Researcher Built Bot to Counter Social Media Trolls
Security expert Marcus Hutchins developed an automated tool to engage with online harassers using a local LLM.
Updated on Oct. 5, 2026 in Cybersecurity
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Marcus Hutchins, known for stopping the 2017 WannaCry cyberattack, recently deployed an automated bot to interact with serial social media trolls. The experiment lasted for three days and was designed to redirect harassment away from vulnerable users.
Why it matters
By engaging harassers with calm, automated responses, the project aimed to shield users who are less equipped to handle direct online abuse. The bot was specifically engineered to ensure continued troll engagement by providing provocative, confidence-driven replies.
The bot utilized a local LLM to generate automated replies after identifying serial harassers from a monitored watchlist. The script was intentionally designed to produce calm responses that effectively aggravated trolls to maintain prolonged engagement.
The players
Marcus Hutchins
He is a security researcher who gained international recognition for his role in stopping the 2017 WannaCry cyberattack.
The details
Hutchins revealed the project in a viral post on Threads that garnered 8,000 likes after he manually stopped the bot to observe the reactions of the targeted harassers. He noted that he would not release the bot's code publicly due to existing social media platform rules.
Timeline
May 2017: Hutchins successfully stopped the global WannaCry malware attack.
2020: Wired magazine published an in-depth profile detailing the life story of Marcus Hutchins.
Late September 2026: The bot experiment was conducted over a period of 3 days.
Early October 2026: The project reveal was posted to Threads.
The Tech Race
This project reflects a broader shift toward using localized AI agents to solve social problems, diverging from the massive infrastructure used during the 2017 WannaCry cyberattack. It positions security experts as active participants in the ongoing arms race between online moderation tools and automated harassment tactics.
While the bot code is not publicly available, the experiment highlights the increasing accessibility of local LLMs for personal automated defense. Users should be aware that automated scripts are increasingly capable of mimicking human engagement patterns, which may complicate the identification of genuine human interactions online.
The takeaway
The experiment demonstrates that AI can be used creatively to manage online toxicity by redirecting the attention of harassers. Readers looking to minimize their own exposure to harassment should prioritize utilizing built-in platform blocking tools rather than manual engagement.
Further reading
For more on the latest trends in digital safety, visit the Cybersecurity section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Cybernews.
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