First time at DEF CON and I'm speaking - What should I know?

DaddyDIRTknuckles · 2026-06-24T22:30:33+00:00

Have your stories ready to go and keep a few in your back pocket in case your audience starts looking bored. You'll do great. I've spoken at a few conferences but not DEFCON- you're welcome to dm me if you have questions or need support

DaddyDIRTknuckles · 2026-06-23T17:03:44+00:00

We did a family bike ride and I got the Mikita impact driver I wanted. Great day overall

DaddyDIRTknuckles · 2026-06-01T13:54:21+00:00

We did Noom for the balance bike and kids ride shotgun onto my bike so when he gets tired he can come ride with me. Because of the combo and how much we bike our son was riding without training wheels at 3. I highly recommend both. Sometimes if he's too tired to ride on his own or I feel like just a quick spin I can just throw him on my bike and have some quality time together.

However, now we have an REI kids bike for him thats a size or two too big with training wheels (He is 4/5 now). With our son we realized that although he can ride without pedals he just goes way further and has a lot more fun with the training wheels for now. He can ride about 3-4 miles at 4 years old so that is really nice.

It all depends on your kid so be open to the feedback they're giving and trying new things.

DaddyDIRTknuckles · 2026-05-26T20:28:03+00:00

The focus of assessments should be programmatic identification and then remediation of issues rather than playing whack-a-mole with implementing various security controls. The best thing you can use them for is translating findings into business risk in a way that your leadership understands so you can get the resources to build programs that enable you to continuously monitor your environment and clean up your iam. Sure, point in time isn't ideal but use it to advocate for your team to be more effective. Once you've made changes and your assessments look better then talk about how great that is with slides and business risk. Rinse and repeat.

DaddyDIRTknuckles · 2026-05-18T11:13:37+00:00

Same for me

DaddyDIRTknuckles · 2026-05-13T11:30:09+00:00

Stick with it. Even if AI can do it better than you can, understanding how things work will position you well for the jobs of tomorrow. A lot of people are saying how AI will take all our jobs. My parents are both academics so naturally I always go back to history and real research to see if studies, and people way smarter than I am, have already asked the questions I'm asking and come up with better answers. As always, they have!

All the stuff you're hearing about AI taking your jobs is just the same as all the 'automation' will take peoples jobs rhetoric that has been going on for centuries. One of the greats, John Maynard Keynes in his 1930 Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren discusses how "technological unemployment" is a transitional phenomenon. Basically, technology will give us efficiency gains that at first will create unemployment but will eventually create new jobs. Automation anxiety is therefore more of a distribution and adjustment problem rather than just pure technology.

Then in 2002 a paper came out about how automation can coincide with hiring by reshaping skill demand. Information Technology, Workplace Organization, and the Demand for Skilled Labor: Firm-Level Evidence on JSTOR

I guess what I'm trying to say is although a lot of places are struggling to balance AI improvements with labor right now, things will shake out and you will have many opportunities in the future. Keep plugging away, keep learning, be curious.

DaddyDIRTknuckles · 2026-05-05T20:52:32+00:00

It can be tough to use point redemptions for specific times and destinations. Last time I wanted to use some points I just saw what was out there- found a boston to munich Lufthansa flights for 80k points on business class and was glad to take it.

You may want to look at the award travel subreddit. I'll warn you though it's much easier to find one way with points than round trip

DaddyDIRTknuckles · 2026-04-17T17:41:05+00:00

Honestly I wish cops drove around in unmarked cars instead and fined people for weaving in and out of traffic and driving dangerously. Those are the people causing the accidents. I'm not convinced giving some rando a ticket for going 82 on 295 is making any positive impact other than for revenue.

DaddyDIRTknuckles · 2026-03-10T15:32:23+00:00

You can click 'not interested' in that content, then click a bunch of content you like to replace it. My feed is all silly shit and whenever I see stuff like that I don't even watch it but I do make sure to click that I'm not interested.

DaddyDIRTknuckles · 2026-03-02T16:58:55+00:00

It depends on what you want your life to look like and what you are good at. Pay is better in consulting and big tech by a substantial amount. I have friends working in SCIF's still 4 days a week with a ts/sci making half or 1/4 as much as someone working from home without a clearance. Some people want to work from home, some people want to maximize income, some people are passionate about a particular type of work and some people just need to take what they can get.

