Where Recent Donations Went During the Government Shutdown
November 08, 2025I’d like to thank everyone who chose to donate through my VA Disability Calculator app. During the recent government shutdown, those funds were used to purch...
Posts by Year
2025
VA Compensation Calculator iOS App — Update 1.26.0
November 06, 2025I’ve released an updated version of my VA Disability Calculator iOS app (version 1.26.0).
VA Compensation Calculator iOS App Released!
May 19, 2025I’ve released my first iOS application: VA Compensation Calculator, a privacy-focused tool designed to help veterans calculate VA disability ratings and esti...
2024
Cloud Security Engineer Resources
May 30, 2024Cloud Security Engineer Resources
Transitioning from WordPress to Jekyll on GitHub Pages
February 09, 2024I recently embarked on a tech journey, moving my blog from WordPress hosted on a Digital Ocean droplet to using Jekyll on GitHub Pages. This wasn’t just a le...
2023
Detecting Unauthorized Intrusions Using Windows Security Event Logs
August 06, 2023Maintaining the security of a Windows system is essential to protect sensitive data and prevent unauthorized access. One powerful tool in detecting potential...
A Comprehensive Guide to Securing SSH on Ubuntu 22.04
July 23, 2023SSH (Secure Shell) is a widely used protocol for securely accessing remote servers. However, its popularity also makes it a target for potential attackers. T...
[Errno 28] No space left on device - Updating VMWare ESXI 6.7
February 03, 2023When updating VMWare ESXI 6.7, which runs my homelab, I always get the error “[Errno 28] No space left on device”. But wait… There is enough space on the dis...
2022
Verify if a media device or file is bootable
August 25, 2022To verify if a removable media (e.g. USB, DVD, or ISO) is bootable, you could use file tool on Linux systems. The command file -s /path/to/media reads block ...
2021
I am CISSP Certified!
April 07, 2021I passed the CISSP exam in April 2021! Such a difficult exam! The exam is nothing like the practice tests you can find available for free or for purchase. Th...
2020 in Retrospection
January 04, 2021I took some training
2020
Pentesting Resources and Links
October 27, 2020Collections of links I have found useful during pentesting, CTFs, or red teaming exercise.
Mini-NetWars – Mission 3 (May 2020)
May 20, 2020I forgot to take notes and someone shared their’s with me. I stopped at “Find the name of the debug PCAP on the web server”
pfSense and Verizon FiOS
February 17, 2020I have a small homelab setup at home that I use to practice cyber ninja skills and test new technology. My homelab consist of a refurbished HP Z420 Workstati...
NSA Python Training Material
February 09, 2020A brave individual (@chris_swenson) placed a Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) request for NSA’s Python training materials. The course is a text-only documen...
Regex Cheatsheet
February 01, 2020Awesome regex cheatsheet I found online. Often, I find myself re-learning regex syntax because I don’t use it often.
2019
Hack The Box – Networked
November 02, 2019Networked was an easy but very interesting box that left me confused at the end. I have not figured out why the final exploit worked but I plan on setting up...
GIAC GCIH Certified!… and some tips.
October 18, 2019On October 16 2019, I passed GCIH exam with a score of 93%. Honestly, I was surprised I scored so high. I didn’t feel like I had a passing score until 2.5 ho...
Hack The Box - Swagshop Writeup
September 30, 2019Content
Enabling Intel 10G SFP+ X520 Series module on Centos 7
September 06, 2019By default, Centos 7 doesn’t support Intel’s 10G SFP+ X520 module. When you look at the dmesg you find the following error: “failed to load because an unsup...
Cybersecurity Resourses – Links and more
April 05, 2019Often I see posts on Reddit asking “Where do you get your news about cybersecurity from?”. There are many places to get your news from and it varies dependin...
Hack The Box - Access Machine Writeup
March 01, 2019I have started learning additional offensive techniques and decided to put them to the test on HackTheBox.eu. The first machine I tackled was Access. It is s...
2018
Free Splunk Training for Vets
October 30, 2018I just came across a great resource for US Veterans that can help them start or enhance their career cybersecurity. Splunk offers free their Fundamentals tra...
Farewell Census Team!
August 30, 2018Today, I close another chapter in my life. After 4 years working for the US Census Bureau, I leave in search of a new and more challenging adventure in an ar...
Bronze Award Recognition
March 11, 2018
2017
Equifax Security Breach: Degree in Music
September 20, 2017Recently, Equifax Inc was target of a hack that may have affected over 143 millions of Americans[0]. It was pointed out that the Equifax’s Chief Security Off...