Hacker who stopped global virus admits charges in US

A BRITISH computer expert credited with halting a global cyber attack that affected the NHS has pleaded guilty to hacking charges in the United States.

Marcus Hutchins, 24, pleaded guilty in a Wisconsin court yesterday to two counts relating to writing malicious software. The charges each carry up to five years in prison.

Mr Hutchins was arrested by the FBI at a Las Vegas airport in 2017. He was charged with involvement in a conspiracy to sell Kronos, a computer program designed to steal bank details, and held on bail in the US.

In a statement, Mr Hutchins said: “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.”

Mr Hutchins, also known by the online pseudonym Malwaretech, was branded a hero in May 2017 for deploying a “kill switch” to stop the global outbreak of “Wannacry”, a virus that locked computers and demanded a ransom. PCS at GP surgeries were among more than 300,000 affected in 150 countries.

A few months later, he was arrested in the US and charged with writing and distributing Kronos, a “Trojan” program used to harvest bank details.

Mr Hutchins, who lived with his parents in Devon and worked in IT security, was allegedly involved in the conspiracy to update and sell Kronos between 2014 and 2015. As well as a prison sentence he could face $250,000 (£192,000) in fines on each count.