Marcus Hutchins pleads not guilty to creating Kronos banking malware

"He is going to vigorously defend himself against these charges," one lawyer said.

Marcus Hutchins, the security researcher known as MalwareTech, pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges of creating the Kronos banking malware.

Hutchins was arrested on Aug. 2 in Las Vegas, an incident that’s echoed loudly throughout the cybersecurity community.

Free on $30,000 bail, Hutchins will reside in Los Angeles with GPS tracking and will continue his work online as a security researcher with the exception of being able to work on or access the WannaCry sinkhole used to stop the ransomware.

Monday’s court date saw Hutchins allowed back on the internet for the first time since his arrest. The prominent British researcher is now being represented by the trial attorney Brian Klein and the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Marcia Hofmann.

“Marcus Hutchins is a brilliant young man and a hero,” Hofmann told the press after the hearing, referring to Hutchins’ role in stopping the spread of WannaCry ransomware in May. “He is going to vigorously defend himself against these charges and, when then the evidence comes to light, we’re very confident he will be fully vindicated.”

Among a long list of questions observers have on the case, perhaps the most important is the unknown identity of Hutchins’ co-defendant. The name is redacted from the indictment and the individual is, according to prosecutors, still free.

A pre-trial hearing is set for October 17.

Government

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Technology

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Threats

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• Attackers exploit zero-days in consistently besieged SonicWall product

Policy

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• ‘Watershed 250’ test program in Texas looks to private sector for water cybersecurity help

• Former sexual abuse victims say Grok used their images, videos to train deepfake capabilities

• Cyber threats nudge Trump to sign executive order on foreign equipment in U.S. energy infrastructure