The FBI's Hunt to Destroy a Hero Hacker

Start prioritizing your online safety today with Guardio! Visit guard.io/crumb to get a 7-day free trial and save 20% off a premium plan by using my exclusive link. Don't miss out on this opportunity to enhance your internet security!
In 2017, a computer virus encrypted more than 200,000 computers, disrupting hospitals, telecommunications companies, and public transportation systems. However, before the day ended, a malware analyst emerged as a hero by discovering a kill switch that halted the virus's spread. However, his good deed earned him the attention of the FBI who began digging into his dark past.
Check out MalwareTech's channel here:
www.youtube.com/@MalwareTechB...
0:00 - Intro
2:15 - The Shadow Brokers
4:31 - The Worm
8:45 - The Kill Switch
11:16 - From Hero to Defendant
13:50 - Defcon
18:46 - A Dark Past
21:59 - Vinny
25:38 - Another Mistake
27:42 - Cleaning Up
29:48 - Arrest
33:52 - Conviction
Come hang out in my Discord:
/ discord
Follow me on:
/ crumb
/ crumbosrs

[@CrumbRS]

Start prioritizing your online safety today with Guardio! Visit guard.io/crumb to get a 7-day free trial and save 20% off a premium plan by using my exclusive link. Don't miss out on this opportunity to enhance your internet security!

[@ThenTell]

Seed is a liar

[@Seed]

First reply lol

[@itsA624]

e

[@ThenTell]

@@SeedNo you weren’t seed

[@sergiokaminotanjo]

23:49 lmao imagine getting a fake message for a transference, who in the world would accept it are you for real? am l in another reality where people does this xD

[@ChandravijayAgrawal]

At the end judge understood and saved someone who could do society more good being outside than in jail, thanks to everyone who took his side

[@trepz.]

my brain died reading this

[@pooloftim8263]

What, your brain couldn’t process “could good society more good…”??

[@ChandravijayAgrawal]

@@pooloftim8263 autocorrect

[@Some1Smart]

yes it couldnt@@pooloftim8263

[@Loccyster]

​​@@trepz., if a simple mistake like that killed your brain, that tells us more about you than it does about OP.

It's kinda weird how helping people earns you a spot in jail. Crazy to think about.

[@WinterFN.edits_]

How many subs did you get off those Fortnite videos with 70k

[@tearful231pluto4]

Bought account, ​@@WinterFN.edits_.

[@AnnFranksUrn]

@@user-mg9hi5ln8nabsolutely. If I kill someone to save someone I still saved Someone.

[@jimmysass]

@@user-mg9hi5ln8n Always. “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”

[@IceDiamondArmy]

No good deed goes unpunished.

[@MotorCityMob]

Why would a large UK newspaper post his home address? That is terrible, that should be illegal. He should be able to sue them for posting his home address.

[@lewisblackwiththenicehair]

Pretty sure it is illegal under our law, unfortunately most of our media, much like our politicians, are seemingly above the law and immune to any consequence.

[@faequeenapril6921]

I think this was during the time some UK newspapers were hacking into peoples devices for more information, theres still a few UK papers that literally doxx people.

[@johnmarkarth2249]

The British press are protected by the government that control the law so… going against the media here is like fighting a brick wall

[@richardscargill7201]

The UK tabloids are notoriously unscrupulous about things such as privacy. Amy Winehouse kept telling people that her phone was being tapped and everyone thought that she was a drunken crackhead suffering from paranoid delusions, but after she died it was revealed that Rupert Murdock's gossip rags had, indeed, tapped the phones of dozens of celebrities and politicians.

[@mrtoothless]

They only do that if you're white.

[@agilagilsen8714]

The FBI heard the saying “no good deed goes unpunished” and thought it was an instruction for how to prioritise within their organisation.

[@highestpeeqs9532]

Jesus loves yall, died for us, and rose again! Jesus calls for all of us to repent! He's coming back!!!

[@bougainvillea9705]

@@highestpeeqs9532 nuh uh

[@sketchylurker]

They also consider the Ruby Ridge incident a success for them.

[@ferrari777ism]

yes

[@jameskirk3]

It's actually department policy for most police in the US and is an FBI mandate. Let no good deed go unpunished.

[@Rice1768]

Is no one talking about how most of his troubles started when the media literally doxxed him

[@troybaxter]

This. Fucking journalists. Can't mind their own damn business and report something as anonymous. He could literally be killed for this because someone is not happy that he disrupted their plans. Brain dead. Absolute brain dead.

[@aarondavis8943]

Their job is to investigate stories. For once, they investigated. His arrest is on those who arrested him who, in any case, would have found him without the media's assistance eventually.

[@troybaxter]

@@aarondavis8943 ok, but you don't go out and straight up dox someone's location and personal information, especially when they do not want that information to be out there. It's incredibly dangerous and irresponsible for journalists to do this. Think about it, this guy just shutdown something that would have better BILLIONS more dollars to an individual or group of individuals. I can imagine they would not be all that pleased to lose out on said money

[@daMillenialTrucker]

​@@aarondavis8943they ain't found me yet

[@poeticalvision]

@@aarondavis8943 You can investigate a story without posting a persons FULL ADDRESS and a picture of where he lived, along with the name and contact info of his FAMILY in the newspaper. Thats ridiculous.

[@SinkMMA]

That judge seemed to be a good man. I was extremely happy to hear that he did not receive any jail time. Great video as always man

[@CrumbRS]

refreshing judge honestly

[@brandonz404]

Especially for a judge of that age to understand the kids pov

[@ldaluis00]

Did the government force an earlier retirement or did they unalive the judge?

