Bytes and Borscht

i owe so many video game designers an apology

.. that is definitely not something I had on my infosec-bingo for 2025. Or any year for that matter.

When you are doing *highly* questionable (if not outright illegal) stuff, but are incompetent.

Oddly enough, inferior copper is the historical gift that keeps on giving throughout the times.

I get what they are saying, but ..

Dark Covenant 3.0: Controlled Impunity and Russia’s Cybercriminals Explore how Russia’s cybercriminal ecosystem evolved under Operation Endgame—where state control, selective enforcement, and criminal alliances collide.

Recorded Future just published Dark Covenant 3.0, revealing how global crackdowns and shifting Russian enforcement are reshaping the cybercriminal underground, exposing ties to state actors and turning cybercrime into a geopolitical tool: www.recordedfuture.com/research/dar...

Spirit animal.

This hits very differently these days.

Hope this is recorded and made available. Very interesting topic of research .. and hopefully people will believe Amazon CTI more than me when I say that "cyber-enabled kinetic warfare" is much more worrying concept than "cyberwar" (whatever this means these days ..).

BIETA: A Technology Enablement Front for China's MSS Discover how China's Ministry of State Security (MSS) almost certainly operates BIETA and its subsidiary CIII as public fronts for cyber-espionage, covert communications, and technology acquisition. C...

Recorded Future just published a report diving into the Beijing Institute of Electronics Technology and Application (BIETA), which is almost certainly a front for China’s MSS, developing technologies to support intelligence and military missions. Full report: www.recordedfuture.com/research/bie...

Excellent roast, 10/10, no comments. (From "Beirut Rules" by Fred Burton)

Watching a documentary involving Syria. And whenever the narrator says "serious", I can't help but go "syrious" in my head.

User homoquartz writes: as long as you smile and nod, people are satisfied. it’s just to show that you are nice and there with good intentions. we’re small in a big world and have to rely on other people to be decent to us. so we do our little human dance to each other to say, “i’m not here to hurt you. here’s something we have in common, like the weather or sports or itchy sweaters, so we both know we’re on the same team. we both agree on a basic fact, like that it is rainy or that being itchy is uncomfortable, and this proves we can get along. i’m being light-hearted and non-threatening right now." Small talk isn't to get to know a person. It's just a greeting to affirm you're buddies in the universe. I am motivated by wanting the other person to know I am friendly, so I have gotten pretty decent at small tall when I used to hate it.

This Tumblr user summarizes something I've been feeling/doing lately. Against everything going on, it somehow feels helpful.

To post something that isn't related to the train into the abyss (aka "current world events"): Tried my hand at painting flames with a "blended" transition for the first time. Not perfect, especially because I thinned the colors too runny, but .. it's a start!

If your political platform doesn't include free alcohol and free underwear I'm not interested.

Booting a laptop with no network aside from wireless with OpenBSD. Wireless interface doesn't show up in ifconfig. Check dmesg. See "Broadcom BCM43224". Eyes start twitching. I haven't seen that one in a long time and had hoped to never have to see it again.

NetBlocks @netblocks@mastodon.social A Update: #Afghanistan is now in the midst of a total internet blackout as Taliban authorities move to implement morality measures, with multiple networks disconnected through the morning in a stepwise manner; telephone services are currently also impacted Network

The Taliban have completely shut down the internet in Afghanistan to “prevent violations of moral norms.”

Sometimes I really, really hate my friends. Excuse me while I go take a Tylenol for my back pain (and autism).

Neurodiversity in Cybersecurity Summit 2025 This Summit will be loaded with content developed by and for neurodiverse cybersecurity professionals, but will also be invaluable to anyone who manages, reports to, works with, or just wants to…

Are you a neurodivergent person in cybersecurity? SANS is hosting a virtual summit 4 Dec 2025! Learn more here - www.sans.org/cyber-securi...

⏰ The inaugural SOS conference is 30 days away! Have you gotten your ticket yet?!?

Listen to expert discussions on state-sponsored operations covering espionage, sabotage, and attribution of Russia, China, Iran, and more.

Registration is still open! stateofstatecraft.com/agenda

A reminder to everyone: Collecting books and reading books are two entirely different hobbies, both of them are legitimate in their own right.

This post is not happening for a reason and is most definitely not linked to any recent actions I may or may not have taken to the detriment of my wallet.

Thank you for sending me down the rabbit hole of "learning about Rosh Hashanah". 🥲

I don't know a lot about the Jewish faith, but .. the hell kind of event is that?

After tinkering with pass(1) for two hours and trying to write a script to import my stuff (I know that pass-import exists, .. shut up!) I gave up and ran with keepassxc instead. I think I'm became too uncool for CLI-based tools. :(

This image applies to cats as well. No my dear cat, you can't drink from the bowl of water I use for washing my brushes. Please use the dedicated drinking bowl you have that I replenish with fresh water regularly, only for you to ignore it.

I had one of those too for the longest time. I really miss the little guy, and for some reason I think the form factor was just .. 👌

"We are contacting you from the Information Security division of the Ministry of Agriculture (Kenya)"

I have expected a lot of mails in my inbox today. But this, .. this I did very much not expect (especially given that it's a legitimate message).

Dann können wir alle FH zusperren. *Keiner* der Zulieferer ist sicher, aber alle haben Zertifizierungen die vermeintliche Sicherheit bestätigen. Auf die müssen sich die FH verlassen.

Die Frage ist "wann", nicht "ob" - wie die FH mit dem umgehen ist wichtig. Das scheinen sie bestmöglich zu tun.

Haftung ändert aber nichts daran, dass die Flughäfen keine Kontrolle über die Sicherheit der Zulieferer haben. Und die Abwesenheit dieser Kontrolle wirfst du ihnen fälschlicherweise vor.

Ich enttäusche dich nur ungern - kein Jurist. Dementsprechend nicht einmal auf-Wish-bestelltes Rechtswissen.

Dein Vorwurf ist als würde ich (fiktives Beispiel) dem Roten Kreuz vorwerfen, dass ihr Zulieferer für Blutkonserven versehentlich seine Datenbank geschrottet hat und deswegen drei Wochen nicht liefern kann.

Man ist auf Zulieferer angewiesen. Hat aber nur beschränkte Möglichkeiten zur Kontrolle.