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Chinese national charged with operating ‘world’s largest botnet’ linked to billions in cybercrimes

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Chinese national charged with operating ‘world’s largest botnet’ linked to billions in cybercrimes
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A Chinese national has been arrested for his role in operating a residential proxy service that was used to defraud billions of dollars from the U.S. government and fund his lavish lifestyle, which included buying luxury cars and property around the world, the Department of Justice announced Wednesday.

YunHe Wang, 35, was arrested on May 24 and charged with creating a massive network of hijacked computer devices, also known as a “botnet,” that was used to conduct cyber attacks, fraud, child exploitation, bomb threats, and export violations, the department alleged. Wang administered the botnet, called “911 S5,” through about 150 servers worldwide from 2014 to 2022, according to an indictment unsealed last week.

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About 76 of the servers were leased from online service providers based in the United States, the indictment said. The botnet infected over 19 million IP addresses in nearly 200 countries, including over 613,000 IP addresses located in the United States, according to prosecutors.

The Justice Department announcement comes after Wang and his two co-conspirators, Jingping Liu and Yanni Zheng, were sanctioned by the Department of Treasury for their alleged involvement with the malicious botnet. The department also imposed sanctions on three luxury companies Wang owned or controlled.

Authorities also searched Wang’s residences and seized assets valued at about $30 million as well as identifying other property valued at roughly an additional $30 million, prosecutors said.

“The conduct alleged here reads like it’s ripped from a screenplay,” Matthew Axelrod, assistant secretary for export control at the Department of Commerce, said in a statement Wednesday. “A scheme to sell access to millions of malware-infected computers worldwide, enabling criminals over the world to steal billions of dollars, transmit bomb threats, and exchange child exploitation materials — then using the scheme’s nearly $100 million in profits to buy luxury cars, watches, and real estate.”

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The Department of Justice partnered with the FBI and international law enforcement agencies in Singapore, Thailand, and Germany to dismantle the botnet and arrest Wang. The case is the latest in the federal government’s ongoing effort to thwart global cybercrime, which has become increasingly widespread.

These crimes can range from intellectual property theft to ransomware and can cost businesses billions of dollars in losses in addition to threatening critical sectors across the country, according to the Department of State. In recent years, federal authorities have expanded their international operations and country-to-country partnerships in order to better address cyber threats.

‘Urgency and severity of cyberattacks’: EPA urges water utilities to protect nation’s drinking water amid heightened cyberattacks

911 S5 Botnet ‘likely the world’s largest botnet ever’

FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement Wednesday that 911 S5 is “likely the world’s largest botnet ever.” According to the indictment, Wang allegedly spread his malware through Virtual Private Network programs and pay-per-install services, which allowed him to manage and control the roughly 150 servers.

Paying customers were then given access to proxied IP addresses that were linked to the hacked devices, the indictment said. Cybercriminals used those addresses to hide their locations and “anonymously commit a wide array of offenses,” the Department of Justice alleged.

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“These offenses including financial crimes, stalking, transmitting bomb threats and threats of harm, illegal exportation of goods, and receiving and sending child exploitation materials,” according to the department. “Since 2014, 911 S5 allegedly enabled cybercriminals to bypass financial fraud detection systems and steal billions of dollars from financial institutions, credit card issuers, and federal lending programs.”

Specifically, the botnet targeted COVID-19 pandemic relief programs and filed an estimated 560,529 fraudulent unemployment insurance claims, according to the indictment. Federal authorities confirmed that more than $5.9 billion was stolen as a result.

The indictment further alleged that Wang had amassed about $99 million — either in cryptocurrency or fiat currency — from his sales of the infected proxied IP addresses. He used the illicit proceeds to purchase luxury assets and property.

Wang bought property in the United States, St. Kitts and Nevis, China, Singapore, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates, according to the indictment. He also had dozens of other assets, such as luxury cars, watches, international bank accounts, and cryptocurrency wallets.

Wang was charged with conspiracy to commit computer fraud, substantive computer fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He faces a maximum of 65 years in prison.

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Cybercrime, COVID fraud in the U.S.

Cybercrime is a “significant and growing threat” to the country’s national and economic security, according to the State Department. As people become more dependent on information and communication technologies, the department said more criminals continue to shift online.

Wang’s arrest also comes amid a push from federal officials for organizations to update and follow cybersecurity guidelines. Federal agencies have issued multiple advisories for cyberattacks committed by foreign groups in recent years.

In January, the FBI and Department of Justice announced that they had “disrupted a botnet of hundreds of U.S.-based small office/home office routers hijacked” by China-linked hackers. The group, known as “Volt Typhoon,” targeted critical infrastructure organizations in the United States, such as water systems and electric grids.