[@Bob_Bob347]

@@ldaluis00 this isn't tiktok, you can say kill

[@Parasolhyena]

​@@Bob_Bob347There has been theories by content creators that say that if any words youtube doesn't like get put in the comments too much, then it can actually start to get the video put into adults only and get hit negatively by the algorithm. So while it may seem silly it might actually help the content creator. Of course there'd need to be more proof, I just found it interesting.

[@5963jake]

As someone who has survived a 100% blocked lower descending Aorta at a cardiac care unit.This guy is a real hero.Had they not been able to operate? I wouldn't be alive. He is an exemplary young man.He is a true hero!!

[@PhurPher]

I don't know dude... How suspicious he just accidentally registered the kill switch or that there even was one CONSIDERING that the files didn't get decrypted when people paid, like... come on. For someone who does what this guy does, getting noticed is a huge factor in his ability to get a high ranking job. If I were him that's what I would have done, manufactured this problem, solved it, taken the BTC and the fame and used that to slingshot myself into a well paid position. NOT EVEN to mention that the media doxxed his house, his name and how even to get to his house lmfao. I think this guy wanted the attention but wasn't prepared for the backlash.

[@hilexprmntl3929]

That is a real judge, that made me cry.

[@lethargy764]

guy literally does the FBI’s job for them and they try to ruin him for it lmfao (edit: changed destroy to ruin cause crumb changed part of his title to match my comment, as the thumbnail is my username, and I’m tired of the “yeah that’s what the title and thumbnail says man” comments)

[@CrumbRS]

truth lol

[@jacquesb5248]

now we can't have that now can we...........

[@wolfforthchef]

No, more like they saw him as an oppprtunity to get bigger fish and thought he would fold under threat. He gambled when he didn't take the deal and got lucky he didn't go bust.

[@akiraasmr3002]

@@wolfforthchef Yup that is there game they did the same with drug dealers.

[@r.77022]

He better got a job out of it honestly

[@justsomejerseydevilwithint4606]

"But his skills make him a threat to the u.s. public security!" Same goes for you, FBI. Now hire him and be done with it.

[@schrodingerscat2133]

And pay him 12 cents an hour too!

[@adminotaku4799]

​@@schrodingerscat2133 just like the fondling fathers intended. 😂

[@the_lomax]

when ironically it was the US Federal government that was the actual threat that created the bloody virus and because of their own lax security had a massive leak of extremely dangerous software.

[@phantomshitter]

The main issue is that he did actually get in the way of America... where do you think the malware came from 😂😂. Really does make me wonder why the FBI didnt want someone to stop that malware

[@the_lomax]

@@phantomshitter and still the federal government hasn't found the leak... It's almost like the feds made him the focus so people wouldn't be asking the real question of how all those weapons got stolen.

[@yacouba6475]

"Like most awful things it all started on twitter" The realest thing I've seen all day.

[@missedmyclip2147]

dude, the quality of this is insane somebody give this guy a TV show

[@digitalsparky]

why would he want to degrade his quality by making a tv show? ;)

[@Maydaymayday84]

Great at making videos for the main stream. Cringy for us in cyber security.

[@Colossal_Dick_Fossil]

@@Maydaymayday84 how so, I’m genuinely interested

[@RealSheepShoop]

"like most awful things, it all started on twitter" had me dying

[@beststorytime4325]

right lol

[@-Goofy_Goober-]

Cap you just saying that for likes

[@laynecardinal5587]

And it started after trump was president. oh and he loved twitter.

[@RealSheepShoop]

@@-Goofy_Goober- I mean… it worked

[@DrBright5558]

@@laynecardinal5587 Both trump and Biden suck, and when one of them dies, they will just be replaced by someone equally terrible. You think we don't have competent people? We do, they are just put aside by the corporate shadow oligarchy that runs America.

[@jaydox3836]

The judge understood that such talent wasting away in prison would be the true crime.

[@taitsmith8521]

The FBI or NSA were responsible for the attack. He got in their way.

[@frontendprotogy6749]

why didnt he mention the WannaCry twin that he created years before that also infected small amount of computers?

[@highestpeeqs9532]

Jesus loves yall, died for us, and rose again! Jesus calls for all of us to repent! He's coming back!!!

[@green8733]

Worldwide malware hack: 😈 Some guy: lol, fixed it. FBI: We will hunt you down to the ends of the earth.

[@dominiquedoeslife]

There are lots of guys out there like him-guys who either knowingly or unknowingly did something really awful, but who wound up using the entire rest of their lives to work towards undoing it and being better. I think that’s admirable.

[@maleeamckinney559]

So instead of hiring him , they wanted to give him jail time? That’s so stupid

[@graywolf2694]

Likely after they threw him In jail, the feds would have "found" a report saying he started it, blaming him.

[@mineinmonkey9787]

​@@graywolf2694what

[@Mahlak_Mriuani_Anatman]

​@@graywolf2694oof

[@Vune_GG]

Typically what happens is they usually “jail” people they want to hide, then shortly after they disappear and are usually hired. It’s a common method to make people forget

[@TrinitysTalons]

he still commited multiple crimes, not a good look for a government agency to hire a criminal with 0 punishments. Not that it hasnt happened before though.

[@1retiredknight]

The FBI has been using the same playbook for years: When you can't solve a crime, just pick someone who had the technical know how to commit the crime (usually someone consulting on the investigation) and arrest them so the general public doesn't realize you are completely incompetent.

[@highestpeeqs9532]

Jesus loves yall, died for us, and rose again! Jesus calls for all of us to repent! He's coming back!!!

[@jackgoff4859]

@@highestpeeqs9532 Jesus has been crashing on my couch for 2 weeks now and won't leave.

