The man who saved the world from the hack that took down the NHS didn’t pass his IT GCSE.
Marcus Hutchins, who accidentally discovered a kill switch that helped shut down the WannaCry virus as it spread around the world, doesn’t have the most basic IT qualification. And it’s all because his teachers thought he was a hacker.
The accidental hero’s problems began when he was hauled into the head teacher’s office at school and told to explain why the network was down. He couldn’t and so was blamed for having hacked into the network – something that despite his claims not to have done anything, led to him being suspended.
That in turn meant that he had to work with pen and paper rather than computers – as NHS doctors did during the hack – and as a result he failed the course in his IT GCSE.
He said that he had become sick with school after the incident and that he had decided to take the non-academic route. That is what led to him working for a US security firm from a room in his parents’ house – and helping save hospitals and the rest of the world from the virus.
Mr Hutchins, who works for Los Angeles-based Kryptos Logic but is from Ilfracombe in north Devon, said that he didn’t recognise the “accidental hero” label that has been applied to him since he helped foil the attack.
He told the Associated Press: “I’m definitely not a hero. I’m just someone doing my bit to stop botnets.”
