You know you’re getting old when you can’t remember your own birthday (a reader tipped me off). Today is the sixth anniversary of this site’s launch! KrebsOnSecurity turns 6! I’m pretty sure that’s like middle age in Internet years.
Absolutely none of this would be possible without you, Dear Reader. You have supported, encouraged and inspired me in too many ways to count these past years. The community that’s sprung up around here has been a joy to watch, and essential to the site’s success. Thank you!
I tried for at least one post per weekday in 2015, and came close, publishing some 206 entries this year (not counting this one). The frequency of new posts suffered a bit from September to November, when I was on the road nearly 24/7 for a series of back-to-back speaking gigs. Fun fact: Since its inception, this site has featured some 1,200 stories that generated more than 62,000 reader comments.
Here’s wishing you all a very happy, healthy, wealthy and safe New Year. Below are some of the KrebsOnSecurity posts that readers found most popular in 2015 (minus the Ashley Madison and Lizard Squad stuff), along with one or two of my personal favorites in no particular order.
–How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Embrace the Security Freeze — Credit monitoring services offered in the wake of umpteen breaches this year won’t stop ID thieves from stealing your good name.
–What’s in a Boarding Pass Barcode? – Sometimes the stories intended to be written in a “hey-did-you-know” format turn into national news. Who knew?
–How Carders Can Use eBay as a Virtual ATM – “Triangulation fraud” is big business.
–Sign Up at the IRS Before Crooks Do It For You – This story about how ID thieves used the IRS’s own site to steal taxpayer data was published three months before the IRS acknowledged that some 330,000 taxpayers had been impacted.
–Intuit Failed at Know-Your-Customer Basics – Much of the tax refund fraud problem can be traced back to poor or non-existent authentication at online tax preparation firms, like TurboTax.
–Hacker Who Sent Me Heroin Faces Charges in the U.S. – A stranger-than-fiction story about a cybercrime kingpin who tried to frame me for drug possession and failed spectacularly.
–Bluetooth ATM Skimming Series in Mexico – I traveled to Cancun in September to chronicle the work of an ATM skimming gang that was bribing ATM technicians to get access to the insides of the cash machines.
–Gas Theft Gangs Fuel Pump Skimming Scams – It’s truly remarkable how much effort crooks will put into extracting value from stolen credit and debit cards.
–Inside Target Corp., Days After 2013 Breach – I got to look at a confidential, internal penetration test that Target commissioned just days after learning it had lost 40 million credit cards. It wasn’t pretty.
–A Day in the Life of a Stolen Healthcare Record – Healthcare organizations have some serious and difficult security challenges ahead of them. I think that explains the reader interest in this story, coupled with the fact that there are so few stories out there about stolen medical info showing up for sale in the cybercrime underground.
Congrats!!!
Here’s hoping you keep going for many more years!
Congratulations on this milestone.
Happy Birthday BK. Great blog!
CONGRATS- on your 6 Year Anniversary of KrebsOnSecurity !!! thanks for the great content
look forward to reading your blog in 2016 !
Does this mean you are going to give out six free copies of your book? 🙂
Congratulations on your Anniversary/Birthday…..consider this footsteps in the sand…..!
Congratulations and keep up the good work. Be sure to pour a favorite beverage this evening and celebrate.
Really grateful to see your 6th. May krebsonsecurity continue into old age. It is so great to have an information source you can trust.
Congrats. And thanks for all the truly useful and helpful info, in a human readable format. 🙂 I loved SpamNation too.
Such informative and useful information. And you take a lot of rocks and arrows for us.
Thanks Brian!
PS I have heard from friends and colleagues how you have personally replied to them (as you have with me). Everyone says “what a class act?”.
Happy Birthday KrebsOnSecurity – Always look forward to your posts!
Congratulations on your 6th anniversary. It falls on my wife’s birthday so, at least one out there will not forget subsequent years. =-]
You’re doing a public service!
Congrats!
Thank you for all of your hard work and excellent reporting!
Happy New Year!
Cheers!
Congrats, keep it up!
Kudos, Prof Brian, for all Your remarkable work on our behalf!
All the best for 2016, Brian.
Well, let me pile on (in a good way) with the Congrats and Best Wishes comments.
Thank you too for all the great info.
Happy New Year!
I have been a reader since your WaPo days. I often recommend your site to colleagues and send links to stories therefrom. Looking forward to many more years to come. I wonder how we will read your site, say, 20 years from now: Google Neural Implant?
Many thanks for a site that offers a wide variety of valuable security related information.
Congrats Brian! It’s been a joy to watch this site grow and develop. After my own brief experience in what you must put up with on a daily basis in bringing these issues to light, my opinion is you probably don’t get the appreciation you should.
Congratulations and I’m wishing you many more years of happy blogging.
Keep up the good work brian!
Happy 6th! And many many more!
Thank you Brian!
As a home PC user your work has been of great value to me. You have informed, educated, protected and entertained me and most importantly helped keep my PC and personal info (I would never have thought to freeze my credit) safer.
Win!
Congratulations on 6 years! I always look forward to reading your posts and really enjoyed your book, Spam Nation. Hope to see more books from you soon!
Congrats on 6 years!
Long time reader and grateful for the service you provide. In six years you have without a doubt helped thousands of people understand more about security and saved thousands more from hacks and identity theft.
Thanks! And here’s hoping you have a happy new year.
Thank you Brian. I have suggested your site as daily reading to a number of IT managers.
Happy 6!!! Great job, enjoy reading your stuff.
Thank you and congratulations! Excellent reporting.
I wonder if you have any advice for the audience on posting personal family information on ancestry type web sites. Are they exposing themselves and their unsuspecting family members to potential scammers should such sites be breached? I don’t post my personal information on-line, but there is nothing stopping my family from posting all my details without me knowing about it. I’m guessing it will go something like this: “Hey this is Tommy. I’m your cousin. Cathy is my mom and your aunt. Laurie is my older sister. I’m in Texas and my car broke down. Paul Jr., can you be a good cousin and wire me $300?”
Congrats, been with you since the Post days. Keep up the good work!!