British researcher arrested for allegedly creating and
distributing malware designed to collect bank-account
passwords.
Marcus Hutchins, a young British computer security researcher
credited with derailing a global cyberattack in May, was arrested
for allegedly creating and distributing malicious software designed
to collect bank-account passwords, US authorities said on
Thursday.
Hutchins was detained in Las Vegas on his way back to the UK
from an annual gathering of hackers and information security gurus.
A grand jury indictment charged Hutchins with creating and
distributing malware known as the Kronos banking Trojan.
Such malware infects web browsers, then captures usernames and
passwords when an unsuspecting user visits a bank or other trusted
location.
News of Hutchins’ detention came as a shock to the cybersecurity
community. Many had rallied behind the researcher whose quick
thinking helped control the spread of the WannaCry attack that crippled thousands of
computers last May.
The indictment, filed in a Wisconsin federal court last month,
alleges that Hutchins and another defendant – whose name is
redacted – conspired between July 2014 and July 2015 to advertise
the availability of the Kronos malware on internet forums, sell the
malware and profit from it. The indictment also accuses Hutchins of
creating the malware.
Authorities said the malware was first made available in early
2014, and “marketed and distributed through AlphaBay, a hidden
service on the Tor network.” The US Department of Justice announced
in July that the AlphaBay “darknet” marketplace was shut down after
an international law enforcement effort.
A court hearing was scheduled for Hutchins on Thursday afternoon
in Las Vegas. It was not immediately clear if he has a lawyer.
‘Deeply concerned’
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based
digital rights group, said it was “deeply concerned” about
Hutchins’ arrest and was attempting to reach him.
Hutchins recently attended Def Con, an annual cybersecurity
conference in Las Vegas that ended on Sunday. On Wednesday,
Hutchins made some routine comments on Twitter that suggested he
was at an airport getting ready to board a plane for a flight home.
He never left Nevada.
A Justice Department spokesman confirmed the 22-year-old
Hutchins was arrested on Wednesday in Las Vegas. Officer Rodrigo
Pena, a police spokesman in Henderson, near Las Vegas, said
Hutchins spent the night in federal custody in the city lockup.
Andrew Mabbitt, a British digital security specialist who had
been staying in Las Vegas with Hutchins, said he and his friends
grew worried when they got “radio silence” from Hutchins for hours.
The worries deepened when Hutchins’ mother called to tell him the
young researcher hadn’t made his flight home.
Mabbitt said he eventually found Hutchins’ name on a detention
centre website. News of his indictment on Wednesday left colleagues
scrambling to understand what happened.
“We don’t know the evidence the FBI has against him, however we
do have some circumstantial evidence that he was involved in that
community at the time,” said computer security expert Rob
Graham.
Malware prosecutions
The co-defendant allegedly advertised the malware online.
Hutchins is accused of creating and transmitting the programme.
The problem with software creation is that often a programme
includes code written by multiple programmers. Prosecutors might
need to prove that Hutchins wrote code with specific targets.
“I’ve written code that other people have injected malware
into,” said Graham. “We know that large parts of Kronos were
written by other people.”
One legal scholar who specialises in studying computer crime
told AP it’s unusual, and problematic, for prosecutors to go after
someone simply for writing or selling malware – as opposed to using
it to further a crime.
“This is the first case I know of where the government is
prosecuting someone for creating or selling malware but not
actually using it,” said Orin Kerr, a law professor at George
Washington University. Kerr said it will be difficult to prove
criminal intent.
“It’s a constant issue in criminal law – the helping of people
who are committing a crime,” Kerr said. “When is that itself a
crime?”
Hutchins was hailed as a hero in May for finding and triggering
a “kill switch” for a WannaCry ransomware attack that was spreading
wildly around the world, locking away data on computers and
demanding money for its release.
Andrew Mabbitt, another security researcher who was with
Hutchins in Las Vegas, said he did not believe the allegations.
“He spent his career stopping malware, not writing it,” Mabbitt
said on Twitter.
aljazeera
British researcher arrested for allegedly creating and
distributing malware designed to collect bank-account
passwords.
