Marcus Hutchins, a British computer security expert who helped bring an end to the “world’s greatest cyber attack” in May, has been arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
WannaCry, a massive cyber-attack, had affected over 200,000 computers across 150 countries.
But Hutchins’ arrest on Wednesday had nothing to do with the WannaCry attack.
According to US authorities, Hutchins was indicted by a grand jury for allegedly creating and distributing a malicious software, Kronos, which was designed to steal internet banking details and passwords.
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Hutchins, who attended the annual DefCon conference in Las Vegas, was on his way back to the UK when he was detained.
The young researcher was arraigned Thursday afternoon in Las Vegas.
The US department of justice (DoJ) said in a statement: “Marcus Hutchins… a citizen and resident of the United Kingdom, was arrested in the United States on 2 August, 2017, in Las Vegas, Nevada, after a grand jury in the Eastern District of Wisconsin returned a six-count indictment against Hutchins for his role in creating and distributing the Kronos banking Trojan.
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“The charges against Hutchins, and for which he was arrested, relate to alleged conduct that occurred between in or around July 2014 and July 2015.”
Hutchins could face a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison in the US if he is found guilty of the charges.
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