Category: cloud security

Cloud Security and Meal Prep: The Routine That Saves You When It Counts

Whether you’re a cloud engineer, a school IT lead, or just someone juggling a lot of responsibilities, you know routines matter. Here’s how a few simple habits, both in the kitchen and in the cloud, can make all the difference when things get hectic.

Meal prep can feel like a grind: chopping, portioning, stacking containers into neat rows. Yet when a demanding week hits, that fridge full of ready-made meals is your quiet victory. It’s proof that routine pays off when pressure arrives.

Vulnerability scanning and patching works similarly. It’s repetitive, rarely celebrated, and usually annoying. But consistency is what saves you during mission-critical moments, when vulnerabilities surface or threat actors strike.

The Problem with Patching

Patching never ends. There’s always another round of updates, another CVE, another “critical” bulletin. The challenge isn’t just time, it’s motivation.

  • It’s endless. You finish one cycle only to start another.
  • It’s invisible. No one notices the breach that never happened.
  • It’s easy to delay. “We’ll patch later” often becomes “we wish we had.”

In cloud environments, the pace is faster. Systems scale dynamically, microservices update constantly, and the attack surface grows by the minute. Skipping one patch cycle is like skipping a week of prep: you won’t feel it right away, but the fallout is inevitable.

The Solution: Treat It Like Meal Prep

The way through is rhythm and habit, small, consistent actions that compound into resilience.

  • Automate Where Possible
    Just like batch cooking, automation saves time and reduces errors. Use tools like AWS Systems Manager Patch Manager, Azure Update Management, or Google Cloud OS Config to deploy updates automatically across fleets. Automate notifications and reporting as well, so visibility remains high without incurring manual overhead.

Pro tip: If you’re new to automation, start small by piloting auto-patching in a test environment before rolling it out everywhere.

  • Schedule Cycles and Stick to Them
    Create predictable patch windows: weekly for endpoints, monthly for servers, rolling updates for cloud workloads. Align these cycles with CI/CD pipelines to ensure updates integrate seamlessly with development. Repetition builds trust in the process and limits downtime surprises.
  • Make It a Habit
    The goal isn’t to be a hero, but to be consistent. Prep your meals each week, patch your systems on schedule, and review your process every month. Eventually, these steps just become part of your routine.

The Payoff: Prepared Beats Panicked

When a zero-day hits, the teams that patch regularly move smoothly through the chaos. Their systems are up to date, their dependencies are tracked, and their processes are tested. The rest scramble for emergency fixes while downtime bleeds into dollars.

Routine patching does more than fix vulnerabilities. It helps you stay calm when things get stressful. This steady discipline keeps your operations running smoothly, even when others are scrambling.

Final Thoughts

Security, like nutrition, doesn’t come from sudden bursts of inspiration. It comes from doing the same things regularly. The calm, controlled and protected environment you want later depends on the boring discipline you practice now.

Stay consistent, use automation thoughtfully, and patch your systems the way you meal prep: always ahead of time. This is how you keep both your systems and your peace of mind when things get tough.

Persistence Beats Perfection

Chasing perfection can be tempting. It makes us believe that if we get everything exactly right, like following a flawless training plan or a perfect patch cycle, we’ll be safe from risks or mistakes. But perfection is fragile. One mistake or setback, and it falls apart. That’s when persistence matters most.

Persistence, on the other hand, is unbreakable and endures where perfection falters.

Anyone who’s trained in martial arts or strength sports knows some days you set PRs, some days you don’t. Some days you win; other days, you learn. The outcome of a single session doesn’t matter; what counts is that you keep showing up.

Cybersecurity runs on the same principle. Rather than expecting flawless results, it relies on the daily commitment, running scans, monitoring logs, and applying updates, which builds resilience over time.

Why Perfection Fails

  • Unrealistic expectations: Nobody patches everything at once. Expecting to do so leads to burnout.
  • Procrastination: Waiting until you can do it “perfectly” means it never gets done.
  • Fragility: Perfection breaks under stress; persistence adapts.

