A question of time - Troopers 2024 Keynote

Troopers
A question of time
Ange Albertini
26 June 2024

Ange Albertini
35 years of reverse engineering.
20 years of infosec, currently at Google/Mandiant/Flare.
File formats fan.
Fully remote (single father of three).
French (sarcasms and swearing).
2
IV ሓሙሽተ ሓሙሽተ ኣርባዕተ ክልተ

Disclaimer
This talk contains contradictory opinions!
Not necessarily mine: variety is good!
Be tolerant: we all have different opinions.
THE CURRENT SLIDE IS AN
A CORKAMI ORIGINAL PRODUCTION
HONEST TALK TRAILER
3
My own views
and opinions.

Tooling evolve.
Basics remain the same.
Your tooling fails? Fall back to the basics.
Don't get too dependent on your tooling.
No gatekeeping please: we're time travellers.
4
Times are changing.
Troopers 2008: Invulnerable software

A new factor but in
the same old cat & mouse game ?
AI never doubts, even when wrong.
Misleading, unreliable and irresponsible.
Same old need for human expertise.
A.I. in Infosec
5
Story time

Human Intelligence?
What about…
6

Having a second look.
Failing, then recovering.
It's ok to have no idea what to do next,
to be wrong, to "take too long".
It's only human.
Doubt is critical.
7

They're only insecure
and ridiculous.
"I was never sick, I never had an accident,
I never disappointed my parents, I liked all my teachers". 🤔😂🤦
Time-saving or denial ?
In any case, it's useless if not deceptive.
Some people pretend they're flawless.
8
"The emperor has
no clothes"

Acknowledge your failures
then shake them off.
Or maybe don't:
scr*w these negatives thoughts!
They just slow you down, ruin your life!
B*at them whenever they pop up in your brain.
Every. F*cking. Time!
It's not about denying your failures!
9

No one knows everything,
but you already know a lot.
You know many things that people around you don't.
Maybe you just don't understand it yet.
It might take you a long time to realize that.
No one is perfect!
10
Story time

awesome!
It might just takes time and effort to realize it.
This whole "praise the top / shame the bottom" trend
wants us to forget it and just worship some champions.
You should know that you can be
11

Trends & myths
Very misleading representations of reality:
- Easy success, single-handed victories, instant wins.
- Doing well -> fame -> money == appearance.
Story time 12

Trust yourself more,
worship less.
Talk to your rubber duck.
Betray your idols!
There's no hidden shortcut!
13
Story time

Hard things take time.
If you can still count how much you’ve tried,
it’s probably not much.
“The art of like twirling or doing tricks with a pen in a very appealing nice looking way.
Make it look like it's easy even though it takes like hours and hours and hours of practice.”
- LiveOverFlow
14
14

“How can I…”
If after a long time, you never tried,
then you were probably never actually interested ;)
And if you still hate it after X tries,
then be honest and move on ;)
Story time 15
@Cynyassy

But you can't be good at everything!
"Any skill can be acquired" 🤦
16
fast
good
cheap
pick 2
Story time
swim
Body types of olympic athletes
box wrestling marathon basketball gym fencing
weightlifting

Try something different?
Don't hurt yourself trying to please everyone.
Still not "good enough"?
17
Story time I న లుగు సున ్నా రెండు రెండు

-
Infosec
for
newbies
Same knowledge,
another format.
Variety is good!
https://www.getdigital.de/Hacken-Open-Air-Shirt.html?her=BB
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Manga_Guides
Story time 18

Sometimes, it's really worth it!
19
No point in reinventing the wheel?

Cool creativity: conferences badges
20
III បី បាាំបួន បាាំ. ពីរ

Don't blame yourself:
You can't know the path if there is no map.
21

Others can't always share your perspective.
No, not even your close ones!
Time
Critics
Progress
"Weird" "New"
No support from others?
22
Story time

It's ok to feel stuck in a loop
Consistency is great! You're in the right direction.
Just take one small step after another…
23

24
A single success is
a long trail of failures.

Be honest with your mistakes. Acknowledge them.
Kill your own project early! (You got experience anyway!)
Ask for honest (direct, but constructive) feedback.
No need to find excuses, to hide behind lies or hype.
So, lose with dignity, honesty, and don’t forget where you come from.
The only person you should compare yourself to is who you were yesterday.
It’s OK to stop
Story time 25

CLI statements, results, observations…
- Great to resume your work.
- Easier to explain or write docs.
- Writing down your own progress:
-> great against impostor syndrom.
-> useful w/ management
(especially in remote jobs).
26
Take notes on the way!

