LOS ANGELES, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Marcus Hutchins, a young British computer researcher who helped shut down the WannaCry ransomware attack in May, still remained in custody in Nevada, as his supporters try to raise funds to bail him out.
The hacker community, cybersecurity researchers, and other supporters so far have raised more than 12,000 U.S. dollars for Hutchins, who was arrested in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The judge at Las Vegas court ruled on Friday that Hutchins could be released on a 30,000 U.S. dollar bail, saying the defendant wasn't a danger to the community nor a flight risk, though the judge ordered him to remain in the United States with GPS monitoring.
However, the 23-year-old British cybersecurity researcher was unable to pay the 30,000 U.S. dollar bail and was still being held Monday at a lockup in Nevada, a day before he's due to face charges in federal court in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, according to Business Insider.
Hutchins remains at the Southern Nevada Detention Center, about 100 km outside Las Vegas, local media cited Kayla Gieni, a spokeswoman of the facility, as saying.
"Unfortunately their desk closed at 4 p.m. on Friday so it wasn't possible in the short 30 minute window," Andrew Mabbitt, Hutchins' friend and founder of a cyber security company Fidus Security, tweeted on Monday.
Mabbitt and security researcher and hacker Tarah Wheeler have set up a funding page to pay for his defence, and Wheeler tweeted that donors had contributed more than 12,000 U.S. dollars.
The computer expert is scheduled to appear Tuesday morning in federal court in Milwaukee on six counts of hacking-related charges from the U.S.Department of Justice, including conspiracy to commit computer fraud in 2014 and 2015.
He is accused of creating, distributing and selling malicious software called Kronos, was commonly referred to as a "banking Trojan," according to the Eastern District of Wisconsin.
Hutchins was arrested by the FBI on Aug. 2 after attending the Def Con, a hacking conference last week in Las Vegas, according to the website MotherBoard.
If found guilty, Hutchins could face a maximum of roughly 40 years in jail in the United States for writing and spreading a malicious software that targeted bank accounts, according to local media.
Hutchins has pleaded not guilty to charges of creating and distributing Kronos, said Adrian Lobo, Hutchins' defence attorney.
Since the clerk's office closed at 4:00 p.m. local time (1100 GMT), Hutchins could not get bail in time on Friday, Lobo said.
"We intend to fight the case," Lobo said on Facebook Live to a local reporter, at the court house. "He has dedicated his life to researching malware, not to try to harm people. He has tremendous community support, local and abroad and in the computer world."
The Kronos malware, which is spread through malicious email attachments, can be used to steal banking passwords and other credentials from infected computers.
Hutchins, known as MalwareTech on Twitter, is quite active online, but since Aug. 2, no tweet has been posted on his account.
Hutchins was hailed a "hero" in May for discovering a "kill switch" for the WannaCry ransomware to delay its global spreading as it infected and forced hospitals, telecom providers and many other businesses worldwide to shut down.
"He spent his career stopping malware, not writing it," tweeted Mabbitt.
The WannaCry ransomware encrypted files of hundreds of thousands of computers and then charged victims Bitcoins worth 300 to 600 dollars as ransom.
On the night of Aug. 2, right after Hutchins' detention, the hackers behind the global WannaCry ransomware attack abruptly cashed out all their ransom payments within 15 minutes, though there was no indication that the two events were connected.
