Malware researcher Marcus Hutchins, who became famous for finding a kill switch in the WannaCry ransomware software in 2017, has been sentenced to a year of supervised release. He was charged with producing and selling a banking malware called Kronos and the UPAS kit, another backdoor malware.
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Hutchins, a 25-year-old British citizen, was arrested in Las Vegas where he was attending the Def Con conference in August 2017. He was taken into custody by federal marshals while boarding a flight back to the UK, for allegedly developing a malware called Kronos. The malware in question reportedly stole user credentials from web browsers used on infected systems.
The young security researcher was bailed out on a bond of $30,000 and has been living in Los Angeles ever since. Prosecutors claimed that he generated a few thousand dollars by selling Kronos. Since the arrest, however, Hutchins attempted to turn his life around, even live-streaming his work and making efforts to protect users from security threats. Prosecutors commented on this point in a sentencing memo filed with the court, stating that Hutchins has “made a good decision to turn his talents toward more positive ends..