The Confessions of Marcus Hutchins, the Hacker Who Saved the Internet

May 28, 2020

I happened across a fascinating article: The Confessions of Marcus Hutchins, the Hacker Who Saved the Internet, by Andy Greenberg. It’s the story about Marcus Hutchins, who is credited with stopping WannaCry.

I remember where I was when I first started seeing mentions of the ransomware worm start to become a significant threat. There were major businesses that got shuttered and went offline. And then reports of banks and hospitals being overrun.

Not only is the article a recounting of how Hutchins “saved the Internet,” it also delves into his complex past – providing an accounting of his time as a younger hacker, creating multi-featured rootkits as a hired gun.

Over just a few years, Hutchins had taken so many small steps down the unlit tunnel of online criminality that he’d often lost sight of the lines he was crossing. But in this IM conversation with Vinny, Hutchins says, he could see that he was being asked to do something very wrong—that he would now, without a doubt, be helping thieves steal from innocent victims.

Greenberg does a fantastic job of taking very technical topics, and distilling them down so that laymen can still understand the particulars. Hutchins’ story (and history) is a complicated one, leading ultimately to a place where he is helping more than he is hurting. It’s a worthy read, and worthy of your time.

[Photo: Ramona Rosales]

compelling read

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