Category Archives: MalwareTechBlog

Bot Roundup: Avalanche, Kronos, NanoCore

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It’s been a busy few weeks in cybercrime news, justifying updates to a couple of cases we’ve been following closely at KrebsOnSecurity. In Ukraine, the alleged ringleader of the Avalanche malware spam botnet was arrested after eluding authorities in the wake of a global cybercrime crackdown there in 2016. Separately, a case that was hailed as a test of whether programmers can be held accountable for how customers use their product turned out poorly for 27-year-old programmer Taylor Huddleston, who was sentenced to almost three years in prison for making and marketing a complex spyware program. Continue reading Bot Roundup: Avalanche, Kronos, NanoCore→

Marcus Hutchins prosecutors outline secret evidence to be introduced

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Prosecutors in the case against Marcus Hutchins, the British cybersecurity researcher recently arrested in the U.S. on charges of creating the Kronos banking malware, were this week granted a protective order keeping much of their evidence out of the public eye. The Justice Department asked the Wisconsin federal judge hearing the case for restrictions on releasing the evidence because it includes “information related to other ongoing investigations, malware, and investigative techniques.” The defense didn’t contest the request and the judge granted the order. While Hutchins, his lawyers, and any outside experts they engage will be able to see the evidence in a pre-trial procedure known as discovery, they are not allowed to share anything with anyone outside the defense team — and the expert witnesses will have to sign a copy of the order, showing they agree to its terms. Hutchins, better known by his Twitter handle MalwareTechBlog, pleaded not guilty, to the charges last week. […]

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Marcus Hutchins pleads not guilty to creating Kronos banking malware

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Marcus Hutchins, the security researcher known as MalwareTech, pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges of creating the Kronos banking malware. Hutchins was arrested on Aug. 2 in Las Vegas, an incident that’s echoed loudly throughout the cybersecurity community. Free on $30,000 bail, Hutchins will reside in Los Angeles with GPS tracking and will continue his work online as a security researcher with the exception of being able to work on or access the WannaCry sinkhole used to stop the ransomware. Monday’s court date saw Hutchins allowed back on the internet for the first time since his arrest. The prominent British researcher is now being represented by the trial attorney Brian Klein and the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Marcia Hofmann. “Marcus Hutchins is a brilliant young man and a hero,” Hofmann told the press after the hearing, referring to Hutchins’ role in stopping the spread of WannaCry ransomware in May. “He is going to vigorously defend himself against these […]

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News in brief: Venezuelan protest hacking; Hutchins released on bail; Facebook steps up moderation

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Your daily round-up of some of the other stories in the news Continue reading News in brief: Venezuelan protest hacking; Hutchins released on bail; Facebook steps up moderation→

Hutchins arrest stokes fears among those sharing sensitive threat intel

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The arrest of security researcher Marcus Hutchins is troubling members of multiple threat information sharing groups who once counted Hutchins as an ally, but now worry that he could have recorded and shared their sensitive work. CyberScoop viewed several conversations among threat intel groups, which played out in closed chatrooms and email threads. The concern voiced by members of several groups is that Hutchins — who was arrested by the FBI last week and charged with allegedly creating a banking trojan that was sold on dark web marketplace AlphaBay — could have sent sensitive information from the groups to people associated with the cybercrime underground. “This is bad. We need to assume for the period he was among us, any and all traffic was compromised and could be, along with our names etc. in the hands of various adversaries,” one member wrote in an email. Additionally, the communications include the […]

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