Marcus Hutchins, a young British researcher credited with derailing 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 Britain from an annual gathering of hackers and IT 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 court last month, alleges that Hutchins and another defendant, whose name is redacted, conspired from July 2014 and July 2015 to advertise the availability of the Kronos malware on internet forums, sell the malware and make money off it. The indictment also accuses Hutchins of creating the malware.