Short Bytes: UK-based hacker Marcus Hutchins, aka MalwareTech, has been arrested by the FBI. He was visiting the US to take part in the annual DefCon and Blackhat conference in Las Vegas. According to the reports, this arrest has been made due to his alleged involvement in the creation and spreading of banking trojan Kronos. Notably, Hutchins found WannaCry kill-switch in May and helped to slow down the ransomware infection.
A security researcher, named Marcus Hutchins, was able to halt the WannaCry infection accidentally while studying the same. For those who don’t know about the malware, here’s our detailed WannaCry coverage. Now, in a surprising development, US authorities detained Hutchins in Las Vegas.
According to Motherboard, Hutchins is accused of creating, spreading, and maintaining banking trojan Kronos between 2014 and 2015. He was arrested by the FBI after the DefCon and Blackhat conference in Las Vegas.
The major claims made by the FBI in its indictment are:
- Marcus Hutchins created Kronos Malware
- He advertised the availability of the Kronos malware on internet forums. He also posted a video demo on a website
- He offered to sell trojan for $3,000 in August 2014
- He also took care of the maintaining and updating Kronos
- In June 2015, sold a Kronos version for about $2,000
The FBI’s indictment also has the information related to a second defendant. However, it refrains itself from naming the second conspirator.
In an email sent to Motherboard, a UK National Crime Agency representative said, “We are aware a UK national has been arrested but it’s a matter for the authorities in the US.”
On the other hand, a friend of Hutchins told that he tried to visit the Henderson Detention Center in Nevada but Hutchins was moved to another facility.
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