☁️Trey

Dad + Cyber + Risk + Agnotology. @BlackHatEvents Review Board. Chiefs, Crimson, & Longhorns. Head in the ☁️s. Views my own.

[☁️Trey @treyford]

Happy Friday, y’all!
Take a minute to find joy in the little things. Like peanut butter.

[☁️Trey @treyford]

@Bugcrowd does not train on your data.

If & when we do, we're bringing you along on the ride

We're working w/ the Hacker Advisory Board on how best to do this & make sure hackers are compensated

@infosec_au - think the world of you. If you'd like to discuss live, let us know

[shubs @infosec_au]

https://t.co/n6VYvNzJsl

so the bug bounty community freaked out a few weeks ago when hackerone had a single slide that talked about using AI agents for testing based off our reports. bugcrowd's new strategy sounds even more brazen, sly and egregious.

submit reports -> your "signals" (aka creative thought process and work) feed into their AI agents -> AI agents find bugs without you (unclear incentive structure).

that's if the technology even works though lol. these days I have trouble even adding collaborators in reports without the app erroring out.

the messaging is so much more slick too. "connect those signals" - does that mean they are training on our reports? at least whoever did this PR release was careful to not blatantly say that they are training on our reports.

but lol what does connecting those signals actually mean at the end of the day? extremely unclear if they train on our reports.

this requires actual transparency from both platforms, not just marketing, and messaging tactics that you use when you're trying to convince you're not a wolf in a sheeps clothing.

[☁️Trey @treyford]

So well put

[MoundLore @MoundLore]

RadioShack was the last store where being confused felt useful.

You’d walk in for batteries and end up standing in front of tiny drawers full of parts you didn’t understand yet. Resistors. Switches. Speaker wire. Fuses. Project kits. Adapters for problems so specific they sounded made up until somebody behind the counter nodded immediately and disappeared into aisle six.

People remember the batteries.
They forget the feeling.

RadioShack made technology feel close enough to touch. You could buy a soldering iron, a police scanner, a bag of LEDs, a replacement remote part, a weird cable, a battery club card, or one tiny component that somehow brought the whole thing back to life.

Kids built crystal radios. People repaired RC cars. Teens stripped speaker wire in garages.

Some employee who looked like he had worked there since 1987 could translate your terrible explanation into exactly the part you needed. That kind of place teaches a different relationship with the world.

Machines had backs and screws and wires. Things failed for reasons. You could open them. You could make mistakes. You could learn enough to stop being intimidated.

Then the world changed.

Screens replaced screws. Batteries got glued in. Devices got sealed. Parts disappeared. Stores stopped assuming people wanted to understand anything below the surface. People call that convenience. But there’s a reason people remember RadioShack harder than they should. It was one of the last places that made technology feel unfinished.

Like normal people still had permission to participate. Now most of us carry objects more powerful than anything in that store ever sold and most of us would not even know where to begin if one stopped working.

[☁️Trey @treyford]

This. This is amazing.

[Ethan Brooks @alt_w_v_g]

Got a letter from the HOA yesterday

Actual letter

In an envelope

With a stamp

In 2026

The letter said my trash can was visible from the street for too long on collection day

The fine is $50

I checked my Ring camera

The truck came at 7:03am

I brought the can in at 7:14am

11 minutes

$50

That's $4.55 per minute of trash can visibility

My therapist charges $250 an hour

That's $4.17 per minute

My trash can sitting in a driveway is now more expensive per minute than therapy

I looked at the letter again

It was signed by the HOA president

Her name is Karen

Of course it is

I know this woman

She lives four houses down

She still has Christmas lights up

It's March

I know because I drive past them twice a day

And because that's what I do

I checked the HOA bylaws

All 47 pages

Section 4.2 says all exterior fixtures and lighting must be seasonal and removed within 30 days of the applicable holiday

Her lights have been up for 97 days

I went to the HOA meeting

Tuesday night

7pm

In a church basement

Folding chairs

Fruit platter that nobody touched

Seven people showed up

Four of them were on the board

The other three were there to complain

I was there to read

My wife came with me

She didn't want to

But she said "if I don't come you'll end up on the news"

I brought my legal pad

Karen called the meeting to order

She talked about community standards

She talked about property values

She talked about the importance of curb appeal

From a woman whose Christmas lights are still blinking in March

I raised my hand

She said "we'll take questions at the end"

I said "it's not a question. It's a point of order."

