security Archives - The Silicon Underground David L. Farquhar, computer security professional, train hobbyist, and landlord Tue, 26 Mar 2024 15:20:46 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://i0.wp.com/dfarq.homeip.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/cropped-silicon-underground.jpg?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 security Archives - The Silicon Underground 32 32 16321610 Hash collisions in computer security https://dfarq.homeip.net/hash-collisions-in-computer-security/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=hash-collisions-in-computer-security Mon, 18 Mar 2024 11:00:34 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=34238 Last week, Robin of the YouTube channel 8-bit Show and Tell wondered out loud on Twitter why Chrome flags Netracer 1.1, a modern indie Commodore 64 game, as malware. I think this is a classic case of hashing algorithms having

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]]> 34238 Resume hacks for your first security job https://dfarq.homeip.net/resume-hacks-for-your-first-security-job/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=resume-hacks-for-your-first-security-job Tue, 12 Mar 2024 11:00:22 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=34129 I conduct a fair number of interviews, and that means I see a lot of resumes. In my most recent round of interviews, I was interviewing intern candidates. There was absolutely nothing wrong with their resumes. They built exactly the

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]]> 34129 You don’t need cyber threat intelligence. Buy this instead https://dfarq.homeip.net/you-dont-need-cyber-threat-intelligence-buy-this-instead/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=you-dont-need-cyber-threat-intelligence-buy-this-instead Mon, 04 Mar 2024 12:00:24 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=34051 Last week I saw another hot take on Twitter. This Twitter influencer asserted that for most organizations, Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) is a waste of money and they would be better off spending that money elsewhere. In this blog post,

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]]> 34051 Is CISSP worth it in 2024? How to know https://dfarq.homeip.net/is-cissp-worth-it-in-2024-how-to-know/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=is-cissp-worth-it-in-2024-how-to-know Mon, 26 Feb 2024 12:00:23 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=33931 I’ve had two different people ask me in the last month if CISSP is still worth it in 2024. I have mixed feelings, so in this blog post, I’ll explore this complicated question so you can decide if CISSP is

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]]> 33931 Wireshark security risk and how to manage it https://dfarq.homeip.net/wireshark-security-risk-and-how-to-manage-it/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wireshark-security-risk-and-how-to-manage-it Mon, 19 Feb 2024 12:00:56 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=33985 A couple of social media influencers got into an argument over banning Wireshark in corporate environments because Wireshark is a security risk. While I don’t like getting involved in this type of drama, the argument does raise an important point

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]]> 33985 How Tenable sets plugin severity https://dfarq.homeip.net/how-tenable-sets-plugin-severity/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-tenable-sets-plugin-severity Tue, 06 Feb 2024 12:00:42 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=33909 How Tenable sets plugin severity is a question customers have been asking me for years, dating back to the days I worked for Tenable partners. It can be a bit complicated, so in this blog post I will explain what

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]]> 33909 What peer benchmarking is in vulnerability management https://dfarq.homeip.net/what-peer-benchmarking-is-in-vulnerability-management/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=what-peer-benchmarking-is-in-vulnerability-management Wed, 31 Jan 2024 12:00:54 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=33883 Successful vulnerability management is deceptively simple. It comes down to being able to answer yes to two questions: Are you fixing the right things? And are you fixing them fast enough? But how fast is fast enough? In this blog

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]]> 33883 What happened to NCIX https://dfarq.homeip.net/what-happened-to-ncix/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=what-happened-to-ncix Tue, 23 Jan 2024 12:00:43 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=33880 NCIX was a Canadian computer retailer, similar in concept to Fry’s or Micro Center. It went out of business in 2017 and its data was breached in 2018. Here’s what happened to NCIX. NCIX was founded in 1996 and went

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]]> 33880 Why physical destruction of RAM is sometimes necessary https://dfarq.homeip.net/why-physical-destruction-of-ram-is-sometimes-necessary/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=why-physical-destruction-of-ram-is-sometimes-necessary Mon, 22 Jan 2024 12:03:41 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=33639 I found this photograph along with the question about its intent. The photo was a RAM module with holes drilled in it. The person who posted the photograph asked a very valid question as to why physical destruction of RAM

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]]> 33639 SCCM vs WSUS https://dfarq.homeip.net/sccm-vs-wsus/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=sccm-vs-wsus Mon, 18 Dec 2023 12:03:01 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=33750 Since I work for a vulnerability management company, I get tons and tons of questions about patch management. I don’t speak for my employer, and they probably don’t have an opinion since neither product comes close to meeting their needs.

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