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 #, 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 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.
Marcus Accused of Creating and Selling Another Malware:
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 described by prosecutors, UPAS Kit is Spybot virus that "allowed for the unauthorized exfiltration of information from protected computers" and "used a form grabber and web injects to intercept and collect personal information," including credit card details.
UPAS Kit advertised to "install silently and not alert antivirus engines," for prices ranged above $1,000 back in 2012.
According to the indictment, Hutchins created UPAS Kit in 2012, when he was just 18, and sold it online to another unnamed co-defendant identified as "VinnyK" (aka Aurora123), who was also involved in promoting Kronos.
Full reading: https://thehackernews.com/2018/06/marcus-hutchins-malware.html
Hutchins, the 24-year-old better known as #, 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 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.
Marcus Accused of Creating and Selling Another Malware:
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 described by prosecutors, UPAS Kit is Spybot virus that "allowed for the unauthorized exfiltration of information from protected computers" and "used a form grabber and web injects to intercept and collect personal information," including credit card details.
UPAS Kit advertised to "install silently and not alert antivirus engines," for prices ranged above $1,000 back in 2012.
According to the indictment, Hutchins created UPAS Kit in 2012, when he was just 18, and sold it online to another unnamed co-defendant identified as "VinnyK" (aka Aurora123), who was also involved in promoting Kronos.
Full reading: https://thehackernews.com/2018/06/marcus-hutchins-malware.html