[@funkymunky7935]

@@jackgoff4859 I think it might just be a homeless guy, dude

[@miniaturelabyrinth7765]

​@@jackgoff4859is he chill?

[@NatetheNintendofan]

​@@highestpeeqs9532Help jesus is banging on my grandma

[@slinkysonger5070]

I’ve watched like 4+ hours of your videos today man. I’m absolutely hooked. Keep up the hard work!

[@WaffieOwnd]

Brother your channel has grown so much! Super nice for you.

[@bigbird2200]

I don’t think people realize how many cyber security professionals got their start as hackers. Honestly the best ones do, it’s what makes them so good at what they do. It doesn’t cancel out the bad they did, but it happens all the time. And the good they do more than exceeds the bad they did. And to hold a man who’s very clearly turned a new leaf accountable for actions he did as a literal child is absurd.

[@Illu-is1qb]

For real this is bs. Most hackers start off in video games as kids exploiting and cheating, then they get into more serious stuff. You can’t hold people accountable for things they did that young.

[@Biggietalls779]

@@Illu-is1qbwhile I generally agree with the sentiment. He was 20 when he sent Randy the Kronos program.

[@RemedieX]

@@Biggietalls779 Ditto. People are acting like 20 is child ages. It's not. That said, he was clearly trying to turn a leaf and it was evident, so jailing him would've been such a bad and dumb choice regardless.

[@user-xi5ej4ox5s]

Such people are traitors to their own kind cause they make job of other hackers higher.

[@matthewbradley2299]

Your comment made me think of the film Catch Me if You Can ... i know it is not about a hacker but it is the same thing..

[@elijahherstal776]

HACKER: *[Helps people, saves lives]* FBI: "...and I took that personally."

[@Gearrion]

He did not help save any life.

[@elijahherstal776]

@@Gearrion ok fed

[@JustSomeWeirdo]

@@Gearrionfed

[@factualhat3018]

​@@Gearrion glowie spotted

[@K474K75W]

@@Gearrion must be good to be dumb.... ignorance is bliss....kinda.....

[@SeegerG]

A critical tale and well told. I am struck by the intensity and relevance.This is essential viewing. Many thanks for the good works.

[@JoebsonOSRS]

Great video crumb you did great research on this

[@keddo5498]

tbf saying the train doesnt work in germany is like saying a orange is orange

[@CrumbRS]

My one experience with a train in Germany is having a direct ride from Amsterdam to Berlin broken up into 7 stops because there was rail work lmfao

[@maI0k]

in germany no matter where you live no matter what kind of train it is its ALWAYS delayed ​@@CrumbRS

[@thewhitefalcon8539]

The trains work in Germany most of the time, don't they?

[@stanf1253]

Organic oranges are actually yellow. They appear orange because they're colored to be more appealing. Also "a orange...." it's an orange. Terrible analogy. Also, the fact that Germany has a widespread train system to begin with is a blessing. In the states, it's often times a bus or your own vehicle.

[@UwU-235]

⁠@@stanf1253da fuq you one about? Oranges color depends on where jts grown. In subtropical temperate environments they grow orange, in warmer climates they grow green. The orange color comes from the chlorophyll dying off. The name for the color orange in the english language came from the fruit in the 1500s, they weren’t coloring them in back then. Typically any coloring done to it in the modern day is done by killing the chlorophyll to bring out its natural orange color.

[@Jamsterman25]

Nice to see a video about someone who’s not a POS. I feel bad for the young kids that get roped into cybercrime. But clearly there’s still some who have a moral compass!

[@cenith6163]

ok so i am from said small town in Devon, i know this guy and all i can say is he is lovely, honest, just a really nice bloke. we all have skeletons but he didn't deserve being sold out by his own government after literally saving their asses.

[@qwerty112311]

He was a POS. He was arrested for his conduct as a POS. Is he reformed? Probably. But he was a POS.

[@frontendprotogy6749]

why didnt he mention the WannaCry twin that he created years before that also infected small amount of computers?

[@damanOts]

You are an NPC

[@overtimeseed]

@@damanOtsYou gave in to the mildly intrusive thoughts

[@sulijoo]

So not one single person at the FBI and NSA said, "Let's register this domain name and see what happens"? They're more incompetent than we thought, and that's scary.

[@Osric250]

And what if the domain triggered a second stage of the malware that bricked every single machine it was on permanently. It could have taken down everything for a long time. It's not incompetence, it's proper scrutiny. He got super lucky that it was a killswitch.

[@arthurvaletskiy3131]

I’m at the 6:47 minute of watching and I wanna say besides obviously great scenario and narrative, WHAT A MONTAGE!!! Every detail is carefully chosen. Effects, sounds, music, pace. WONDERFUL job 👌

[@homeopathicfossil-fuels4789]

"a scapegoat for every tech related problem they were running into" oh yeah school was hell for me too, but all I did was debug wifi connectivity and fix dns issues, I never did anything awful, there werent even any real issues, I only gained administrative privileges (trivially) because the IT guy was literally just the boileroom guy and utility vehicle mechanic with zero knowledge of computers. Instead of just making me help out with things they saw my knowledge as dangerous and a challenge to school authority. Bosses hate me for having "passwords too difficult to remember" now but they just dont understand, I quit because my last boss called ma a "schizo conspiracy theorist" for thinking him yelling out his email password in earshot of a bunch of unvetted and unassociated people was not a good idea and that using the names of your kids in an easily guessable arrangement is really shitty password practice.

[@prelawnoob]

how weak and insecure they must be to think you can challenge them lmfao

[@homeopathicfossil-fuels4789]

@@prelawnoob its like being a woman with knowledge of herblore in the medieval times, that fear of imagined power, call them a witch and now the scary person that knows something they don't is dealt with. It's pathetic but there are a lot of tendencies like that which date back to medieval witch hunts and even older that are still present today.