Marcus Hutchins, a young British computer security researcher
credited with derailing a global cyberattack in May, was arrested
for allegedly creating and distributing malicious software designed
to collect bank-account passwords, US authorities said on
Thursday.
Hutchins was detained in Las Vegas on his way back to the UK
from an annual gathering of hackers and information security gurus.
A grand jury indictment charged Hutchins with creating and
distributing malware known as the Kronos banking Trojan.
Such malware infects web browsers, then captures usernames and
passwords when an unsuspecting user visits a bank or other trusted
location.
News of Hutchins’ detention came as a shock to the cybersecurity
community. Many had rallied behind the researcher whose quick
thinking helped control the spread of the WannaCry attack that crippled thousands of
computers last May.
The indictment, filed in a Wisconsin federal court last month,
alleges that Hutchins and another defendant – whose name is
redacted – conspired between July 2014 and July 2015 to advertise
the availability of the Kronos malware on internet forums, sell the
malware and profit from it. The indictment also accuses Hutchins of
creating the malware.
Authorities said the malware was first made available in early
2014, and “marketed and distributed through AlphaBay, a hidden
service on the Tor network.” The US Department of Justice announced
in July that the AlphaBay “darknet” marketplace was shut down after
an international law enforcement effort.
A court hearing was scheduled for Hutchins on Thursday afternoon
in Las Vegas. It was not immediately clear if he has a lawyer.
‘Deeply concerned’
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based
digital rights group, said it was “deeply concerned” about
Hutchins’ arrest and was attempting to reach him.
Hutchins recently attended Def Con, an annual cybersecurity
conference in Las Vegas that ended on Sunday. On Wednesday,
Hutchins made some routine comments on Twitter that suggested he
was at an airport getting ready to board a plane for a flight home.
He never left Nevada.
A Justice Department spokesman confirmed the 22-year-old
Hutchins was arrested on Wednesday in Las Vegas. Officer Rodrigo
Pena, a police spokesman in Henderson, near Las Vegas, said
Hutchins spent the night in federal custody in the city lockup.
Andrew Mabbitt, a British digital security specialist who had
been staying in Las Vegas with Hutchins, said he and his friends
grew worried when they got “radio silence” from Hutchins for hours.
The worries deepened when Hutchins’ mother called to tell him the
young researcher hadn’t made his flight home.
Mabbitt said he eventually found Hutchins’ name on a detention
centre website. News of his indictment on Wednesday left colleagues
scrambling to understand what happened.
“We don’t know the evidence the FBI has against him, however we
do have some circumstantial evidence that he was involved in that
community at the time,” said computer security expert Rob
Graham.
Malware prosecutions
The co-defendant allegedly advertised the malware online.
Hutchins is accused of creating and transmitting the programme.
The problem with software creation is that often a programme
includes code written by multiple programmers. Prosecutors might
need to prove that Hutchins wrote code with specific targets.
“I’ve written code that other people have injected malware
into,” said Graham. “We know that large parts of Kronos were
written by other people.”
One legal scholar who specialises in studying computer crime
told AP it’s unusual, and problematic, for prosecutors to go after
someone simply for writing or selling malware – as opposed to using
it to further a crime.
“This is the first case I know of where the government is
prosecuting someone for creating or selling malware but not
actually using it,” said Orin Kerr, a law professor at George
Washington University. Kerr said it will be difficult to prove
criminal intent.
“It’s a constant issue in criminal law – the helping of people
who are committing a crime,” Kerr said. “When is that itself a
crime?”
Hutchins was hailed as a hero in May for finding and triggering
a “kill switch” for a WannaCry ransomware attack that was spreading
wildly around the world, locking away data on computers and
demanding money for its release.
Andrew Mabbitt, another security researcher who was with
Hutchins in Las Vegas, said he did not believe the allegations.
“He spent his career stopping malware, not writing it,” Mabbitt
said on Twitter.
aljazeera
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