Insert Here Joke About The 'S' In IoT: ___________

                    ─ Anne Rice

            "One moment the world is as it is. The next, it is something entirely different. Something it has never been before."


忍耐 (Nintai) – Endurance & Patience

Life has its twists, turns, tugs, and takes, right?

Lately, I’ve been (kind of) ‘forced’ to plunge into radio waves—5GHz, 2.4GHz, channel allocations, and even how certain countries restrict radio some frequencies.

"Woah, so new job and you got more free time to explore stuff?"

No. Not really.

If anything, I have less free time than ever. Firewalls, network congestion, MAC virtualization, plus remembering things I learned over a year ago, while picking up new tricks along the way. But here’s the thing—I get to manage my time better (to a point). 

Not because the workload is lighter, far from it.

The difference? I’m not buried neck-deep under tickets every minute of my working day. Instead of having problems chase me around nonstop, I carve out specific windows to troubleshoot, test, and develop strategies─tackling issues before they spiral out of control. And when the odd danger moment does come up, I can devote my time and energy to it.

A three-hour troubleshoot session? No problem. An endless stream of tickets for three hours? That drains the life out of you.

Drop by drop.

So, I decided to get my hands dirty and learn a bit about IoT hacking. Why the hell not?

I didn't get the luxury of studying computer science or electrical (or-anything-very-technical-really) engineering for 3 years in college─on the other hand, that gave me the privilege of carving out my own study program, and avoiding dumb, mandatory courses.

I started with this Defcon32 talk, which was surprisingly accessible, straight to the point, and fun. After that, I picked a target, got some basic tools, and started tinkering.

                "Nice IoT you got there, friend. T'would be a shame if something happened to it..."

It's not about going uber deep on this, it's about understanding a bit more about the field, getting our hands dirty and seeing if anything clicks. Also, you never know when any of this might come in useful.

Never in my life have I ever wanted to become a DB engineer, or backend mantainer, but I don't know how many times it has been extremely useful to know how to query a DB or create a View.

And always: The journey is the fun part.

Meanwhile, I've been chipping away at Practical Malware Analysis (yikes, he likes books!) but I'm saving that for later. I'll need some time to organize my notes and scribblings into something half-decent, before that becomes a blog post.

Honestly, I kind of envy the people who seem to have all the time in the world to write massive, in-depth blog posts. How do they do it? I guess, like anything else, it comes down to practice—it gets easier the more you do it.

I'm lucky if I manage to put out one of these out every so often.

But hey─if you're deep into your own projects, I hope you're having fun.

Wherein We Forsake: Farewell and Godspeed

棄 - 'to forsake', 'to discard', 'to renounce'

My friends are leaving.

Some were close friends; others were simply colleagues. But if you think about it, we spend so much time with our workmates that they become more than just faces we see at work—they’re part of our daily lives. For many of us, we see our colleagues more often than our families.

I sleep very little, which gives me some extra home time, but still, the reality is that I spend most of my waking hours surrounded by these people. And now, a significant number of them are gone.

I feel sorry for them and for us. I liked many of them, and from what I saw and heard, most were incredibly skilled at what they did. Their departure wasn’t their fault.

So today’s post is a tribute to them.

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It’s been a month since I’ve written here. In that time, I’ve made a diagonal move in my career (up and to the side) into the role of network specialist. With this role comes a fair amount of autonomy to decide how to implement and secure systems. My onboarding is still ongoing, but I feel the itch to write and return to one of my passions: reverse engineering (RE).

Not today, though. My focus lately has been squarely on network security, and I’ve been wrestling with a thought that might resonate with some of you network addicts:

Network Protection vs. User Accessibility

How do you strike the right balance between keeping a network secure and ensuring it’s user-friendly?

The Freeloader Debate

When managing a network—especially one shared by multiple teams or even public users—you’re forced to ask yourself a tough question:

Do you lock it down, leave it open, or what?

Option 1: Lock It Down?

You could go full-on security mode and control every possible access point. Some options include:

• Blocking unapproved MAC addresses.
• Whitelisting only specific devices.
• Creating VLANs to isolate users and devices.

This approach keeps freeloaders and unauthorized devices off your network. But at what cost?

• Your IT team faces a constant workload managing requests and ensuring critical devices aren’t accidentally blocked.
• Field teams and guests are often frustrated when they can’t connect because their devices are blocked by default, leading to complaints and delays.

Option 2: Leave It Open?

You could take the laissez-faire approach. Just let everyone connect. No restrictions. No extra work.

But this comes with its own set of risks:

• An overloaded network, with too many devices competing for bandwidth and impacting performance for critical systems.
• A wider attack surface, as bad actors could exploit this openness to gain unauthorized access.
• Difficulty in tracing network activity, making it harder to identify devices or users when issues arise.

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As a wise Jedi once said, “Only Sith deal in absolutes.” Neither extreme is sustainable. A locked-down network might keep freeloaders out, but it also hampers legitimate users from getting their work done. On the flip side, an open network exposes you to security risks and performance issues.

Without going into the nitty-gritty of it all, here are some alternative strategies:

1. Set Up a Guest Network
   A dedicated guest network with bandwidth throttling and basic isolation ensures that guests can connect without overwhelming critical systems.

2. Implement Role-Based Access
   Integrate with RADIUS or Active Directory to dynamically assign permissions based on roles.

3. Use Time-Based Access Policies
   Temporary users (e.g., guests or contractors) can be assigned access that automatically expires after a set period, preventing long-term freeloaders.

4. Monitor and Audit Regularly
   NetFlow or your router’s built-in logging can track activity. This helps detect anomalies before they become bigger issues.

This isn’t just about blocking bad actors—it’s about enabling legitimate users while minimizing risk. It’s a game of checks and balances, not unlike managing resources in an economy or a strategy game.

I can’t go into much detail for obvious reasons, but I wanted to share this small glimpse into a different side of cybersecurity—one that’s as much about people as it is about technology.
I know, I know, too basic: and you're right. Besides, the fun is in the little details, and the clever choices you make. Right? But today is not the day for that.

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To My Friends

So, to my friends who weren’t freeloaders, who worked hard, and who I’ll miss:

Stay strong in the trenches, stay inspired, stay healthy, and remember—every system, like every farewell, brings its own challenges and opportunities.

Roger and out.