Recent content in Home on Benjamin Hays
If you’d like to skip the background and technical information, you can find the script for converting OpenAPI specs to Anki decks and usage examples here 
 Introduction 
 My last two posts on this site have been related to my preparation for the SAUTO 300-735 exam. Primarily dealing with Cisco security appliance automation, the exam predictably requires good knowledge of many…
Introduction 
 Cisco’s FirePower line of NGFWs and DPI-equipped firewalls can be easily integrated with a centralized system for monitoring and policy deployment known as SFMC (Secure Firewall Management Center) . This appliance is similar in nature to ISE or Catalyst Center, in that it serves primarily as a single access point for managing FTD/FTDv and NGIPS/NGIPSv devices. Much like…
Introduction 
 As I’ve been working through my SAUTO 300-735 exam preparation, I’ve found myself spending quite a bit of time in Cisco Modeling Labs (CML). While the web interface is perfectly functional for most tasks, I kept finding myself wanting a quicker way to get an overview of my lab topologies and export device configurations without clicking through multiple sub-menus and…











 

 
 
 

 
 
 Don’t want to pay upwards of $300 dollars per year on CML licenses? Try using Cisco’s CML lab on their free DevNet site . I’m currently in the process of studying for the security automation exam, so this site has been massively useful recently. All you need to connect to the lab…
Introduction 
 If you’ve spent a bit of time in the Linux community, especially anything kernel-related, you may be familiar with Linux Weekly News . It’s an invaluable resource for kernel development news, security updates, and general open source coverage. While they offer RSS for syndication, I found myself wanting more control over the feeds themselves - specifically, the…
The Problem 
 I run a pretty small homelab, for what it’s worth. I have about 4 LXC containers and two QEMU virtual machines running at any given time, the majority of which just serve as convenient frontends to store my data. 
 










 

 
 
 

 
 
 Despite the fact that I manage so few servers and…
If you somehow haven’t heard yet, the popular javascript library “Polyfill.js”, or rather its web-facing CDN, was recently used by Chinese threat-actors to insert malicious code on thousands of sites. The attack included a takeover of the polyfill[.]io domain and GitHub account to introduce the aforementioned malware. This allowed them to redirect users to phishing pages, steal…











 

 
 
 

 
 
 Computer Systems: A Programmer’s Perspective (stylized as CS:APP), is a remarkable book that offers a comprehensive yet accessible introduction to the basics of computer systems. I personally read the first edition, as it was more affordable to purchase, but the majority of my comments apply…
Introduction 
 It’s no secret that for better or worse, much of the news for which we rely on gets congregated and aggregated through social media networks. Most of all Twitter, at least in the world of cyber security. Both large and small companies use it to release press releases, security teams use it to publish their latest findings, and news of new disclosed bugs or CVEs get…
Introduction 
 We use the Secure Shell Protocol (SSH) so often in the modern IT landscape, that it is often hard to avoid its ubiquity. Logging into your home machine from abroad or a supercomputer in a massive data-center from your home? SSH. Pushing to a Git remote? SSH. Forwarding a port with a remote machine? SSH. Instituting network, site, and organization-wide policies using tools like…











 

 
 
 

 
 
 “The UNIX Programming Environment” in many ways feels like the quintessential guide to the UNIX philosophy and operating system. It’s very well written, and holds up to this very day. Readers somewhat familiar with UNIX already may consider skipping the first chapter, as…











 

 
 
 

 
 
 Note : This isn’t going to be a very long or comprehensive review of this book, but I figured it might make sense to post some of my thoughts on it regardless. 
 “C Programming: A Modern Approach” by K.N. King made quite a nice read. Very insightful in some aspects, but a few…
Part 1: Introduction and Motivation 
 1.1 Introduction 
 Welcome to the exciting world of Home-Labs! In this series of posts, I’ll be sharing my hands-on journey of building a Home-Lab from scratch (albeit with hefty amounts of encouragement/brainstorming from Reddit). If you’re passionate about enterprise technology, eager to gain hands-on experience, or ready to put those IT…