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posted by janrinok on Sunday June 10 2018, @11:04AM   Printer-friendly
from the it's-not-going-his-way dept.

https://thehackernews.com/2018/06/marcus-hutchins-malware.html

Marcus Hutchins, the British malware analyst who helped stop global Wannacry menace, is now facing four new charges related to malware he allegedly created and promoted it online to steal financial information.

Hutchins, the 24-year-old better known as MalwareTech, was arrested by the FBI last year as he was headed home to England from the DefCon conference in Las Vegas for his alleged role in creating and distributing Kronos between 2014 and 2015.

Kronos is a Banking Trojan designed to steal banking credentials and personal information from victims' computers, which was sold for $7,000 on Russian online forums, and the FBI accused Hutchins of writing and promoting it online, including via YouTube.

Hutchins pleaded not guilty at a court hearing in August 2017 in Milwaukee and release on $30,000 bail.

However, earlier this week, a revised superseding indictment [PDF] was filed with the Wisconsin Eastern District Court, under which Hutchins faces four new charges along with the six prior counts filed against him by the FBI a month before his arrest.

According to the new indictment, Hutchins created a second piece of malware, known as "UPAS Kit," and also lied to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) when he was arrested and questioned last year in Las Vegas.

[...] As the news on the revised indictment broke, Hutchins, who has repeatedly denied any illegal activity, called the charges "bullshit" and appealed to his Twitter followers for donations to cover legal costs.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 11 2018, @03:47AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 11 2018, @03:47AM (#691278)

    And why should we expect balance? It's not like law enforcement is a sporting match where it doesn't matter who wins. If it's the FBI vs. criminals, society wants the FBI to win and fairness doesn't apply. Of course it's unclear who is criminal and we don't want a police state, so it's better that they don't have too much power. But balance and fairness aren't what's needed. We need policies that minimize the ratio of innocent people who get hassled by law enforcement vs. criminals who are convicted. Maybe ding their careers if innocent people get hurt.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 11 2018, @09:08AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 11 2018, @09:08AM (#691323)

    When prosecutors and DAs start worrying about convicting the guilty rather than racking up a high score, I will start believing it is not a game.

  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 11 2018, @12:41PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 11 2018, @12:41PM (#691369)

    If it's the FBI vs. criminals, society wants the FBI to win

    But it's not FBI vs. criminals, it's FBI vs. suspects. Which may or may not be criminals. And if it's the FBI vs. the innocent, I sincerely hope society wants the innocent to win. Or else you've got a seriously fucked up country.