Security agencies from around the world managed to take down one global botnet who stole $5.9bn (£4.65bn) and is linked to a number of other crimes, the US Department of Justice has announced USA.

The ministry worked with the FBI and other international organizations such as Microsoft to take down what was “probably the world’s largest botnet”, with Chinese national YunHe Wang as the person behind its creation and operation.

Mr. Wang is charged with conspiracy to commit computer fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. If convicted of all charges, he faces a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.

According to the indictment, between 2014 and 2022, Mr. Wang created and operated with others the botnet, called “911 S5“, from around 150 servers worldwide.

The botnet compromised more than 19 million IP addresses in nearly 200 countries, the Justice Department said. The botnet was used to carry out a range of cyber attacks, as well as large-scale fraud, child exploitation, harassment, bomb threats and export violations, the US department said.

The US estimated that more than half a million fraudulent unemployment insurance claims originated from compromised IP addresses, resulting in a loss of more than $5.9 billion.

The network also allowed cybercriminals to buy goods with stolen credit cards or launder money, it said, with Wang selling access to the IP addresses and receiving about $99 million.