She looked at me

I opened my legal pad

I said "Section 4.2 requires seasonal decorations to be removed within 30 days. Your Christmas lights have been up for 97 days. You fined me $50 for 11 minutes of trash can visibility on collection day while you've been in violation for over three months."

The room was quiet

One of the other three complainers said "he's right"

The board members looked at each other

Karen said "that's a separate issue"

I said "it's the same bylaws"

She said "we'll review it"

I said "I already did. Page 12. Happy to share my highlights."

My wife looked at the ceiling

Some things never change

Karen said "I think we should move on"

I said "agreed. I'll move on when the Christmas lights do."

Nobody laughed

I wasn't joking

I paid the $50

Because it's $50 and I'm not going to die on that hill

But if the rules apply to me they apply to everyone

So I filed a formal complaint about the lights

With photos

Timestamped

Funny how surveillance works both ways

The fine for seasonal decoration violations is $75 per occurrence

She's been in violation for 67 days past the 30-day grace period

I'll let her do the math

Or I'll do it for her

Because that's what I do

Make common sense common again

Plz fix. Thx.

Sent from my iPhone

[☁️Trey @treyford]

Squirrels were in my threat model.
This was not.

[The Husky @Mr_Husky1]

Police in Central Park thought they were hunting down a skilled pickpocket after multiple visitors reported their phones mysteriously disappearing without anyone noticing a thing.

But while officers were questioning people in the park, a raccoon suddenly ran up, grabbed a phone, and exposed itself as the real thief. After chasing it through the trees, police found a hidden stash of stolen phones tucked away in a raccoon’s hiding spot.

They later announced that anyone missing a phone in Central Park could check with the station to claim it.

[☁️Trey @treyford]

Yes.
Give me durable, dumb appliances.

[VanMan @Man_with_a_van]

The response to this insanely simple yet non plastic coffee maker should usher in the era of “dumb” simple appliances that work and dont poison you or connect to your wifi

[☁️Trey @treyford]

How did Quip and MS Teams not make this list?

[Kyle Mann @The_Kyle_Mann]

Humanity's worst inventions, ranked

1. QR code menus
2. Tiktok
3. Sin
4. OneDrive
5. Unskippable cutscenes in video games
6. Ohio
7. Mustard gas
8. The designated hitter rule
9. Zoom meetings
10. Communism

[☁️Trey @treyford]

This.
So much of this.

[Chris Boettcher @chrisboettcher9]

I stopped taking advice from childless people.

Fitness. Productivity. Life advice. All of it.

And here's why:

It's not that they're wrong. It's that they're playing a completely different game.

Taking life advice from someone without kids is like getting marriage tips from a guy who's "really good at first dates."

Cool, bro. But you've never had to initiate the tough conversation and own your mistake just to keep the peace.

We're not in the same sport.

We've all seen some 25-year-old fitness influencer with non-negotiable 5am routine.

Wake up. Meditate. Journal. Cold plunge. 45-minute lift.

Sounds beautiful. You know what woke ME up at 5am last Tuesday?

A 3-year-old standing 3 inches from my face whispering, "Daddy, I frowed up."

There's no cold plunge for that. Just reality.

These people have optimized their lives around ONE variable: themselves.

I'm optimizing for:

→ A marriage that still thriving after 10 years
→ Kids who actually want to be around me
→ A career that provides for my family
→ A body that lets me keep up with all of it

That's a completely different goal and it requires a different formula.

