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?
A loyal reader for all 11 years. Thanks for being my go to source for security stories that aren’t always able to be reported on objectively. Happy 2021, Brian, and many more!
Have always been open to ads here. I want you to continue the great reporting. Congratulations on another year.
Congratulations, Brian! Been following for years, and plan to continue to do so. Your articles are always on top of breaking issues and never a slog to read. Got to admit, love reading the comments after the articles, too — such a varied group who usually all have the same goal (if not the same ideas on how to achieve it!) Also — unblocked.
Congratulations Brian! I ran across your postings about 10 years ago on LinkedIn and have looked forward to your investigative reports ever since. Always allowed your ads as knew they had been screened, filtered, checked and investigated. Given the state of Cyber Security / Crime I believe you will be in this business for as long as you desire too, and we all hope it is a long time.
Thank you, Brian! I too have been following this blog for years, and find it invaluable – not only for the news you report, but for how you make technical content accessible and relevant to those more focused on other operational, management, legal, and financial impacts and implications of the issues you discuss.
Well done, and please continue!
Congrats on number 11, Brian. If there’s anyone in the computer news industry who is doing more important reporting than you, I don’t know about them–OTOH, some would say I don’t know anything–but that’s not true just yet! 🙂
Here’s to a better year next year for all of us, and to your continued success as KrebsOnSecurity.com.
I long ago enabled ads on your site…….
Congratulations on your 11th. It’s quite an achievement, and I’m happy to be one of your unblocked, loyal readers.
Thanks for your work Brian. Any ideas on how to actually stop a-holes like this guy?
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/12/the-decade-long-quest-to-stop-spamford-wallace/
Seems some just push the limits.
I am another long time reader and find the information you provide timely and reliable. Also managed to convinced some friends to check your site to get the best information on security issues. Never had a problem with your ads and they are always enabled. Thank you. Julia
11 years of being a loyal reader. Keep up the great source of information please:-)
Congrats, Brian. I may have retired last year as a sr. Linux sysadmin, but I’ve been following you for most of those 11 years, and hope to keep doing so.
Thanks Kerbs on Security for the best security updates with utmost details. Looking forward to the new year.
I promise my bank account manager will have to read those 11 years of your website and the Bruce Schneier blog – to pass her exam on security – otherwise no further talking.
Have a happy 2021 – stay healthy – flood us with security advice, and stay healthy – we need you!
Happy Anniversary. Proud to say I was a leg in one of your 3 legged stools for uncovering a hack 6+ years ago. Keep up the great work.
“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.”
Something has changed, as Google and Alphabet are using cookies on this site…..Wasn’t like that a week ago.
Google follows users across the internet, now your site is as well.
One of a few sites that did not have tracking cookies. Security stays as it is on my computer.
Loyal reader for all 11 years and a friend for many more, Thanks Brian for continued accurate and unbiased reporting that we can all count on. Your dedication and incite is truly amazing and a standout in an area usually full of hype and conjecture. Thank you for it all, and keep up the great work.
Yes to all comments particularly re your excellent writing stills. Since your days at WaPo plus 11 years you have never wagered. Thank you for a great education!
Happy New Year!
Congratulations on 11 years!
I’m a longtime reader and don’t mind the ads you have chosen. Although I’m a non-tech guy, I can still read, understand (mostly), and admire the work you are doing. Thanks for helping us all.
Best wishes for a successful New Year!
OOOOOHOOOOO! HAPPY 11TH ANNIVERSARY INDEED, CYBERHERO KREBS!!!
