Debugging in Python: How to Find and Fix Your Mistakes
Syntax errors, logic errors and exceptions, plus print statements, debuggers and a word on AI coding assistants.
Posts by Category
Python
Working with Files in Python: Reading Logs Like a Security Analyst
Opening, reading, writing and parsing files, then building a script that flags accounts with repeated failed logins.
Automating Security Tasks with Python: Putting It All Together
Login timeouts, suspicious-login tracking and failed-password monitoring: three security scripts built from the basics.
Python Strings for Beginners: A Security Analyst’s Toolkit
Indices, slices, len(), str(), concatenation and string methods, with a sample device ID as the running example.
Python Cheat Sheet: Security Automation
Everything from Course 7 of the Google Cybersecurity Certificate in one place: conditionals, loops, functions, regex, files, parsing and debugging.
Learning Python, Week Three: I Stopped Typing the Same Line Four Times
For loops, while loops, range(), break and continue, and the three mistakes I kept making.
Why Your Computer Doesn’t Speak English (and Why That’s Actually Great News for You)
Programming is just giving instructions. Here’s why Python is the friendliest way to do it, and why security people should care.
GRC & Frameworks
Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery: Planning for When Things Go Wrong
Where continuity and recovery plans fit in protecting an organization, what goes into each, and how they differ.
Data and Asset Classification: Not All Information Is Created Equal
Public, private, sensitive and confidential: how the four data types map to low- and high-level assets, and why classification tells you where to focus.
The NIST Cybersecurity Framework, Explained Simply (For Anyone Running a Commercial Facility)
A plain-English summary of CISA’s framework guidance for commercial facilities: the threats, the three building blocks, and the seven-step cycle.
Inside the NIST CSF Assessment: Assessment Types, Scoring, and the Actual Workflow
Self vs. third-party assessments, how 106 subcategory scores roll up into one number, and the eight-step workflow behind it all.
Building My First NIST CSF 2.0 Gap Assessment: What Actually Goes Into One
Maturity tiers, asset inventories, risk registers and remediation roadmaps, explained through a fictional wealth management firm.
Networking
Network Security 101: Locks, Rooms, and Guards
Firewalls, network segmentation and web application firewalls, explained with no tech degree required.
I Finally Understand tcpdump: A Beginner’s Notes from My First Packet Capture Lab
Interfaces, verbose captures, saving pcap files and reading raw bytes: tcpdump explained one flag at a time.
I’m Learning to Read Network Packets, and I Think It’s a Must-Learn Skill
IPv4 vs. IPv6 headers, my first Wireshark display filters, and why packet analysis is worth learning early.
Career Journey
Why I Switched Bootcamps: A Lesson in Learning What You Actually Need
How comparing syllabuses like term sheets led me to the right program, and to a simple formula that reframed risk for me.
From Law School to Compliance to Cybersecurity: How I Got Here
Ten years in law and finance didn’t derail this path. It built the foundation for it.
Risk & Threats
Why Your Computer’s “Diary” Matters More Than You Think: A Beginner’s Guide to Logs
What logs are, why overlogging hurts, and how to read the five formats you’ll see most: JSON, syslog, XML, CSV and CEF.
Inside the Vulnerability Assessment: How Organizations Find and Fix Their Weak Spots
The four-step process (identification, analysis, risk assessment, remediation) that keeps organizations ahead of attackers.
Linux & SQL
Learning Bash Felt Like Learning a New Language — Because It Is One
My beginner’s Bash cheatsheet: navigation, files, searching, piping, users, and permissions.