Implementing SSLSplit

A couple of weeks ago I talked about using SSLSplit to at as a proxy so that I could examine the mechanics of a Docker pull. I decided to go ahead a set up a purpose-built VM just for this so I could easily do this again in the future. I wanted to go ahead and document (and share) the steps that I went through for this.

Retirement Calculator 2022 Edition

A year or two ago I decided to create a retirement calculator to help me figure out my finances for when I was getting ready to retire. It occurred to me earlier today that I have done a poor job of keeping it current, so I decided to spend a few minutes and get it fully updated (I think) for 2022.

Retirement….One Year Later

Retired Vet

Today marks one year since my last day wearing the uniform. Sure, my official retirement date wasn’t until Sept, but a lot of things have happened. In that time, we’ve continued to live through a pandemic, I’ve started a job, quit a job, and started another one, done a lot of work around the house, and been able to enjoy life a little bit.

Unique Identifiers of a Fresh Kali Image

Kali Linux

The act of attributing a cyber attack is a long sought after, but rarely attained goal. While things such as techniques, IP addresses, and other artifacts can plan an important role in attributing an attack, being able to attribute actions to a specific computer that has been obtained can help provide overwhelming proof of an act. In this post, I’m publishing a paper that I started working on a few months ago (life gets busy) that provides a forensic analysis of multiple freshly installed Kali systems. My goal over the coming months is to conduct similar experiments on other operating systems. I’ve also provided the raw data that I used to conduct my analysis.

Advent of Code Day 9

Advent of Code 2020 Map

For day 9, we’re trying to break a simple encryption scheme. Our input starts with a preamble of 25 numbers. From there, it continues with a series of additional numbers. Each number must be equal to the sum of any two of the previous 25 numbers. We’re trying to find the first number that doesn’t meet that rule.

Advent of Code Day 7

Advent of Code 2020 Map

Day 7 threw me for a loop. Basically what you have is a remake of the Matryoshka Dolls where you have a doll inside of a doll, only in this case it was bags within bags. We’re provided with a list of rules telling us which bags are within which bag. Ultimately we want to find how many bags can contain a “Shiny Gold Bag” within it.

Hindsight is 2020….Welcome 2021

So I didn’t write a year in review post at the end of 2019 but I would hazard to guess that if I had, it wouldn’t have included nearly anything that actually happened this year. To say that 2020 was a year that no one expected would be the understatement of the world.

Advent of Code Day 6

Advent of Code 2020 Map

So day 6 of Advent of Code was looking for you to help out a planeload of fliers with their customs forms. Our input file was a multi-line file where each line represented an individual person with groups separated by an empty line. To solve this problem, I decided to make use of the defaultdict function.

Advent of Code Days 1-5

Advent of Code 2020 Map

Once again, this year I decided to challenge myself to work on my python and complete The Advent of Code. My goal was to stick to each and every day, and for the most part, I was able to stick with that. Here is Days 1-5.