British researcher/hero pleads guilty to melaware charges

Marcus Hutchins, the British 24-year-old security researcher hailed as a hero for neutralising the global “WannaCry” ransomware attack in 2017, has pleaded guilty to charges of writing malware in 2014-15, itnews reports.

Hutchins – who is known under the MalwareTech moniker – pleaded guilty to two charges in the United States.
US prosecutors alleged that Hutchins and a co-defendant advertised, distributed and profited from banking malware known as “Kronos” between July 2014 and 2015.

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The US government agreed to dismiss other charges at the time of the sentencing, according to a filing at the District Court in the eastern district of Wisconsin.

Hutchins faces up to five years in prison and up to US$250,000 fine for each charge.
On his website, Hutchins issued a short statement: “As you may be aware, I’ve pleaded guilty to two charges related to writing malware in the years prior to my career in security.

“I regret these actions and accept full responsibility for my mistakes. Having grown up, I’ve since been using the same skills that I misused several years ago for constructive purposes.

“I will continue to devote my time to keeping people safe from malware attacks.”

Hutchins rose to overnight fame within the hacker community in May 2017 when he helped defang the global “WannaCry” ransomware attack that infected hundreds of thousands of computers and caused disruptions at factories, hospitals, shops and schools in more than 150 countries.

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