Security expert foils 'hacker heroin frame plot'
Posted by: Jon Ben-Mayor on 07/31/2013 08:53 AM
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Brian Krebs was a reporter for The Washington Post, where he covered tech policy, privacy and computer security. . He is also known for interviewing hacker 0x80, who ran a lucrative botnet business back in 2006. On March 14, 2013; Krebs became one of the first journalists to become a victim of 'Swatting', which is the tricking of emergency services into responding to a fake situation.
Krebs tells the BBC that the administrator of a Russian cybercrime forum hatched a plan to order heroin, arranged for it to be delivered to his home, then tipped off the police, making it look as if the call had come from a neighbour's house.
Fortunately, Mr Krebs was already monitoring the website and saw the plot being planned in real time.
He alerted the FBI and local police.
"I am little concerned", he told the BBC. "But then there are a lot of things people can do to upset you and get under your skin using a keyboard and few clicks of a mouse.
"But what's the next level?"
The person behind the attempted plot, according to Mr Krebs, set up a bitcoin wallet to accept donations of the digital currency from fellow forum members.
He raised about $200 (£131) worth of bitcoins and used it to buy 12 small bags of heroin using the Silk Road online black market.
This is just the latest example of a sustained smear campaign against Mr Krebs orchestrated by hackers and cybercriminals disgruntled at his exposure of their antics.
In March he was visited by a heavily armed police unit tricked into responding to a 911 call that had been made to look as if it originated from his home.
Mr Krebs says he opened the front door to find a squad of policemen pointing a battery of guns at him.
After being hand-cuffed and questioned, he managed to persuade the police they had been hoaxed by hackers.
Krebs tells the BBC that the administrator of a Russian cybercrime forum hatched a plan to order heroin, arranged for it to be delivered to his home, then tipped off the police, making it look as if the call had come from a neighbour's house.Fortunately, Mr Krebs was already monitoring the website and saw the plot being planned in real time.
He alerted the FBI and local police.
"I am little concerned", he told the BBC. "But then there are a lot of things people can do to upset you and get under your skin using a keyboard and few clicks of a mouse.
"But what's the next level?"
The person behind the attempted plot, according to Mr Krebs, set up a bitcoin wallet to accept donations of the digital currency from fellow forum members.
He raised about $200 (£131) worth of bitcoins and used it to buy 12 small bags of heroin using the Silk Road online black market.
This is just the latest example of a sustained smear campaign against Mr Krebs orchestrated by hackers and cybercriminals disgruntled at his exposure of their antics.
In March he was visited by a heavily armed police unit tricked into responding to a 911 call that had been made to look as if it originated from his home.
Mr Krebs says he opened the front door to find a squad of policemen pointing a battery of guns at him.
After being hand-cuffed and questioned, he managed to persuade the police they had been hoaxed by hackers.
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