August 5, 2024
• 8 min read
I recently picked up a Yubico YubiKey 5C NFC, a small yet powerful security key that adds an extra layer of protection to my logins. This versatile device supports various security protocols, including FIDO2, U2F, OTP (One-Time Password), and smart card (PIV). Major tech companies like AWS, GitHub, Twitter, Google, Microsoft, and Apple all support security keys for their login processes, highlighting their importance in modern cybersecurity.
One of the standout features of the YubiKey is its adherence to open standards, making it easy to integrate with various products and services.
Read more →July 17, 2024
• 10 min read
I still have every single hard drive I’ve ever used in every computer and laptop I have ever owned. I’ve always been a bit paranoid of doing anything with them, so for the past decade or so I’ve had a shoe box overflowing with all manner of disks rotting in my closet. However, a friend is spilling up a file server, and I’d want to donate some disks to them to get them started.
Read more →February 2, 2024
• 1 min read
Step 1: install required tools 1 2 3 4 $ sudo apt install adb apktool openjdk-11-jdk-headless zipalign apksigner # replace apktool with new version from https://github.com/iBotPeaches/Apktool/releases $ sudo mv /usr/share/apktool/apktool.jar /usr/share/apktool/apktool.jar.original $ sudo mv ~/Downloads/apktool_2.7.0.jar /usr/share/apktool/apktool.jar Step 2: retrieve the APK file 1 2 3 4 5 6 # start by finding the name of the app $ adb shell pm list packages | grep <APP_NAME> # find path of the app $ adb shell pm path <APP> # and pull the APK file $ adb pull <PATH> .
Read more →January 29, 2024
• 2 min read
NetworkManager is a program for providing detection and configuration for systems to automatically connect to networks. NetworkManager’s functionality can be useful for both wireless and wired networks, for wireless networks, NetworkManager prefers known wireless networks and has the ability to switch to the most reliable network.
If you want to reduce someone’s capabilities to track you, you should avoid broadcasting a persistent and likely unique software identifier; an empty (blank) hostname is also an option, but a static hostname of “localhost” is less likely to cause problems.
Read more →January 26, 2024
• 2 min read
LUKS can be used to encrypt a volume that’s stored inside a single file.
Start by creating a 2GB file (1M * 2k) that will hold the LUKS volume and fill it with random bytes. If you’re wondering why the strange filename, Solaris.1971.1080p.BluRay.x264-[YTS.AM].mp4.part, that’s so it is “hidden” as a temporary Transmission torrent file, away from prying eyes (unless your threat model is the NSA). If you want to use a qBittorrent temporary extension, change .
Read more →January 12, 2024
• 2 min read
The USBGuard software framework helps to protect your computer against rogue USB devices (a.k.a. BadUSB) by implementing basic whitelisting and blacklisting capabilities based on device attributes.
Basically, USBGuard prevents all unauthorized USB devices from connecting to your machine.
Start by installing it, if you’re running Ubuntu, Debian or other Debian-based distros:
1 $ sudo apt install usbguard Or, if you’re running Fedora:
1 $ sudo dnf install usbguard Make sure all USB devices that you want to be allowed by default to connect to your system are plugged in (don’t worry about the built-in USB devices, like your laptop webcam or Bluetooth module, they get whitelisted automatically), and generate the default policy:
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