UK Tabloids Doxxed the 'Hero' Hacker Who Stopped a Global Cyberattack (theoutline.com)

The UK-based security researcher, who "accidentally" halted the spread of the ransomware Wanna Decryptor over the weekend, has been doxxed by UK tabloids. From a report: [...] Journalists have published his name against his will, bringing him unwanted attention and sending a signal to privacy-sensitive researchers that no good deed goes unpunished. The researcher, writing under the username MalwareTechBlog, published a blog post on his personal site with findings about the virus, explaining how it was stopped and what would have to be done to prevent it from coming back. News outlets, including the Daily Mail, The Guardian, and CNN called the anonymous researcher a hero. The researcher was initially responsive to press inquiries. He told reporters that he was 22, lived in the south of England with his parents, and worked for an L.A. security firm. However, he told The Guardian that he wanted to remain anonymous "because it just doesn't make sense to give out my personal information, obviously we're working against bad guys and they're not going to be happy about this." It took about a day for UK papers, including The Mail, The Sun, The Telegraph, and The Mirror, to suss out the researcher's name and publish photos of him, show up at his house, and track down his friends and associates for interviews. "It's caused a fair bit of stress," he told Forbes. "I don't want fame."

Comments

I'm suspicious

[mattyj]

How long before we find out that this 'researcher' is a former member of the clan that unleashed this hot garbage to the world, but left over some petty dispute so invoked the back door already known to him.

I find it hard to believe that Symantec and especially Kaspersky didn't find this 'kill switch' before this guy (allegedly) did.

Re:Transparancy

[Gravis Zero]

they exist because it works, because people fall for the clickbait. Tackle the cause not the symptom.

The root cause is humanity itself. The second order cause is freedom of the press. The third order cause is a business model based on attention grabbing. The fourth order cause is people willing to do anything because they want money.

Which cause should we tackle exactly?