[@astronemir]

The problem is passwords. Look at alternatives for most cases. If users rarely enter a password and using it requires MFA, and changing associated non-password tools with it require manual human confirmation, then it’s ok for that password to be insanely secure.

[@bartididthat]

I fear your power baby

[@KiraSlith]

The amount of scat I got from teachers in highschool for years after revealing that they left the command line exposed on the school computers, and by extension the easiest backdoor Windows has to administrative privileges... sheesh.

[@classicjonesy]

I have a degree in computer science, I mostly work on maintaining existing code in my codebase, or designing new bespoke software for clients. The amount of time it can take to comb through software reading it and actually understanding it, can take hours. Bravo to him stopping the Ransomware.

[@msstealyogirl3761]

this is such a good redemption story. How is this not already a feature length film?

[@Versole]

amazing animation with commentary. Great documentary overall.

[@jimtheedcguy4313]

I know this isn’t exactly related but my ex used to work for a prominent doctors office in the area. They were attacked with ransomware 3 times in 2 weeks, each time the ransom payments were higher, totaling around $100k, and the doctor just paid it, didn’t want to get the police involved, didn’t make waves about it, he just paid it from the company account. I didn’t think much of it then, but now this video reminded me of it and got me thinking maybe it was an inside job for embezzlement.

[@SinisterSkyler]

isn't it still illegal to not report a crime though? so he was still breaking the law either way

[@Leavemealone-]

Definitely was stealing the money lmao hindsight is crazy like that thinking about all the crimes you witnessed and didn’t even know.

[@ketsuekikumori9145]

I doubt it. Remember crime is still very much a business, just an illegitimate one. If one does not follow through on either the carrot or the stick, then you can't run a business; the carrot being decryption and the stick being permanent encryption/deletion. The ransom becoming bigger is just the criminals seeing the doctors as "repeat customers". Another thing to keep in mind is that many businesses are notoriously bad at updating their computers nevermind good cybersecurity practices. More than likely the doctors didn't update their computers, had bad passwords or would open up emails with trojans, etc. More than likely he was just paying it because it was quicker and easier than say restoring from backups (assuming they had any). Restoring a computer isn't exactly a quick process, keeping in mind that they needed the computer at that moment as they were serving their patients.

[@michaeltaylor4271]

I mean he would still have to launder that money somehow? And crypto is pretty easy to keep track of now days for the most part, so that’s not a fool proof plan by any means.. so I think if he actually was embezzling money he was causing more trouble than it was worth.. I’m sure he makes a decent amount of money so $100k isn’t that big of a deal, like I said it’s not like he could prevent himself from going into bankruptcy or buy a house or a car with it. It’s not that easy.

[@BirnieMac1]

Sometimes it’s an image thing too; like for a medical practice to admit it would be admitting potentially incredibly sensitive medical information about patients had been compromised - Not paying it (if they didnt have a backup) would mean loss of that data too; which could lead to delays in patients getting treatment for things that are time sensitive

[@jonasbanes7174]

The Judge's understanding of the weight of Marcus's contributions and potential contributions is outstanding. The speech they gave put chills down my spine.

[@jonasbanes7174]

@@bill_the_butcher they can be a singular pronoun. No chance you have your GED.

[@HanTheProphet]

yeah i really didn't expect that after the set up for the judge lol. this is the right way though and hes prolly being advised by people in the government(like NSA) that this kid is useful to US and allied interests. my understanding was that most of these hacker kids end up doing some small stint and working for white hat/ the government

[@hopsys]

@@HanTheProphetyour understanding is entirely correct, that is the most common way people end up working in cybersec

[@highestpeeqs9532]

Jesus loves yall, died for us, and rose again! Jesus calls for all of us to repent! He's coming back!!!

[@dalespence4891]

@bill,listen to @jonas. He would be correct!

[@bitcode_]

lmao bro went above and beyond in editing, is just too funny, that video editing timeline has too look crazy af

[@acursedhope]

Where was this video when I wrote an essay on this topic a year ago? This is extremely high quality

[@destavin6694]

This is why privacy is so important, and is exactly what Snowden warned us about. The government had access to all the data indicating the truth, and still used it to frame Marcus in a negative way. Creating malicious programs is exactly how cybersecurity is done, and it's unfortunate Marcus was blackmailed in this way.

[@c1ph3rpunk]

I’m in security, that’s not how it’s done.

[@destavin6694]

@@c1ph3rpunkI'm not in cybersec so I'll admit I might have over exaggerated. But I do know that ethical hacking is crucial to identifying and understanding vulnerabilities, hell it's the entire reason Kali Linux was created. I'm sure you would agree that understanding how malicious code works and even creating it for things like pen testing, enhances understanding of network vulnerabilities, and where the problems lie.

[@Mike0]

Making tools specifically targeting use for bank fraud and selling them is a bit different than pen testing tho

[@destavin6694]

@@Mike0 obviously lol. But let's not forget he didn't start off by making those programs, those were his culmination as a troubled blackmailed child

[@Jakkaribik1]

@@destavin6694 troubled blackmailed child?? The hell He made many people Survive because of his skills so he did good and you did wrong..

[@gg-ky6mf]

NEVER talk to law enforcement without an attorney. The guilty need an attorney, the innocent need one even more. The Sixth Amendment of the US Constitution guarantees the right to an attorney. Upon arrest or even when approached by law enforcement say “I want an attorney” and law enforcement must stop questioning you.

[@jumpinjakeflash1]

Yes. Word.

[@orppranator5230]

In the US anyways. This guy is from the UK.

