Nanjing police dismantle massive router-based botnet network
Authorities in Nanjing have neutralized a criminal operation that embedded malware into over 100,000 routers to facilitate a large-scale botnet.
Nanjing police have successfully dismantled a major cybercrime network that utilized compromised routers to conduct illegal activities. The investigation began after authorities detected suspicious network activity at a local university, which led to the discovery of a widespread scheme involving over 100,000 infected devices across Jiangsu province.
Criminal actors, identified as Jin and Wang, collaborated with second-hand equipment dealers to pre-install malicious software on routers before they were resold to unsuspecting customers. This malware provided remote access, allowing the perpetrators to hijack internet traffic, steal personal data, and launch coordinated cyberattacks. Evidence also suggests the group intended to infiltrate hardware manufacturers to embed malware at the point of production.
Following a series of arrests, police seized approximately 8,000 devices and took control of the criminal infrastructure used to manage the botnet. The individuals involved have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from 15 months to four years for the illegal control of computer information systems. Authorities are currently coordinating with manufacturers to push security updates to affected devices and have issued a public warning regarding the security risks associated with unverified second-hand networking hardware.