The surge in malicious cyber incidents coincides with the rise in online communication during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a 2023 cyberthreat study. Citing FBI data, the study said cybercrime increased by 400% during the pandemic.

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“Cybercriminals find the uncertainty brought by changing daily habits opportune and the increased virtual existence is converted into available attack vectors,” the study noted.

In the four years since the onset of the pandemic, the Internal Revenue Service has investigated over 1,600 tax and money laundering cases related to COVID-19 fraud potentially worth about $8.9 billion, the agency said in March. Cases included fraudulently obtained loans, credits and payments meant for U.S. workers, families and small businesses under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security, or CARES, Act.

Contributing: Josh Meyer, USA TODAY

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Read the email from Revere’s principal

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Read the email from Revere’s principal

From: Revere High School
Sent: Friday, June 2, 2023
Good Afternoon.
We are writing to update the Revere High School community about a
physical altercation that occurred at the end of first lunch today (Friday
6/2/23).
Before the end of the first lunch, a verbal argument between students
became physical. Then friends of students in the argument joined
in. Many students gathered around and joined in the physical
conflict. Many others gathered around to record.
Administrators and multiple other adults got involved and were able to
separate the groups of students from one another, isolated to different
parts of the building. At the same time, the administration collaborated
with the Revere Police Department to ensure additional support and
presence, both in the building and at dismissal.
This situation is currently under investigation as there are many details
and facts to sort out. Appropriate disciplinary processes have already
been initiated for students identified to be involved. The investigation
(including a review of both RHS cameras, review of student-produced
videos and statements) will result in additional students facing school
discipline for their involvement.
There is a lot of misinformation currently on social media about this
incident. At the same time as this was unfolding, the RHS Main Office
began receiving multiple calls from concerned parents in response to a
social media post. This post alleged that a stabbing occurred at Revere
High School. There was no stabbing. No person in Revere High School
(student or adult) made any report of a stabbing. There was also no
weapon on any student involved in the cafeteria fight. I can promise you

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Economists trim Fed rate cut estimates on fear of Trump inflation surge

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Economists trim Fed rate cut estimates on fear of Trump inflation surge

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The Federal Reserve is set to take a more cautious approach to interest rate cuts on fears that the Trump administration’s policies will stoke higher inflation, according to academic economists polled by the Financial Times. 

The economists, who were surveyed between December 11 and 13, moved up their forecasts for the federal funds rate next year compared to the previous FT-Chicago Booth poll in September. The vast majority thought it would hover at 3.5 per cent or higher by the end of 2025, whereas most respondents in September said it would probably fall below 3.5 per cent by that point.

If the Fed follows through with a quarter-point cut at its meeting next week as expected the policy rate will stand at 4.25-4.5 per cent.

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“Over the last few months, the downside risks to the labour market have become a little less bad and progress on inflation seems to have stalled a bit,” said Jonathan Wright, a former Fed economist now at Johns Hopkins University, who helped to design the survey.

“Inflation has come down more painlessly than I and most people had expected, but I think we may still be seeing that the last bit [getting to target] will be a little harder, and so that certainly is an unlikely environment for the Fed to be in a hurry to reduce rates,” said Wright.

Tara Sinclair, who previously worked at the Treasury department and is now a professor at George Washington University, said that could even translate to the Fed going on an extended pause after a December cut and holding interest rates steady for the remainder of next year.

“In my mind, they need to stay in restrictive territory all the way until it’s clear that inflation is back at their target,” she added.

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Officials are plotting how quickly to get to a “neutral” policy rate that neither stimulates nor suppresses growth. They have openly discussed slowing the pace of cuts once they get closer to that level, although chair Jay Powell has conceded that policymakers lack clarity as to where that is.

“We’re pretty sure it’s below where we are now,” he told reporters in November.

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Looming large over the policy outlook is the return of Donald Trump to the White House next month. Trump has vowed to enact sweeping tariffs and deport millions of Americans while also slashing taxes and regulations.

Just over 60 per cent of the economists polled in the survey, which was conducted in partnership with the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, thought Trump’s plans would have a negative impact on US growth. Most are also bracing for higher inflation if his plans to enact universal tariffs and steep levies on China materialise.

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These concerns are percolating at a time when worries about price pressures still linger.

Just over 80 per cent of the 47 economists polled said that inflation over the next year, as measured by the personal expenditures price index once food and energy prices are stripped out, would not dip below 2 per cent until January 2026 or later. In September, only about 35 per cent of polled respondents made the same estimate.

