Want to create an interactive transcript for this episode?
Podcast: Today In History with The Retrospectors
Episode: The $8billion 'Kill Switch'
Description: ‘WannaCry’, the biggest cyberattack the world has seen, was stopped in its tracks on 13th May, 2017. British blogger Marcus Hutchins found the 'kill switch'. He was 22.
The ransomware had attacked the NHS, Renault, Telefónica, FedEx, and Boeing - causing damage estimated at up to $8 billion.Â
In this episode, Olly, Rebecca and Arion revisit Hutchins’ incredible story, from childhood computer programmer to criminal hacker and, eventually, British hero; consider when exactly their own children will eclipse their technical proficiency; and discover what ‘sinkholing’ is...
Further reading:
• ‘The Confessions of Marcus Hutchins, the Hacker Who S...