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Researcher Who Stopped WannaCry Pleads Not Guilty to Creating Banking Malware (vice.com)

Posted by msmash on from the courtroom-musings dept.

Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai, reporting for Motherboard: Monday, the well-known security researcher who became famous after helping to stop the destructive WannaCry ransomware outbreak pleaded "not guilty" to creating software that would later become banking malware. Marcus Hutchins -- better known by his online nickname MalwareTech -- was arrested in early August in Las Vegas after the hacking conference Def Con. The US government accuses Hutchins of writing software in 2014 that would later become the banking malware Kronos. After getting out on bail and traveling to Milwaukee, he stood in front a judge on Monday for his arraignment. Prosecutors also allege he helped a still unknown co-defendant market and sell Kronos. Hutchins's lawyer Brian Klein declared in a packed courtroom in Milwaukee that Hutchins was "not guilty" of six charges related to the alleged creation and distribution of malware. Hutchins will be allowed to travel to Los Angeles, where he will live while he awaits trial. He will also be represented by Marcia Hoffman, formerly of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Under the terms of his release, Hutchins will be tracked by GPS but will be allowed full internet access so he can continue to work as a security researcher; the only restriction is he will no longer be allowed to access the WannaCry "sinkhole" he used to stop the outbreak of ransomware.

4 of 71 comments (clear)

  1. Fishy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This is very fishy.....

  2. Expected regardless by s.petry · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I would have expected this plea regardless of facts. I can't wait to read more on this as it becomes available. Right now, we have speculation on one side and little except the indictment on the other.

    Needs way more information to start making informed opinions.

    --

    -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

    1. Re: Expected regardless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      More information is needed for an informed opinion but I'll still make a guess that the NSA is pissed that he stopped their malware from working.

  3. Re:Poor Marcus by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    > What is this shit?
    You wrote it yourself just prior:
    > what he did for THE WORLD by deactivating WCry
    He messed with some probably very active NSA malware.