Real discipline isn't waking up at 5am when your apartment is silent and your only responsibility is a houseplant.

It's a 10pm workout after the kids went to bed because your morning blew up showing up for your family when they needed you.

That's the game I'm playing.

Childless advice isn't just impractical. It's unrelatable.

Their goal: optimize for SELF.
My goal: optimize for FAMILY.

It's like a vegan telling me how to grill a steak.

You might technically know the steps. But I don't trust you with the tongs.

The best advice I've ever gotten came from parents in the trenches.

They don't talk about "optimizing morning routines."

They talk about:
• 20 push-ups while your kid eats breakfast
• Walking with your wife after dinner because it's the only time you'll get together
• Meal prepping Sunday because Tuesday night is a warzone

THAT'S advice that actually works.

So no, I'm not taking health advice from someone whose biggest inconvenience is their supplement stack being shipped late.

I want the guy who's been elbow-deep in a diaper blowout and STILL hitting their goals.

That's the guy who I'm listening to.

Find your people. Take their advice. Ignore the rest.

[☁️Trey @treyford]

I’m ded

[Peter Girnus 🦅 @gothburz]

I am the Chief Information Officer of a global enterprise.

Last quarter, I eliminated MFA.

Multi-factor authentication. The thing where you need two things to log in instead of one.

It created friction.

Employees complained. "Why do I need a code from my phone?" "This slows me down." "I forgot my authenticator app."

I listened.

That's leadership.

I told the board: "We're removing barriers to productivity. Empowering our workforce. Choosing agility over friction."

They promoted me on the spot.

The CISO wept, no one likes him anyway. 

Our CISO is a Debby Downer.

Our file-sharing portal now requires one thing: a password.

Passwords are secure. People choose strong ones.

They definitely don't reuse them across every website they've ever visited.

That's just common sense.

Last week, a criminal named Zestix stole our data.

Also 49 other companies.

Fifty organizations. One guy. One method: log in with stolen passwords.

No exploits. No zero-days. No sophisticated nation-state attack.

Just... passwords.

The passwords came from infostealer malware. Employees downloaded infected files. The malware grabbed their saved credentials.

Some of those credentials had been sitting in criminal databases for years.

We didn't rotate them.

Password rotation creates friction.

Zestix targeted our ShareFile portal. The one with all our sensitive documents.

Engineering data for three major utilities. He's selling that for $585,000.

Military robotics intellectual property from an aerospace company.

2.3 terabytes of Brazilian Military Police health records.

Active legal strategies from a law firm representing Mercedes-Benz.

Technical safety data from Spain's largest airline.

SCADA drawings and GPS coordinates of control rooms for a rail company.

Fifty organizations.

No MFA.

Hudson Rock, the security firm that tracked this, wrote: "The attacker walks right in through the front door. No exploits, no cookies – just a password."

I prefer to frame it differently.

The attacker was welcomed in through an optimized authentication experience.

We trusted our employees. We trusted our partners. We trusted that everyone uses unique, complex passwords that they never share or reuse.

That's culture.

Some people will say we should have enabled MFA.

Those people don't understand velocity.

Some people will say we should rotate credentials.

Those people haven't seen our Q4 productivity metrics.

Some people will say Zestix is a criminal.

I prefer "external penetration testing consultant we didn't hire."

The data is now on the dark web.

Our security team is investigating.

Our legal team is drafting statements.

Our HR team is preparing the employee communication.

Subject line: "Protecting What Matters: Our Commitment to Your Data."

We're also launching a mandatory cybersecurity training.

Module 1: "Why Passwords Are Your First Line of Defense."

Module 2: "Recognizing Phishing Emails."

Module 3: "The Importance of Multi-Factor Authentication."

That last module is new.

We're requiring it for all employees.

The training, I mean.

Not the MFA.

MFA still creates friction.

