Describing AWS Instances

Amazon uses the idea of "describing" resources using filters quite a bit.

A filter in python terms is a list of maps, and each value in the map's key-value pairs can be a list. The documentation is a little light on details, intentionally I believe, because the format is extremely flexible. A few examples of using this in Python and Powershell are below

Example Cloudformation template for Opsworks Stack

I recently spent some time struggling through the AWS documentation to create an Opsworks Stack using Cloudformation. The AWS documentation is comprehensive for the resources available, but a little lacking on examples for how to link them together.

I thought I'd share a sanitized example of what I found, so it's below.

AWS Cloudformation Template Parameters

An AWS Cloudformation template represents a stack (grouping) of resources. Most companies will want to deploy these stacks into multiple environments ("Development", "Staging", "Production", etc).

Cloudformation presents an easy way to do so with a combination of template parameters and mappings.

Principle of Least Privilege

What is the "Principle of Least Privilege"? It's the idea of only giving people access to what they need. It commonly comes up when talking about directories and file permissions, but it can apply to much more than that.

Celebrity Photo Leaks: Why the security community is not more interested

First of all, my sympathy goes out to the celebrities who have had their privacy compromised this weekend. Having your personal photos taken and plastered all over the internet is not fun or fair. I'm about to comment on things that could've been done to improve their privacy, but I am not placing the blame on them. As with any cyber-bullying typed event, the fault rests with the bully. And shame on them for abusing their knowledge to harm others.

If you keep tabs on both mainstream media and security blogs, you have probably noticed that this event has gotten lots of attention in the former, and almost done in the latter. This may seem odd as it seems this attack has had a fairly high impact, but it makes more sense when you look at the method of attack or "kill chain".

JP Morgan "Hack"

Recently a number of mass media articles have started discussing a JP Morgan "hack" and alluded to 4 other companies that were also hacked. This story has the potential to be really interesting if more details emerge.

I don't know

Fair warning, this post is going to be very "professional developmenty".

I've watched this scenario play out a number of times already in my relatively short career. A manager asks a question of an employee, and the response is, "I don't know." Followed by an awkward silence while the manager waits for more.