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Table of Contents Introduction Prerequisites Understanding SHA-1 and its Limitations Introduction to SHA-256 Implementing SHA-256 in Practice Migrating from SHA-1 to SHA-256 Conclusion Introduction Cryptographic hash functions play a vital role in ensuring data integrity and security in various applications. In this guide, we’ll explore the evolution of cryptographic hash functions, discuss the limitations of SHA-1, and provide a comprehensive guide to implementing and using SHA-256. Prerequisites To follow this guide, you should have a basic understanding of cryptography and hash functions. Familiarity with programming languages such as Python, C++, or Java is also recommended. ...

As a SOC analyst, one of the most critical tasks is analyzing network flow data to identify potential security threats. In this post, we’ll explore how to combine cloud-based data storage, SQL querying, and AI-powered analysis to streamline this process. Collecting Flow Data in Amazon Athena Amazon Athena provides a serverless query service that makes it easy to analyze data directly in Amazon S3 using standard SQL. Here’s how we set up our flow data collection: ...

I was able to complete my testing earlier than expected and was able to do the cutover early! This means that my migration from WordPress to Hugo is complete! What’s really cool here is the overall performance improvement to the website. Performance Improvements I have a few site monitors running against the website to tell me when it goes offline or is having issues: UptimeRobot DigitalOcean Monitoring After cutting over to Hugo this morning, I noticed a rather large improvement to my response times for the website. The below graph shows my UptimeRobot monitor: ...

I’m excited to announce that I’m in the process of migrating my blog to Hugo, a fast and flexible static site generator. This move is part of my ongoing efforts to improve performance and maintainability. Let me outline the key changes and what you can expect during this transition. Current Status I’ve set up a development site where you can preview the new format: https://dev-blog.shellnetsecurity.com/ Please note that this site is a work in progress and may contain unfinished elements or placeholder content. ...

Update (January 2026): The AI landscape has evolved dramatically since this post was written in July 2024. GPT-4, mentioned below, has been succeeded by GPT-5 and GPT-5.2. Claude has advanced to Opus 4.5, and Google released Gemini 3 with a 1-million token context window. The core message of this post - that AI is becoming accessible to everyone - has only accelerated. The tools mentioned (AutoML, no-code platforms) have matured significantly, and new players have entered the market. The democratization trend continues at an even faster pace than predicted. ...