Global cyberattack hero in LV courtroom
Prosecutors say an English cybersecurity researcher admitted to creating and selling malware aimed at stealing financial data, but his lawyer disputed that contention during a hearing Friday in Las Vegas.
“He’s dedicated his life to researching malware, not to trying to harm people,” defense attorney Adrian Lobo said. “Use the internet for good is what he’s done.”
Lobo represents Marcus Hutchins, who also uses the moniker Malwaretech and is known for foiling a global cyberattack earlier this year. Hutchins, 23, was arrested this week after attending the Defcon cybersecurity conference at Caesars Palace.
After a short hearing Friday afternoon, U.S. Magistrate Judge Nancy Koppe ruled that Hutchins could be released on a $30,000 cash bond while awaiting trial in Wisconsin, where he and at least one other unidentified defendant face a six-count indictment.
Hutchins is charged with conspiracy and the manufacture, distribution and possession of electronic communication intercepting devices. The names of any other defendants are redacted in the public version of the indictment, which claims that the crimes occurred between July 2014 and July 2015.
Koppe pointed out that Hutchins has been free since the date of those allegations and rejected a prosecutor’s suggestion that he was a flight risk.
“If he is a risk of nonappearance and a danger to the community, this court is unsure why it took two years to indict him,” Koppe said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Dan Cowhig told the judge that Hutchins confessed to authorities that he authored Kronos, a “banking trojan,” and sold it, and that he discussed the sale in online chats, complaining about the amount he received.
Ten or more government computers were infected with Kronos. The indictment accuses Hutchins of creating the malware. It also accuses at least one unidentified co-defendant of selling it online and doing demonstrations on how to use it.
Lobo denied that Hutchins confessed, and she called the indict
CYBERATTACK
ment against him “flimsy” and “slim.” She said Hutchins may be released to a halfway house while friends and relatives procure housing before a Tuesday hearing in Milwaukee.
While out of custody, Hutchins must undergo supervision, remain under house arrest, use only his true name, surrender his passport and not have access to the internet, the judge ordered.
Hutchins gained acclaim in May after being credited with cracking the Wannacry cyberattack, in which a ransomware worm crippled Britain’s hospital network as well as factories, government agencies, banks and other businesses around the world, according to The Associated Press.
He stopped the attack from spreading by registering an internet domain name the malware’s code relied on.
Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.