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My Unofficial NaClCON FAQ
As someone who has basically become disillusioned with most information security conferences, I didn’t find myself to be excited about another, let alone a new one. Then along came NaClCON and it changed my mind. It was a matter of days before I volunteered to help with the Call For Papers (CFP) review. With the…
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CenturyLink, Cancellation, and Headache
A few years ago I moved into the mountains outside of Denver. Given the potential for serious adverse weather and the potential not to have service to my cell phone, I thought it prudent to get POTS; plain old telephone service. That’s right, a land line! I know, how retro of me. Almost three years…
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It’s 2024 and Netscout Doesn’t Understand CVE
[Quick update! This was titled ‘2026’, but Josh Bressers pointed out I missed that Netscout’s blog is from 2024. It came up a few days on a Google Alert so I mistakenly assumed it was a new blog. I have updated the title, but the URL slug will still say 2026. Either way, I think…
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Domain Transfer Confirmation Email? No, It’s Not From ICANN.
TL;DR: If you get an email from noreply@emailverification.info saying you must click a link and input a code to finalize a domain transfer, ignore it. It claims to be an ICANN accredited registrar, but per ICANN themselves, the mail is not legitimate. Any mails about transferring a domain should come from the registrar you are…
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NSA, Theft, and the Original Quantum Lazlo
Back in November, 2009, Attrition.org staff (including me) finally got around to finalizing the name for our new mascot (archive.org), the angry squirrel firmly associated with Attrition and myself. In a cheeky letter from the mascot, it was signed ‘Lazlo’. Since that date, the mascot has seen a wide variety of iterations as Lazlo was…
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Support Charity or Shatter Dreams
A few days ago, a friend linked me to a contest that her daughter’s art was entered in, where voting is done online. I’m sure we’ve seen this for a wide variety of things in our lives these days, so it is easy to miss some of the little details that render the competitions unfair.…
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Abert’s Squirrels and Wonderful Variations
After moving from Denver to the nearby mountains, I was quite happy to learn that I had four different kinds of squirrels in the area. The Golden Mantle Ground Squirrel, Least Chipmunk, Douglas Pine Squirrel, and the Abert’s Squirrel. The last is also known as the tassel-eared squirrel. Native to the southern Rockies, they can…
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Random Movie/TV Thoughts and Reviews (February 2026)
Reviews One Battle After Another (2025) is the kind of movie, to me, that seems to have everything right; good acting, interesting plot, good character development. And yet somehow it just doesn’t click for me. I understand why it would win an award for any given acting role, but overall as a movie I think…
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Bob’s “CVE Quality-by-Design Manifesto” – The Hit and Misses
Almost every time Bob Lord blogs, I feel the need to write a rebuttal to what is arguably abject stupidity and shortsightedness. One he published a couple days ago, titled “CVE Quality-by-Design Manifesto“, is missing several core concepts in the realm of vulnerability intelligence. While his overall point is certainly valid, the order in which…
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Shadow, Ghost, and Phantasmawhatever Vulnerabilities – The Reality
Back in September of 2024, I took some notes on a blog I wanted to write about “Shadow” vulnerabilities, based on a corporate blog with a poor concept and misunderstanding of CVE. The title was to be “Shadow Vulnerabilities – Rebuttal” and pretty straight-forward. Vulnerability life is crazy when you help manage a true vulnerability…