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Marcus Hutchins, the researcher who stopped the Wannacry Windows ransomware attack, has pleaded guilty to two counts of writing banking malware in 2014.
Hutchins was accused of writing a banking malware called Kronos in 2014, after he finished high school. The researcher was arrested in Las Vegas after attending the hacker conference Def Con in 2017. Days later, he plead not guilty in a Milwaukee courtroom. He was scheduled to be tried this summer.
But on Friday, Hutchins plead guilty to two counts of [cracking]. According to the guilty plea, each of these counts carries a maximum sentence of 5 years, $250,000 in fines and up to 1 year of supervised release.
He has published a brief statement regarding the case on his blog.
Legal Case Update
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.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by aiwarrior on Saturday April 20 2019, @09:09PM (1 child)
This confession thing is the most perverted thing ever. No need for evidence if there is a confession. Do not get me wrong if the guy indeed did and he commited a crime in the USA that's life for you. Even so in most judiciaries the confession is very irrelevant as it should be.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by DrkShadow on Sunday April 21 2019, @01:29AM
That might be part of the problem. Yeah, he plead guilty to the crime. Most everyone charged pleads guilty to the crime. That's the only way to get on with your life. (In some years.)
That seems like a huge error.
Most of them didn't commit the crime, though. Can't ever know for sure. No viable evidence is presented, no viable defense is presented -- it's just too much work and risk and expense and time to defend yourself, if it's even possibly to show your innocence. Simply representing you as a bad person is enough to ruin your life -- and simply walking into a courtroom gets you labeled that way. All of this seems like a huge problem.