general

[sinful moon]

How do I get my CISA Actively Exploted Vulnerability alerts? RSS and email

lol miss you reader.google.com

my first RSS feed reader, and many others first

I use Inoreader personally and I like it better than Feedly but yeah nothing is perfect

[buoyant tree]

heya Ellie

[sinful moon]

Heya, I'm trying not to get sucked into the convo but I couldn't resist with RSS

yeah it's pretty decent improvement over Feedly, but they do have a premium tier which gives you... idk what exactly lol. I don't think I'm on it

[buoyant tree]

me who doesn't know what RSS is exactly but only uses it for podcasts

[sinful moon]

Yeah exact same kind of idea

[rapid merlin]

I tried, I just google things manually much easier.

[sinful moon]

RSS can just feed any kind of content like an article from a news site or a new podcast, depending on applicaiton

So for articles instead of a podcast app you just use an RSS Feed Reader

[boreal scarab]

@sinful moon Remember that laptop you helped me fix an aidio issue with? Yah, I fell with it and now it doesn't close all the way. Still detects it closes, b ut it's a bit bent on the screen. Luckily, no screen cracks or anything. Thing is a tank

[sinful moon]

You possibly misunderstand the intent, lol. This is for subscribing to feeds from your favorite sites to keep track of news as it comes in... not shotgun blast of search results

RSS is still an invaluable tool for infosec news...

[rapid merlin]

I know, it's just I can't be bothered setting it up. I like manually looking for the website or forum (I already have it on the bookmark).

[boreal scarab]

Y'al lhave any idea what I should do with a Lenovo Thinkserver RS160?

[sinful moon]

You just plug in "Website Name" into RSS Feed readers and it finds the feed for you

[buoyant tree]

Also Ellie rate my dashboard

[sinful moon]

Not bad, but won't scale with more content

[rapid merlin]

I am oldschool even though I am still young.

[sinful moon]

...RSS is oldschool but okay

[boreal scarab]

Why Plex and Jelly?

[rapid merlin]

I am even more old school then.

[buoyant tree]

Eh its fine for now then heimdall time

[buoyant tree]

Plex for desktop and plexamp also

jellyfin for android offline movies

[boreal scarab]

Ah

[sinful moon]

Slightly newer than usenet concerns, but yeah very early 00s

Aaron Shwartz was actually one of the creators

[rapid merlin]

Probably, I mean I personally only check 3 websites to get infosec knowledge.

I am sure it's useful.

[sinful moon]

Presumably you check other websites for other knowledge though

[buoyant tree]

almost thought u said arnold schwarzenegger

[sinful moon]

as long as they post new articles, you can have them all in a single UI/site

[rapid merlin]

For daily knowledge only 3. The rest google is my best friend.

[buoyant tree]

which ones

me just using google news and reddit

[sinful moon]

Legenday figure in internet standards, freedom of information and hacker culture: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz

[buoyant tree]

there should be a book or article about all the people i should know about

[rapid merlin]

Hackernews, https://security.stackexchange.com/ and krebsonsecurity if I recall right.

[sinful moon]

HackerNews is a bit sponsored content heavy for my liking

BleepingComputer is a bit better on those terms and timely info

[rapid merlin]

They post decent things here and there if I am genuinely intrigued I google.

But I would say most of my daily news I get it from security.stackexchange.

[sinful moon]

Ars Technica's Security Content is amazing when the post it, but I mostly follow for general tech news

I could go on an on about my infosec sources though so I'll most likely refrain

[buoyant tree]

is there any topic u couldn't go on an on about

[rapid merlin]

I used to read ars technica back then.

[sinful moon]

It's just unfotunate how infosec Twitter crumbled and some are still on there, not everyone moved to Mastadon but enough to matter, and now you're checking multiple stupid apps for this stuff

[rapid merlin]

The influencers are funny though.

[sinful moon]

You should still imho, still great content.

[buoyant tree]

same with reddit and the weird alternative

[rapid merlin]

I will check it out.

[rapid merlin]

Problem with reddit is everyone there is unhinged.

[sinful moon]

You can sub to specifically just their security feed, but I like all their content decently

[rapid merlin]

I liked many things about ars technica (around 2013 or so).

[sinful moon]

Mastadon has a some big names like Kevin Beaumount who moved over to that as his primary

[sinful moon]

I've been reading since probably around 2006 until current

Sure dropped sites like Slashdot but Ars has been a constant for me

[rapid merlin]

2006, I was way too young to operate a computer.

[sinful moon]

I was in high school and doing things which I will not describe with my computers c:

2007 I switched to Linux though!

[boreal scarab]

Anyone used Eaton UPS's here?

[rapid merlin]

I began by exploring console hacking forums, where engineers primarily discussed topics like reverse engineering X or Y. I stumbled upon them by accident, but I found the discussions intriguing and professionally oriented.

I literally started googling each term and reading books (from there I got hooked).

[sinful moon]

Yeah things were quite different getting started in the 00s lol

But yeah so much info and resources out there these days, no complaints

Wifi cracking and similar was one of my main interests in the 00s and loved poking at anything I could get my hands on

Very nice!

[rapid merlin]

I started around 2008-2009, I noticed a lot of people in their 20s and early 30s who were very professional (in those forums). It made a big impression on me, and I wanted to be part of that kind of group. Unfortunately, that culture doesn't seem to exist much anymore, unless it's a closely-knit group.

[scarlet mantle]

X509 u are good person and have good advice

good

[rapid merlin]

Still I need to learn way more.

[scarlet mantle]

no

[rapid merlin]

I barely know anything despite me sinking thousands of hours into this.

[sinful moon]

I don’t have any fun Unix workstations but did hold onto this 1999 Dell that I restored and love so much, you may appreciate

Also something something random CDE (lol just in my pictures near the above and relevant)

[rapid merlin]

The first time I remember using Linux was when someone suggested I try Gentoo.

[sinful moon]

lol

[rapid merlin]

Gentoo is fun.

[sinful moon]

I'm sure that was a fun time for you first experience

[rapid merlin]

I literally just started experimenting and trying things out.

[sinful moon]

Yeah I literally only grabbed that for a VM since it's the very last with CDE

GNOME 2 had already taken over as primary but they left CDE for legacy

[rapid merlin]

Nowadays, I stick to Ubuntu because I don't want to bother with setting anything up. I even use the default wallpaper that comes with Ubuntu (same thing with windows).

[sinful moon]

I've been on Arch since 2008 to present, but for sure use whatever distro fits you best. I'm no elitist lol

Heck yeah, I'd be quite curious abotu the AIX box for sure. May be about time to get them out of storage as they're getting on 20 years old now

Although yeah lol, possibly check caps and any real time clocks before powering on lol

[rapid merlin]

I prioritize functionality and efficiency for my use case. That's why I use both Windows and Linux. When I use an operating system, I expect it to work smoothly right from the start without needing extensive tweaking, unless I have a specific goal in mind that requires it.

I remember the creator of Linux saying something like that too, he doesn't like bothering with distros.

[sinful moon]

I rather build my system up with only the components I know about and need rather than stripping something down myself

I've been doing this for so long it's pretty trivial to build up from minimal to what I want in no time, but yeah it's not for everyone

I just love to know how any why it all fits together and "why" I need each package

Yeah Arch ARM is pretty decent, not as great support as the full project but neat unofficial thing

Yep, I just spin up Ubuntu Server at work and call it a day lol

[rapid merlin]

The only customization in my setup is the hardware of the computer itself, and even then, it's straightforward. It's a typical workstation machine with ample RAM and CPU cores. Apart from that, the operating system setup is very basic. Ubuntu runs flawlessly and quickly on it. I don't like bothering with changing the wallpaper and things like that. You can even tell by my discord account.

If it works and it's solid, good.

[sinful moon]

Okay fair, I enable ~/.bashrc colors and rebind Ctrl B to Ctrl A in tmux lol

[rapid merlin]

I understand, it's important to know what's going on.

[sinful moon]

I'm a bit more into low level OS fundimentals and design. I find it intensely facinating

I enjoy the hardware stuff, but honestly as long as I have decent specs for gaming I don't care too much. Sorta try to keep pace but less interested than the software side of things myself

[rapid merlin]

There was a time, no kidding, when I was coding on a barebones IDE, like really stripped down. When it broke, it took about three days before I finally decided to fix it. In the meantime, I was literally coding the old-fashioned way, using Notepad.

[rapid merlin]

I like low level stuff, very much.

[rapid merlin]

I did try playing games once, it's not for me.