Hey Mr. CBK anyone who leaves a comment here knows exactly why I call you that – because you are not an award-winning investigative journalist OR a cybersecurity researcher OR threat actor hunter OR freedom-of-speech advocate OR censorship fighter OR tech evangelist OR brilliant author OR cross-industry/sector/discipline/border ambassador/mediator – yer all of that rolled up into a badass who, mostly unbeknownst to them, has for years been tirelessly standing up for the humble common end user who has traditionally been ignored (at best) by the Microsofts and Intels and Samsungs and CISCOs and Spectrums and Verizons in favoof Enterprise customers. Enterprise customers who, in the case of Microsoft for example, already benefitting from having a dedicated IT department, are also allowed access to the same threat mitigation tools that are also present in Pro and most of the other 10 SKUs but that are blocked or highly-obfuscated for non-Enterprise users. Tools that are becoming increasingly necessary for a Windows owner to have access to if they even want to try to stand a chance at “securing” these explosively-evolving technologies. So now Joe Average has ever less ways to secure their home network which then becomes ever increasingly ripe botnet fodder – and the while{} keeps spinning off in a spiraling vortex of entropy…. 😀
Wow sorry I kinda went off there a bit didn’t I – but hey that’s the kind of inspiration I have gotten from your work (columns, articlesW, sites, blogs, books) ever since I first stumbled upon Security Fix a few years ago! At that point in time I was so completely disgusted with the state of Information Security that I was about one more Malware story away from turning my back completely on over 25 years of professional software development and giving two middle fingers to the $60/hr once and for all. Besides being in the middle of a seriously viciously persistent threat attack in the midst of the Build 1803 ordeal that permeated most of my devices, I was just hopelessly depressed from the disillusionment of having invested so many years literally shedding blood, sweat, tears and piss building software with the intention of hopefully making peoples’ jobs and lives a little easier, only to now have these massive global swarms of ne’er-do-wells (Brian you’re much too conciliatory with them here – I call them threat actors a$$holes) whose entire lot in life is stealing and breaking that software as quickly as possible in order to weaponize it to basically make peoples’ jobs and lives a little harder.
That’s when I ran across the archives of Security Fix in The Post, Brian, which led me to KrebsOnSecurity.com where I finally learned all about you and Mirai and Google Shield and the SWATting, etc., etc., and after getting that serious perspective on what it’s like to REALLY get hacked, I was able to turn my depression into anger enough to motivate me to abandon development and instead dive headfirst into cybersecurity engineering/analysis and I haven’t looked back yet. I mean how could I not have been so inspired by your tenacity, heartened by your principles and impressed with your self-taught technical proficiency to have formerly dubbed you the First Official Internet Cyberhero in history?!
But out of all of the things I got from you, I think the most important was a lightening of my soul from the sense of humor you maintained through all of your tribulations, which thanks to your gift for penmanship you are able to clearly convey even in the midst of some pretty serious stuff:
“A new study that tries to measure the direct cost of that one attack for IoT device users whose machines were swept up in the assault found that it may have cost device owners a total of $323,973.75 in excess power and added bandwidth consumption.
My bad.”
😀 😀 😀
So Congratulations and Happy Anniversary again, Sir Mr. Brian Cyberhero “CBK” Krebs, Sir – much gratitude to you for doing everything you do to help prevent users from becoming default victims! Peace.
“You now have one extra little fact to tuck away in the millions of little facts you have to memorize because so many of the programs you depend on are written by dicks and idiots.”
– Peter Welch (17 September 2014), stilldrinking[dot]org/programming-sucks
bryan krebs and bleeping computer always alert of latest cyberthreats ransomware and hijacking. thank you.
Thanks for all the great work for free.
I’ve also been a reader since the start and have often linked to your articles when sending corporate email blasts about the latest threat or update request.
Look forward to your blogs. Keep them coming,M.K.
Respectfully,
H
I do not block ads because I only go to websites that I want to succeed. Secondly, an ad-free website would have to be a subscription-based website thus depriving those readers who cannot afford the subscription access to a valued website.
11 years! I think it has only been (checks notes) been using your work for my courses for well over than half of that.
Your ability to integrate market forces and technical fundamentals with empathy for the human impact distinguishes you across the entire Internet.
Please keep this up for 11 more years.
Congratulations on your milestone achievement! Good news — this comment is redeemable for the adult beverage of your choice when we next meet in person. Stay well until then and keep up the fine journalism.
Keep up the good work Senor Krebbs. I love your content. Despise the website. Will never ever block your ads.
I’d rather donate directly rather than unblock ads.
It’s not that I don’t trust Brian, of course. I hate ads.
I will never buy anything or be influenced by ads.
Whatever value any company thinks they get by
trying to force me to view them, they are wrong.
Thanks for everything else, Brian.
Thank you for having something useful to say. It takes a lot of work, more creativity than most people give you credit for.
Zei gesund
Your website is among my first stops in the morning to get up-to-date and in-depth information on CyberSec. Thank you for all the hard work that I have been following now for many, many years. I do hope that 2021 will prove itself to be better (MUCH better) than 2020, but one thing is certain: I will stay a loyal reader.
So – Happy New Year to you and your loved ones!
Thank you for your hard work, not easy. it’s really hard to find a balanced and trusted source of reliable information like yours. Keep up your good work!