Research documents showed that there are many cyber criminals or hacker hiding behind the computer screens, who are trying to steal vulnerable data from digital platforms. But the British hacker, Marcus Hutchins, who also known as MalwareTech has pleaded guilty to criminal charges in the US.
The court documents have revealed that the 24-year-old Hutchins, who helped to stop the WannaCry ransomware attack on UK's National Health Service (NHS) said he had admitted two charges relating to writing malware.
Hutchins became a hero in May 2017 after he slowed down the effect of the WannaCry virus, which caused NHS about £73 million (about S$ 128,500,000) IT bill. It should be noted that the attack affected more than 300,000 computers in 150 countries.
However, in August 2017, when Hutchins was waiting for his flight to UK, he was arrested by FBI agents at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas.
During the hearing at the court in Wisconsin, a document was presented as evidence or proof to his alleged crime that stated that the accused British citizen was involved in creating and selling "malicious computer code" known as Kronos, which "has been used to infect numerous computers around the world and steal banking information."
As per the Sky News, the documents also showed that the malware was not only designed to target banking information but also to work on many types of web browsers such as Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome. However, Hutchins, in a statement on his website, apologised for the actions and had taken full responsibility for the crimes he committed.
"Having grown up, I've since been using the same skills that I missed several years ago for constructive purposes. I will continue to devote my time to keeping people safe from malware attacks," he added.