[sinful moon]

lol I do most of my coding in (n)vim to this day, unless it's a larger project then I will bite the bullet and use (VS) Code

doubt, you at least use vim I would suspect

[rapid merlin]

Yes and nano too.

[sinful moon]

no, who uses nano when (n)vim exists lol

[rapid merlin]

I do when I am bored on when sometimes breaks or not available.

[sinful moon]

I kid, who experienced with terminal I mean

[rapid merlin]

I also use echo like line by line (due to ctf's).

Some really like emacs.

[sinful moon]

Fair enough, even me moving to neovim was a slow and begrudging choice, and I still am symbolic linking my ~/.vimrc to ~/.config/nvim/init.conf to this day for legacy reasons lol

Trust me it too me forever to move from urxvt to Alacritty and from screen to tmux

[rapid merlin]

It has like over 1200 default keybinds on a single setup (without modifications)

It's insane just thinking about it

[rapid merlin]

I use gnome terminal (the one that comes with ubuntu).

[sinful moon]

Nah I am still all about screen, have a deep personal love for it. But yeah did eventually make the switch myself. Does have many useful improvements

[sinful moon]

Not GPU accelerated like Alacritty

[buoyant tree]

I do love screen

[sinful moon]

old tech

[buoyant tree]

can't use tmux

too hard

[rapid merlin]

Why would you need gpu acceleration for a terminal?

[frosty lava]

So I was just told that the cyber security job market may have reached the bottom of the valley, and it may already be climbing up again. Would y'all agree with that assessment? If so, I'm hoping to land a job during the summer.

[rapid merlin]

I have to read about it.

[sinful moon]

Extremely fast, not limited to 60Hz

[rapid merlin]

Be unique and next level.

[sinful moon]

Watching something compile at 165Hz is kind of insane lol

Older terminals kinda lag in terms of that output

and yeah screen and or tmux are must learns

[rapid merlin]

I simply alt-tab and read something in the meantime. I don't think Wikipedia running at 165 Hz is that different from 60 Hz (maybe I don't know).

[sinful moon]

if you ssh even somewhat often is basically required for sane persistance

[frosty lava]

Well yeah, but I'm hoping we start seeing signs that the job market is improving.

[sinful moon]

oops your ssh session disconnected... but your screen or tmux session is there to reconnect to

[rapid merlin]

I mean sure but at the end of the day you can't really do much about it aside working on your skills.

So only focus on what you can change.

[sinful moon]

Nah UI stuff is honestly nearly bigger game changer for high refresh rate than gaming

[rapid merlin]

Not sure if that motivates you but the average cybersecurity talent is quite lackluster. You can easily go above and beyond.

[rapid merlin]

Never tried to be honest.

[sinful moon]

Every single UI element, window, scrolling action, everything is nearly x2.5 as smooth as on 60Hz

I'll just say it's wonderful c:

especially in Linux

[rapid merlin]

As long as the computer itself is fast with high specifications, I can practically work on a potato setup no problem.

[sinful moon]

So yes scrolling through Wikipedia is actually materially better at 165Hz as on this display lol

[rapid merlin]

I am sure that's true.

But knowing me, I probably will never try it.

[frosty lava]

That's what I've been doing. My only challenge is trying to learn how to write a professional pentest report. I don't have the funds to learn it through the OSCP. I've seen some that are public, but it's all Greek to me.

[sinful moon]

I get your meaning though, Wikipedia doesn't need it, but nice when your entire OS is that high refresh rate

[rapid merlin]

Read the professional penetration testing reports from companies and understand their approach by creating well-written Capture The Flag (CTF) write-ups on your side.

[sinful moon]

Possibly try Incident Report on a more blue team focus as that's a bit more accessable, although fair, not sure what incident you would report on lol

Just kinda got my start at work pumping out some incident reports for not great stuff I saw and was praised for it up and down

[rapid merlin]

To be honest, I don't really need anything beyond a 60Hz refresh rate. I don't play games and don't require such a high refresh rate. I tried gaming once, but it wasn't my thing. So even if I do end up playing games occasionally, I'm confident that 60Hz is way more than sufficient for my needs. It's intriguing though.

[sinful moon]

Just don't hesitate for 120Hz if it comes up, it is a game changer just for the fluidity of UI and window management alone

But totally fair, I'm bias because not only am I a gamer but also a rhythm gamer where high refresh rate is a very huge deal

[buoyant tree]

165 hz is insane I can verify that

Game changer from 60hz

u can't go back to 60hz everything feels so slow

[rapid merlin]

I only got my second monitor about 2 months ago, which is the first time I've ever used one (second monitor) (that's the kind of person I am).

[sinful moon]

Totally fair, second monitor is already a huge win, so can't complain

another thing that's hard to go back from

[rapid merlin]

Yes, I agree, I kind of destroyed my alt-tab keys over the years.

[sinful moon]

Nah I have all 60Hz stuff in work from home setup, bah use what you have

unless you have a tangiable reason to upgrade

I just did for personal use

phone and tablet are 120Hz, OLED TVs are 120Hz, gaming laptop is 165Hz

You can tell instantly I can promise you

[rapid merlin]

Why would you need your phone to be 120hz?

You play games on it?

[sinful moon]

what is your primary interaction with your phone? Scrolling

what feels x2 better at 120Hz? Scrolling

[rapid merlin]

I only use it to call people, that's about it.

I barely charge my phone.

[sinful moon]

Fair enough, I read too much wikipedia and infosec articles on mine lol

[rapid merlin]

That's reasonable.

[sinful moon]

If you don't know it's 60Hz lol. But I'd just look your model up on one of these Android phone stat sites

[buoyant tree]

I play chess on mine and listen to music

[rapid merlin]

I got an Iphone 15. Once I saw the manual for the iPhone , I thought to myself, "You know what? I'll just use this for calls, and that's about it".

[sinful moon]

you can find it in settings but not easily at all

[rapid merlin]

What kind of music?

[sinful moon]

also if it's exposed in settings instead of dev settings is dependant on your android phone

[rapid merlin]

Too many settings nowadays.

[buoyant tree]

instrumental mainly

[sinful moon]

Never enough settings for me

[rapid merlin]

I like apple stuff, you unbox it, turn it on and it's up and running.

[rapid merlin]

Very nice, I mainly listen to classical music (if I have time).

[sinful moon]

I unironically have switched to Apple mobile devices after more than a decade of heavily cutomized Android phones. Yeah no real complaints for the same reason.

I don't need to do emulation and other wild tasks on my phone, I have a computer for that

However you do need to instantly dig into iOS settings to actually have sane security setup and not giving tons of data to Apple

[timid sand]

Hi

[rapid merlin]

iPhones are amazing. They just work very well, and I've never had any issues with them.

[timid sand]

I am new and had a question. Hoping someone can help

[sinful moon]

Just yeah lol check your iOS privacy settings and etc, enable App Privacy Reports if you haven't

[rapid merlin]

I don't think I have ever installed an app on my phone. Maybe youtube once.

[sinful moon]

Go ahead and ask, alwasy best to!

[rapid merlin]

I will check it out.

[timid sand]

I’m in the day in the life junior associate

[sinful moon]

This will generate pirvacy reports on even your Apple Apps. Every URL call and more

[rapid merlin]

I don't see the point in my case.

[sinful moon]

Why dont' you just use a dumb phone?

[timid sand]

Can’t figure out an answer to move on

[boreal scarab]

32GB ECC Ram giving me issues in 128GB Quanta?

32GB PFSense ThinkServer

https://tenor.com/view/stonks-up-stongs-meme-stocks-gif-15715298

[rapid merlin]

I really like the color of the iPhone 15, especially the natural titanium shade (the color).

Well iphones in general.

[sinful moon]

We'd need info on which question specifically, however if this gets buried #room-help is the place to post this specific question

[rapid merlin]

Yes but I only use them on my computer.

[sinful moon]

I love my purple iPhone 14 Pro. Literally my first ever iPhone lol

[rapid merlin]

I also use messages to get otp, mfa and so on.

[rapid merlin]

It's a beautiful color indeed.

[timid sand]

What is the flag that you obtained by following along?

I posted it in the room help as well

[rapid merlin]

When it comes to customization, the iPhone color is pretty much the extent of what I'm willing to personalize.

I still have the same wallpaper that comes from factory.

Apple has great taste so I usually let them do the choosing.

[sinful moon]

I hate to say it as someone who was all about customizing everything visually in my teens but yes. I just use Apple default themes and wallpapers

I’m still using Monterey purple background on my Mac Mini, just for that lovely purple

[rapid merlin]

They are awesome.

