Hackers Made Death Threats Against Security Researcher A Big Mistake

Hackers Made Death Threats Against Security Researcher: A Big Mistake 🚨

In April 2024, a mysterious individual using the online handles “Waifu” and “Judische” began posting death threats on Telegram and Discord channels aimed at cybersecurity researcher Allison Nixon. One of the messages stated, “Alison Nixon is gonna get necklaced with a tire filled with gasoline soon.” The threats escalated with others sharing AI-generated nudes of Nixon.

These anonymous personas targeted Nixon because she had become a formidable threat. As the chief research officer at the cyber investigations firm Unit 221B, she built a career tracking cybercriminals and assisting in their arrests. For years, she operated quietly in online chat channels, using pseudonyms to engage with perpetrators directly while piecing together clues they carelessly dropped about themselves and their crimes. This diligence has helped her bring to justice numerous cybercriminals, particularly members of a loosely affiliated subculture of anarchic hackers known as the Com.

However, members of the Com are not just involved in hacking; some engage in offline violence against researchers who track them. This includes bricking (throwing a brick through a victim’s window) and swatting (a dangerous hoax that involves reporting a false murder or hostage situation at someone’s home). Members of a Com offshoot known as 764 have been accused of even more violent acts, including animal torture, stabbings, and school shootings.

Nixon started tracking members of this community over a decade ago when other researchers and law enforcement largely ignored them due to their youth—many were teenagers. Her early attention allowed her to develop strategies for unmasking them. Ryan Brogan, a special agent with the FBI, stated that Nixon has helped him and his colleagues identify and arrest more than two dozen members of the community since 2011. Brogan added, “If you get on Allison’s and my radar, you’re going [down]. It’s just a matter of time. No matter how much digital anonymity and tradecraft you try to apply, you’re done.”

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