Leader of pro-Russia DDoS crew Killnet 'unmasked' by Russian state media

Cybercriminals working out of Russia go to great lengths to conceal their real identities, and you won't ever find the state trying to unmask them either – as long as they keep supplying the attacks on Axis nations. It's the reason why we found it so amusing that of all the ways the identity of an organized cybercrime gang …

[Jedit]

Killmilk

It's a bit odd that after Russian media outed his identity, El Reg didn't include it directly in the article. Only a bit odd, though; after all, the person named may not actually be Killmilk and may even be someone with whom the Russian state has an axe to grind. So on the whole, props to El Reg for not disseminating the rumours.

But it still feels a bit odd.

[lglethal]

Re: Killmilk

I dont think it feels that odd. If this guy is really as unpopular as the article makes out, then people spreading rumours that he's also targeting Russian firms AND the Russian government (a big No-No in the Russian Hacker world), would have him being looked at double quick.

The rumours dont even have to be true. If the Russian government think they can get more control over Killnet and the other Russian hacking groups by putting someone who is, shall we say, more sympathetic to their needs, in charge, then by all means they would do it. In an instant.

[bofh1961]

Re: Killmilk

I suspect that if his name has been put out in the open and he has been attacking Russian targets, he's already dead or soon will be.

[DS999]

Re: Killmilk

He might still be alive if he works out of a basement. Can't fall out of a 7th story window in a basement!

[Tim99]

Re: Killmilk

An unfortunate flood, resulting in accidental electrocution?

[Michael Hoffmann]

Re: Killmilk

<checks> I haven't seen any report of further unfortunate aircraft crashes within range of Moscow air defence systems...

[Richard Tobin]

Axis nations

What???

[Paul Kinsler]

Re: Axis nations

Yeah, that read weird to me as well. I assume the issue is that in the West "Allied" doesn't mean merely allied, but is strongly associated with "us good guys" (because WWII), and Axis likewise doesn't mean just "some cooperating countries", but also "those bad guys" (cf WWII again). How can (or why are) we - as targets of a pro-Russian DDos crew - be an "Axis"?

So if you are talking about Russia and those cooperating with it, "allies" would be correct but might confuse us western readers; but calling the crew's targets the "Allies" would be even worse (why are they targetting allies??). So they (the writer) used "axis" instead, trying to use the "otherness" implication of axis, but starting from a Russian point of view. I.e. that if we might say "The Marvellous UK and her Wonderful Allies" and "That Axis of Problematic Countries Opposed to us"; then *they* might perhaps say "Our Great Russian Nation and our Allies" and "That Inconvenient UK and its Axis of Nuisances".

Bah humbug, I've now spent too long thinking about this, and failed to be as clear as I would like. Why couldn't they just say "target"? Much clearer and without confounding associations.

[druck]

Re: Axis nations

It's not the WWII Axis powers, but George W. Bush's Axis of Evil, which was originally Iran, Iraq, and North Korea, but Russia has more than earned itself a place on that list.

[Michael Wojcik]

ChimeRAR

the ChimeRAR tool, a modified version of the zip software

Yeah, no. Unless you think emacs is "a modified version of the vi software", or a Miata is "a modified version of the Mini automobile".

Maybe that came from the original source, but it ought to have been spotted by the author or an editor. It's obviously suspect, and a moment's research show's it's wrong.

ChimeRAR is a modified version of ... RAR. Who would have guessed? And it's fairly heavily modified, since it also does exfiltration.

[veti]

Acronym

Am I the only one who thinks that "Cyber Rapid Assistance for Pacific Incidents and Disasters" should be abbreviated as CRAPID?