If it works, it works.

I see, you can groceries from your local supermarket?

That's next level.

I see, I never tried to order anything on my phone.

I only use amazon.com on my computer

Yes I agree.

It's really not convenient at all.

Top level design

They just want to make sure haha

I hate when it's not convenient.

That's the reason why I never customize anything (unless I have to because it's unusable).

Haha, definitely.

There is also this whole rgb thing going on as a trend.

I wonder if people whose setups have flashing colors all around ever experience discomfort in their eyes or headaches.

Haha, I get it. Flashing colors would drive me crazy too.

I've just realized that I'm pretty unique. I tend to go against the common stereotype haha.

It definitely makes getting a reverse shell much easier.

What do you mean?

[bold dawn]

yall are odd… lol

[rapid merlin]

I genuinely think I am haha.

Wouldn't surprise me, it's always like that everywhere.

[bold dawn]

we all are lol

[rapid merlin]

I'm very friendly, especially when the other person is open-minded and genuinely interested in learning.

[rapid merlin]

Haha.

Yes, exactly I remember seeing a software called iCUE from Corsair for controlling RGB lighting (driver) the whole software is around 1.6 gb.

Razer is a good brand.

There is EVGA too but they stopped making graphics cards (which sucks).

Aside from that, I really don't bother with too many brands.

I know corsair is reliable (if I recall right).

Nice, I don't even know how to modify my terminal so there is that.

I don't think I am ready for macros haha.

My whole mindset is full of contradictions.

I like to really learn very complicated things but I really can't bother changing my wallpaper or doing very seemingly simple things.

Definitely, I use a normal tkl keyboard (so I even have fewer keys).

[molten sky]

so much green

so few better colors

[rapid merlin]

Here on discord?

[molten sky]

no at the park

[rapid merlin]

That's good.

But you know that's interesting because I really don't complain about my setup (I like it) . I think a real hacker or anyone proficient really can do anything with any setup assuming it works.

I don't want to waste my time trying to make sure all the HEX colors are correctly setup or if I have X,Y, Z accessory.

As long as I have the basic things (monitor, keyboard, and mouse), and the computer is working fine with either Ubuntu or Windows installed, then I am good.

Exact, that's the right mindset.

Before I got my new PC, I literally had 4 or 6 gb of ram.

Definitely.

Having the ability to hack or work with the bare minimum is advantageous because it signifies that fundamentally, you can adapt quickly and avoid getting bogged down by unnecessary things.

[sinful moon]

To be fair, vast majority at least have vim, most symlink vi to vim these days and just enable some legacy compat stuff lol

[buoyant tree]

Ellie started watching a movie from 1979 guess which one

[sinful moon]

Alien

[buoyant tree]

correct

[sinful moon]

I thought you already started lol

but enjoy

[buoyant tree]

tried to start but too many distractions to kept it for a later time

[sinful moon]

Great movie

[buoyant tree]

which is now

[rapid merlin]

I recall a scene from Mr. Robot on YouTube where Elliot (I think that's his name), the main character (I think not sure) was using Linux Mint. He's portrayed as a skilled hacker in the show. When I saw that, I thought, "That's the spirit." I didn't watch the entire series, but from the setup they displayed, it seemed alright.

[buoyant tree]

it's Atmosphere and quality seem great to me \

[rapid merlin]

People are obsessed with that show though.

[sinful moon]

The scene was about GNOME vs KDE if I remember correctly.

No sane hacker would be using Mint lol

[buoyant tree]

he was insane

[sinful moon]

Yeah first couple seasons are pretty alright but I rapidly loose interest

[rapid merlin]

Haha, the only similarity I have with him is the dedication to work for 12 hours straight on this. Aside from that, I think I'm relatively sane.

I literally know nothing about him aside the passion aspect.

[sinful moon]

Just uh, please don't bring that kinda 12 hour work ethic into the actual workplace c:

work/life balance is very important

[rapid merlin]

I mean personally, I am a student.

I have been doing 12 hours days for like years to learn all of this.

[sinful moon]

Totally fair, just whole different ballgame as a profession

[rapid merlin]

I will probably still do it haha.

[sinful moon]

Please don't c:

[rapid merlin]

Don't condone it though for others.

[sinful moon]

You'll learn to respect and need those bounderies

Critical for me doing work from home especially. Extra weird

[rapid merlin]

I started doing this at like 10 years old (around 8 hours a day or so). Then after high school (12 hours).

Heck no.

I want to open my own thing and do research if possible.

Aside from that, I am not slaving away.

[sinful moon]

Yeah I don't mean stop learning, just don't just flat out do infosec for an org that way indeed

[rapid merlin]

Of course not because that's work and not pure learning.

[glossy portal]

Mr. Robot was a really good series, unfortunately some people emulate elliot's personality without realising how unhealthy it is

[sinful moon]

I literally don't have enough time in any day at work to do everything I need to get done lol

[rapid merlin]

Because they don't have it in them.

I do 12 hours a day easily no problem because that's what I do naturally (I am just really into this).

[sinful moon]

Hush, I know you joke, but no Elliot's lifestyle is no way to live

[rapid merlin]

I don't do drugs nor have mental health issues so I am good (.

[sinful moon]

12 hours of infosec can still be pushing it but fair enough

[glossy portal]

I'm not saying what you're doing is wrong btw, if you enjoy it, then that's awesome, I grind on things I like a lot too

[sinful moon]

It's just more than healthy to have a ton of other hobbies, epecially when they interact

Software Defined Radio is an interest of mine and has a good bit of overlap with infosec despite not directly realted

Game modding and hacking same way, with reversing and more

[rapid merlin]

You learn a lot and intensely. I'm very passionate about this because I have very high expectations for myself. A true hacker is someone who is extremely proficient at many things. To reach that level, you need to dedicate insane hours and fully immerse yourself in it, absorbing as much knowledge as possible.

[sinful moon]

(singleplayer I will clarify lol)

[rapid merlin]

I really enjoy it. Been doing this since like 10 or so.

To be very good at information security you have to dedicate insane hours. That's how they do it.

[buoyant tree]

didn't know u modded games ur self

[glossy portal]

That's awesome man, sounds like you're good at this too

[molten sky]

modding is how like half of people even learn to code tbh

[sinful moon]

Yeah I've been doing it since my early teens as well, good bit into my 30s now lol. Just make sure to diversify your interests. Like I said, there's a ton of overlap in infosec concerns with other computer related hobbies

[rapid merlin]

I never watched the show but I am pretty sure the main character is like that right? Like super dedicated to this (since he is labeled as super hacker or something)?

[heady stratus]

How many hours is "insane hours" to you?

[rapid merlin]

After 16

[molten sky]

years

[sinful moon]

It's not a distraction, only a benefit to deal in similar relms of interest

[glossy portal]

Anarchist hacker, it's more of an ideology pushing rather than "oh wow this guy's really good"

[heady stratus]

That is definitely insane hours, dang lol

[rapid merlin]

I mean, it's my passion and interest. I've tried playing games and doing other activities like that, but I just can't seem to get into them.

[rapid merlin]

It's pretty insane, I do mainly 10-12 most of the time.

I stop when I am very tired.

[sinful moon]

Also please again, never work these hours for a business

[molten sky]

..you're sometimes not?

[rapid merlin]

Interesting.

[rapid merlin]

Very tired means borderline crashing (kernel panic let's say).

[molten sky]

so like

hour one

after coffee

[rapid merlin]

Yes but I don't drink coffee.

Let's say water.

[rapid merlin]

Of course not.

[heady stratus]

Coffee = poluted water in my books...lol

[rapid merlin]

I don't like the taste.

[molten sky]

hersey

[rapid merlin]

Of course, not unless I am genuinely enjoying and benefitting it (like a lot).

[molten sky]

bot be gone

@mossy river

[sinful moon]

Wow beat us to it

[molten sky]

oh nice

[sinful moon]

I was about to ping Jabba and Juun indeed

[rapid merlin]

But see the thing, is for most it's insane for me that's just what I strive for.

[sinful moon]

Just keep in mind sleep is very important too lol

[rapid merlin]

I do sleep decently

[sinful moon]

That is how you are processing and storing this info long term

[rapid merlin]

I have hyperfocus though so that's probably why.

[glossy portal]

yep, this is very important

[rapid merlin]

Also death.

I don't think I can do information security 6 feet underground haha.

[heady stratus]

I've noticed that too. Sleep and walking away from the computer for a few minutes to think through what I've just learned helps me retain the info better

[midnight hazel]

anybody knows how I can contact a room creator

[rapid merlin]

SSRIs inhibited?

