Marcus Hutchins, the young digital researcher who was arrested back in 2017 for his involvement in creating banking Trojan, is now appealing to prevent a phone call transcript from being used against him in a U.S. court.
This 23-year-old British hacker, known best to the public for his grand act of stopping the WannaCry malware from harming Britain's National Health Service, could be facing a sentence of up to 40 years in prison if found guilty.
The arrest was in no way connected to the WannaCry cyberattack, but to the banking and credit card fraud malware Hutchins is accused of creating.
Although he primarily denied the charges against him, the phone call reveals new details and if accepted as evidence, this transcript might be a real turning point of Hutchins' case.
The Cyber "Hero" Turned into a Villain
In 2017, Hutchins was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) while attending the DEFCON conference in Las Vegas, after the allegation emerged of his involvement in creating Kronos-a malware that collects financial data from individuals.
His arrest came as a surprise to many and has gained much attention over the last couple of months. Some in the cybersecurity community expressed serious concern after his controversial arrest.
At the time of the WannaCry ransomware, when thousands of people and organizations were facing a serious threat, Hutchins was labeled a hero after he discovered and eventually stopped the virus from spreading further.
He was the main person behind detecting the "kill switch" that disabled the WannaCry malware before doing more harm on the U.K. National Health Service and 300,000 computers in around 150 countries around the world, making him a much-respected member of the cybersecurity community.
This event happened only three months prior to his arrest. He made front pages all around the world, and now he's doing it again-this time as more of a villain, than a hero.
Hutchins' Statement Was Given Under Intoxicated Conditions
Supposedly, after his arrest at the McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Hutchins made a phone call to an unknown person revealing very important details that might be used against him in court.
The transcript, filed earlier this month, is potential evidence as it shows Hutching admitting to creating the malware.
However, his defense is now seeking for it to be dismissed, along with the transcript of a two-hour interview with the FBI, because, as they claim, it was made after a week spent partying in Vegas.
According to a motion to suppress document submitted to the court by Hutchins's lawyers, their client was in no state of giving coherent answers as he was sleep-deprived and intoxicated.
Moreover, Hutchins did not fully understand any warnings or rights he may have been provided.
Opposing to this statement, the prosecution argues that there isn't a valid reason for believing such claims, as the transcript clearly indicates that Hutchins was trying to repay a $5,000 debt by providing the binary code for the Kronos malware.
Kronos's Distributive Market AlphaBay Shut Down
According to a press release from the Department of Justice, the malware Kronos was allegedly distributed between July 2014 and July 2015. Following a two-year investigation, Hutchins was charged with a six-count indictment.
This banking Trojan first appeared on an online Russian forum in 2014, selling for a starting price of $7,000.
According to the IMB researchers who found it, Kronos allowed buyers to steal banking details using a process called "keylogging," while also successfully bypassing common antivirus software on computers worldwide.
Kronos was marketed and distributed through AlphaBay, one of the largest darknet markets on the Tor network before it was shut down by the authorities last July.
Prior to its takedown, it was a service where over 400,000 buyers and vendors operated. AlphaBay Market was used to sell illegal drugs, firearms, toxic chemicals as well as malware and computer hacking tools, making it the perfect marketplace for Kronos.
As the phone call transcript uncovers new details to this case, Hutchins is awaiting trial from his current home in California where he works in the field of cybersecurity.
It's still uncertain what's going to be the outcome of these events, however, if found guilty Hutchins will be facing many years in prison for five more charges besides the computer fraud, including intercepting electronic communications or accessing a computer device without authorization.
The accused was caught when undercover officers bought the malware on AlphaBay, from his anonymous co-defendant.