[@sparks6177]

Not the case in the uk, especially now but even back in 2017.

[@Mario583a]

"You have a right to an attorney, you don't have the right to a specific attorney"" ~~ Judge Morty proceeding over State of Georgia VS Denver Rick Allen

[@omnitravis]

@@Mario583a that was such a crazy case, lol. the guy threatened the judges kids, haha.

[@coreyprosise1392]

"Next level leh go" 😂 i dont know what that cracked me up. Not picking on you genuinely made the video better

[@e102g2]

Just wanna say , well made video, you did a great job here :) and greatly presented, thank you for making this

[@TheJDgaff]

32:03 "Marcus was relocated from Milwaukee to Wisconsin" The man even hacked geography!

[@coreonlewis8713]

I was looking for this comment lol

[@denverjohn7998]

I dont get it

[@williamz7011]

It'd be like someone moving to Denver from Colorado ​@@denverjohn7998

[@Jaythebest0304]

@@denverjohn7998 Milwaukee is in Wisconsin

[@scottrauch1261]

​@@denverjohn7998Milwaukee is a city in the state of Wisconsin

[@__w__o__w__]

Glad the judge had the sense to recognise somebody eventually making the decision to do good, when his path to success as a criminal was ripe for the taking.

[@shantilus]

It was more than the judge. In the end, even the prosecution was lenient and did not recommend specific and warranted punishment. This, in the end allowed the judge to use a broad brush for sentencing.

[@tijaanimayers5605]

Thank GOD! I was hoping a Blackman would win finally! Hell he even helped in anyway he could! Shout out to the judge for having insight. An incredible discernment. I can see why he’s a judge.

[@BillyFMitchell]

Props to a good judge

[@FantasyUnited04]

I'm glad the judge was lenient but I'm genuinely baffled by the actions of the government. They clearly didn't think he was a big enough fish to fry (otherwise their original plea agreement wouldn't have involved no time) but at the same time they were willing to try and jail this guy (a guy that was by all accounts, "reformed" and working for the good guys) because he didn't want to be a rat? Smells of some official acting out of spite, like they didn't believe that someone would have the termerity to defy them.

[@lethargy764]

thats how they roll, they can’t be made to look like they don’t have all the power

[@markotisovic8233]

Or "work for us or else..."

[@HorusHerotic]

It's standard behaviour

[@ser_igel]

gonna be honest, i'm baffled by the actions of UK government and everything else US did was pretty much in line with everything else they do, apart from malvaretech actually getting a good deal instead of serving 10 years IMO, marcus actually got out better than he got in because: - he made his reputation (everyone knows he's on a "good side" now, even if he wrote malware before) - he got no additional jail time - he's free from the sword of Kronos hanging over him for the past several years but i don't know what he had to endure during these years of uncertainty and awaiting trial so it's not for me to decide if it's better for him or not

[@oscard9429]

A crime is a crime brother, and he committed it, it’s a miracle he’s not in jail

[@ChuckyCheegles]

I’m surprised and relieved that a US judge actually researched the case and worked to understand what was happening instead of just being mean and sentencing him to forever because the FBI was involved.

[@yc__]

He still committed those crimes.

[@Skyte100]

@@yc__ And yet the video said these things are more complicated than that.

[@elijahherstal776]

@@yc__ the FBI was involved, so rest assured they were probably A- wanting him to B- Setting him up C- Molesting kids

[@amistrophy]

​@@yc__this glows

[@Torqueware]

​@@yc__so?

[@Bon_Offical]

BRO YOU'RE SO GOOD AT EDITING. Keep up the good work!11!1!!🔥

[@EdmontonFamilyOfficial]

awesome video as always Crumb. Love the channel and hard work you put into these videos you give us. Amazing work, Top notch quality.

[@snappie4180]

hacker here The reason that the killswitch exist in wannacry is because it's an method of sandbox detection basically an option antivirus has to to check an executable for a virus is to simulate a windows environment and just run the executable in it to see what it does. It can't actually connect to the internet is such an environment, so you have to fake any connection that is made. If the malware tests for this, it connects to a domain the author thinks doesn't exist, and if the connection is succesfull, it assumes it's sandboxed and doesn't do anything malicious. By registering that domain he accidently tricked every instance of wannacry that's connected to the internet that it's running in a sandbox.

[@temmie9430]

So basicly if a virus could tell its in a lab and kill itself to prevent a cure? Andregistering the domain basicly triked all the viruses into thinking they were in labs and killed themselves?

[@mikerentiers]

Never talk to law enforcement. That lying to the FBI charge is such bukllshit of an add on. If an agent comes up and asks how you are doing and you say, "fine" they will charge you with lying to the FBI and find someone to testify that you were in fact not fine.

[@mhouse1712]