I sleep around 7-8 hours a night

Once I am done with my thing I usually workout then go to bed.

I never dream.

Isn't that normal for most?

[glossy portal]

For some yes

or most, I'm not sure

[rapid merlin]

I don't know much about dreaming and sleeping so I have to learn about it.

That's good.

Probably

[heady stratus]

I dream every single night and they're very vivid. It's actually annoying because I feel like I don't actually sleep...I'm just living a separate life lol

[glossy portal]

if I can't dream, I won't be able to move my memories to the long term folder

[rapid merlin]

Do you know why?

I literally dream a black screen.

[sinful moon]

You can learn to remember your dreams better by keeping a dream journal of what you remember when you wake up. You'll learn to reconigze the patters and signs you're in a dream. If you're dedicated you can eventually Lucid dream as a result

[rapid merlin]

Interesting.

[glossy portal]

oh man, I tried to do that when I was younger, I tried everything and lucid dreaming did not work at all

[sinful moon]

But that's typically a fun task for a summer when you're still in shcool lol

[heady stratus]

I'm not sure...I've heard that you only dream if you're in a certain rem cycle or whatever. I do remember most of my dreams too. I know that's not common but it's been happening for years for me

[glossy portal]

I remember doing it accidentally once though

[heady stratus]

lucid dreaming is amazing

[rapid merlin]

It will probably be me being able to code in PowerShell for the first time (since no way in hell I am doing that when I am awake).

[rapid merlin]

Intriguing.

[sinful moon]

Was successful for me, but yeah you can learn by looking for dreaming cues while awake. That'll train you to do them when you're asleep

[rapid merlin]

I really don't remember my dreams.

[sinful moon]

Clocks and text will never read the same way twice, turning off and on light switches rarely works in a dream, that sorta thing

lol understandable

[heady stratus]

I've heard that most people dream but just don't remember them. I'm not sure what helps with recalling dreams

[sinful moon]

yeah took me a whole summer of learning, journaling and attempts

(for lucid dreaming)

[buoyant tree]

hmm never did a lucid dream

[sinful moon]

Keeping a dream journal is one of the eaisest ways

[heady stratus]

I've heard that too. I didn't know it lowered your quality of sleep though, that's interesting

[molten sky]

lol, i was just thinking about this earlier

has been all my life

[sinful moon]

If you do remember a dream, write it down as soon as you wake up

[buoyant tree]

why

[heady stratus]

Now that you say that, I did start journaling some of my dreams and then I started lucid dreaming more often after that...I never realized that connection before

[buoyant tree]

• a lotta of my dreams are super weird

[sinful moon]

Yes that's what lucid dreaming is, I could influence my dreams but it was somewhat limited as if I was under the influence of something. It'll depend for each person.

But yeah this was back in high school days when I had a summer to try for fun

[rapid merlin]

I see

[sinful moon]

Mhmm, if you start to record as much of those details when you wake up as possible, you can slowly start to build a bit better regonition both remembering your dreams but also regonizing you're having a dream

[rapid merlin]

@heady stratus How would you define insane hours?

[molten sky]

at least 7

[sinful moon]

I sure don't do so these days, typically only remember my dreams on weekends when I have ample sleep time lol

[buoyant tree]

may do that

[rapid merlin]

7 is normal.

[buoyant tree]

but if someone discovers my Dream journal, it may look like the scribbling's of a madman

[sinful moon]

freaking lol

[rapid merlin]

They just don't get it.

[sinful moon]

But yeah that tracks, typically we only remember our most recient dreams unless trying for more

[buoyant tree]

I don't even get it

[heady stratus]

for me it would be about 10-12 a day

[rapid merlin]

It will take time, let it process.

[rapid merlin]

That makes sense.

[buoyant tree]

15 hours for me

[rapid merlin]

I agree.

[sinful moon]

Just again know that's unhealth professionally, and after 8 hours of working in infosec professionally, you won't want to spend another 2 or more learning

[heady stratus]

Mind you, I've only been doing this for a little over a month, so it's a lot of information to process if i do it for that long

[rapid merlin]

But it depends on the job.

[buoyant tree]

eh we are young atm

[sinful moon]

I sure have had some 10 hour work days and it's brtual

[molten sky]

i've spent like 3 hours on powershell and i already want to die

[rapid merlin]

If you are genuinely into this, it will be fine.

[molten sky]

3 hours should be the max for windows stuff

[rapid merlin]

For me at least.

[heady stratus]

I definitely am. I was a programmer before and ran a business as well, so long hours aren't a problem, but retaining lots of technical info is sometimes challenging, but it's getting easier now that I'm understanding terminology and different methods

[sinful moon]

Yeah as someone who does Windows syadmin among infosec and other tasks, it's a breath of fresh air to get back to my personal linux systems... or at least Linux I deployed at work lol

Yes AD/GPO was the game changer I needed to see that Windows Sysadmin is somewhat sane but holy heck still not a very fun time lol

[scarlet mantle]

chatting in here daily will drain ur lifetime considerably beware hhhh

[buoyant tree]

eh its fun

[scarlet mantle]

tru

[sinful moon]

lol you're not wrong, I get way too distracted with this chat but it's fun to discuss infosec with peers

[buoyant tree]

https://www.reddit.com/r/linuxmemes/comments/1al0x2u/every_daily_linux_maintenance_experience/

[sinful moon]

Disagree

[buoyant tree]

Also Ellie a lil video I found which I believe u may enjoy as well as I did

[molten sky]

it's not 2007 anymore who still uses twitter

[sinful moon]

Linux just works, the above vid is Windows Sysadmin

"Oh who left kerberostable account in year 2000 which is still around in your 2023 AD domain"

So much to fix lol

[heady stratus]

gUyS iT's cALeD X nOw lol

[rapid merlin]

You know, if you're really up for it, you can go a long way. Here's what happened to me. I ended up on these console hacking forums by mistake, and they were way over my head. I didn't know a thing about hacking back then. But after about 3-4 weeks of diving into it, things started making sense. I was just 10 years old, spending every waking moment after school on it.

If you are dedicated it's really doable.

[molten sky]

he just wanted to put that domain name to after 20 years of holding

if he just made a name USING x it would be fineish

but JUST x is dumb af

[sinful moon]

It's funny, you can tell Elon is still in 90s grunge phase, especially with that

[heady stratus]

Man, you must've been hacking like xbox 360 games at that time, yeah?

[sinful moon]

gotta redesign "X" icon to look scuffed up and grunge because... reasons?

Realistically it is the above, he's had the X brand for 20+ years lol

[rapid merlin]

Pretty much I remember stumbling upon a website with "hacking" and "Xbox" in the URL, and I was totally baffled. Then, I saw people sharing pictures of motherboards and having discussions in this highly advanced language, throwing around assembly and C code like it was nothing. It really caught my interest because I wanted to be part of that kind of community. That's where I learned the hacker mindset—they showed me how to truly learn and cultivate that way of thinking. It started from there. I literally just wanted them to listen to what I was saying and be like yes that's a good idea.

[molten sky]

literally only two other single letter ones exit, the other 23 can't be registered

he planned to use it for paypal

[sinful moon]

Yes he was unironically, despite him stealing/buying out all his other big ideas

[buoyant tree]

which ones

[molten sky]

ah sorry there's 6 rn

[sinful moon]

Just look up IANA domain name restrictions and policies

[molten sky]

oh no 3

the other 3 are .org and .net

[sinful moon]

latest from IANA is... they want to make .internal TLD a thing for... interal. lol, blocked at internet DNS level

[molten sky]

lovely x.org

[sinful moon]

to replace ad-hoc .local and etc

[molten sky]

dumb to replace. should be an alt. i can see different use cases for each

[sinful moon]

Yeah iirc they had some concerns about .local I couldn't remember. and .private had obvious concerns in naming

[heady stratus]

Interesting. At 10 years old that's impressive. I remember hearing of the playstation hack by anonymous in 2010 or 2012 or something and being fascinated that people could hack into playstation. I then heard that they used C++ and then I started learning programming because of that...I wish I got into the hacking side of things earlier but oh well. Learning programming languages seems to be helpful with hacking anyways

[molten sky]

(btw the above list is a partial --- it includes originally only --- .org was reopened to single letters, .com never was)

[buoyant tree]

Gotta love that I am being asked to hack into the election's

when they are still being done by hand in Pakistan

[molten sky]

can you hack the internet for me

thx

[rapid merlin]

That was a great time. People were really passionate about console hacking. Generally speaking C++ is very useful if you aim low level hacking.