The median estimate of core PCE inflation over the next 12 months also rose to 2.5 per cent from 2.2 per cent compared to September’s survey.

Economists remained sanguine about the outlook for the economy, with the median estimate of real GDP growth rising to 2.3 per cent from 2 per cent in September. Concerns about a recession were also distant, with over half of respondents estimating that the next recession would start no earlier than the third quarter of 2026.

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Yet over a longer horizon, Sinclair warned that Trump’s policies would start to bite.

“I think very clearly in the long run this combination of policies is not good,” she said.

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The Fed may also struggle with how to navigate this period, the economists warned, with one bracing for a “confrontation” between the president-elect and Powell if the central bank is forced to keep rates elevated to counteract the impact of Trump’s policies.

Wright said the Fed would be “more twitchy” on inflation than in the past, given the post-pandemic surge in price pressures.

“Back in 2019, the Fed could afford to take a view of ‘we’re going to wait until we see the white of inflation’s eyes’”, he said. “I don’t think that’s the attitude that the Fed is going to have today.”

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Pearl Harbor survivor dies at 100

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Pearl Harbor survivor dies at 100

Pearl Harbor Navy veteran Bob Fernandez is photographed at home in Lodi, Calif., on Nov. 19.

Godofredo A. Vásquez/AP


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Godofredo A. Vásquez/AP

HONOLULU — Bob Fernandez, a 100-year-old survivor of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, died shortly after deteriorating health prompted him to skip a trip to Hawaii to attend last week’s remembrance ceremony marking the 83rd anniversary of the attack.

Fernandez died peacefully at the Lodi, California, home of his nephew, Joe Guthrie, on Wednesday. Guthrie’s daughter, Halie Torrrell, was holding his hand when he took his last breath. Fernandez suffered a stroke about a month ago that caused him to slow down but Guthrie said doctors attributed his condition to age.

“It was his time,” Guthrie said.

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Fernandez was a 17-year-old sailor on board the USS Curtiss during the Dec. 7, 1941, attack that propelled the U.S. into World War II. A mess cook, he was waiting tables and bringing sailors morning coffee and food when they heard an alarm sound. Through a porthole, Fernandez saw a plane fly by with the red ball insignia known to be painted on Japanese aircraft.

He rushed down three decks to a magazine room where he and other sailors waited for someone to unlock a door storing shells so they could pass them to the ship’s guns. He has told interviewers over the years that some of his fellow sailors were praying and crying as they heard gunfire above.

“I felt kind of scared because I didn’t know what the hell was going on,” Fernandez told The Associated Press in an interview weeks before his death.

Fernandez’s ship, the Curtiss, lost 21 men and nearly 60 of its sailors were injured. The bombing killed more than 2,300 U.S. servicemen. Nearly half, or 1,177, were sailors and Marines on board the USS Arizona, which sank during the battle.

“We lost a lot of good people, you know. They didn’t do nothing,” Fernandez said. “But we never know what’s going to happen in a war.”

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Fernandez had been planning to return to Pearl Harbor last week to attend an annual commemoration hosted by the Navy and the National Park Service but became too weak to make the trip, Guthrie said.

He was “so proud” of his six years in the Navy, all of it aboard the USS Curtiss, Guthrie said. Most of his casual clothes, like hats and shirts, were related to his service.

“It was just completely ingrained in him,” his nephew said.

Fernandez worked as a forklift driver at a cannery in San Leandro, California, after the war. His wife of 65 years, Mary Fernandez, died in 2014.

He enjoyed music and dancing, and until recently attended weekly music performances at a local park and a restaurant. He helped neighbors in his trailer park take care of their yards until he moved in with Guthrie last year.

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“I’d do yard work and split firewood and he’d swing the axe a little bit,” Guthrie said. “We’d call it his physical therapy.”

Fernandez’s advice for living a long life included stopping eating once you’re full and marching up stairs. He said it was OK to take a nap, but do something like laundry or wash dishes before going to bed. He recommended being kind to everyone.

Guthrie said he thinks Fernandez would want to be remembered for bringing people joy.

“He would rake people’s yards if they couldn’t do it. He would paint a fence. He would help somebody,” Guthrie said. “He would give people money if they needed something. He was so generous and such a kind person. He made friends everywhere.”

Fernandez is survived by his oldest son, Robert J. Fernandez, a granddaughter and several great-grandchildren.

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There are 16 known survivors of Pearl Harbor that are still alive, according to a list maintained by Kathleen Farley, the California state chair of the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors. All of them are at least 100 years old.

Fernandez’s death would have brought the number to 15 but Farley recently learned of an additional survivor.

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