Blog

• Upgrading My Bitcoin Node with a Dell Optiplex Micro

  In my first foray into running a Bitcoin node, I did what most beginners do: I followed one of the many excellent guides written by enthusiasts. Since I already had Raspberry Pi hardware, I used the wonderful Raspibolt guide. I can’t speak highly enough of the content or the community that has maintained it over the years. I learned so much - not just about Bitcoin, but also about Linux, security, and privacy - thanks to this resource.

• Automating Threat Intel Triage with OpenAI, Miniflux, and Slack

  In threat intelligence the triaging of data is immensely challenging. Unless you have a sophisticated tool - and sometimes even if you do - triage can tend to be a very manual process leading to analyst fatigue and mistakes being made. One way of reducing this workload when on a limited budget is to instruct an AI to act like an analyst, feeding it threat intelligence and getting it to assess the relevance to your organisation. In this post I will illustrate how to do just that.

• Downloading a File from a Target Server Using Azure DevOps and Ansible

  I recently needed to download a file from a target Linux server where direct SCP was prohibited. The server is entirely managed using Ansible playbooks in Azure DevOps. The following post explains how I managed to overcome this problem using artifacts in a pipeline run.

• The Perils of UTXO Consolidation

  Bitcoin is a revolutionary financial system, offering users a high degree of financial sovereignty. However, with that sovereignty comes a responsibility to protect one’s privacy on the blockchain. One action that may seem innocent but can have unintended consequences is UTXO consolidation - the process of combining smaller unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs) into a larger one. While consolidating UTXOs can be useful for simplifying wallet management, it comes with significant privacy risks that every Bitcoin user should be aware of.

• The Myth of Monetary Progress

  In The Bitcoin Standard, Saifedean Ammous argues that societies flourish under “hard money” systems like gold and decline under fiat systems. He ties sound money to cultural excellence, long-term thinking, and historical progress, while blaming fiat currencies for consumerism, short-termism, and moral decline.

  This narrative has a seductive simplicity, but it falls into the same trap as many other theories of history: it replaces one myth of linear progress with another. Far from offering a nuanced view of human development, Ammous’s argument recycles an overly deterministic and reductive framework.

• Running a VPN Client on a Router in Combination with Pi-Hole

  Using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a powerful way to enhance your online privacy and security. A VPN encrypts your internet connection and hides your device’s location, ensuring no one can track your online activities. Typically, a VPN is installed directly on a device, but by configuring it on your router, you can extend its protection to your entire network, safeguarding every connected device.

• A Critical View of Bitcoin’s Ideological Foundations

  Bitcoin’s ideological roots are grounded in a blend of libertarianism, anti-authoritarianism, Austrian economics, and cypherpunk thought. Its core philosophy is centered around decentralisation, individual freedom, and skepticism toward centralised systems of control, especially government and financial institutions. As such, Bitcoin is often viewed as both a technological innovation and a political statement against traditional power structures.

• Verifying Multisig xpubs on Bitbox and Trezor Hardware Wallets

  Multi-signature (multisig) refers to requiring multiple keys to authorize a Bitcoin transaction. Whilst a multisig setup can offer substantial security benefits it also comes with certain risks. As documented in a Bitbox post back in 2020, most hardware wallet (HW) multisig setups can be pretty insecure. In particular, that post rightly pointed out the difficulties at that time with verifying the extended public key (xpub) of certain HWs.

• Configuring Policies in Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management (MDEASM) via API

  This is a brief post explaining how to configure policies in Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management (MDEASM) through its API. Although the policies functionality has been available in MDEASM for some time, the process for configuring them via the API has, unfortunately, not yet been documented.

• Analysing Formbook Malware

  I was recently alerted to an email containing an attachment named 3D PICTURE DRAWING DESIGN.pdf (SHA-256: 6657978de693874ef0b1d7491ff7ecc4066631d88b1481b19d9913d56356fd81). When opened the pdf tries to trick the user into clicking on an embedded link that leads to hxxps://filebin.net/v84mk8ucvp2m702e/3D_PICTURE_DRAWING.pif

• Transferring a Large File to a Target Server Using Azure DevOps, CyberArk, and Ansible

  I recently needed to drop a large file onto a target Linux server where direct SCP was prohibited. The server is entirely managed using Ansible playbooks in Azure DevOps with it’s credentials stored in CyberArk. Ok no problem…maybe?

• How to Set Up Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management (MDEASM) using Terraform and Azure DevOps

  Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management (MDEASM) is an Azure based security service that helps organizations gain visibility and manage their external attack surface. I was recently presented with the challenge of having to deploy and configure this resource entirely through code using Azure DevOps. What follows are some hopefully useful notes on how I managed to do this.