[buoyant tree]

eh if it was online anybody could hack into it

Pakistan has terrible cybersec as I said

[molten sky]

no, like the internet

hack the internet

[buoyant tree]

yes I can

[sinful moon]

Thanks for all the phishing btw, had a couple Pakistan TLD reciently lol

[buoyant tree]

nice, what were the scams about

[molten sky]

i'll be waiting for it to be transferred to me thx

[twin ridge]

Gave +1 Rep to @buoyant tree (current: #173 - 35)

[molten sky]

damnit

[buoyant tree]

I hacked you to get me more reputation

[molten sky]

th.x

[sinful moon]

lol we have Pakistan GeoIP blocked but most were using stuff like mailgun/AmazonSES and similar to send

[rapid merlin]

It's unfortunate that we don't see that kind of passion anymore. People seem to have lost the true hacker mindset.

[buoyant tree]

quite annoying for legitmate users

gotta be on a vpn 24/7

[sinful moon]

None of our businessess have any reason to communicate with Pakistan lol

[buoyant tree]

what industry do u work in

[molten sky]

tbh the odds of a legitimate email coming from pakistan for a local elemetry school of 70 stuents is quite low

[heady stratus]

Kids be learning fortnite dances now instead of hacking. Such a shame

[molten sky]

i'm gonna block paki

[sinful moon]

All, we manage small to medium businesses IT

[buoyant tree]

oh k

[molten sky]

ッ.top is for sale if y'all want it

[buoyant tree]

by any chance u work at accenture

[sinful moon]

None of them have any reason to be talking to Middle East anything so easier to block it all lol

[molten sky]

91kUSD

[molten sky]

nah

[buoyant tree]

a lotta of my friend's in the US work there

[sinful moon]

No

[rapid merlin]

Yes, it's disappointing. Makes them turn into idiots. But it's not for everyone though, you need a certain level of intelligence for this. My whole generation is a lost cause to be honest haha.

[molten sky]

they already were if they were on tiktok

it just reinforced it

[rapid merlin]

That makes things even worse.

[sinful moon]

Main complaint is how mobile focused kids are these days, many don't understand filesystems

just expect all files to live under a bucket assigned to each app

[molten sky]

*hands floppy* what's this save button for?

[sinful moon]

even see that with the younger CSRs at work

[buoyant tree]

we don't talk about that

[rapid merlin]

Certainly but those who are bright and determined will always find a way to be productive and create something interesting to move forward with. Like I said, intelligence plays a huge role.

[heady stratus]

If they're emailing world leaders then I applaud them

[sinful moon]

There's certiantly exceptions but it's kind a wild majority who are now 100% mobile focused and have to adjust to using a PC

[molten sky]

yeah you really should be using excel for that

[rapid merlin]

Yes, it's true. Many are practically addicted to their phones (they can't work without it nor adapt to something else).

[heady stratus]

changing the neurological pathways with apps like that. Pretty crazy

[sinful moon]

It's just kind of a wild change, I don't want to get into weird generation wars, but yeah we all had to use and understand PCs intimately to even get into online stuff

[buoyant tree]

eh my sister is that way

Can't touch a laptop

but always on her phone

treats windows/linux as alien tech

[rapid merlin]

It's a fact that people of my generation are actual morons just check the news.

[molten sky]

that's partially why they're morons

[sinful moon]

Indeed, it's wild to see young people struggle so hard at basic PC tasks these days

Fair showing your age but I tip my hat to you

[rapid merlin]

Not going to lie, I enjoy it because it reduces competition.

You can easily standout (miles ahead).

[buoyant tree]

but it dooms the future of humanity

[sinful moon]

Yep my thinking exactly lol

[buoyant tree]

can't even open up file explorer or cmd prompt on windows also

[molten sky]

and then there's me who can use all of it and also hates all of it

[buoyant tree]

asked my sister to open up cmd like a normal thing, asked me what that is

[rapid merlin]

But you don't want everyone to be dumb. Just a decent majority, so those who are talented can easily exploit it and evolve.

[buoyant tree]

exploit the stupid people

[sinful moon]

Whew cmd, that's pretty advanced. But realistically never ask a end user to cmd for you lol. That's when you take over

[buoyant tree]

just told her to open cmd

then run py ./main.py

[sinful moon]

In IT you will have these tools to do so remotely

[sinful moon]

No that's too advanced for a typical end user, I'm not even kidding

[rapid merlin]

Some people are destined to be leaders or exceptional researchers, while others nothing due to negative behavior and lack of intelligence.

[buoyant tree]

But DAYMN Ellie Alien is super crispy like it seems like a 2023 movie

[heady stratus]

that's sad

[molten sky]

amatuer mistake. you should have had a if __main__: main so she didn't need the extra 10 or so characters

[sinful moon]

It's more than to be expected lol

we're their IT for a reason at work lol

No I don't expect these lawyers and accountants to know how to open CMD. We can do it for them via our tooling lol

That's what RMM is for and etc

[heady stratus]

I worked with a lady recently and had to show her how to bookmark a tab on her browser...I was baffled

[sinful moon]

lol just wait until you see more, it's insane if you get into help desk'

[buoyant tree]

AI what's that

[molten sky]

cause people dumb

oh you asked why shouldn't they

[buoyant tree]

oh u mean Al' from the store?

[molten sky]

oh i misread again

ignore me

[heady stratus]

I might just give up on the world if I get into help desk

[buoyant tree]

Eh I keep up to date on what AI's capable of

until now nothing too scary

[sinful moon]

Help desk can often be your foot in the door for IT

[molten sky]

someone should write me a gui

i don't wanna

[buoyant tree]

yea heard that a lot

[buoyant tree]

use streamlit

[rapid merlin]

I mean, the cybersecurity talent landscape is also getting nuked by influencers recommending it and trivializing it. Remember, these are the same people who suggest cybersecurity to individuals whose most advanced software experience is using the task manager.

[buoyant tree]

https://docs.streamlit.io

[sinful moon]

I escelated very quick from heldesk to infosec and sysadmin but yeah all depends

[buoyant tree]

my favorite tool to build quick gui's

[molten sky]

that looks like a webapp and also python

[buoyant tree]

what lang u buildin in

and yes it builds a webapp

and its super simple

[molten sky]

anything that's not a webapp and that doesn't require a language to be preinstalled

[buoyant tree]

and looks good

[buoyant tree]

just compile python

[molten sky]

like c, c++, C3, net, rust, anything ifc

[buoyant tree]

pyinstaller

[molten sky]

tf

what even

[sinful moon]

uh my current job which is Windows sysadmin, sole Linux sysadmin, sole infosec, sole compliance manager, sole devops, also have to dip into help desk at times lol...

No I don't totally enjoy having all these job roles in one but is the best job I've ever had I can't deny

[buoyant tree]

didnt u know u can compile python

nukita also exists

[buoyant tree]

eh and its all remote so u really can't complain

[molten sky]

i never had a reason to look

when compiled, ir tuns natively?

[heady stratus]

I never had a good experience with pyinstaller

[molten sky]

no need for py?

[sinful moon]

It is when I don't have enough time in any day to do it all but yes

[buoyant tree]

yea

[molten sky]

huh.

webapp still no good, but TIL

i'll have to keep that in my back pocket

[sinful moon]

I've been trying to run vulnerability scans against all clients since Jan 1st. I've got through two of them...

[heady stratus]

I've been hearing/meeting lots of people like that too

[sinful moon]

Just kinda insane workload. Just try not to wear all the hats if you end up in small business. Learn when to say no and specalize if possible.

I did speciaize but agreed to too much

[molten sky]

well

unless you get something in return

i had a good bit of stake in the company i was at and we were trying to sell

[sinful moon]

But I have a boss who asks questions like "Urgent: Who knows X clients datacenter well"...

"Uh I know it pretty well"... Okay you're now on a 2:30 PM call with datacenter and other major stakes people after that no context question

[buoyant tree]

probably learn to say no

[sinful moon]

That's what I said above but, saying no there was not replying at all to a "Urgent" all hands message lol

[chilly veldt]

Morning

[molten sky]

m

[sinful moon]

o
r
n
i
n
g

finished it for you

[rapid merlin]

Out of every 10 people (you mentioned), only 1 will truly succeed because they have genuinely discovered their new passion. Cybersecurity is a field where intelligence and genuine talent play a significant role because it's not meant for everyone.

