How Georgia doxed a Russian hacker (and why it matters)

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/11/how-georgia-doxed-a-russian-hacker-and-why-it-matters/

By Nate Anderson
Ars Technica
Nov 2, 2012

On October 24, the country of Georgia took an unusual step: it posted to 
the Web a 27-page writeup (PDF), in English, on how it has been under 
assault from a hacker allegedly based in Russia. The paper included 
details of the malware used, how it spread, and how it was controlled. 
Even more unusually, the Georgians released pictures of the alleged 
hacker—taken with his own webcam after the Georgians hacked the hacker 
with the help of the FBI and others.

The story itself, which we covered briefly earlier this week, is 
fascinating, though it remains hard to authenticate and is relayed in a 
non-native English that makes for some tough reading. But what caught my 
eye about the whole cloak-and-dagger tale is the broader points it makes 
about hacking, jurisdiction, and the powerful surveillance devices that 
our computers have become.

It's also an example of how hacks and the alleged hackers behind them 
today play an increasing role in upping geopolitical suspicions between 
countries already wary of one another. Georgia and Russia have of course 
been at odds for years, and their conflict came to a head in a brief 
2008 war; Russia still maintains a military presence in two tiny 
breakaway enclaves that Georgia claims as its own.

But first, the backstory.

[...]

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