No prison for British cyber expert in malware case

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By IVAN MORENO
Associated Press

MILWAUKEE (AP) — A British cybersecurity expert who was hailed as a hero for helping stop a worldwide computer virus in 2017, only to be charged later with trying to peddle malware, was sentenced to time served on Friday.

U.S. District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller said the damage that Marcus Hutchins helped prevent by stopping the WannaCry virus was far greater than the money he made selling malware years earlier. He also noted Hutchins’ admission of guilt.

“Mr. Hutchins turned the corner with regard to the conduct that led to these charges,” Stadtmueller said.

Hutchins, 25, served just a few days in jail after being arrested in Las Vegas in 2017, but had been required to stay in the U.S. while his case was pending.

Hutchins spoke briefly Friday, apologizing to his victims: “I deeply regret my conduct and the crimes I was involved in.” His attorney said afterward he intended to return to Great Britain.

FBI agents had been investigating Hutchins for years before his arrest. Less than two months after his claim to fame, they arrested him and accused him of creating malware to steal banking passwords.

Prosecutors in Milwaukee had made no specific sentence recommendation, and noted that Hutchins had accepted responsibility for his actions during a plea deal in April , and they also gave him credit for his role in finding a “kill switch” to the WannaCry virus .

He had faced up to 10 years in prison.

Hutchins no longer develops malware attacks and works to stop them, but that does not diminish the seriousness of what he did, prosecutors said. While his case was pending, prosecutors barred Hutchins from returning home, so he worked as a cybersecurity consultant in California.

“Like a man who spent years robbing banks, and then one day came to realize that was wrong, and even worked to design better security systems, he deserves credit for his epiphany. But he still bears responsibility for what he did,” prosecutors said.

Hutchins was indicted on 10 charges for developing two pieces of malware and lying to the FBI.

Prosecutors said Hutchins conspired to distribute the malware — UPAS Kit and Kronos — from 2012 to 2015 and that he sold Kronos to someone in Wisconsin. He also “personally delivered” the software to someone in California, prosecutors said.

Hutchins initially pleaded not guilty to all charges and was scheduled to go on trial this month.

As part of the deal, Hutchins pleaded guilty to two charges for creating Kronos — and an updated version of UPAS — and conspiring to distribute it. In exchange, prosecutors dismissed the other eight charges.

“As you may be aware, I’ve pleaded guilty to two charges related to writing malware in the years prior to my career in security,” Hutchins said in a statement on his website after the plea deal was announced. “I regret these actions and accept full responsibility for my mistakes. Having grown up, I’ve since been using the same skills that I misused several years ago for constructive purposes. I will continue to devote my time to keeping people safe from malware attacks.”

Kronos was “used to infect numerous computers around the world and steal banking information,” prosecutors said, without providing an exact number. It’s unclear how much Hutchins profited from creating the malware, but in online chats the FBI intercepted on November 2014, Hutchins lamented he had only made $8,000 from five sales. Hutchins said he thought he would be making around $100,000 annually by selling Kronos with one of his conspirators, who is named in the indictment only by his aliases, “Vinny,” ”VinnyK” and “Aurora123.”