Marcus Hutchins, known online as MalwareTech, reappeared online today with a joke after being arrested by the FBI in Las Vegas two weeks ago.
"Things to do during defcon: Attend parties, Visit red rock canyon, Go shooting, Be indicted by the FBI, Rent supercars," a new post on the MalwareTech Twitter account said. Defcon refers to a hacking convention hosted annually in Las Vegas -- the one Hutchins had attended before he was suddenly detained by the authorities, causing an uproar in the cybersecurity community.
According to an indictment filed in mid-July, Hutchins is accused of creating code that would become a banking Trojan malware called Kronos and conspiring to sell it online. Today he reportedly pleaded not guilty and was released on bail.
"Marcus Hutchins is a brilliant young man and hero," one of Hutchinson's attorneys, Marcia Hofman told reporters, according to VICE's Motherboard. "He is going to vigorously defend himself against these charges and when the evidence comes to light we are confident he will be fully vindicated."
Hutchins enjoyed relative anonymity until May when he accidentally stumbled on the kill switch for rampaging malware known as WannaCry and became an overnight celebrity in cybersecurity circles and beyond.
In follow-up tweets today, Hutchins said, "There's a lot of people I'd like to thank for amazing support over the past 11 days, which I will do when I get a chance to publish my blog. I'm still on trial, still not allowed to go home, still on house arrest; but now I am allowed online. Will get my computers back soon."