Fast, indiscriminate and disruptive, the computer infection locked up computers in British hospitals and was spreading across the world when Neino's company Kryptos Logic stepped into the ring.

One of his researchers found a so-called kill switch in the WannaCry code and pounced. "We put it in a triangle choke!" joked Neino, a mixed-martial-arts fan.

Not bad for a 33-year-old Lawndale native and Cal State Long Beach grad, who co-founded Kryptos eight years ago with $120,000.

The mid-May episode thrust the small Los Angeles cybersecurity company onto a world stage. At the same time, it has opened a new era of broad-scale ransomware attacks — a fact driven home this week when a second worm, exploiting the same methods as WannaCry, briefly seized computers worldwide again, this time hitting oil, electric and shipping operations.

Neino has been quick to capitalize on the business opportunities from his new prominence. But he has also tried to use this status as ransomware wrangler to push for policy changes — measures he says are needed to cope with this new landscape of cyber-mayhem.

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