Researcher Who Busted WannaCry Arrested In Las Vegas

Marcus Hutchins, who had a key role in containing the ransomware worm WannaCry that recently locked up more than 74,000 systems, was taken into federal custody. According to law enforcement, Hutchins was responsible for developing Kronos, a banking trojan – a serious allegation that could result in a long prison sentence. The security community has rallied to his support. “This case raises a number of issues between where the cybersecurity community is and where the law is in relation to researching and stopping attacks,” writes Ron Austin, Associate Professor, School of Computing and Digital Technology, Birmingham City University, UK. The indictment that led to his arrest focuses on a co-defendant whose name is under seal, and says little about Hutchins’ alleged involvement. After he was taken into custody, old logs connected to his previous user name indicating that he was a low-level black-hat hacker were unearthed. His supporters point out that young black hats who become white hats as adults are the backbone of the security apparatus.