The College Student Who Defeated the World’s Biggest Cyberweapon

Last year, a massive cyberweapon terrorized the internet. It launched thousands of DDoS attacks, threatening tens of millions of people around the world. The weapon came to be known as Kimwolf. WSJ’s Robert McMillan reports that cybersecurity experts were stumped. Kimwolf’s attacks seemed to be launched from millions of internet-connected devices like TV boxes, cameras and picture frames. Eventually, the experts got help from an unlikely ally: a 22-year-old college senior named Benjamin Brundage. Jessica Mendoza talks to Ben about how he might have saved the internet. To check if your network is secretly connected to a residential proxy network, here are a few tips. Further Listening: - Cybersecurity Braces for AI ‘Bugmaggedon’ - ‘Hack Me If You Can’ from The Journal Sign up for WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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The College Student Who Defeated the World’s Biggest Cyberweapon is an episode from The Journal. by The Wall Street Journal.

This episode is 37:24 long.

This episode was published on May 1, 2026.

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