[chilly veldt]

I have to get out of bed, and I don't want to

[sinful moon]

also one complaint I have, what's up with all these business software having Discords all of the sudden

I don't want to have to make a work discord lol

[molten sky]

i can dm you a powershell bug from hell if you want a good jump to wake up

[chilly veldt]

Hmmmmm

[rapid merlin]

That's sound advice; let them try it out, and I can guarantee that only 1 will truly stick to it because it's not a get-rich-quick scheme.

[sinful moon]

Hah thank goodness I didn't say yes to you for "powershell bug" knowing your scripts

[rapid merlin]

Trend.

[chilly veldt]

Slack!

[molten sky]

im in pain

[sinful moon]

No we moved off of Trend because they're not a great AV vendor... I kid lol

[rapid merlin]

Definitely.

[sinful moon]

But yeah Slack or Teams would be more sensabile in a business enviroment

I'm just weirded out by our pospective RMM vendor reminding us that we can join their discord lol. Like you're enterprise grade RMM tech...

[molten sky]

seriously? they use discord now?

that's dumb af

[rapid merlin]

I mean, it's the same thing with OSCP. Some think just obtaining it will make them "1337 leet" hackers. They don't even know what's in the exam but boast about trying to pass it. Security influencers promote this ideal image of "do this" or "do that" without understanding the full scope. You genuinely don't want people in cybersecurity who only do it for money and have not a single care for the field.

[sinful moon]

Yeah it's wild

[rapid merlin]

100% also way more serious and professional looking.

[torpid ether]

Nah like a community Discord, for free support.

[rapid merlin]

Just read discord emails, it's hilarious to see that in a professional environment.

[torpid ether]

I've seen a few vendors do that.

[sinful moon]

It's a bit more understandable for open source CIPP project (O365/Azure/Microsoft stuff portal all in one pane of glass project). But less so for commercial RMM

[molten sky]

i'm in a bunch of foss discord servers

i never use them but i'm there

business tho?

[sinful moon]

Which btw, if anyone has a multi-tenant O365/Azure enviroment, can highly recommend this: https://cipp.app/

[molten sky]

weird

i actually just stole some code from another foss project i'm in the discord for

cause microsoft sucks

[rapid merlin]

Microsoft is good.

[molten sky]

go away

[rapid merlin]

They have good products.

[sinful moon]

lol

[rapid merlin]

Windows is awesome.

[molten sky]

obviously plant

[sinful moon]

wait until you have to support them

[molten sky]

glowy

[sinful moon]

professionally

[molten sky]

glowy begone

[rapid merlin]

I like Windows especially 11.

[sinful moon]

sus meter is having trouble

[molten sky]

blink twice if they're holding you hostage

[heady stratus]

lmao

[rapid merlin]

Personally, I've never encountered any issues.

[sinful moon]

How are you this into infosec and not on Linux yet?

uhh...

[rapid merlin]

I have both.

[molten sky]

my entire job the last week has been writing stuff to demicrosoft/decrapify windows

they suck

[rapid merlin]

I am never going to daily drive linux.

[molten sky]

it sucks

everything they touch sucks

[sinful moon]

Okay, how can you still stand Microsoft spying on you and etc

[molten sky]

especially azure

azure sucks

god i hate azure

[sinful moon]

Did you go all out on Local Group Policy and more?

[rapid merlin]

If they truly want your data they will get it either way.

[molten sky]

the only thing they haven't ruined yet it github, and they're tryin to now

[sinful moon]

Dude they give you these controls to turn this stuff off for orgs compliance wise

just turn off their bs in Local Group Policy

[molten sky]

i'm on at least 13 watchlists and i'm still not gonna make it easier for them

[sinful moon]

There's so much stuff you got to disable in Windows before it's sane from a security and privacy standpoint

[molten sky]

soo sooo much

and those tweaks only work for a month

then they change it

[rapid merlin]

When you first install do OOBE\BYPASSNRO, it will skip online account.

[sinful moon]

Once you get into AD and Group Policy that will be a game changer for you

[molten sky]

just did this a week ago lol, was annoying

[sinful moon]

[e-mail] will also do

[rapid merlin]

It's literally shift+f10 and type it.

Takes 15 seconds max and makes the whole install process very quickly.

[molten sky]

i could use gpo and ad and such for this, but i want it to be as portable as possible and still function where gpo isn't supported

[bold dawn]

i do it often

[molten sky]

easy =/= not annoying

[heady stratus]

I like this guy lol

[sinful moon]

Yeah I can’t live without Pro on my personal devices if nothing but for Local Group Policy

[molten sky]

and virtualization support

[rapid merlin]

Personally, I don't really download anything else on my computer besides study materials or some files to test. I don't bother with customization, so in 99% of cases, any supported Windows version will do the job for me.

[sinful moon]

Yeah Azure and ugh Entra ID, thanks for the rename MS, still don’t reach the levels of on prem

[molten sky]

it's aad

always will be

[sinful moon]

Exactly

[molten sky]

entra would be a fine name tbh if they started it like that

[rapid merlin]

Well, I think 15 seconds is not bad.

[sinful moon]

Still says so in their URLs to manage Entra ID lol

[molten sky]

it's not AD after all

but don't change what's ubiquitous

[sinful moon]

Yeah they built up too much clout with Azure AD already

And makes too much sense

[rapid merlin]

I get it, which is why I also have Ubuntu on the side which I use frequently.

[molten sky]

your guy's first mistake was downloading windows

[rapid merlin]

You need to know Windows, it's important.

[molten sky]

you can know it and also despise it

[sinful moon]

VMs

[molten sky]

^

[sinful moon]

You yourself said you don’t game

[molten sky]

i've got half a dozen open rn

[rapid merlin]

Sure but personally it works very well for me.

[sinful moon]

So you literally don’t need windows

[rapid merlin]

I genuinely like Windows.

[buoyant swallow]

What are some good THM rooms/paths for learning reverse engineering skills for the purposes of solving CTFs?

[molten sky]

oh shit i forgot we have reverse eng rooms

[rapid merlin]

Do you know assembly?

[molten sky]

i should take a look myself

[sinful moon]

Sweet summer child, you will be jaded before long

[rapid merlin]

I started with Windows, I will never forget it.

[buoyant swallow]

No but I want to learn it.

[rapid merlin]

I also have Ubuntu so I am good either way.

I just dual boot.

[molten sky]

i don't like ubuntu either tbh lol

still better than ms tho

[rapid merlin]

Ubuntu is awesome.

It's quick, fast and look good.

[molten sky]

canonical is a shady company

[sinful moon]

I started with Win 95, should I switch back to that?

[rapid merlin]

Linux is Linux.

[sinful moon]

Sorry we’re giving you a hard time half in jest

[molten sky]

linux is linux. ubuntu is not linux. ubuntu is built on top of linux.

[molten sky]

^^ heavy emphasis on this

[rapid merlin]

Of course, not but that doesn't mean you should ditch Windows altogether.

[sinful moon]

You’re fine and it’s sensible, but you will see some issues over time

[rapid merlin]

Or go on HackTheBox labs and do the challenges.

[rapid merlin]

If I do I will just either fix if I care enough or fully switch to Ubuntu.

Wow, I totally forgot about that.

I will check it out again.

[sinful moon]

To be fair I deploy Ubuntu Server at work since it’s sane and potentially future employees can manage fine. Is it my ideal? No

[buoyant swallow]

This looks promising are they free or is there some kind of pay model?

[molten sky]

saying "ubuntu is linux" as a way to disregard all the shady things they've done is like saying "chevy is driveshaft" and ignoring when the lifters disintegrate

[rapid merlin]

Ubuntu is very easy to use, I also like the design.

[molten sky]

i forgot how to spell disintegrate for a minute so that took my a sec to type

[rapid merlin]

Gnome terminal and so on.

[rapid merlin]

It is linux.

[molten sky]

chevy is driveshaft

no engine

just driveshaft

[sinful moon]

Ouch okay I need to tap out lol, I am not a fan of GNOME3 bloat one bit

[rapid merlin]

I don't care about ustomization or anything like that. I just want a distro to plug in and install quickly.

It's reliable, fast and decent.

[sinful moon]

I will just say, you will not learn Linux just sticking to Ubuntu and not doing more digging

[molten sky]

for the most part I can agree. just saying that canonical has done shady things before and still somewhat

[sinful moon]

And especially by not trying to use Linux as your main

[buoyant swallow]

https://www.linuxfromscratch.org/ ever see this?