[David Leavitt 🎲🎮🧙‍♂️🌈 @DavidLeavitt]

Shoutout to all my fellow Y2K survivors

[cje @caseyjohnellis]

"Now I Have A https://t.co/LCFYkognMG Website. Ho, Ho, Ho"

In this @Bugcrowd Security Flash @treyford and i weigh in on The https://t.co/xQ1jWLEgLj Project, security myths and the role of risk in weighing them up, and how to be an effective "designated nerd" this Holiday Season.

Enjoy!

https://t.co/LqhzohHphi

[☁️Trey @treyford]

Take 5 and read this.
Then take 5 more and write.

Document what you’re thankful for, and what you’re gonna work on next year.

So much goodness here.

[Kevin Dahlstrom @Camp4]

Today I turn 55.

I’m the fittest, sharpest, and happiest I’ve ever been.

If I’m an outlier, it’s not because I’m built different or discovered a secret formula. The truth is far less glamorous:

It’s a million tiny choices, compounded over decades.

Here are 55 of them:

1. Walk 15+ miles a week, even if you do other exercise. Humans are uniquely made to move slowly over long distances—it’s critical to longevity.

2. Develop a writing practice. It’s the single best way to sharpen your mind. And remember, you don’t have to be a good writer to write. Start with 10 minutes a day.

3. Swap out your toothpaste, deodorant, lotions, soap, shampoo, and other personal care products for natural versions. Here’s a rule of thumb: Don’t put anything on your skin that you couldn’t safely eat.

4. If you have a positive thought about someone, don’t keep it to yourself—share it immediately. Encouragement defies the laws of physics: When you give energy, you also receive it.

5. Wear shoes with a wide forefoot (I like Topo Athletic) and wear toe spreaders around the house (search “yoga toes” on Amazon). Spine health begins with the feet.

6. Get sunlight regularly. Moderate sun exposure (without sunscreen) is hugely important for overall health.

7. Do a 3-minute deep (“ass to grass”) squat every morning. Deep squats are often called the anti-aging exercise. It’s been said that, “It’s not that you can’t do deep squats because you’re old, it’s that you’re old because you can’t do deep squats.”

8. Explore minimalism (it’s not what you think it is).

9. Set boundaries on toxic relationships. We tend to cling to relationships past their expiration date, and it takes a bigger toll on our health than we recognize.

10. Eat real food. Not too much. Don’t eat garbage. Binge occasionally. Fast occasionally. That’s the diet.

11. Learn about FIRE. It’s a great framework for financial success.

12. Don’t take antibiotics except in emergency situations. They’re massively over-prescribed and aren’t needed in most cases. Antibiotics have done untold damage to our guts, which is where health begins. Great natural alternatives are out there.

13. Get 8 hours of quality sleep each night. To optimize sleep:
—Don’t eat after 6pm
—Get blackout shades and cover LEDs with black tape
—No screens 2 hours before bed
—Try ashwagandha (an herb) to calm the nervous system

14. Stop drinking, even in moderation. People find all sorts of ways to justify drinking, but there’s no escaping the simple fact that alcohol is a toxin and it limits your potential.

15. Travel as much as possible. Nothing expands the mind like seeing the world. And travel doesn’t have to be expensive—the best experiences happen outside of fancy resorts, when you live like a local.

16. Let go of resentment. When you forgive someone, you release the prisoner, and the prisoner isn’t them… it’s you.

17. Show up on time, every time. Poor time management limits success more than most people realize. If you struggle with punctuality, stop everything else and fix that first.

18. Spend lots of time in nature and touch the earth. Humans evolved over 300k years to live in harmony with nature, and only recently have we retreated indoors. If you don’t spend time outside, you’re fighting biology (hint: You won’t win.)

19. Stop doing dumb things. As Leo Tolstoy said, “People try to do all sorts of clever and difficult things to improve life instead of doing the simplest, easiest thing—refusing to participate in activities that make life bad.”

