Hacking the Hacker

29Profile: Brian Krebs

Brian Krebs opened his front door in the middle of preparing for a small dinner party only to be greeted by a S.W.A.T. team, complete with black tactical gear, assault rifles, and shotguns pointed at him. After they screamed at him not to move and frisked and handcuffed him, Krebs realized this was yet another day in his battle against hackers as the world’s premier Internet crime reporter and investigator. He has been diligently fighting spammers, skimmers, and hackers of all varieties for more than a decade. He has been part of several investigations and raids that have resulted in those same hackers losing millions of dollars and being arrested. In retaliation, hackers have sent all sorts of illegal contraband, including drugs and forged currency, along with multiple death threats to him and his family. A great recap of the SWAT incident can be found here: http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/03/security‐reporter‐tells‐ars‐about‐hacked‐911‐call‐that‐sent‐swat‐team‐to‐his‐house/.

The police were sent so many times to his house after an anonymous “good samaritan” called in a tip that the local law enforcement agencies eventually had both physical and electronic notices not to overreact to the latest called‐in tip. Ultimately, Krebs got tired of all the harassment and decided to move “off the grid” for a while. He figured his family deserved the rest from constant threats as much as he did. But the hackers didn’t win. Krebs continues his daily investigations ...