Hutchins became a national hero under his pseudonym in May 2017, when the North Korean WannaCry worm, which locks computers and finds ways to seek out others to infect, wrecked computers around the world. Working from his parents' house, Hutchins discovered a kill switch to stop WannaCry, halting its spread.
Just three months later, while visiting Las Vegas during hacking conference DEF CON, the FBI arrested and jailed Hutchins. They claimed he helped create Kronos, a less-known malware designed to steal the credentials used to log into bank accounts.
Hutchins is a beloved figure for many in the information security community and received an outpouring of character letters vouching for him.
Hutchins, who posts as @MalwareTechBlog on Twitter, expressed his thanks to his supporters after the ruling.
Gloss