The Ransomware Superhero of Normal, Illinois

November 5, 2019

The Ransomware Superhero of Normal, Illinois is a fascinating profile of Michael Gillespie, who has a day job at “Nerds on Call” computer repair but spends his free time battling against ransomeware.

The scope of the work he’s done differs from his mild personality: he lives with his wife Morgan (along with their dog, their rabbit, and 8 cats). His work against ransomeware has resulted in an award from the FBI.

Despite all his work, he and his wife struggle financially. Despite all the time and effort he puts into helping people who have been victims of ransomware, he doesn’t charge money for his services.

Gillespie “doesn’t chase money,” Jacobs said. “If he were chasing money, he would have been living on the East or West Coast by now and doing something for some company that we’d all heard of instead of a little service provider in the Midwest. But he’s one of those guys, he operates very heavily on principle.”

Though it’s an article about tech and ransomeware, it’s more a profile on Gillespie and the work he does. A really fascinating read about a really fascinating individual.

[via MetaFilter, illustration by Benjamin Marra]

compelling read technology

« Looping Happiness

Long Coding Day »