Remember when the InfoSec world was thanking security researcher Marcus Hutchins for stopping the spread of WannaCry?
People were equally stunned when officials arrested him in Las Vegas.
And now, there is this: The U.S. Government just filed more charges against Hutchins in what is called a superseding indictment, or in layman's terms, charges on top of charges. You can read the indictment here.
The new charges are related to malware that Hutchins allegedly developed called UPAS Kit. The indictment says it was designed to "install silently and not alert anti-virus engines."
I can only imagine what it would be like to go from world hero to government villain. Here's a glimpse from Hutchins and his @MalwareTechBlog Twitter account.
Last year:
This year:
His attorneys shared on Twitter, as well, to defend their client.
So is Marcus Hutchins a cybersecurity hero or a villain?
Well, we know this much for sure: He is highly respected among security researchers.
SecureWorld contributor and security researcher Chris Roberts made that very clear—along with the potential impact the Hutchins charges can have on security research he and his peers are doing.