WannaCry Malware Slayer Developer Pleads Guilty for Creating Bank Account Hijacking Malware

Tajammul Pangarkar
Tajammul Pangarkar

Updated · Apr 22, 2019

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A 23 year Old Security Researcher named Marcus Hutchins has pleaded guilty for designing the malware that hacks the bank accounts. Marcus Hutchins was the person behind ending the terror of WannaCry ransomware, which encrypted the data of millions of infected computers for a ransom amount. He has pleaded guilty in the Federal courts for developing and distributing the malware, that broke into the bank accounts of the infected computer users. Marcus is accused of creating Kronos, which is the malware infected thousands of computers and broke into the online banking accounts of the people.

In a short post, Marcus said that he accepts the charges, takes full responsibility and regrets his actions. He also said that he has misused his knowledge and will try to use it for a good cause. In August 2017, he was charged with the charges of developing and distributing the malware named Kronos, that could automatically save the online banking details of the infected computers. After ten months, he was charged with ten felony charges, out of which he pleaded for two of the charges. One of these ten charges includes the charge for developing another malware named “APUS Kit.”

Marcus Hutchins became the hero when it identified the kill-switch of the WannaCry ransomware. The kill-switch was an unregistered domain name, which worked as the diffuser for this ransomware. He unintentionally registered the domain name, and later it became the official kill switch, and the site is still running to ensure the infected computers will get rid of the ransomware. But, the instant fame got him in the flashlights of the federal agencies and the national securities agencies. They found his involvements in the Kronos malware, which collected the details of online banking accounts and passwords. He is facing ten years of jail time for two felony charges, and others were dropped by the agencies.

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Tajammul Pangarkar

Tajammul Pangarkar

Tajammul Pangarkar is a CMO at Prudour Pvt Ltd. Tajammul longstanding experience in the fields of mobile technology and industry research is often reflected in his insightful body of work. His interest lies in understanding tech trends, dissecting mobile applications, and raising general awareness of technical know-how. He frequently contributes to numerous industry-specific magazines and forums. When he’s not ruminating about various happenings in the tech world, he can usually be found indulging in his next favorite interest - table tennis.