jack

5G in Australia or Malaysia - who did it better?

During my trip to Malaysia, I noticed a Huawei store—something that’s become rare in Australia. While Huawei phones aren’t banned, they’re hard to find due to the lack of Google services and Australia’s reliance on those seevices.

But it got me thinking: Australia has excluded Huawei from its 5G infrastructure, whereas Malaysia has taken a different approach by considering Huawei’s involvement in its 5G rollout. How do you view these differing tech strategies?

Tags for federation:

@cybersecurity
@austech

#infosec

Has anyone else been called crazy for home-labbing front facing stuff?

I've always had this mindset of asking, "What am I really getting out of this?" But when it came to the internet and what I posted, I held onto a bit of innocence. Over the past two years, though, that innocence has been chipped away, but I think I’ve managed to reclaim it.

I don’t fault for-profit companies like Reddit for monetizing content; honestly, it was my own oversight for not reading the terms of service carefully. But since then, I’ve realized just how much I’ve unknowingly contributed to other projects for free.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, but does anyone else ever feel a bit... exploited?

It’s like when a recruiter asks for a .docx version of your resume instead of the .pdf I provide. Maybe it’s just to block your contact details, or maybe there’s something more dubious at play. I’ve experienced both, and each time, I’ve ended up feeling a bit... used.

Now, when a recruiter asks for a .docx , I ask them why. If it’s to hide contact details, I send an anonymized version. If they want to trim it down to two pages, I direct them to the summary section on my professional website. And if they want to add their bits to it, I guide them to my website, where they can explore my detailed posts.

For me, it’s about reclaiming control over what I’ve shared.

I was talking to someone about this recently, and they mentioned that they like to post everything on GitLab to showcase what they’ve been working on. But honestly, it’s just not the same as self-hosting your own Gitea or GitLab instance. But this guy thought I was crazy for hosting a single instance GitLab.

Okay so take X, for example. There, could have a super locked-down account like I do here, only contributing to communities when I want to by directly tagging them, but otherwise just using it as a personal journal like my Mastodon, but it’s just not the same. When X started monetizing posts, the platform's objective changed.

I don’t mind 'for-profit,' but when it’s driven by short-term gains like a monetized post, eventually all engagement is funneled towards that. It ends up feeling like you’re writing in someone else’s diary. That you tailor for engagement.

It’s also about the love of tinkering.. breaking things, fixing them, and getting everything back up to spec. It’s about embracing the original idea of the internet: a decentralized space where anyone can contribute, without your work being exploited.

It’s your own little corner where you can post whatever you want, for whomever you want. A Jellyfin server for my partner, a portfolio for the hiring manager, a GitLab for my playground. Enjoying the freedom to experiment without an ops exec pulling their hair out.

It's kinda magical.

Footnote: This is my first post to this community, if this post isn't a good fit, please let me know and I'll gladly adjust or remove it.

Tags for Federation: @homelab

#homelab #macroblog

Been daily driving Arch for 6 months now, but considering moving back to Debian. Not really taking full advantage of the Arch pros

While a bleeding-edge kernel is great, I don't particularly need it. pacman is nice, but apt gets the job done too. Has anyone else switched from Arch to @debian? If so, did you miss anything from Arch that Debian couldn't replicate?

Knowing When To Walk Away — The Four Hour Interview

A while ago, I received a lead from a startup for a potential contract.

They reached out to me after undergoing a cybersecurity review by a third-party company and had done very poorly.

For example, they lacked even the most basic security measures like multifactor authentication which I'd consider a bare minimum in today's climate.

Despite this, I was interested as it's kind of my job to help with something like this. Here is how the interview process went:

The first hour
The interview process began smoothly. The initial interview was online with the person I'd be reporting to. It lasted an hour, and I felt it went well.

The second hour
The next interview was in person with another executive in a related role. Once again, no red flags.

The third hour
By the third interview, I was getting a bit tired. This time, it was with a HR executive. I respected the process, but I'll admit that after three hours, the thought of charging for my time had crossed my mind.

The fourth hour
After the third interview, they still seemed interested but wanted me to meet with the company that handles their outsourced cybersecurity services, known as a Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP). I was hesitant but agreed. In hindsight, this was a mistake for several reasons:

1. Misaligned Priorities: The MSSP doesn't represent the company, and the interview felt off. Most of the questions revolved around how I'd be funneling work to the MSSP and implied that my role would hold little value in the bigger picture.
2. Low Cyber Maturity: Given the organisation's low cyber maturity, involving an existing solution at this stage seemed counterproductive.

After a very strange 15-minute interview with the MSSP, they informed me that they had decided not to proceed with the role. Looking back, there are a few things I could have done differently:

1. Set Boundaries: I should have budgeted no more than four hours of free time for the interview process.
2. Decline External Stakeholder Meetings: I should have refused to meet with external stakeholders who are not directly involved in the decision-making process.

I think it's okay to say no, especially when dealing with startups that are still finding their footing.

What would you do in this situation?

@jobs

#macroblog #infosec