What is Marcus Hutchins’ net worth?
Introduction
Marcus Hutchins, more commonly known as MalwareTech online, is a British computer security researcher.
You may know that he prevented the infamous WannaCry ransomware attack, but have you delved deeper into his life’s details?
Read on to learn a few things you probably didn’t know before about this computer geek!
The Origin Story
It all started in 1994 when mom Janet and dad Desmond welcomed Marcus Hutchins into the world.
Hutchins was just nine years old when he was uprooted from the city life of Bracknell to the southern stretch of Devon.
As he grew up, Hutchins showed an early interest in computers, mastering some basic hacking skills to perfection.
Hutchins developed his technical talents further when he started getting involved with an online forum centered on malware development.
During his high school years, he even generated his own password stealer, which his forum greatly approved.
In fact, when his school’s systems were compromised, the school blamed Hutchins.
The institution suspended the young teenager from utilizing any of their computers, triggering him to pay less attention to schoolwork and more attention to his online malware forum.
An Emerging Career
Hutchins had built up his reputation in online hacking forums and soon crossed paths with Vinny, an online entity.
This figure requested Hutchins to write a rootkit that could be bought by hacker marketplaces.
By halfway through 2012, Hutchins had created the UPAS Kit, which made him thousands in bitcoin.
Because of this income, the computer security researcher dropped out of school, leaving his education behind to pursue an exciting path of possibilities in technology.
Despite this, Hutchins started to feel uneasy about his collaboration with Vinny when the online entity demanded that he create UPAS Kit 2.0, a kit that would target bank website financial transactions and enable cybercrime.
Hutchins only wrote the kit due to blackmail. It was finished halfway through 2014 and was soon known as Kronos.
Cutting ties with Vinny
At this point, Hutchins was struggling to stay afloat, with Vinny’s demands, a drug addiction, and community college work pulling him in different directions.
In 2015, he was able to shake his drug addiction and graduate from college.
After dodging Vinny, communication and payments from this online entity were also terminated.
Despite the ominous silence, Hutchins decided to create an online blog named MalwareTech, which incorporated written content inspired by what he had picked up during his time working on Kronos.
The blog was so intriguing that Salim Neino, Kryptos Logic’s CEO, actually offered Hutchins a role at the company.
During his time with Kryptos, Hutchins’ reputation rose once more, and he was even able to help prevent the 2016 attack on Lloyds Bank, which involved a distributed denial of service.
Hutchins’ biggest triumph
The technical WannaCry attack splurged in May 2017, causing infected computers to be locked from use with the ransom demand that they would only be unlocked when the device user sent a certain amount of Bitcoin to a specific account.
Having an eye for problem-solving, Hutchins was rapidly able to register the domain and set up servers at Kryptos Logic.
These servers acted as honeypots, enabling the team to identify the infected computers.
Due to Hutchins’ quick thinking, the WannaCry attack dispersed, and the team discovered a way to both unlock and decrypt the infected devices without being forced to pay the unwanted ransom.
A Brush With The Law
Whilst Hutchins’ triumph during the WannaCry attack was described as heroic, the extra attention he gained caused his shady past to be revealed at last.
Not soon after the WannaCry attack, the FBI arrested the security researcher in August 2017 for dispersing Kronos.
Hutchins was jailed overnight in Las Vegas, although a vast quantity of cybersecurity hackers and workers came to help bail their hero out.
Some of the offered contributions involved stolen assets like bitcoin and credit cards, excelling further suspicions about Hutchins.
Partly due to this, the man suffered two charges, facing a whopping $250,000 in fines and five years in jail. After Marcus was arrested, his parents stated they have “full confidence in the United States judicial system.”
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Marcus Hutchins – Net Worth 2024
So, how much is Marcus Hutchins worth? Hutchins warned most of his wealth from his career as a cybersecurity specialist. Therefore, Marcus Hutchins has an estimated net worth of $2 million.
Final Words
It’s safe to say that Marcus Hutchins’ life has been far from boring.
From Kronus to WannaCry, this man has managed to transform his extraordinary skills from being used for criminal activity to valuable good.
All in all, this computer security researcher has made a mark on the technology world in numerous ways.
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Lee Parry is a writer and blogger originally from Manchester, UK, and he has a B.A. in Modern Languages from Manchester Metropolitan University. Parry occasionally teaches English and spends most of his free time reading.