nationals Accused of Malicious Botnet Involvement

The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned three Chinese nationals and three Thailand-based companies for their involvement in a cybercrime network that allegedly made bomb threats and enabled criminals to steal billions of dollars in COVID-19 pandemic aid from the U.S. government. Their network was linked to a residential proxy botnet known as “911 S5,” the Treasury Department said in a press release on May 28. The malicious botnet, which compromised about 19 million unique IP addresses, including 613,841 located in the United States, allowed cybercriminals to conceal their digital tracks, enabling them to commit cyber-enabled fraud. “These individuals leveraged their malicious botnet technology to compromise personal devices, enabling cybercriminals to fraudulently secure economic assistance intended for those in need and to terrorize our citizens with bomb threats,” Brian Nelson, the Treasury’s under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement....