n3td3v (leetspeak for “net-dev”) is a person or persons who has had a history of posting some fairly obnoxious stuff on Full Disclosure.
Dr. Neal Krawetz of Hacker Factor decided to figure out who this person(s) was, and has written an extensive analysis of his effort. It’s fun sleuthing, and the result is he believes that n3td3v is likely the same person(s) behind Gobbles Security, who had posted similarly obnoxious (but quite interesting exploits) messages on technical forums.
In three minutes, writing samples from n3td3v were collected. Two minutes later, it was determined that n3td3v was not a “he” but a “they”: at least three distinct individuals, two males (one European) and a female. Another researcher (Jim McCown) mentioned that the trolling1 reminded him of the postings made by Gobbles Security. Dr. Krawetz had met the primary members of Gobbles Security many years ago and knew that they consisted of three people: two males (one is Eastern European) and a female. This document shows techniques used to identify writing characteristics and concludes that the core people behind Gobbles Security are strong contenders for being the people behind n3td3v.
Link here.
Alex Eckelberry
Update: SecurityFocus has more on this here, which sheds some doubt on Krawetz’s findings, but it’s all part of the sleuthing fun.