Why Persistence Wins

  • Consistency compounds. One small patch today, another tomorrow, adds up to systemic strength.
  • Resilience under pressure. When incidents occur, teams that have developed daily habits respond more quickly.
  • Adaptability. Persistence isn’t rigid; it bends, adjusts, and continues forward.

The Martial Arts Parallel

Martial artists don’t achieve mastery through perfection. They drill basics until instinctive, spar, fail, and adapt. Each session is about persistence; the discipline of returning to the mat, working on strikes, footwork, counter-wrestling, etc, etc.

Cybersecurity professionals must do the same. Drill, repeat, refine, and drill some more. That way, when the attacks come, your persistence in training wins the day.

Closing Thought:
Persistence, not perfection, is the key to success. Perfection is unattainable, persistence ensures progress, and tangible results.

The Cloud’s Silent Killer: Misconfigured Defaults

shannon cloud security

In 2023, a single misstep by a Fortune 500 company left millions of customer records exposed simply by making a storage bucket public. This wasn’t an isolated incident. Misconfigurations like this are now the leading cause of devastating cloud data breaches, costing companies their reputation, customers’ trust, and millions in losses.

When you think of a data breach, you might envision elite hackers executing sophisticated attacks. However, the reality is far more alarming and preventable. Most breaches are the result of basic, avoidable misconfigurations, such as open buckets and overly broad permissions. These are mistakes anyone can make, and attackers are counting on it.

It’s tempting to trust default settings, they feel safe, like the standard path everyone takes. But most cloud defaults are built for quick setup, not lasting security. If you let them go unchecked, you’re leaving the door wide open for disaster.

The Usual Suspects

Let’s talk specifics. Over and over again, these defaults show up in post-mortem reports:

  • Open storage buckets and blobs: Data storage left publicly accessible, sometimes with read and write permissions wide open. Attackers do not need to guess. They simply scan and find these vulnerabilities.
  • Overly permissive IAM roles: The infamous *:* permission set (which allows access to all resources), granting far more access than necessary. It only takes one compromised credential to turn this into a complete takeover of the environment.
  • Unrestricted security groups: Allowing traffic from “anywhere, any time” because it worked during testing… and then nobody locked it down.

These aren’t rare oversights. They’re everywhere, so common that attackers make a living scanning the internet for them. If you don’t fix them, it’s only a matter of time before someone else finds them first.

Why Defaults Are So Dangerous

  1. They lure you into a false sense of security, making you believe all is well until it’s far too late.
    Teams assume that “default” means “safe enough.” But in reality, cloud vendors prioritize usability over airtight security.
  2. They scale the wrong way.
    What seems harmless in one instance becomes catastrophic when duplicated across dozens of accounts, regions, and services.
  3. They’re hard to spot once deployed.
    Without deliberate reviews, defaults blend into the noise. They look “normal,” even when they’re wide open.

Breaking the Cycle

So how do you stop defaults from turning into disasters?

  • Audit your configurations against standards. Frameworks like CIS Benchmarks exist for a reason. They help ensure your usual settings are not leaving the door wide open.
  • Enforce least privilege from the start. Treat it as your default stance. Add access only when necessary, and remove it just as quickly.
  • Build guardrails into Infrastructure as Code. With tools like Terraform, CloudFormation, or ARM templates (methods for defining infrastructure settings in code), you can embed security policies that prevent dangerous defaults from being introduced unnoticed.
  • Automate reviews and alerts. Cloud-native tools (such as AWS Config, Azure Policy, or GCP Security Command Center services) and third-party scanners can flag risky defaults before attackers do.

The Martial Arts Parallel

In martial arts, the stance you start with can determine the fight. A weak stance means you begin off balance before your opponent moves.

Cloud defaults work the same way. If you start with insecure settings, attackers already have the upper hand before you realize there’s a problem.

Closing Thoughts

The cloud makes it easy to move quickly, but speed without careful planning can be risky. Default settings may save you time, but they also make things much easier for attackers. Cloud security is not about dramatic battles or brilliant hackers. It is about consistently following basic best practices. Never assume that default means secure. Take responsibility and set your own standards.