…is here to stay.
…just means that you are self conscious!
…is better than the Dunning-Kruger effect!
…can be bypassed:
- just help someone!
- read your past notes!
- interview candidates!
The impostor syndrome…
27
How good you think you are
How good you are
Impostor syndrome
(conscientious expert)
Dunning-Kruger effect
(shameless ignorant)

A seed has to sink
before it grows.
Maybe you did 'the wrong choices' (whatever that means).
Things may not go as you expected.
But it's human, and it's ok!
Those looking down on you are jerks or in denial.
You think you're only sinking?
28

It’s OK to be different,
not to be a jerk!
Story time 29

Be wary of bad habits: respect is deserved.
Walk in their shoes
before judging.
30

…starts with yourself!
Technical communities tend to just over-focus.
Flood of technicalities and boasted "victories".
-> no room for inner self-improvment.
Making the world a better place…
31

Things go really
wrong sometimes.
"Life is unfair! I want my old life back!"
Your second life begins when you realize you only have one.
It's not easy: it can take a long time to accept!
Humans plan and fate laughs.
32

…but only according to their own terms (nodding, speaking…).
Ignoring your needs, but satisfying their own needs.
33
Beware of those eager to “help”

Experts (therapists, social services…)
Critical for emergencies!
But time-wasting for other cases?
- it's not their problem.
- "this is normal"...
- just some high-level comfort, like Band-Aid on a bullet wound.
-> absence of improvements makes you find your own solution!
34
Story time

Your close ones
might be the worst.
Lack of perspective:
their opinion is long fixed - they've known you for a long time.
Not their problem? They can misjudge you endlessly.
35
In case of hardships…

Count your luck!
Understand your privileges!
It really helps!
Be grateful of the past instead of endlessly nostalgic.
No matter the hardships…
36

37
❏ Health
❏ Wealth
❏ Job
❏ Well-paid
❏ Rewarding
❏ Safe
❏ Love
❏ Friendship
❏ Safety
❏ Freedom
❏ Recognition
❏ Loneliness
❏ Alcoholic
❏ Drugs
❏ Adversaries
❏ Manipulative
❏ Dangerous
❏ Self-mutilating
❏ Danger
❏ Crime
❏ Death
❏ Mourning

No matter your hardships,
you have it easy !
Compared to some people.
Always look on the bright side of life.
It's not naivety: accept your new fate, lighten your weight.
38
It may be hard to believe, but…

39
Stop giving a f*ck
There’s no end to your tunnel:
you are the light.
To everyone else,
you're only secondary anyway!

Relations
Everyone has different expectations,
understanding of the same situation.
Explain how you feel, it will guide others.
A good relation is about balance, not control.
(and not being controlled)
The 5 love languages:
gifts, time, touch, service, words.
Story time 40
Faster alone.
Further together.

…to win when you're happy.
It's too easy to love when everything is fine.
It's too easy…
41

You don't need
love or company.
Alone == full freedom.
Better alone than in a bad company.
Some 'loners' are just awesome!
Alone != lonely
42
Faster alone.
Further together.
But…you'll get nowhere in a toxic environment.

You don't need
anyone's validation.
You might like it. It might help.
But ultimately, you don't truely need it.
Remember: you're secondary to anyone else.
43

You are never alone!
(if you want)
Many similar-minded people, communities…
Many incredible persons are out there.
On the other hand…
44

Maybe it's not
about you.
45
Your efforts are never enough?
II แปด แปด สาม หก

Some people just want
to watch the world burn.
They do not care about you.
They want to satisfy their needs more than anything.
46

Some people will hurt you
if they can get away with it.
And they will do it repeatedly…
until you fight back or run.
They'll make you think that you're a bad person
to hide how badly they've treated you.
It's nice to believe in kindness, but…
47

48
So what ?
Maybe they don't even want to hurt you!
But they just don't care if you get hurt.
And maybe it's not a coincidence…
or it's even by design?
But I haven't done anything wrong…?
They say "jump!",
You say "how high?"

