DotOne: The Cyber Educational Audio Course

This week addresses the rapidly evolving threat landscape. Ransomware is studied from its early origins to its present role as a multimillion-dollar business model, while advanced persistent threats demonstrate the persistence and adaptability of state-sponsored actors. Insider threats add complexity, highlighting the difficulty of defending against misuse of legitimate credentials. Frameworks such as MITRE ATT&CK, STR...

Applications and APIs form the backbone of digital services, enabling everything from online banking to global supply chains. Students study common weaknesses cataloged in the OWASP Top 10, including injection, misconfiguration, and weak session management, as well as the specific risks of mobile and API security. Case studies of T-Mobile and Peloton highlight how weak APIs expose sensitive data, while the persistence of S...

Modern infrastructure has evolved from physical servers to cloud-native platforms, redefining both opportunities and risks. Students explore Infrastructure as Code, continuous integration and delivery, and the challenges of configuration drift. Case studies of pipeline compromises show how trusted automation can be weaponized, with vulnerabilities propagating across environments at unprecedented speed. The rise of the soft...

This week highlights the role of architecture as the skeleton of security. Students learn how flat networks and perimeter-based models have failed under modern conditions, with the Target breach serving as a cautionary case. Defense in depth, segmentation, and microsegmentation are introduced as structural strategies for containing adversaries. The rise of zero trust architecture reframes trust as something to be earned co...

With the dissolution of traditional network perimeters, identity has emerged as the central gatekeeper of enterprise security. This week explores authentication, authorization, and access control as critical building blocks of trust. Students examine the weaknesses of passwords, the rise of multi-factor authentication, and the push toward passwordless and biometric methods. Federation protocols such as SAML, OAuth2, and Op...

Cryptography serves as the scientific bedrock of confidentiality, authenticity, and integrity. Students will explore both symmetric and asymmetric encryption, comparing their respective strengths in performance and distribution. Hashing, digital signatures, and message authentication codes are introduced as complementary tools that secure modern transactions. Case studies highlight the lifecycle of algorithms, from the ris...

This week introduces security as a foundational discipline rather than a collection of scattered tools. Learners will examine the enduring concepts of confidentiality, integrity, and availability, understanding how these principles anchor defenses across decades of technological change. The CIA triad is presented as a lens through which design choices can be evaluated, while resilience, governance, and accountability exten...

In this Bare Metal Cyber episode, we’re tackling mobile application security—the must-have protection for the apps on your phone or tablet that hold your life, from bank logins to fitness stats, in a mobile-first world. We uncover how it guards against slick threats like malware sneaking in as fake apps, data spills from sloppy storage, or hackers snagging your chats over dodgy Wi-Fi—all while keeping users trusting and GD...

Join us on Bare Metal Cyber as we unpack the Cybersecurity Maturity Model—a roadmap to level up your security game from chaotic basics to slick, proactive defenses, perfect for February 28, 2025’s wild threat scene. We dig into how it sizes up your setup across stages—think initial to optimized—and domains like incident response, helping you spot gaps and build muscle against ransomware or phishing. It’s your secret sauce ...

This Bare Metal Cyber episode is all about security hardening—turning your systems into fortresses by plugging holes that hackers love to exploit, like outdated software or sloppy settings, as of February 28, 2025. We break down how it’s about shrinking your attack surface—think closing unused ports or slapping on strong passwords—to stop malware, privilege grabs, or breaches dead in their tracks. It’s your frontline defen...

In this Bare Metal Cyber episode, we dive into data privacy—the essential shield keeping your personal info, like names or bank details, safe from prying eyes in a world where data drives everything. We explore how it’s all about giving you control over who gets your stuff and why, while tackling threats like breaches or sneaky tracking that can turn your life upside down with identity theft or creepy profiling. It’s a big...

Tune into Bare Metal Cyber as we unpack cybersecurity insurance—a financial lifeline that picks up the tab for breaches, ransomware, or downtime when cyber nasties hit, covering costs traditional policies skip. We dive into how it cushions the blow—think millions in legal fees or PR cleanup—while pushing you to tighten security to qualify, aligning with GDPR and keeping your rep intact. It’s your safety net in a world wher...

This Bare Metal Cyber episode shines a light on Bug Bounty Programs, where ethical hackers get paid to sniff out your system’s weak spots—think XSS flaws or remote code exploits—before the bad guys do. We cover how these setups, whether public like Google’s or private via HackerOne, crowdsource global talent to boost security, save cash over internal audits, and keep you GDPR-compliant by catching bugs early. It’s a win-wi...

In this Bare Metal Cyber episode, we spotlight application whitelisting—a slick way to lock down endpoints by only letting approved software run, slamming the door on malware, ransomware, and rogue apps. Unlike blacklisting’s whack-a-mole game with known threats, we flip it: only vetted stuff like your antivirus or office tools gets the green light, shrinking your attack surface big time. It’s a must-know for endpoint secu...

Join us on Bare Metal Cyber as we tackle multi-cloud security, the art of keeping data and apps safe when you’re juggling platforms like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud for flexibility and power. We explore how this setup’s perks—think cost savings or dodging vendor lock-in—come with risks like misconfigured buckets or hijacked accounts that could bleed across clouds if you’re not careful. It’s a deep dive into why this matte...

This Bare Metal Cyber episode digs into Active Directory security, the linchpin of Microsoft’s network management system that keeps user identities and permissions safe—or a juicy target if it’s not locked down tight. We break down how it works with domain controllers, group policies, and Kerberos to run enterprise networks, and why attackers love hitting it with tricks like credential theft or pass-the-hash attacks to tak...

In this Bare Metal Cyber episode, we unravel the world of digital footprints—the data trails we leave behind every time we browse, post, or shop online, shaping both our privacy and security in today’s connected age. We dive into how these traces, from active moves like tweeting to passive ones like cookies tracking your site visits, build a detailed picture of your habits that can be a goldmine for marketers or a target f...

On this Bare Metal Cyber episode, we’re cracking open Open Source Intelligence (OSINT)—the art of turning public data from tweets, news, or court filings into a cybersecurity superpower for spotting threats cheap and legal. We dig into how it works: gathering overt info, analyzing it for insights like phishing trends or hacker chatter, and using it for everything from strategic planning to real-time defense. It’s a game-ch...

This Bare Metal Cyber episode is all about building a security champion program—think of it as your in-house cybersecurity cheerleaders spreading vigilance across teams like dev, sales, or HR. We explore how empowering non-security staff to spot risks, push best practices, and liaise with IT shrinks breaches, boosts compliance with stuff like GDPR, and builds a culture where everyone’s a defender. It’s about scaling securi...