While you may be somewhat correct, “in spirit”, you are, generally and practically, wrong. The truth is, you can lie to law enforcement(federal and/or state) all day long, except when law enforcement is acting in their official capacity, and/or in relation to a legitimate, official case/investigation(every agency can and many times will have their own internal jargon/lingo). If you are ever in doubt, always default to: I refuse to answer any question, as is my right, which is protected by the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution(no US citizen has any “Constitutional Rights”, we have many rights, some of which are specifically enumerated and protected by, among other things, specific Amendments to the US Constitution. If our “rights” were provided by the US Constitution, they wouldn’t be rights; they would privileges, which can be taken away) and reaffirmed by, among other “caselaw”, Miranda v. Arizona(which is where the “Miranda Warning” originates from). I want my lawyer(amend all of that, as desired, to suit your needs…and then STFU(shut the fuck up). Also be aware that if you are ever arrested, law enforcement doesn’t have to “Mirandize”(read the “Miranda Warning” to you) you until just prior to any interrogating/interviewing/questioning. If you do or say anything prior to that, that will be admissible in court(such as a “voluntary utterance”, for example), unless law enforcement actively compels you to provide a comment/statement, or otherwise engaged you without “Mirandizing” you first. Everyone also needs to understand that you need to invoke your rights protected by the Fifth Amendment and Miranda v Arizona(which I disagree with and find reprehensible, but that doesn’t matter); invocation of your rights, at least in matters related to this, isn’t automatic. To be clear and fair, your first sentence is correct. I would add a bit to that comment: Never, ever, under any circumstances, talk to law enforcement. They cannot and will not(generally) help you. The only caveat to that is, if you are required to provide information by law(i.e. in Georgia, the state I live in, as written In the O.C.G.A.(Official Code Of Georgia Annotated, aka “state law”), a person may be compelled to provide their name and date of birth to law enforcement if, as an example, said person is witness to criminal acts and law enforcement wishes to include said person’s statement in their reports/supplemental reports). That does not mean that you have to provide any and/or all information demanded by law enforcement; you don’t have to necessarily do that. Learn, at the very least, some US and state(i.e. the state you live in and, preferably, any state you frequently visit) as ignorance of the law(at least under US Jurisprudence) is never an excuse.

[@marciaquispe4472]

you got clowned by some random dude on the internet lmao

[@orppranator5230]

@@marciaquispe4472All you did was read the first sentence huh? The two comments are awfully close to agreeing with one another.

[@marciaquispe4472]

@@orppranator5230 No

[@tfy7026]

Great to see you breaking out of the RS niche, 1.2m views!! really well made and interesting video too. Looking forward to seeing more.

[@stan8479]

I remember watching someone else's video on him. I've always felt sympathy for him. He was a teenager when he was blackmailed into committing those crimes, and now the world was demonising him for them, even though his actions against Wannacry alone should have shown them that he has learned from his bad choices.

[@Noadvantage246]

The funny thing is without his intimate knowledge of EXACTLY how malware works from his own experiences he likely wouldn’t be nearly as effective in tracking, identifying, and dismantling it.

[@InvadeNormandy]

People misunderstand, it's not the FBIs job to STOP dangerous and warped individuals and groups. It's their job to HELP or shield them in to further a narrative.

[@Poglavnit_Pferdefuhrer]

They themselves are one, since inception. Just read any good takedown of Hoover, like Kessler's biography

[@seanduck8073]

I love your videos man. You always do such a great job.

[@matthewexline6589]

Very cool video, thanks for posting!

[@TNTsquid.]

You know damn well the FBI was just butthurt he showed he was better than them at cleaning up their own messes.

[@amicableenmity9820]

Oh for sure. They're just people after all, and they have their egos bruised same as anyone. The problem is they have fragile egos and have a lot of power.

[@solidsnakeandgrayfox]

And in one day too

[@paranoidpanzerpenguin5262]

Or wannacry was actually a US glowie weapon and they went after him as a punishment for disabling it

[@highestpeeqs9532]

Jesus loves yall, died for us, and rose again! Jesus calls for all of us to repent! He's coming back!!!

[@endrankluvsda4loko172]

It's vile how criminals victimize people then blackmail them into working for them. The same happens with a lot of young girls. They meet some guy online who they think is their age, send questionable pics, then get told by the dude if they don't send even more explicit stuff, he's gonna tell all her friends and family what she's doing. The mindset of those who want to cause harm is absolutely gross. It's nice to know at least most people aren't like that, though the ones who are do a lot of damage on their way down. And by down I mean to hell.

[@catsdogswoof3968]

Uhh is this related because that's what the government does

[@samuelsoliday4381]

@@catsdogswoof3968 Vinny.

[@saga8659]

???

[@SojwalNaikwadi-nb4hv]

The video is extremely good man. Keep it up!!!!

[@KonekoPurrrfection]

Btw the quality of this video is great!! Good work 😊

[@_Labyrinth_]

The fucking “You wouldn’t DOWNLOAD a bear” got me

[@shawnmyers6571]

"You would DOWNLOAD a fancy bear" is what it says and I love it

[@highestpeeqs9532]

Jesus loves yall, died for us, and rose again! Jesus calls for all of us to repent! He's coming back!!!

[@_Labyrinth_]

@@highestpeeqs9532 his ass is NOT coming back with the milk

[@ramjetrth]

I agree no good deed goes unpunished. At my college the computer system kept going down and they thought a student must be hacking it. One of the times it went down and I was speaking with a guy who worked in the computer room who told me they didn't know how to get it back up. I went into the system and got it running again. After this I was told they went around asking if there was anyone else besides me they thought had the skills to bring the system down and no other names came up. So next thing I knew I received a letter from the college informing me if the system went down again I would be expelled. I was very concerned with this. Fortunately it was found out before it went down again that the system was crashing itself; there was a bug in the software. Had this not been found I probably would have been kicked out and probably unable to enter and graduate at any other college as well

[@TjMastery]

i had requested compensation.

[@andreabennington]

You told a good story Crumb. I will subscribe.

[@tomr1277]

Good friend back in my scene days, wish him only the best in the future.

[@robsant6582]

I was working in the NHS when this happened. Our computers were still running in Windows XP and the IT techs were so inept it would take them 2 hours to set up a plug and play printer (not joking, I wasn't allowed access to do it myself and the guy they sent was clueless). I like many was not surprised.

[@Morphexe]

Hey, I have tons of years of software development experience, done a bit of almost everything out there, C++, Assembly, Java, ruby.. but fuck me if I can get my printer working fine without pulling my hair out...