Promotion until
incompetence.
A system that promotes competence is good.
But people end up at (or beyond) their limit.
-> everyone ends up incompetent.
49
Peter's principle (1969)

Sometimes,
incompetence is preferred.
Loyalty >> competence.
Status quo >> progress.
50
Governed by the worst.
Kakistocracy:
- kakistos: worst
- kratos: power

A "mafia-like" structure
- reward the worse -> debt/loyalty owed to the incompetent hierarchy.
- trap the skilled one and promote the incompetent
to keep competence under control.
- favor incompetence at higher levels -> no fear of comparison.
Maintain the mediocrity or favor progress?
Loyalty to that system you're in or to your values ?
51

With such people…
You may be tempted to bow,
and risk your future and your health or more,
because they won't stop unless they have to.
Then your close ones might be hurt too.
If not, it's fight or flight.
52

Fight? Sometimes, it's just empty threats.
It might take initially time and energy to fight back,
but it gets easier.
They pretend something to make you do what you shouldn't.
Get your own information, show them that you're prepared.
-> Connect with others! You'll be less vulnerable.
53

But that fight might be lost in advance.
You might lose yourself in an unfair and endless fight.
Better be free than burning yourself out in vain.
Your second life begins when you realize you have only one.
Time to move on?
54
“Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down
to their level and beat you with experience.”
- Mark Twain (1835-1910)

Being smart
makes you vulnerable.
Questioning things makes you over-think:
-> exploitable self-doubt.
Vulnerable to people who don't care about you.
Being too nice increase your attack surface.
55

Asking for help is not giving up:
it's refusing to give up.
"Help" is the bravest thing to say.
56
The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse
by Charlie Mackesy

The ugly downward spiral
becomes a comfort zone.
But "help" can be still hard to say.
57
Too nice to fight back.
Too nice to ask for help.
Your denial hides it from you,
and you hide it from others.

Maybe you can't
save yourself?
Who you gonna call?
58

"I ain't no loser:
I don't need help"
Good for you!
Bless your luck and your privileges.
So what? Not everything is about you.
What if…
59

You can make the world
a better place…
60
…by helping someone else!
But if it's not about you:
V သံုး၊ ေြခာက်၊ တစ်၊ ခုနစ်

Helping someone…
…could be as simple as giving them
a temporary safe space
and time to recover.
It's not always hard:
61

They might look ok!
Or even having fun ?!
They need help, but they can't/won't tell.
They just look stuck in a loop.
They'd be totally fine in different circumstances.
Like a child drowning in a calm place…
62
Story time

Some people are drowning…
Right now. Around us.
Peer pressure from family, management, friends…
Depression…
Maybe you can help them!
"Who cares"?
63

Conclusion
64
ሓሙሽተ ሓሙሽተ ኣርባዕተ ክልተ
သံုး၊ ေြခာက်၊ တစ် ၊ခုနစ်
แปด แปด สา มหก
న లుగుసున ్నారెండురెండు
បី។ បាាំបួន បាាំ។ ពីរ។

It takes time to…
- be grateful of your past.
- understand your lucks and privileges.
- overcome hardships.
- accept your fate and make the best of it, of you.
65

It's going to be ok!
Maybe not as initially planned.
Not going to be easy.
But it will be fine!
66

It's time to…
- Realize how awesome you can be, how well you've done so far…
- despite how bad things turned out, or how people treated you.
- Acknowledge, but shake off these negative thoughts.
- Stop expecting a magic solution, book or tutorial.
- believe and rely on yourself too!
68

Make the best of now!
- Observe, listen, understand, learn…
- Connect, ask, grow, help…
It has to start somewhere.
It has to start some time.
What better place than here?
What better time than now!
69

Conferences help us to relax,
to learn, to connect, to grow!
Thank you for the continued efforts!
15th Troopers - 2024
A very special thank you to the organizers!
70

