Those who watched WannaCry a year ago will remember the young man from the UK who stopped the threat when he discovered a kill switch. The young man was then known as @MalwareTechBlog, and bought a domain that used WannaCry to stop the attacks.
Ransomware was trying to connect to a specific domain that had a very strange name. In the event that the connection was possible, the attacks were stopped, while otherwise (something that inevitably came to an end before the domain name was purchased), the attacks from the ransomware continued.
In a nutshell: the purchase and activation of the domain that existed in code του malware ενήργησε ως ένα είδος kill-switch, μετατρέποντας τον @MalwareTechBlog σε ήρωα του διαδικτύου.
Initially, @MalwareTechBlog stayed in the spotlight until it went to Las Vegas in August of 2017 to attend DEF CON. Then his real identity was revealed: Marcus Hutchins.
But Hutchins was “already known to police" and was arrested at Las Vegas airport shortly before his scheduled return to the UK, accused of creating and distributing a bank maliciousυ software known as Kronos.
Hutchins claimed he was not guilty and was released with a guarantee. Of course he had to stay in the US, but he had the opportunity to continue to work with his American employer until the trial.
Unfortunately, his adventures do not stop here. For MARCUS HUTCHINS, also known as "Malwaretech", also known as "irp@jabber.se", there are ten new categories that claim that:
It promoted, helped and encouraged the diffusion of advertisements with electronic devices and electronics in general, knowing that the design of these mechanisms offers covert monitoring of electronic communications.
US researchers claim Hutchins is linked to another malicious tool called the UPAS Kit. This particular malware is reportedly advertised as a “modular HTTP bot” and can be used to theft data.
According to the authorities, the UPAS Kit has recorded personal information such as PIN, credit card numbers, social security numbers, and much more.
In addition, the FBI charges Hutchins for perjury when he was arrested last year. Obviously, Hutchins admitted that he wrote the code that existed in Kronos malware, but he did not admit that he was making the malware. He claims to have realized that his code was used by scammers, 2016 when he analyzed the Kronos malware.
The FBI says the accused did not tell them the truth:
in fact, as Hutchins knew then, because since November 2014, he has made many statements […] in which he acknowledged his role in the development of Kronos.
Let's say the charges relate to Hutchins' activities that took place before closing 18.
Is Hutchins a hero, or a scammer? Can they both be? We will probably learn when the proceedings are completed by the American courts.
What did your story tell you about WannaCry and Hutchins? If you are also tempted to flirt with the dark side and the cyber crime, we urge you not to do it!
You will find a lot of open source and programming communities, where your help will be welcomed and instead of going to a court, you will grow up your experience and build your resume.
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