20. Find your happy place and (eventually) move there. Most people live where they live because... that's where they live. We are products of our environment—choose yours carefully.

21. Find a hobby and pursue mastery. You can’t have a happy life without a passionate pursuit that isn’t your vocation. Your work—even if you enjoy it—isn’t enough.

22. Avoid mainstream medicine except as a last resort. The results are in—our healthcare (or more appropriately, sick care) system is badly broken and only makes people sicker.

23. Have a mindset of abundance. There is no advantage to being a pessimist—even if you’re right, it’s a miserable way to live. In a very real way… whatever you believe, you’re right!

24. Do hard things. Choose courage over comfort. Everything you want is on the other side of fear and hard work. As Jerzy Gregorik said, “Hard choices, easy life. Easy choices, hard life.”

25. Ignore haters. Hurt people hurt people. Negative/toxic people live in a prison of their own design. Don’t join them!

26. Say no. Protect your time and energy like it’s your most precious asset… because it is.

27. Become a water snob. As an alien said on Star Trek, humans are “ugly bags of mostly water.” You are what you drink—literally! We have Mountain Valley Spring water delivered in glass 5-gallon jugs and also have whole-house water filter (Aquasana Rhino).

28. Stop drinking sodas and sugary energy drinks. After a few weeks you won’t miss them, and a few months later they’ll seem disgusting. Refined sugar causes inflammation, which is the root of most disease.

29. If you’re over 35, find a good functional/longevity medicine doctor and start tracking your hormones. Modern life is hell on the endocrine system and restoring healthy hormone levels can change your life. As we get older, we either accept a slow decline in performance or we do something about it—choose the latter!

30. Develop a morning routine and follow it faithfully. Win the morning, win the day!

31. Invest in experiences, not things. People frequently regret buying things, but rarely regret investing in great experiences (especially when shared with loved ones). Remember, there’s nothing you can buy in a mall that you’ll remember in ten years.

32. Explore spirituality. It’s arrogant and small-minded to believe there’s nothing going on in our universe that is beyond our comprehension. We know less about our universe than an ant meandering on a sidewalk understands about this planet.

33. Have a strong bias toward action—doing rather than talking. If you ask a bunch of old people about their regrets, they’ll talk about the things they *didn't* do—the shots they didn’t take—more than the things they did do (even if it went wrong). As Wayne Gretzky famously said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Most people don’t take enough shots.

34. Stay lean. Men in particular are obsessed with muscle mass these days, but bulk doesn’t age well. The goal is to be strong but lean. The fittest guys in their 50s and beyond aren’t meatheads, they’re lean guys who are serious about a sport.

35. Curate your inner circle carefully. Surround yourself with people you admire and who challenge you to grow. Remember, we’re the average of our 5 closest relationships.

36. Be the fittest version of yourself. Your body is your only vessel for experiencing life—so treat it as such. Fitness isn’t working out a few times a week, it’s a lifestyle. The older you get, the more time you need to devote to your health.

37. Take the time to appreciate art and beauty in all its forms.

38. Think globally, but act locally. Too many people put their energy into far-away problems they don’t understand and can’t impact, while ignoring problems right under their nose. Want to change the world? Start at home.

39. Try psychedelics. It’s one of those things everyone should do at least once, and it might be the breakthrough you’ve been looking for.

40. Limit bad habits, including unhealthy thought patterns. We all have them—practice avoidance and find substitutes. Get professional help if needed.

41. Be a lifelong learner. Your brain is just like a muscle—if you don’t feed and flex it regularly, it will atrophy.

42. Find your purpose. People with a strong sense of purpose are happier and live longer. Lack of purpose sucks energy and magnifies depression.

43. Only take advice from people who embody the traits you want to have. Talk is cheap—emulate those who have DONE it.

44. The goal is not to retire and do nothing, it’s to build a great day-to-day life that you don’t need to escape. A life of leisure is a slow death. Happiness isn’t possible without a little struggle, uncertainty, and skin in the game.