71
Ange Albertini
ange@corkami.com
@angealbertini

So many reasons to over-worry...
...and forget about yourself
Infosec...
72
...or your friends

- very repetitive tasks
- uncertainty is exhausting
- profiteers, abusers
InfoSec is boring exhausting/harmful!
73

Infosec people are always wrong
- We’re the ones preventing projects to launch
- We’re easily misunderstood:
We’re supposed to just have to “follow the manual”
like any other engineers.
- We discuss hypothetical attacks that never happened yet.
- We publish research that helps to create more attacks.
74

InfoSec and metrics
Security doesn't have easy metrics,
so defense is very political.
75

Some people can’t learn without practice,
or without a genuine motivation.
Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will
live its whole life believing that it is stupid. - Albert Einstein
Fake
Quote
You just can’t learn things magically
76
Story time

Find your own!
Story time 77
School usually provides a unique form of learning

We were all born “hackers”…
…then rules are enforced.
And now our work is full
of experimental failure.
School taught us that failure is not an option
78

Maybe they're not
what you expected?
+ gives time to focus
+ enforce good habits
+ an advantage / privilege
+ a private social network
- an illusion
- meaningless rating
80
Are diplomas useless?

Some people are never satisfied…
- Arrogance
- Dunning-Kruger effect
- Gatekeeping
- Kakistocracy
81
Let me interrupt your expertise with my confidence.

Don’t burn yourself trying to be perfect!
82

Focus on yourself first!
Take breaks too!
83

84
It's ok if you got it wrong so far!

Some people will take
the worst decisions…
Even against their own interests
or their friends’/family’s
Fears/traditions/ideologies
are sadly taken into account
No matter how stupid they are:
sexism, racism, religion…
85

Failure was not
an option
Story time
Toddlers learn by trying and failing.
Everybody is born “hackers”.
School has no time for that.
You must get it right before the next test.
-> Many adults are uncomfortable with experimenting.
F
A
I
L
irst
ttempt
n
earning
86

Your present or past is no excuse!
It’s ok to be insecure, not to be a jerk
87

Don’t beat yourself up!
(too much)
Regrets are just normal.
They gives us the boost to try harder, be bolder.
Regrets?
88

Don’t be too hard on yourself
89

Your skills and experience are just different.
Spend time finding/acknowledging yours.
Stop comparing yourself
90
WHAT I THINK
I KNOW
WHAT I THINK
OTHERS KNOW
WHAT I THOUGHT
WHAT I KNOW
WHAT
OTHERS KNOW
IN REALITY

Health
You’re not ‘smart’ if you’re healthy.
You’re just lucky enough.
There’s no health credit.
Take care of yourself!
Buy that better pillow, brighter lamp,
get rid of these uncomfortable shoes !
(if it's for your health)
Story time 91

1. Be patient. No matter what.
2. Don't badmouth: assign responsibility, not blame. Say nothing of another you wouldn't say to him.
3. Never assume the motives of others are, to them, less noble than yours are to you.
4. Expand your sense of the possible.
5. Don't trouble yourself with matters you truly cannot change.
6. Don't ask more of others than you can deliver yourself.
7. Tolerate ambiguity.
8. Laugh at yourself frequently.
9. Concern yourself with what is right rather than who is right.
10. Try not to forget that, no matter how certain, you might be wrong.
11. Give up blood sports.
12. Remember that your life belongs to others as well. Don't risk it frivolously.
13. Never lie to anyone for any reason. (Lies of omission are sometimes exempt.)
14. Learn the needs of those around you and respect them.
15. Avoid the pursuit of happiness. Seek to define your mission and pursue that.
16. Reduce your use of the first personal pronoun.
17. Praise at least as often as you disparage.
18. Admit your errors freely and quickly.
19. Become less suspicious of joy.
20. Understand humility.
21. Remember that love forgives everything.
22. Foster dignity.
23. Live memorably.
24. Love yourself.
25. Endure.
Adult principles
by John Perry Barlow
94