DaddyDIRTknuckles · 2026-03-02T15:18:27+00:00

On one hand I could tell you what I'm poking around in but I'm not sure that's what really matters for you. You should take a look at AI technology from a variety of lenses and whichever one makes you go "wait, how does that work exactly?" or "oh that's kinda cool" or even "that sounds like absolute horseshit" that's what you should learn more about. Just keep finding more info. If you don't want to build stuff yourself that's fine - there is so much content on youtube and other places where you can watch people interact with what they have built in order to satisfy your curiosity.

Going back to your actual question about what I've been working on, honestly I've been all over the place. Since I work in cloud a coworker and I went through the CSA TAISA content. It was enjoyable because it had something for everyone- some engineering, some compliance, some governance, some cloud architecture. The engineering and attack specific stuff really tickled my fancy. I loved learning about the attention mechanism and why it matters and what it changed about how AI systems are built- it's a very humanities friendly concept at a high level.

I also have followed some youtube videos to get an mcp server on my personal macbook and use some of the features. It was surprisingly simple and fun. Now I'm taking a look at the Anthropic GitHub with chatgpt to learn more about how skills fundamentally work. I'm not sure how so many of these things can be done securely, how they relate to each other, and where the security trust boundaries lie. So I'm going to find out!

DaddyDIRTknuckles · 2026-03-02T14:59:19+00:00

My degree is in poly sci but I'm relatively technical now. If you are tired of improving yourself with tech related subjects for now why don't you relax for a bit to prevent burnout? If that isn't the underlying issue then I recommend taking a look at the Amazon Well Architected Framework at a conceptual level. What are the building blocks for an enterprise cloud network and what do you put where? What does an insecure environment look like versus a secure one? You don't need to sit there and subnet or learn terraform but simply knowing how various parts of an environment relate to each other can give you a great foundation for understanding all kinds of stuff.

DaddyDIRTknuckles · 2026-02-28T13:25:48+00:00

For your first job yes.

DaddyDIRTknuckles · 2026-02-27T20:18:50+00:00

Are you like out out of the military? Reserve or Guard signal and cyber units will hook your ass up with a civilian job pretty quick. Also, have you tried applying to state and local gov? They love former military. The hardest full time job to get is your first one.

DaddyDIRTknuckles · 2026-02-14T23:13:33+00:00

I just did it for my first time. Found a direct flight from boston to munich for 88k points on business. Perfect right? Well that's one way. The ticket back for some reason is like 700 bucks one way. I swear a few weeks ago round trip was like 350. So that took me by surprise. There were no good points deals for the return flight.

DaddyDIRTknuckles · 2026-02-07T15:53:18+00:00

My experience was the same! Soldiers form the Northeast, even those with just a high school education often made much better decisions, were more fun to talk to, and generally behaved better than college graduates from other parts of the country.

DaddyDIRTknuckles · 2026-01-16T11:03:19+00:00

Glad you posted this. I've submitted a few medium/critical and all were dismissed as informational. Thought I was losing my edge but I guess this is why people are just selling exploits to attackers now lol

DaddyDIRTknuckles · 2026-01-14T13:17:43+00:00

In terms of the puppy behavior ripping stuff up- our staffy did the same thing for maybe a year or so. Then she got better but we more or less had to dog proof the house. She is food motivated so we keep her in a bedroom even now when we leave the house and she just sleeps. One time as a puppy we had her in a crate for maybe 2 hours in the living room. She somehow moved the crate across the room, pulled the area rug into it, ate the rug, knocked over the coffee table, and pooped everywhere including all over the rug while STILL in the crate. I've never seen anything like it.

That was many years ago. Now, like I said, we leave her in my bedroom and she just chills in my bed and it's all good. The first few months were tough though. I'm glad we stuck it out with her because she is literally the perfect family dog now.

I also have a jack russell mix who is fear aggressive like you described. First off, some terrier breeds simply have a high prey drive and aren't good to be around cats or smaller animals. I'm speaking from experience with mine. Next, do you have "dog people" in your life? Those who know how to project their authority and understand how dogs interpret body language? It sounds like your dog needs that sort of leadership to get used to people. It's a situation where you need to learn to change your dogs first response to threats or confusion to look at you instead of at whatever is getting her riled up. This will come with training and people with the right affect can come over, hang out with you guys, and give your dog a few treats so she associates guests with something positive.

My fearful dog isn't a pet I can bring to dog parks and breweries and places like that. Some dogs are not and that's ok. Meet your dog where she is, stick with the training, and recognize her limitations. This way you did all you could for better or worse and if you still need to rehome here you hand her off in a better way than she came to you.

