Better Security through Penetration Testing My book, Red Team: How to Succeed by Thinking Like the Enemy, provides the first in-depth investigation into the work of red teams in the military, intelligence, homeland security and private sectors, revealing the best practices, most common pitfalls, and most effective applications of their work. Below is an adaptation….
Author: The Tactical Hermit
Armed Texan and Part-Time Bard.
Understanding Counter-Insurgency Warfare in under 3 minutes
This clip was edited out of the final movie We Were Soldiers for some reason, but I have to agree with Tom Ricks’ Article, they should have left it in. “You Won’t Run the little Bastards back home sir, They Are Home….” As I Said, that sums up COIN.
Border Security Alert: Waves of Cubans Crossing U.S. Border from Mexico
When most Americans think of large numbers of Cuban migrants leaving the island nation, they picture rafts and boats headed towards the Florida Keys. However, this new exodus finds hundreds of Cubans heading to Central America and joining those following the same migration routes heading towards the U.S.-Mexico border. According to the Miami Herald, border…
Tradecraft Notes: The Use of Clothing Disguises and the Manipulation of “Perceived Authority”
By Hammerhead While watching the new series “Sherlock” on Netflix the other day with my better half, I had an epiphany, well, more like a “fantasy ideal” I guess; I realized that if the average person had the heightened awareness of both his surroundings and other people that the borderline autistic savant Sherlock Holmes has,…
Technology and Privacy: Signal, the Crypto App Comes to Android
SINCE IT FIRST appeared in Apple’s App Store last year, the free encrypted calling and texting app Signal has become the darling of the privacy community, recommended—and apparently used daily—by no less than Edward Snowden himself. Now its creator is bringing that same form of ultra-simple smartphone encryption to Android. On Monday the privacy-focused non-profit…
Military History: The ‘Other’ Revolutionary War & The Fall of Fort Sackville
By John Farnam “… in the event of Great Britain attempting to force unjust laws upon us by strength of arms, our Cause we leave to Heaven, and our rifles!” ~ Hanover Association, Lancaster County, PA, 1774 During the French and Indian Wars of the 1750s and 1760s, many North American Indian tribes had allied…
Black Hawk Tragedy: Orders Were Ignored and 11 Men Died
INSIDE ONE OF THE MOST DEVASTATING MILITARY TRAINING MISSIONS IN RECENT MEMORY By Kevin Lilley Seconds after his Black Hawk helicopter took off for a March 10 training mission — filled with seven Marine special operators and three fellow Louisiana Army National Guardsmen — the pilot remarked: “Gee, it’s dark as [expletive].” Less than five…
Cartel Corner #19: This Candy is only for Americans
Border Agency Employee Tells Texas Trick-or-Treaters Candy Is Only For Americans An employee of the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency had a message for trick-or-treaters in the tiny Texas border town of Presidio this Halloween. A sign taped on the gate of a home located within a US government-owned housing complex was written in…
Laugh of the Day: Maxim Vice
For those of you out there that are “seasoned” enough to remember the REAL Miami Vice television series, you will find this funny.
“Hamland” Security: Amateur Radio’s Place in Securing the Homeland
During times of disaster, homeland security resources at all levels of government are often stretched to capacity. The whole-of-government approach involving local, county, state and federal agencies is sometimes not enough, especially in the realm of communications. That is where a dedicated group of private hobbyists, known as amateur radio operators, or “hams” as they…