Meet Brian Krebs: the IT security blogger cyber criminals love to hate

In the last year, Eastern European cyber criminals have stolen Brian Krebs' identity a half-dozen times, brought down his website, included his name and some unpleasant epithets in their malware code, sent faecal matter and heroin to his doorstep, and called a SWAT team to his home just as his mother was arriving for dinner.

"I can't imagine what my neighbours think of me," he said dryly.

Krebs, 41, tries to write pieces that cannot be found elsewhere. His widely read cyber security blog Krebs on Security – also published on IT Pro – covers a particularly dark corner of the internet: profit-seeking cyber criminals, many based in Eastern Europe, who make billions off pharmaceutical sales, malware, spam, frauds and heists like the recent ones that Krebs was first to uncover at Adobe, Target and Neiman Marcus. He covers this niche with much the same tenacity of his subjects, earning him their respect and occasional ire.