What video games taught me
1. If you are facing new challenges/obstacles, then you’re going the right way.
2. No one blames you if you have to check the map.
3. Always come prepared.
4. Everyone is worth talking to.
5. Even if you don’t get money for something, you always get experience.
6. Explore!
7. The places that are hardest to get to always have the best rewards.
8. The best way to become someone’s friend is to actually talk to them.
9. If you want to be someone’s friend faster, also give them food.
10. Don’t hold on too much crap, you’ll fill up your inventory.
11. Don’t be deterred if a challenge was too much for you: go back, level up, increase your skill, and try again.
12. You don’t learn anything if you get someone else to do it for you.
13. Don’t feel like you have to plow through the main story. The best content is sometimes in the side quests.
14. If you’ve tried and failed 30 times, you probably missed something. Go back and look around.
15. Never judge someone’s skill solely on their achievements; you don’t know how they got them.
16. When you succeed after multiple failures, you feel so much more accomplished.
17. Take full advantage of character customization.
18. Decisions rarely only affect you. Please choose wisely.
95

30 characteristics of manipulatorsby Isabelle Nazare-Aga
96
They make other people feel guilty, in the name of professional conscience, family ties, friendship, love, etc.
They unload their responsibilities onto others or dismiss their own responsibilities. / They do not clearly communicate their requests, needs, feelings or opinions.
They often respond vaguely. / They lie / They are self-centred. / They cite all kinds of logical reasons to disguise their requests.
They change their opinions, behaviours, or feelings depending on the person or situation. / They make veiled threats or openly resort to blackmail.
They make others believe that they must be perfect, never change their minds, always know everything, and immediately respond to requests and questions.
They cast into doubt the qualities, skills and personalities of other people—they criticize without appearing to do so, devalue and judge.
They have their messages communicated by other people or via intermediaries (telephone instead of face-to-face, written notes).
They create suspicion and stir up ill feeling; they divide to conquer, driving a wedge between people, which can lead to relationship break-ups.
They know how to make themselves into victims to gain sympathy (e.g. exaggerated illness, « difficult » surroundings, overloaded at work).
They ignore requests (even if they claim to be taking care of them). / They use flattery to seduce us, give gifts or suddenly start waiting on us hand and foot.
They use the moral principles of others (e.g. notions of humanity, charity, racism, « good » or « bad » mother) to satisfy their needs.
They abruptly change topic in mid-conversation. / They avoid or get out of discussions and meetings. / They cannot take criticism, and deny facts.
They make false statements to discover the truth, twist and interpret facts to suit themselves. / They can be jealous, even if they are parents or spouses.
They do not take into account the rights, needs and desires of others. / They make us do things that we would probably not have done of our own free will.
They often wait until the last minute to ask, order or have others do something. / They rely on the ignorance of others while vaunting their own superiority.
Their words appear logical and consistent, while their attitudes, actions or lifestyle are totally opposite.
They generate a state of discomfort or of not being free (trap). / They are excellent at meeting their own goals, but at the expense of others.
They are constantly the focus of conversation among people who know them, even if they are not present.
https://www.isabellenazare-aga.com/30-caracteristiques-du-manipulateur#30-characteristics-manipulator
If you now someone with 14 of these characteristics, beware!

What rebels want from their boss
1. We are not troublemakers. We're motivated to make our organization better than it is.
2. We care more about work than most people. That's why we're willing to engage in controversy.
3. We need a work environment where it's safe to disagree and ask questions that challenge the status quo.
4. The more diverse a team's mindsets and experiences, the more creative the team. We may not be like you and that
is a good thing. Love our differences and quirks.
5. Challenge us. Give us the thorniest problems. Let us prove that our "wild ideas" can work. We want to be stretched,
not do work as usual.
6. Don't give us lip service. If one of our ideas isn't important to our goals or it's just too radical for the culture, tell
us that, not something glib like, "there's no budget or resources."
7. Coach us on how to navigate organizational politics so we avoid making mistakes that could embarrass you and us.
8. Rebelliousness is an act of courage and risk-taking. It's a positive behavior.
9. Tell us what we're doing right more than what we're doing wrong. Appreciation is the greatest sustainable motivator
at work. Give us more and we'll move mountains for you.
97
https://www.rebelsatwork.com/blog/2017/04/19/what-rebels-want-from-our-bosses

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