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Why am I retiring from CTFs?
I’ve talked a lot about how I no longer do “fuzzy mentorship.” (If you haven’t heard the term, it’s generally seen as mentorship that focuses mostly on vague things like good vibes and is endeavored upon mostly for reasons of publicity. I’ve got no more energy for all… that.) I’d rather do sponsorship: targeted acts […]
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An education-based approach to curbing CSAM production
Originally published in Brookings TechStream. March 17, 2022 Savannah Sly and Tarah Wheeler In recent weeks, a misguided legislative initiative to provide children with better protection online has gained momentum on Capitol Hill. In its current form, the Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies Act of 2022—better known as the EARN IT Act—would strip technology companies of protection from […]
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4 Truths About Cybercrime (and the research to back them up)
Original post on Medium. I was recently asked by someone involved in policymaking for a short bulleted reading list on cybercrime and how to understand the major issues since they didn’t come from a technical background. I started writing the email and then realized I might as well post it here so I can refer […]
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Blockchain Eggs
I created a short video and slide deck to help illustrate how a blockchain works. This is not about Bitcoin, but is intended to help people who aren’t as experienced with Merkle trees understand that the idea of a blockchain is to be able to independently verify where and when a thing happened without being […]
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Where are the women in cybersecurity leadership roles?
This post originally appeared on the OECD Forum’s site. It’s easy to feel like everything has already been said about why we need more women in cybersecurity. I’ve been explaining the economic benefits of hiring women as engineers, bringing in women as senior information security leaders, and going to work for women as board members […]
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NATO, We Want To Go To War With You
Originally on Foreign Policy, December 22nd, 2020. Wargames can provide essential cybersecurity training for soldiers. But they won’t succeed unless the players confront real, independent hackers. BY TARAH WHEELER, AMY ERTAN | DECEMBER 22, 2020, 7:53 AM In recent years, NATO has begun to incorporate some innovative new cyberwarfare games and exercises into its annual wargames. But there is […]
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The Lady of Shalott
I started this project when I was 19. I remember sitting on the lawn at Carroll College in Helena, Montana, and starting that first stitch up in the top left corner in DMC 420. The Lady of Shalott is a Teresa Wentzler pattern that came out in the late 1990s, and I’ve now finally finished […]
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PKI — public key infrastructure, explained
(originally posted https://tisiphone.net/2018/03/07/the-infosec-amnesty-qa/ with thanks to Lesley “Hacks4Pancakes” Carhart) Here’s why I know about this My tech journey started in academia, where I spent my time writing math in Java. As I transitioned more and more to tech, I ended up as the de facto PKI manager for several projects. I handled certificate management while […]
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How much should startups spend on information security
When you have little to no budget, how do you start spending on information security in a startup to protect customer data and operations? I was asked to comment on this via email by Zack Whittaker for a story he was doing on TechCrunch, and in responding, I found myself getting writer-mad, so I knew I had […]
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Yes, there was a hidden epic cryptographic puzzle story inside my book, “Women In Tech.”
And the champions just received their solid silver medals for solving the series. EDIT: the writeup in Techdirt by Mike Masnick was lovely. Five Years Later, Team Solves Puzzles In Women In Tech Book I wrote a book called Women In Tech that came out in 2016 which has become one of the top books […]