UK security researcher who stopped WannaCry outbreak arrested in US
Marcus Hutchins, also known as @MalwareTechBlog. (Image: file photo)
A security researcher who in May stopped an outbreak of the WannaCry ransomware has been arrested and detained after attending the Def Con conference in Las Vegas.
Marcus Hutchins, 23, a British national, was arrested at Las Vegas airport on Wednesday by US Marshals, several close friends confirmed to ZDNet.
He was briefly detained in a federal facility in Nevada, until he was moved. Hutchins is now understood to be in custody at an FBI field office in the state.
Motherboard first broke the story on Thursday.
But it's not clear what charges the security researcher faces, if any.
Hutchins, also known as @MalwareTechBlog, stormed to fame after he found a kill switch in the malware, known as WannaCry, last year amid a global epidemic of ransomware. Hutchins registered a domain name which stemmed the infection.
He was hailed as a hero for stopping the attack, which gripped UK hospitals and other major industries around the world.
An FBI spokesperson did not immediately comment.
A message to the US Consulate in Los Angeles -- which is reportedly assisting Hutchins, according to a friend -- was unreturned at the time of writing.
The UK's National Cyber Security Center said it was "aware" of the situation but would not comment on a matter of law enforcement
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