Top 10 Favorite Tools

Learning cybersecurity is teaching me a wide range of tools and resources. In a nod to the OWASP Top 10, here is my rotating list of my top 10 favorite cybersecurity things. Rather than update these every few years, I will simply update these whenever I feel like it.

  1. Jan AI

    Jan.ai provides free, open-source AI models that you can download on to your own device for ultimate privacy. I love Jan.ai because it’s private and it’s not reliant on the cloud.

  2. IBM Technology

    I enjoy this YouTube channel for its simple breakdowns of complex topics.

  3. Jekyll

    This whole website is made with Jekyll! It’s an easy way to generate a static site, which is more secure than a dynamic site. Eventually, I might need to add some dynamic elements to spice it up and practice sanitizing inputs, but Jekyll does the trick for now.

  4. Mullvad VPN

    I use Proton VPN and Mullvad VPN. They both work. I appreciate that Proton VPN is free and easy to set up, but Mullvad VPN is arguably superior for privacy.

  5. Docker

    Now we’re starting to get into the weeds… I haven’t fully mastered Docker yet. But I have installed it and experimented with getting containers with other Linux operating systems installed, like Ubuntu. Do I have a use for this yet? No, but it’s pretty darn cool, and maybe I will find a way to incorporate it later.

  6. Jack the Ripper

    I have cracked one password with this. Granted, it was encrypted with MD5, haha. When I get through my CompTIA Security +, one of my next steps will be to practice tools like this one more, potentially with Try Hack Me. That’s a little ways away though.

  7. SANS Institute

    The SANS Institute is a private U.S. for-profit company founded in 1989 that specializes in information security, cybersecurity training, and selling certificates. Topics available for training include cyber and network defenses, penetration testing, incident response, digital forensics, and auditing. (Source: Wikipedia)

  8. Death Con

    They will be in Tacoma, WA this fall! I am planning to go, but I haven’t bought tickets yet. I’ve got to save up a little bit first.

  9. Password Managers

    I’ve been using Kee Pass. One of my side projects is putting KeePass on a USB. The idea is that putting KeePass on a USB is like it’s own form of MFA. Of course, I would still use a secure password/passcode to log on, but if you want the password manager, you have to plug in the USB it’s on. That would also allow me to take my password manager with me and plug it into all my devices. I tried overwriting a SanDisk flashdrive I had with 1’s and 0’s and that’s as far as I got, put for some reason it wasn’t letting me make KeePass and executable file on my USB, even when I downloaded the portable version. It’s a bit of a side project because I wasted a lot of time on it, and there are equally good solutions for MFA like using a YubiKey but now my interest is picqued and I plan on solving this eventually. I will make a post about it when I do.

  10. Raspberry Pi-Hole

    I’ll make a full post about this when I’m done setting it up. Right now, I’m still waiting for the final pieces to come in.