DEF CON 33 - Killing Killnet - Alex Holden
Source: YouTube · DEFCONConference · published Oct 10, 2025 · 21:44
[BLUF: Alex Holden shares how a small Ukrainian cybersecurity team uncovered the link between Russia’s Kilnet cyber activist group and its illegal drug trade, leading to the group’s collapse and a shift in its online presence—highlighting how targeting criminal infrastructure can disrupt state-backed cyber operations.]2:20
Key Takeaways:
• Kilnet, a Russian activist group founded in 2021, conducted cyberattacks on U.S. and European entities, including hospitals, and normalized cyber warfare through propaganda 3:42-4:22.
• The group’s leader, Kilm, had ties to illegal drug operations in Russia and relied on the dark web forum Solaris for support, which was used to track Russian cyber actors 5:01-5:36.
• A Ukrainian team, using access to Solaris servers, redirected drug money to Ukrainian war charities and exposed the group’s operations to Forbes, causing public backlash 14:23-15:07.
• Solaris was taken down by a new drug platform, Kraken, and Zanzi abandoned the project, leading to the platform’s decline 17:30-17:57.
• Kilnet disbanded after losing financial backing, Kilm filed for bankruptcy, and the group rebranded under the Anan club, which now fights Russian drug dealers 19:48-20:44.
[The story underscores how disrupting criminal networks behind state-backed cyber operations can dismantle extremist movements—though full eradication remains elusive.]
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First 800 characters of the transcript
right now. Uh the this talk is called uh Killing Kilnut with Alex Holden. And uh please give him a big round of applause. And here's Alex. Well, hello everybody. It's a pleasure to be here at uh speaking at Defcon. Um this is um um an interesting personal story that I want to share with you guys. Uh so it's going to be quick, technical, interesting, and uh rather adventurous. Uh by uh the way of introductions, um hi, my name is Alex. Um I was born uh great many years ago in the wonderful city of KV, Ukraine. Uh my family uh um were refugees from former Soviet Union. uh and uh we came to uh Milwaukee, Wisconsin uh 36 years ago where I spent um the rest of my uh adult life and um professional career. Uh I've been doing cyber security uh for my entire professional career and um uh the last 15…