As usual the name Bill Gates doesn’t show up anywhere in this DoJ statement about the still disgustingly poor quality of Microsoft software.

The 911 S5 Botnet infected computers in nearly 200 countries and facilitated a whole host of computer-enabled crimes, including financial frauds, identity theft, and child exploitation. […] According to court documents, Wang allegedly propagated his malware through Virtual Private Network (VPN) programs, such as MaskVPN and DewVPN (torrent distribution models that he operated) and pay-per-install services that bundled his malware with other program files, including pirated versions of licensed software or copyrighted materials. Wang then managed and controlled approximately 150 dedicated servers worldwide, approximately 76 of which he leased from U.S. based online service providers. Using the dedicated servers, Wang deployed and managed applications, commanded and controlled the infected devices, operated his 911 S5 service, and provided paying customers with access to proxied IP addresses associated with the infected devices.

Basically just a few people in China were able to take over tens of millions of Windows systems to remotely control them for criminal aims (like it’s still 2004).

Honestly I wish someone would name one of these blood-sucking malware groups “malaria” so Bill Gates might notice, and return his profits towards cleaning up the huge mess he created.

The scale of fraud is said to have been truly massive on multiple levels, and now I’m not just talking about an operating system.

911 S5 customers allegedly targeted certain pandemic relief programs. For example, the United States estimates that 560,000 fraudulent unemployment insurance claims originated from compromised [Windows computers], resulting in a confirmed fraudulent loss exceeding $5.9 billion. […] The indictment further alleges that from 2018 until July 2022, Wang received approximately $99 million from his sales of the hijacked proxied IP addresses through his 911 S5 operation, either in cryptocurrency or fiat currency. Wang used the illicitly gained proceeds to purchase real property in the United States, St. Kitts and Nevis, China, Singapore, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates.

Let me put this another way. These criminals were LOUD. They were obnoxious. Since 2014 they were showing up clearly in the windows process list like a malaria-rife mosquito buzzing in your digital ears.

Under the “Process” tab, look for the following:

MaskVPN (mask_svc.exe)
DewVPN (dew_svc.exe)
PaladinVPN (pldsvc.exe)
ProxyGate (proxygate.exe, cloud.exe)
ShieldVPN (shieldsvc.exe)
ShineVPN (shsvc.exe)

And where was Bill? What was he doing with all his money accumulated from market loopholes that allowed selling systems with little to no integrity checks?

Here he is in 2021 being painfully, utterly tone deaf:

…something people don’t like to talk about much [is] that somebody who wants to cause damage could engineer a virus…

Oh great Nostradamus of 2021 please tell us more about this very secret virus problem only you see coming and think nobody likes to talk about.

I mean here’s some related news about another attack that should grab your attention.

Microsoft first disclosed this vulnerability on December 10th, 2013, and explained that adding content to an EXE’s authenticode signature section (WIN_CERTIFICATE structure) in a signed executable is possible without invalidating the signature. […] To make matters worse, even if you add the Registry keys to apply the fix, they will be removed once you upgrade to Windows 11, making your device vulnerable again.

Dangerous 2013 integrity attacks on Windows have been running all the way into 2024, with Microsoft lowering safety in their latest “upgrade”.

Meanwhile where has Bill been relaxing and what’s he doing with his ill-gotten billions during all this suffering he now claims to see despite a long record of blindness?

Fun history fact: 20 million is small potatoes to what Bill Gates himself used to face at the office.

For those who weren’t in the workforce two decades ago, the ILoveYou virus infected some 50 million systems worldwide – often rendering them unusable – and cost more than $15 billion to repair. […] In 2002, following the Melissa virus in 1999, ILoveYou in 2000, and Code Red worm in 2001, Bill Gates declared security Job No. 1 at Microsoft.

Uh huh.

And then off this lazy cowboy rode with his bags of money… which should have instead been allocated to sorely missing integrity controls.

Does he want to stop malware? Let’s see him refund at least all the taxpayer money in this case covering for his known and seriously flawed business decisions. Send the bill to… Bill.