Cyber Expert Pulls Get Out Of Jail Free Card

A British cybersecurity expert credited with helping stop a worldwide computer virus in May 2017 won’t serve any additional time behind bars for creating malware years before he won international acclaim.

U.S. District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller sentenced 25-year-old Marcus Hutchins on Friday in Milwaukee to time served, with a year of supervised release. Stadtmueller said the virus Hutchins helped stop was far more damaging than the malware he wrote.

Hutchins pleaded guilty in May to developing and conspiring to distribute malware called Kronos from 2012 to 2015. Prosecutors dismissed eight charges in exchange for his plea.

Hutchins’ arrest in Las Vegas in 2017 came as a shock. Just months earlier he was hailed as a hero for finding a “kill switch” to the WannaCry virus that crippled computers worldwide.

He had faced up to 10 years in prison, but prosecutors had credited Hutchins with taking responsibility for his actions. Hutchins served just a few days in jail before being freed on bail but had to remain in the U.S. while his case was pending.

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Midnight

A British cybersecurity expert credited with stopping a worldwide computer virus in 2017 is about to learn his sentence for creating malware designed to steal banking information.

Marcus Hutchins appears in federal court in Milwaukee on Friday. He pleaded guilty in May to conspiring to distribute malware called Kronos from 2012 to 2015. Prosecutors dismissed eight charges in exchange for his plea.

He faces up 10 years in prison but could receive a more lenient sentence for accepting responsibility. Prosecutors aren’t making a sentencing recommendation but say in a filing ahead of the hearing Friday that it “should be sufficient, though not greater than necessary.”

Hutchins’ arrest in Las Vegas in 2017 came as a shock. Just months earlier he was hailed as a hero for finding a “kill switch” to the WannaCry virus that crippled computers worldwide.