Volkov didn’t sleep that night. He called his head of IT. The vulnerabilities were real. And they were fixed.
"Your data is safe. But your illusion of privacy? I borrowed it for a walk." rambler ru hacker
Then came the letter. Not to the press. To Volkov personally, delivered via internal company mail—a paper envelope on his desk one morning. Inside: a USB drive and a note. Volkov didn’t sleep that night
"Dear Mr. Volkov, Your payment gateway’s SSL is three years outdated. Your customer database has a root-level vulnerability in column 47. I fixed both. In exchange, I took nothing. But next time, I might. — Rambler Ru Hacker" And they were fixed
Years later, a former Rambler engineer wrote a memoir. In it, he claimed the hacker was a disgruntled ex-employee who’d been fired for suggesting security audits. But he had no proof. Another theory: it was a white-hat drill gone rogue.