[@robsant6582]

@@Morphexe lol I know what you mean. This was a simple zebra label printer tho. Unplug from current location, plug into new machine, clear printer job history so it doesn't print 100's of old failed jobs. IT had locked access to the file 🙄

[@ChrisWijtmans]

you dont know anything about IT if you think printers are plug and play especially on XP.@@robsant6582

[@oliverford5367]

I heard so much software ran on IE6 due to ActiveX controls they couldn't upgrade from XP. And the govt wouldn't pay Microsoft millions for custom support. So they left thousands of critical computers unprotected, even ones not directly online need SMB to store results and print. Hopefully nowadays they keep things updated.

[@user-nl3tt6dc1i]

Setting up printer drivers on XP was no joke

[@ightoaks]

Wow, what a story, this kid is a real life hero. Bless that judge's soul as well!

[@mateastman1765]

Damn...did I find my new favorite channel?? Dude your content is fantastic

[@californiarollwithramensea8220]

This literally has the arc of a hero's story from the very beginning to the very end.

[@kb909]

I can’t believe you’ve only been doing these cybercrime videos for a year. Already watched them multiple times over and rushed to watch this after work. I can’t get enough of this content.

[@ShogunRyuusha]

>Names OS software "Windows" >Constantly has to make sure the Windows are closed. Checks out.

[@drew5193]

Your one of the only person I can watch each and every video full length

[@Oogaboogabooboo]

I’m just thinking of those few minutes after he registered the website like “…wait bruh what.. are you being deadass.”

[@ihateevilbill]

"All your machines have been encrypted. Wanna Cry?" "I just disabled your virus by registering a domain... Wanna Cry?"

[@Osric250]

He got super lucky that the domain was a kill switch and wasn't a trigger for a second stage that would brick all the machines it's on. It could have very easily gone the other way for him and he would have been viewed as incompetent instead.

[@alexandermendez9013]

⁠@@Osric250he didn’t just stumble upon it lol he knew what the code did. It wasn’t an accident there’s no luck involved

[@Osric250]

He absolutely didn't know. He didn't have a decompiled version of the code, he simply saw that it was calling out to that random domain and registered it. He didn't know it would be a kill switch, he has said as much. It could just have easily been a second stage as it was a kill switch.

[@alexandermendez9013]

@@Osric250 I read the cloudflare article and it says he reverse engineered it. You can easily test to see if getting a response from a domain will do anything.

[@TheUnprofessionalGamerYT]

He’s someone who ended up in cyber crime without even realizing and had to continue it by being blackmailed. Then he did some good and saved 100s of company’s and countless lives. Then he gets arrested?

[@kaynkayn9870]

that's a lie, what he did prior was a cyber crime. He just justified it to himself, until it got too far.

[@anamegoeshere]

ON THE "saving lives" ummm these are the same "hospitals" that were forcing people on ventilator machines because they could not "breath" the best and that was an automanic DEATH... remember hospitals care more about $ than saving lives i mean why you think they won't "help" anyone without no medical insurance, BECAUSE PEOPLE WANNA GET PAID. ALSO. why you think the fbi will let hackers WORK FOR THEM that "tried" to hack into the system hmm, they will give that so called "hacker" a deal..... 15 years in prison or WORK FOR the cyber team, and most take the deal of what the fbi gave them.

[@jayeisenhardt1337]

@@kaynkayn9870 bet the Vinny guy was actually the F.B.I.

[@sdaniaal]

Looks like his skin is a lil white... America wanted to keep him on his toes 💀

[@deadnews1231]

@@kaynkayn9870 then he made a 180 and hacked for good

[@immortal5383]

First time I ever thought the legal system did right. Props to the judge.

[@anonymousdogg1559]

You could argue Kronos has hurt as much as stopping wannacry. In a way it was Marcus’s redemption arc. To further add, I’m impressed what this dude wrote as a teen is still being used to infiltrate banks today. It’s something that will probably never go away as people will continue to better it.

[@henrylam92]

It was gonna happen sooner or later anyways, if it wasn’t him it would be someone else since the hackers found a way. I mean that’s why banks ask you million times before you send money

[@sn1pr1]

when he stopped wannacry he saved probably thousands of lives, thousands of depressions, and probably even thousands su1cid3 cases. if i got hacked i would be traumatized for life in a fear that someone might threaten me in a lot of ways. not only that but im a young programmer an i have lots of important files that i dont wanna lose. respect for this guy:)

[@devinaisaican2133]

Fear of what? The fck you afraid of? Jesus grow a pair. And if you lose your life man up and deal with it. We all die get over yourself. Fear of being broke. Eat 💩

[@TheSavage303]

Remember the golden rule if you can follow it for all your important files! Save on 3 different drives, in 3 different locations. I personally back up all my important stuff once a month, one goes to the cloud, one stays on my home PC, the other stays on a USB that I have in a storage locker.

[@spiralspark8523]

Thousands? This was a world wide issue it had to be at least millions.

[@catsdogswoof3968]

​@@spiralspark8523that would mean billions were affected

[@Tomos_J-J]

Would an external hard drive or memory stick not be enough?

[@Mexxy213]

Your recent video's are so good, keep up the great work

[@tauIrrydah]

It's kind of amazing that you can directly see that the existence of the FBI isn't to weed out malicious actors, but to feed malicious actors vulnerable people with threats of enforcement hanging over their heads.

[@danedi2951]

The editing on these is getting a lot better. Love your content man, peace from a fellow OSRS player that discovered you through that period.

[@SinisterSkyler]

5:13 Illuminaughtii's lawyers will be in touch

[@NightlyWatch]

lol

[@JacobP81]

That is a great ending. Loved that video! I would say that yes he was a hero.

