There have been several attacks against Brian Krebs in the past. From sending heroin* to his house, to adding his name to malware ("malware created by Brian Krebs"). This is because he always posts pictures and full names of criminals and is also why I have no sympathy for Brian Krebs, as I dislike online pillories and the rehabilitation of criminals is made massively more difficult this way. Nevertheless, attacks against him are of course to be condemned.
The criminals he exposes are absolute scum, I doubt their attacks against him would be much less severe had he only exposed their operations and not their identity. They have no qualms swatting people who are completely innocent, if Krebs pulled punches with them I highly doubt theyd reciprocate
I'm all for rehabilitation, but let's not kid ourselves. These Russian cybercriminals who have been in business for over a decade aren't going to just turn around and suddenly become productive members of global society.