2017 Azbee Awards of Excellence

Category

Online > Enterprise News Story > Mid Atlantic

Awarded to

Patrick Howell O'Neill, Tech Reporter

Entry details

Inside HackForum’s rebellious cybercrime empire

Issue date (if applicable): 10/31/2016
Publication name: CyberScoop
Publishing company: Scoop News Group
Website home page: www.cyberscoop.com

Please describe the publication's mission and readership:

CyberScoop is Scoop News Group's newest media outlet, serving as a go-to destination for cutting edge cybersecurity news. Launched in 2016 first as a digital newsletter featuring articles and events related to protecting electronic data, then as a more comprehensive daily news site, CyberScoop caters to government IT and tech industry executives. Our articles, videos, podcasts and events focus on cybersecurity news that is top of mind for executives in various sectors including government, financial, transportation, healthcare and technology. CyberScoop also has an extensive community of thought leaders from the information security space who contribute articles that add insight to the outlet's original reporting.

Please describe the enterprising work that went into this entry and its significance or impact on readers:

One of the biggest stories of the year for those in the cybersecurity community was a massive distributed-denial-of-service attack (DDoS) that crippled some of the nation’s most popular internet sites and applications in October. A wide range of news outlets quickly raced to find out what caused the attack – a new botnet (consisting of a massive network of poorly secured devices connected to the Internet) that allowed for a DDoS attack at a size and scope never before seen.

But while most of that coverage focused on the nature of the botnet, CyberScoop’s Patrick O’Neill dove deeper and uncovered more about who was behind it -- and discovered how DDoS attacks have increased in large part thanks to one particular online community that sells botnets for people to use. Patrick examined details about the site’s history, how its members have often been fingered for bad behavior, and how the site’s administrator — better known as an “Agitator-in-Chief”— often shirks any responsibility for members’ actions.

The story not only enlightened our expert readers but also raised indignation within the cybersecurity community. Shortly after publishing, that administrator was forced to shut down his site’s section that was often responsible for DDoS attacks. Moreover, thanks to Patrick’s penetrating reporting, his story also provided our audience with a compelling case for why their sensor and data-gathering products and services may be targeted for more cyberattacks in the future.

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Entry URL(s), if applicable:
https://www.cyberscoop.com/inside-hackforums-rebellious-cybercrime-empire/

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