[@marias6018]

great video man!

[@ActuallyHoudini]

the pros outweigh the cons here, really. thank god for the judge being empathetic, rare these days.

[@Cfomodz]

I actually didn't know about the outcome and this was one of the most suspenseful things I have watched in years. Thank you for the excelant video! Amazing props to the judge who could apparently see the bigger picture and I suppose had an appreciation for the amazing good this young man seemed to want to do for the entire world.

[@calebmonson7777]

great start it hooked me in within 1 minute

[@nippon19]

I'm glad it ended well ! TY markus

[@LilLottee]

It is good to see that the things he did (under threat of exposure) when he was young and naive were forgiven, and the judge was reasonable enough to see this as well. People make mistakes; it's what they do with and learn from those mistakes and the choices they make afterward that counts in my opinion.

[@marciaquispe4472]

It wasnt a common or a simple mistake,dude made a hack that another person used to scam lots of money. He is a criminal.

[@LilLottee]

@@marciaquispe4472 and made the conscious choice to never do so anymore. I am sorry that you feel that we should limit ourselves to only looking at the bad things that people did in the past and respectfully agree to disagree with you.

[@marciaquispe4472]

​@@LilLottee woah, so it's okay if someone commits a crime and then make the conscious choice to never do so anymore? No punishment? You guys better be trolling at this point. I srsly cant believe I love in a world with people that are OK with a guy that made a HUGE mistake because "he's sorry okay?, it's le bad to look at the bad things people did in the past".

[@LilLottee]

@@marciaquispe4472 Yep, that's exactly what I meant!!!! Let's forgive the worst murderers that never regretted anything they did ever and release them into society!!!! So glad you understood!!

[@marciaquispe4472]

@@LilLottee lmao, what a scrub

[@charliecollins889]

the cinamatography in this is amazing!! nailed the 30 second hook :)

[@ActuallyHoudini]

editing, cinematography is related to cameras, lenses and lighting.

[@SinisterSkyler]

think he more so meant the camera angles of the footage used was gripping@@ActuallyHoudini

[@ActuallyHoudini]

@@SinisterSkyler but they didn't shoot the footage, those are from newscasts. cinematography is about camera and lighting, not editing. the editing is amazing, by the way.

[@johnavernia1026]

@@SinisterSkyler yup, that was editing. Just like actuallyhoudini said, the footage was taken from many sources. So the editor took that footages, and edit them out. Still need a lot of skills to do, but its not cinematography. This wasn't done by a skilled director, it was done by a very skilled editor.

[@KainRazielMT]

Thanks for bringing that to my attention. "DR Bleetman" is probably just a fake name with a stock picture of a doctor and had absolutely nothing to do with the story at all. I'm now removing this guy from my feed.

[@ammonrose]

Crumb, your videos are enticing and so well produced. I've absolutely enjoyed binge watching these videos. One suggestion is to keep the editing down a little. There's just too much changing constantly that I'm struggling to focus on the story and sometimes don't even have time to take in what I just read. Other than that, absolutely phenomenal job with these stories!

[@mythicyt2092]

"Like most awful things, this started on twitter." so real 😭

[@kittyle8]

watched this video on one breath. thanks for making this video, it was truly amazing to watch! the part with the judge's words was the one when my watch alerted me about high heartrate; you did an AMAZING job at keeping the suspense up lmao

[@jaredvalmorida4484]

Wait.... This is the ransomware i got when i was surfing on the internet on 2017 and just rid it by reformatting my laptop. I thought that was just because i surf too much on pirate bay, didn't know that was a massive issue. Damn

[@speaklifegardenhomesteadpe8783]

😂🤣 Nice. Ps... Just surfing pirate Bay.. 😂👍 Like we all did. Just looking around.. 😊 🌊🏄🌊

[@5000Seabass]

It’s only a massive issue if you have files on your system you need to keep. My gaming pc is literally just for gaming, if I got random ware on it I’d just wipe everything restart.

[@roetemeteor]

@@5000Seabass In most cases, at least when a friend of mine got bit by this, I just told them to e-mail the ransomer in person and tell them you aren't a business owner, nor do you have anything major of value, but that his worm locked and encrypted pictures of his kids and family and you'd like them back. Surprisingly, he did. Unsurprisingly, he got sent a decryption key. Didn't bother the hacker in the least, he isn't getting shit from some approaching middle age man, nor was that his target.

[@tylerbreau4544]

Yea, locked files don't matter if you don't care about completely wiping things... lol

[@JasperMorgan1]

great work here

[@ickon_]

21:06 "Cheese Pizza" is wild. You probably watched NTTS (No Text To Speech)! Awesome video btw! Loved it

[@Abdulhadl]

what gets me so mad is that the kid didn't want his identity to be public but the news are that drooling for views will do anything to be famous and put his identity without consent Online, this generation might aswell be doomed nobody can save it anymore.

[@rainbowtree3699]

Great presentation Champion 🏆👍

[@boldnbrash7028]

Fantastic video!

[@amend333]

Crumb became one of my favorite channels when he was making RuneScape content, and I’ve never played RuneScape. I swear this guy could talk about anything and he would find a way to make it interesting. This video was super engaging and even tugged on my heart strings at the end, keep ‘em comin Crumb!

[@CrumbRS]

Appreciate you man!

[@amend333]

@@CrumbRS Right back at ya! I'm excited to keep watching your channel develop and grow.

[@Jstrife9]

Oh shit I didn't realize this was crumb, no wonder the guy in the discord chat has a rangers boots pfp

[@robotic2406]

I thought of the wrong crumb 😅

[@johnweb7055]

I know zero about this subject, yet I still enjoyed your video all the way through to the end. Great job!