A British cybersecurity researcher credited with helping curb a recent worldwide ransomware attack has pleaded not guilty to federal charges accusing him of creating malicious software to steal banking information in 2014.
Marcus Hutchins entered the plea Monday during a hearing in Wisconsin federal court.
He and an unnamed co-defendant face charges of conspiring to commit computer fraud in the state and elsewhere.
Authorities arrested the 23-year-old man Aug. 2 in the Las Vegas airport on his way home to Ilfracombe, England, after a cybersecurity convention.
The legal troubles Hutchins faces are a dramatic turnaround from the status of cybercrime-fighting hero he enjoyed four months ago when he found a "kill switch" that slowed the outbreak of WannaCry virus.
The indictment says the crimes happened from July 2014 to July 2015.