[sinful moon]

No step too far lol

But good for experience eventually

[molten sky]

LFS is a whole 'nother discussion lmao

[rapid merlin]

I already have another distro setup for each specific use cases (malware reverse engineering, ctf's and so on). For me the computer is just a tool. I don't care much about anything else.

[sinful moon]

I’ve done a build before myself, it’s purely for learning

[rapid merlin]

If I need to learn more about it I will probably find a way to do so with Ubuntu.

[sinful moon]

I just worry you won’t learn low level Linux as well by sticking to your current path

[rapid merlin]

If I have to learn low level linux I can just open a vm and try it there.

[buoyant swallow]

I mean Ubuntu is a good place to start I think if you just want to get used to a Linux environment. I would move on to something else once you get familliar with it but I think it's a decent starting place.

[rapid merlin]

Ubuntu is good 100% of the time.

Unless you are doing anything entreprise level or highly specific use cases.

For me Linux will always remain a tool no matter what.

[molten sky]

i can agree with many just not 100%

[rapid merlin]

If you are savvy enough you can make it work.

It's literally Linux.

[sinful moon]

Ironically enterprise grade is kinda fine with Ubuntu Server. But yeah Ubuntu is not good for low end hardware and much more if you mean the primary desktop release

[buoyant swallow]

I personally use Fedora with the pop os shell but I broke the pop os shell and am not sure how I broke it or how to fix it LOL

[rapid merlin]

I don't have low end hardware, so I am good then.

[sinful moon]

iirc PopOS shell is just GNOME 3 with sensable extensions

shouldn't bee too hard to fix

[molten sky]

asked myself why tf i was using ubuntu server and couldn't give myself an answer. switched back to deb for server after that

[buoyant swallow]

It's the only reason I use gnome lol

[molten sky]

a bit more stable theoretically

[rapid merlin]

Tried KDE and xfce, too different.

[sinful moon]

Doesn't mean you should use the heaviest desktop enviroment Linux has to offer just cuz. Heck there's a reason the other DE spins exist

[rapid merlin]

Gnome is good.

[molten sky]

ouch

[sinful moon]

Experiment, this is what linux and computing is about

Most agree that GNOME 3 is kinda garbage

besides the die hard fans

[molten sky]

obviously subjective but i seriously dislike gnome3

[buoyant swallow]

What is a good alternative to POP OS shell because I love how that manages windows

[molten sky]

very mac like as well

[molten sky]

i use kde 🤷‍♂️ i prefer a well configured xfce but i also don't care enough to do the work to configure it

[rapid merlin]

It works fine and looks good, no need to change. I am not like other people who needs to use X or Y distro to feel like a hacker. If you are savvy enough you can make anything work. When I first started I learned everything on WinXP and Win7. I only got into Linux much later.

[sinful moon]

Possibly Cinnamon DE (The defualt of Mint but avaliable under others). Alternative XFCE is great if you don't mind a bit older XP/Win 7 kinda UI vibes.

Otherwise could take a hard turn and go KDE

[molten sky]

i personally don't like cinnamon but it does have a big following

tends to run well as well

[sinful moon]

If you never customize linux or learn how this works low leven then you will miss something

[sinful moon]

Agreed, also main caveat is it traditionally had issues with high refresh rate displays and gaming

lol

[rapid merlin]

Most of the customization doesn't involve low-level coding. If it's purely cosmetic, I won't bother with it. While I'm sure you can customize to achieve X, Y, or Z, it's just not something I'm interested in.

[lament axle]

hi can anyone help me

[rapid merlin]

Basic linux works very fine and can do anything I want on it.

[sinful moon]

I mean what each package does and why. How it all plugs together to make a cohesive whole

[lament axle]

i am stuck at two labs

[rapid merlin]

Yes but fundamentally it's something you can learn very quickly if you care about it.

[buoyant tree]

Ellie gr8 comedy

[sinful moon]

What does gvfs-mtp do for you in your Gnome install? I can tell you instantally

[buoyant swallow]

I mean if you want low level you can set up Gentoo

[torpid ether]

Lmao yeah all this stuff is very gatekeepy.

[rapid merlin]

That was my first distro.

[rapid merlin]

A true hacker or someone savvy can work on anything. No need to use X or Y distro. Get Ubuntu or whatever and just learn.

[buoyant tree]

Gravity falls

[lament axle]

anyone plz help me

[sinful moon]

(It handles media transfer protocol for mobile devices when plugged into your file manager, if you don't have this package then it's broken in your file manager)

[molten sky]

? i don't follow

[rapid merlin]

I could probably learn that if I truly have to.

[sinful moon]

Yeah idk, single time I mentioned Arch I said specifically use the OS which is best for you

[molten sky]

yeah we agree -- we just don't like canonical

[lament axle]

anyone ready to help

[rapid merlin]

Sure that's the beauty of linux though. You can use X and I can use Y.

If using something else works well for you then stick to it.

[sinful moon]

Try in #room-help which is a better space for these questions, thanks!

[twin ridge]

Gave +1 Rep to @lament axle (current: #1990 - 1)

[rapid merlin]

I am just not wasting my time with other distros.

[sinful moon]

lol whoops, but you get the thanks anyways

[sinful moon]

Mistake

[scarlet mantle]

weeks pass so fast

and its good

[lament axle]

so come here can help me

[scarlet mantle]

its infinite anyway

[sinful moon]

Distro hopping is very natural point of learning Linux

don't get into just Ubuntu silo

[rapid merlin]

Most people use other distros because they can customize them cosmetically. I highly doubt many of them change anything at a low level (that's a highly specific use case).

[sinful moon]

how do you update packages on a Red Hat Enteprise Linux system at work?

[rapid merlin]

That's rpm I suppose, I don't deal with it.

Like I said, I can probably learn it in 30 minutes by reading the man page.

[molten sky]

oh i saw the photo, i'm just confused about the relevancy 😂 was the solaris build somehow sec related?

small screen

[sinful moon]

It is RPM, but what package manager? Yes you can search it but why not have some experience with Fedora in case you run into RHEL at work

very very common in business Linux stuff

[buoyant swallow]

What do you mean by changing stuff at a low level?

[rapid merlin]

Implementing changes in the code base.

[molten sky]

nice username

[rapid merlin]

If I have to, I will.

[molten sky]

that's like all of linux, low and high

linux is code

[sinful moon]

I'm not arguaging to make changes to the code base, I'm arguing for learning linux fundimentally and what everything does

If you just use GNOME 3 Ubuntu and nothing else, you will have a limited perspective

That is all I'm trying to say, but I'm glad you're ahead of the pack for peeps your age already

I'm just saying, be flexable and learn more Linux, this will get you ahead professionally

[rapid merlin]

Like I said if I have to learn I will. It's easy stuff to learn.

[scarlet mantle]

why no pfp

[rapid merlin]

Don't care to change it.

[sinful moon]

Why don't you want to then?

[rapid merlin]

Because I prefer focusing on other more important things.

[sinful moon]

Linux OS internals is pretty important for security but alright

For example, big Polkit privilage escelation about two years ago, that's a pretty invisible system for most Ubuntu users but is fundimental to nearly all Linux. Not something you'd typically interact with from a high level

[rapid merlin]

I will get to it when the time comes, I am just focusing on something else on the side which is fundamental and important.

Same thing with CVE-2023-40547 discovered recently.

[sinful moon]

Totally fair, and sorry to harp on you so much, you're totally fine and I admire your enthusiasm

I just know for my 18 years on Linux, learning this stuff was critical to me deploying headless serves and more at work, protecting them and more

[rapid merlin]

Don't be sorry you have your reasons.

I am currently learning Windows Exploit development.

So I focus all my time on that.

Once I am done with that (which I never will or more like switch my focus to Linux). I will eat Linux night and day.

[sinful moon]

Mhmm totally fair, but we are seeing a lot more Linux endpoints these days than before, even in small/medium business

[rapid merlin]

Goodnight.

[sinful moon]

docker/kubuernates too attractive

G'night!

[molten sky]

n

[rapid merlin]

Yes, I will learn Linux more deeply eventually.

[sinful moon]

Totally fair, I'll lol stand down

[brisk tree]

this password doesnt seem to work

[scarlet mantle]

hey madscot how's the internship goin

did u check num lock?

[rapid merlin]

No you are ok, you have your reasons and it's not like you are saying nonesense. It's important to learn.

[sinful moon]

You haven't launched the machine in the room yet, if you had [MACHINE_IP] would be filled in

[molten sky]

not always tbh

some rooms are weird

but very possible

[brisk tree]

i was sure i had clicked it

oh well

[brisk tree]

very intense

[rapid merlin]

Just keep retrying.