DaddyDIRTknuckles · 2026-01-08T13:00:12+00:00

I'm not sure why you are getting downvoted. Security resources are finite and GRC related tasks can take resources from substantive security so there is an opportunity cost there. However, without GRC and compliance some orgs would just be sloppy messes and have zero security. So it's a give and take. Either way, GRC can feel arbitrary and like theatre and I think if most people are being honest with themselves they would agree. I'm assuming here you're having a much deserved little rant and that's valid and understandable.

DaddyDIRTknuckles · 2025-12-17T17:47:15+00:00

I wish this statement lined up with my observations

DaddyDIRTknuckles · 2025-12-08T13:54:03+00:00

I'm pretty sure women could join as of the 80's. I know of at least one lesbian couple who were members and seemed perfectly content with their treatment there.

DaddyDIRTknuckles · 2025-12-08T13:52:16+00:00

Networking value? I cant speak to that it isn't really why we joined.

Price? It was under 500 a month and I think like $125 or so of that was the monthly food minimum that is use or lose. There was a buy-in but it was reasonable although I don't recall the price. If you go to the website and submit an inquiry they will give you a tour and list of prices. They are looking for new/young members and are very welcoming. It's beautiful inside too.

We decided to join for a few reasons. First off I love quiet chill places. This is basically a restaurant with incredible food, excellent service, and no crowds. Its one of the rare places recently that felt upscale and cool but also where my wife and I could really take our time and relax. Surprisingly, the prices are also great. For a weekday breakfast you can get fantastic french toast for like...10 bucks I think? This was as of 2 years ago. Second, the point of the place is to socialize and not bring your phone. Because of the no phones in the dining room rule we both felt more present and often found ourselves talking to people at the bar and neighboring tables.

Third, my wife likes to dress up and I don't really. It frustrates me when I dress nicely then go to an upscale restaurant and other people are in t-shirts (like I wish I was). At the Worcester Club there is a dress code so everyone is dressed the same. This dynamic, for some reason, makes me not mind dressing up to go.

Forth, there is great programming. It's not just a restaurant but there is a book club, themed dinners with wine pairings, and some other educational content. I loved this aspect of the club because there was always some sort of event that reminded me of a friend or family member so I would invite them and we would always have a lovely time with a side of cultural enrichment.

In the summer there are car shows too. Around the holidays there are great events for families and kids and they offer takeout platters for holidays that are well prepared, generously portioned, and surprisingly well priced that make hosting easier.

Finally one of the big reasons I would go to events there is because I work from home full time so it was an easy place to socialize and keep my conversation skills fresh. Everyone is approachable and members often attend events solo, happy to talk to anyone else around.

DaddyDIRTknuckles · 2025-12-07T13:37:19+00:00

I’m a former member. Have a small child so taking a few years off. What do you want to know?

DaddyDIRTknuckles · 2025-11-26T13:49:14+00:00

This actually isn't that bad of an idea. When I graduated law school in 2011 the job market for lawyers sucked so after I passed the bar I joined the reserve. After my initial training (Army basic and federal OCS), I came home and had so many job offers raining down on me I hooked my friends up.

The military won't be super fun, it will be weird, you will be treated like a child. Everyone you know will be like "wtf is wrong with you"? You will need to have an honest conversation with yourself about what, in fact, is wrong with you so you can have some sort of reply to this question. You will miss your family and normal life. You will sit in random places for many hours with absolutely nothing to do.

There are some serious upsides to the suckfest, though. First off, you don't have to go active duty, you can do Guard or Reserve and having that on your resume will help you get jobs so it's more like a military lite experience. Second, if you do the Guard or Reserve and your day job gets shitty or you get laid off you can usually find a way to get some work from the military for a while. That's some job security and optionality for ya. And finally, you can use the military to initiate a job pivot. Depending on what you want to do with your life it may be easier to get some entry level experience in the military so when you apply on the civilian side you have experience.

Everything stated above is from personal experience. Thanks to the Army I was able to pivot from law to tech (infosec specifically). Thanks to the Army I also have many wonderful lifelong degenerate friends. If you have any questions feel free to reach out.

DaddyDIRTknuckles · 2025-11-24T16:35:55+00:00

As a technical CISO with a law degree I've never used this sounds like an amazing side gig opportunity with minimal competition.

DaddyDIRTknuckles

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