IT whizz-kid who saved NHS from hack attack held by FBI in Vegas
He ‘made computer virus that steals passwords and drains bank accounts’
‘We’re concerned for his welfare’
THE British computer researcher who saved the NHS from cyber criminals has been arrested by the FBI in Las Vegas for allegedly creating software used to raid bank accounts.
Marcus Hutchins, 23, was charged with making a ‘Trojan’ program that captures computer users’ passwords and personal information and was sold online for £1,500.
The so-called malware, called Kronos, has reportedly been used to steal money from bank accounts in France. The six charges relate to an alleged conspiracy between July 2014 and July 2015, long before Mr Hutchins was hailed a hero for stopping the WannaCry ‘ ransomware’ that paralysed parts of the NHS.
Mr Hutchins, who is known online by the name MalwareTech, was in Las Vegas for Def Con, one of the world’s largest hacking conventions.
Tech website The Outline reported that he had been ‘partying’ before his arrest and staying at a £1,445-a-night mansion. He was said to have rented the £5million property with seven friends.
During his time in the US Mr Hutchins tweeted that he rented a bright orange Lamborghini.
He posted a picture of the car online and wrote: ‘Is there any tracks or anything in Vegas where we can drive this car properly without being arrested?’
He stayed on for a few days after the conference and reportedly was about to board a flight back to the UK on Wednesday when he was arrested. According to the tech website Motherboard, which broke the news of the arrest, an eightpage federal complaint was filed against Mr Hutchins on July 12 in a US District Court in Wisconsin.
It accuses him of being responsible for creating the Kronos banking Trojan, which was sold online by an unnamed co-defendant.
The software is a malicious program that infects a computer if the user inadvertently clicks on an email attachment. It sits on the computer, checking for banking passwords and personal information that it sends to the hackers.
The co-defendant is accused of selling it on the dark web marketplace AlphaBay, which was shut down by the US government last month, and creating a YouTube video showing how it worked.
Mr Hutchins’ mother Janet said she was trying to find out what had happened to her son, but that it was ‘hugely unlikely’ that he was involved because he had spent ‘enormous amounts of time’ combating such attacks. She said she was ‘outraged’ by the charges, adding: ‘I think I’m going to be rather busy tonight.’ Her son’s supporters said on social media that his activities could have been ‘white hat’ hacking in which hackers expose security flaws for good ends.
Mr Hutchins’ friend Andrew Mabbit said he was ‘in the Las Vegas FBI field office’ and appealed for lawyers to help him.
He said on Twitter that he refused to believe the charges. ‘He malware,Mr MotherboardMabbit.spent not his said writingcareer Mr stoppingHutchinsit,’ said was centre initiallyin Nevadaheld at beforea detentionbeing moved. A friend tried to visit him when the centre opened but he had already been transferred.
The friend said: ‘We’ve been trying to get in contact with Marcus for 18 hours and nobody knows where he’s been taken. We’re extremely concerned for his welfare.’
Mr Hutchins was praised in May for stopping the WannaCry attack on the NHS. At its peak the virus attacked 47 health trusts, which were forced to delay operations and turn patients away.
It spread worldwide, affecting 300,000 computers in 150 countries. It froze screens, and the hackers£460 data power Banks,for back. stationsusers governmentthen to demandedwereget their also offices unlocked broughtup and to to describedtheir kneesas the in largest what ran-was somwareMr Hutchins attack wasin history. arrested on the same day as more than £105,000 in the digital currency Bitcoin paid by the victims of WannaCry was removed from the hackers’ online wallets. It is not clear if there was any relationship between the withdrawal and Mr Hutchins’ arrest. The UK’s National Crime Agency confirmed a British citizen had been arrested but said it was a matter for the authorities in the US. Nobody from the FBI was available for comment.