Blog

  • FEATURED

    The Royal Mint sent me a limited edition gold coin

    • General
    • by Jacob Riggs
    • 25 Jul 2022
    4.85 of 163 votes

    For some voluntary cybersecurity related work I did, The Royal Mint sent me a limited edition 22 carat gold coin which commemorates the life and legacy of the great mathematician and codebreaker Alan Turing. This included bespoke packaging that contained a small 'Innovation in Science' series booklet detailing Turing's remarkable achievements, and featured one of his most famous quotes: We

  • FEATURED

    I hacked the Dutch Tax Administration and got a trophy

    • General
    • by Jacob Riggs
    • 12 Feb 2022
    4.91 of 224 votes

    The Dutch Tax Administration (Belastingdienst) sent me a trophy and formal letter of appreciation on behalf of the Dutch government. The front engraving on the trophy playfully reads, “I hacked the Dutch Tax Administration and never got a refund”. Together with the trophy was a formal letter of appreciation.On behalf of the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration, we would like

  • FEATURED

    I got a letter of appreciation from Cambridge University

    • General
    • by Jacob Riggs
    • 02 Oct 2021
    4.86 of 115 votes

    Recently, I received a letter of appreciation from Cambridge University after responsibly disclosing a critical vulnerability. The letter reads:We appreciate you taking the time, and effort, to inform us responsibly and ethically regarding these security issues. My report was well received and their triage and remediation efforts were swift.Thanks, Cambridge.

  •

    I hacked the Ministry of Defence so they sent me this coin

    • General
    • by Jacob Riggs
    • 28 Sep 2021
    4.84 of 159 votes

    The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) sent me a VDP challenge coin for my finding and responsible disclosure of a critical (9.6 CVSS) severity vulnerability. Together with the coin was a small thank you note.Thank you! The Ministry of Defence takes the security of our systems seriously. To show our appreciation for all your time and effort, we would like

  • FEATURED

    I hacked the Dutch government and all I got was this t-shirt

    • General
    • by Jacob Riggs
    • 04 May 2021
    4.91 of 253 votes

    The NCSC-NL (National Cyber Security Centre – Netherlands) sent me a ‘lousy’ t-shirt on behalf of the Dutch government. Together with the t-shirt was a thank you letter.Thank you for bringing a vulnerability to our attention. Together with vulnerability reporters like you we can increase the resilience of Dutch society in the digital domain and better protect our systems and

  • What are honeypots and honeynets?

    • General
    • by Jacob Riggs
    • 14 Jul 2020
    4.86 of 121 votes

    Believe it or not, sometimes admins will design systems to attract attackers. Working in information security, one of my favourite defensive strategies to deploy in operational practice involves the use of honeypots and honeynets. These tightly controlled decoy mechanisms are designed to entice attackers, rob them of their time, and help with profiling attack intent, objectives, and origin. Honeypots Honeypots