[sinful moon]

Did you access the machine properly then?

[molten sky]

you want intense?

[scarlet mantle]

positively?

[molten sky]

well i have a pretty intense bug i could use some hands on........

[buoyant swallow]

I don't think this is bad tbh Windows is a good system to target if you want to learn to exploit vulnerabilities as an attacker LOL

[brisk tree]

i have till sunday to do 13 try hack me rooms all with loads of questions this includes loads of the christmas ones and metaspolitable 2 ahahaha

[scarlet mantle]

*-*

[sharp sail]

Welp this was an experience to say the least

[rapid merlin]

It's the most important thing to learn. Especially if you are learning about all these mitigations : ASLR, DEP, CFI, NX and so forth.
Exploit guard is a masterpiece.

[scarlet mantle]

hop u like it

they supposed to guide u as well right, not just give u work to do on ur own

[glossy portal]

@rapid merlin Would you mind sharing your resources for learning exploit development

[rapid merlin]

Sure thing.

[molten sky]

honestly just fire her

get her tf out of there

no sev

[brisk tree]

only with some stuff. alot of the rooms are intense

[sinful moon]

Yeah instantly sharing empoyee badge number on social media is super questionable

[glossy portal]

wtf

[scarlet mantle]

Gl

[sharp sail]

Welp she has till today

According to my manager's manager

[buoyant swallow]

Yeah you can use a flipper or proxmark to clone those from a picture.

[molten sky]

honestly she shouldn't even get the option

if it were me i'd want her gone

not good for the culture there

[graceful thistle]

but this is Europe

[molten sky]

hey dolph

[graceful thistle]

a little more chill

hi

[molten sky]

sure but don't y'all have a probationary period literally for that reason

so if people are asshats you can kick em out with repercu.

[sinful moon]

Badge number won't always share the same RFID if they're smart, but yeah, signs of poor security ideals out of the gate from this employee

[sharp sail]

Well she already had a 3hr long meeting with hr I heard

[molten sky]

our badges when i was in the city didn't even have any company info on it

[graceful thistle]

if she is on probation but didn't get that out of these messages

[molten sky]

literally just your name and photo

no company name, logo, or anything

[rapid merlin]

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/resources/windows-internals (Windows Internals 7th edition (Part 1) covers the architecture and core internals of Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016).

MIT courseware classes.

Know how to code in C and Assembly books.

Learn Ghidra or IDA pro (if you have it), OllyDbg and so on.

Do it for a while and you will get to it.

[glossy portal]

Thank you

[twin ridge]

Gave +1 Rep to @signal nimbus (current: #1319 - 2)

[sinful moon]

Yeah lol typically you just buy a bunch of blanks and only print as much info as needed, indded

[rapid merlin]

No problem

[molten sky]

sounded like she was brand new (from: after welcoming her to the company . . . . . photo online)

[sharp sail]

But no worries i already took it down before it was posted over an hour haha

[sinful moon]

At least you're more than on the right track there X509

[buoyant swallow]

They are both pretty fun that was how I got interested in security lol

[molten sky]

one of my pass times is plotting how to break into places (not actually ofc, but just comes with the security thinking), and i love picking out people in crowds with their ID loosely on their belt with all their crap on it

[graceful thistle]

then possibly she would get more lenience because she is new x) anyway

[molten sky]

just snatch and now you're inside their co

[sharp sail]

Welp i'm not gonna say the details because could be crawled but kinda like that

But her badge is reset anyways

[rapid merlin]

Yeah, I'm quite dedicated. It's just really fascinating to me.

[sinful moon]

Or heck these days brush it with flipperzero or similar

[buoyant swallow]

Easier said than done without a longer range antenna build LOL

[sinful moon]

Their use case was untidy employee with it hanging around

[molten sky]

if i hire someone and on Day 1 they start throwing names around and calling people misogynists because they don't like being told they did something against policy, they're a liability. i'm firing them asap.

[sinful moon]

you could easily do a simple bump and "sorry" that's easily unnoticed

[sharp sail]

Not because it was in a hallway that has cameras so the managers knew what she did and acted before she even went up to them

[torpid ether]

Tbh the Flipper doesn't really read that quickly.

[rapid merlin]

@glossy portal You can also read this : https://www.blackhat.com/presentations/bh-usa-05/BH_US_05-Jack_White_Paper.pdf It's a bit old but it's about remote windows kernel exploitation into ring 0 (you will learn the thought process).

[molten sky]

y'all ever see those weaponized garage door readers?

pretty cool actually

[torpid ether]

It'd be like bump "Oops sorry, let me hold my hand here for 3-4 seconds"

[buoyant swallow]

Yeah I have had better luck with a proxmark inside a long sleeve shirt

[sinful moon]

It's reasonably fine for RFID in my experience but fair, I've done most of my testing in controlled conditions

lol being 800 miles away from my orgs where this would be practical kinda limits me

but fun to play with

[torpid ether]

Sounds like a fun test scenario. Never tried such a thing.

[sinful moon]

Yeah Proxmark was the other device I was trying to think of

that has a much larger antenna for such afaik

[buoyant swallow]

Yeah you still gotta be within like an inch max though but you can attach extenal antennas and then you're in buisness

[sharp sail]

Well i also wrote policies on physical access and each employee has to ask someone not familiar for their badge

And also wrote that one person goes in at a time

No tailgating allowed

[molten sky]

are you talking about to get into the dc?

[buoyant swallow]

https://github.com/Proxmark/proxmark3/wiki/antennas

[sharp sail]

I'm talkin about physical access

[sinful moon]

Ideally into just their business in the first place

[tame kayak]

I don't know if this is allowed, but Posting for awareness https://www.humblebundle.com/books/cybersecurity-2024-from-packt-books

[sinful moon]

Datacetner needs much more protection than even this

[molten sky]

ah nvm i misintrepretted this part

each employee has to ask someone not familiar for their badge

i thought you were saying to get their badge

like someone else has it

[sharp sail]

That is monitored by facilities

[molten sky]

yeah was confused

[buoyant swallow]

I started with an interest in physical security if you can find a door without a camera you can use a schlague lishi to decode the pins for the master key

[sharp sail]

Thats American only

European hinges are different

[molten sky]

i've literally used garbage -- a lishi is overkill in so many cases

well not to decode but to pop

[sinful moon]

I think the Teams meeting my Boss put me on with datacenter and a client stakeholder was canceled last minute because we both weren't authorized per-datacenter policies

like that's good stuff, not even a Teams meeting lol

[sharp sail]

Well i have basically the authority to ask an employee if i have reasonable suspicion or alert to question them and show all their tech gear

[rapid merlin]

Sure, no need to ask.

[sharp sail]

But thats super rare

[sinful moon]

[for context it's a rule on the TryHackMe discord to ask for consent first]

[sharp sail]

Good that i don't let emotions get control of me, it's all business for me

[buoyant swallow]

You guys ever watch diviant ollam's defcon talks?

[molten sky]

i used to but it got a bit repetative

[sharp sail]

That's why i didn't argue against said employee when she accused if being that thing

[molten sky]

he also started getting a bit political which i don't watch security stuff for

[sinful moon]

Yeah lol I saw that word and was like wtf until I read more. Insane lady

[sharp sail]

I mean it was recorded with audio the managers were impressed how professional i handled that altercation

[sinful moon]

Yeah perfect, good stuff

[molten sky]

that's the way to go. i'd probably laugh tbh. after a second or two of "tf? did i hear that right?" confusion

[sharp sail]

No I don't i just do ear in and ear out

[molten sky]

OH MY GOD WAIT

THE BUG

[sinful moon]

lol better person than me or likely null there, I'd let it simmer in resentment and also humor, but yeah much smaller orgs than it sounds like you're dealing with

Although hard for anyone to call me a misogynist lol. Wild situation and handled well

[timid prism]

what is misogynist

doctor?

[sharp sail]

Well i learned from that diplomatic approach always is the best way to go about those things

[graceful thistle]

lol

lets move to another subject maybe

[sinful moon]

Indeed

[graceful thistle]

not the place etc.

[molten sky]

holy shit

i may have a thing

so many hours

[sharp sail]

Sorry dolph

[graceful thistle]

no worries

[sinful moon]

lol I was the one who finally said "the word". Anyways it literally doesn't matter. Weird employees will be weird

[sharp sail]

I'm gonna give a talk at defcon this year hopefully

[molten sky]

the word?

[sinful moon]

I'm just glad physical access control is not under my pervue. Bit difficult being remote lol