Today marks the 11th anniversary of KrebsOnSecurity! Thank you, Dear Readers, for your continued encouragement and support!
With the ongoing disruption to life and livelihood wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic, 2020 has been a fairly horrid year by most accounts. And it’s perhaps fitting that this was also a leap year, piling on an extra day to a solar rotation that most of us probably can’t wait to see in the rearview mirror.
But it was hardly a dull one for computer security news junkies. In almost every category — from epic breaches and ransomware to cybercrime justice and increasingly aggressive phishing and social engineering scams — 2020 was a year that truly went to eleven.
Almost 150 stories here this past year generated nearly 9,000 responses from readers (although about 6 percent of those were on just one story). Thank you all for your thoughtful engagement, wisdom, news tips and support.
I’d like to reprise a note from last year’s anniversary post concerning ads. A good chunk of the loyal readers here are understandably security- and privacy-conscious, and many block advertisements by default — including the ads displayed here.
KrebsOnSecurity does not run third-party ads and has no plans to change that; all of the creatives you see on this site are hosted in-house, are purely image-based, and are vetted first by Yours Truly. Love them or hate ’em, these ads help keep the content at KrebsOnSecurity free to any and all readers. If you’re currently blocking ads here, please consider making an exception for this site.
In case you missed them, some of the most popular feature/enterprise stories on the site this year (in no particular order) included:
The Joys of Owning an ‘OG’ Email Account
Confessions of an ID Theft Kingpin (Part II)
Why and Where You Should Plant Your Flag
Thinking of a Career in Cybersecurity? Read This
Turn on MFA Before Crooks Do it for You
Romanian Skimmer Gang in Mexico Outed by KrebsOnSecurity Stole $1.2 Billion
Who’s Behind the ‘Web Listings’ Mail Scam?
When in Doubt: Hang Up, Look Up, & Call Back
Riding the State Unemployment Fraud Wave
Would You Have Fallen for this Phone Scam?
Hi Brian,
I’d just like to say thank you for your excellent coverage of cyber crime, fraud and everything else that goes with it. I’ll continue to read and support your work.
Out of curiosity, do you ever work with the likes of Jim Browning?
Hey, honestly, I doubt that I know who it is. But he worked with other people.
Hi Marekov, Jim Browning has a Youtube channel on which he takes apart common fraud scams/social engineering MO’s that target US and UK consumers. His work also involves gaining access to fraudster devices so he can listen in to the OCG’s instructions and tactics. His most recent video takes apart an MO that is rising in popularity. I highly recommend watching some of his videos, the level of detail he goes into and the insight provided into these groups is quite impressive.
Link can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/c/JimBrowning/featured
More power to you, Brian! Thanks for all the great reporting