45. Have fun! Do frivolous and silly things that make you smile. As George Bernard Shaw famously said, “We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”

46. Whatever you want to do or achieve in life, start NOW. Don’t fall victim to “someday thinking” because someday never comes.

47. Accumulate assets—things that grow in value over time. It’s the #1 habit of rich people, and it can be done in tiny chunks. Instead of spending $100 on an impulse purchase that has no lasting value, put that money into an index fund or Bitcoin. It becomes addictive (in a good way).

48. Don’t ignore the big 3 canaries in the coal mine for health:
—Low libido (and ED)
—Frequent sinus & respiratory issues
—Depression
These usually aren’t medical conditions in themselves, they’re symptoms of an underlying problem. Find a good doc (outside of the mainstream) and figure out the root cause.

49. Have a clear vision for your future. How can you decide which direction to go if you haven’t clearly defined the destination? It sounds obvious, but 95% of people haven’t defined their “Ideal End State” in detail and in writing. (Check out my thread on this topic.)

50. Make your own decisions. We live in an era where most of what society tells us is wrong. Don’t be afraid to break from societal norms—if people say you’re crazy, it’s a sign that you’re doing something right.

51. Get hardcore about mobility exercise. As you age, it’s usually the knees, hips, and lower back that limit physical performance. 30 min a couple times a week can spare you a lifetime of pain. YouTube is a great resource.

52. Go all in on family. Get married, stay married, have kids. Burn the boats. In the end, family is all that matters.

53. Be ruthless with your time. Money comes and goes. Time only goes. Audit your calendar ruthlessly—cut the trivial, double down on the meaningful, and spend your hours like your life depends on it. (Because it does.)

54. Have a strong bias toward action. Be curious, try things, meet people—it’s how you increase your surface area for serendipity, the most powerful unseen force in our lives.

55. Reinvent yourself every decade. Over time, we slowly drift off course from our priorities, values, and true identity. Take stock and don’t be afraid to hit the reset button. Bold, calculated moves made for the right reasons almost always pay off—usually even more than you can imagine.

🎁 P.S. If you enjoyed this post, would you give me a birthday gift? Repost or comment with the item number(s) you liked best?

[☁️Trey @treyford]

🚀🚀🚀

[bugcrowd @Bugcrowd]

Look up, #NYC! 👀💫

Bugcrowd has acquired @MayhemSec, and we’re lighting up #TimesSquare! A moment made possible by every customer who’s chosen collaboration, every hacker who’s found and fixed, and every partner who’s helped us grow.

Call it a core memory—thank you for helping us make it big, @NasdaqExchange. 🙌

#Bugcrowd #IngenuityUnleashed #MayhemSecurity #Nasdaq

[Nash Henry @NashJagsNats22]

Trevor Lawrence's game winning touchdown set to Chumbawamba's Tubthumping is perfection.

[☁️Trey @treyford]

Hey #ChiefsKingdom
Decided I’m gonna be glad about last nights comedy of errors.

We’re capable. Have the right folks. Things are coming together.

Last night will galvanize our focus on every rep, on every side of the ball.

[☁️Trey @treyford]

@pgsween My brother in Christ.
The Ravens are solid.
Our house is in order.
We look GOOOOD

[Planesanity @planesanity]

Landing: Air Force vs Navy

[☁️Trey @treyford]

All this talk of model training

… how do all smoke alarms know to announce failing batteries between 1-3am in the local time zone?

[☁️Trey @treyford]

@brysonbort @caseyjohnellis @daveaitel Some fun, meme worthy logical razors to test this with :)

[☁️Trey @treyford]

@brysonbort @caseyjohnellis @daveaitel So to the stem of your prompt, are patches a problem?

[☁️Trey @treyford]

@caseyjohnellis @brysonbort What was @daveaitel ‘s immunity tagline?
Patch Tuesday
0day Wednesday?

Something to that effect…