Don’t wait for a wake-up call. Spend just 30 minutes this week: review one bucket, one IAM role, and one security group. Fix even a single misconfiguration. Share what you learn with your team. Every small action strengthens your cloud’s defenses and protects what matters most: your customers, your business, and your reputation.

Fueling Your Cybersecurity: How To Eat Right for Cyber Success

A Beginner’s Guide For Eating to Shed Fat, Revive Your Metabolism, and Sharpen Daily Performance.

Cybersecurity incidents don’t care how well you slept or ate. They happen anytime. If your body feels slow, your mind will too.

That’s why nutrition isn’t just about physique or gym numbers. It’s about resilience.

A strong body fuels a sharp mind, which makes you a stronger IT professional.

Before jumping in, you might ask: how do you build nutrition habits that fuel performance, even under pressure? Let’s break it down with these five rules:

Rule #1: Always Eat Protein First

If there’s one macro nutrient that changes everything, it’s protein. Most people under-eat it, even those who train.

  • Why it matters: Protein saves muscle, keeps you full longer, and helps your body burn more calories.
  • Aim for .75 to 1g per pound of lean or target body weight. Spread it across meals: eggs at breakfast, chicken or beef at lunch, fish at dinner, or a shake if needed.

Think of protein like a system update: without it, your body gradually weakens until you notice it, and by then it’s too late.

Rule #2: Drink this down deep into your SOUL – Carbs are NOT The Enemy

Carbs, like protein, provide 4 calories per gram.

Carbs get demonized needlessly. If you train hard, they’re your gas pedal—not optional.

  • Performance: Carbs fuel high-intensity efforts (CrossFit, sprints, heavy lifts). They refill glycogen so your “engine” doesn’t sputter.
  • Focus: Complex carbs—including all fruits, vegetables, and grains like rice—keep blood sugar steady. That means steady energy and fewer crashes.

The key isn’t cutting carbs. What matters is eating quality carbs at the right times.

  • Hard training days? Eat more.
  • Recovery days? Dial it back a bit.

Rule #3: Fats – The Slow-Burn Energy Source

Fats do not give quick energy like carbs, but they help you last longer. Fats are essential for hormone production, brain function, and recovery.

  • Prioritize avocados, nuts, olive oil, walnut oil, and sesame oil, as well as grass-fed, wild-caught and free-range meats.

Most people do well with 20–30% of their calories from fat. That’s enough for health but not too much.

Rule #4: Hydration = Cognitive Uptime

Mild dehydration tanks focus faster than hunger. For IT pros, that’s dangerous.

  • Target: ½ gallon per day minimum.
  • Use electrolytes during long training or extended incident calls.

Think of hydration as uptime. Skip it, and your system crashes.

Rule #5: Structure Beats Willpower, Every Time

No one does well by guessing. Like securing a system, lasting results come from discipline and routine.

  • Meal prep → Simple, repeatable meals built ahead of time.
  • Macro targets: track for a few weeks until you get the feel.
  • Boundaries: Sleep, fuel, and downtime are mandatory security controls.

The goal is not perfection; it’s persistence. Remember, chasing perfection can actually slow your progress. Aim for 80 to 90 percent consistency for the best results.

Closing Thoughts

Nutrition is about training, discipline, and resilience, and it all starts with each meal.

Forget fad diets, quick fixes, and guilt. Focus on what helps you daily: sufficient protein, good carbs, healthy fats, water, and sticking to a plan that eliminates guesswork.

Anyone with a strong body and sharp mind doesn’t just survive the grind; they thrive in it.

Soon, I’ll show you how to build simple, sustainable meal prep systems. You can protect your body and mind just like you protect your network: with structure and planning.

Remember: your body is your first line of defense. Fuel it like YOU matter.

Do You Even Eat Bro? Why Meal Prep Is Security for Your Health

matt shannon_nutrition crossfit

Waaaayyy back in the day, when we launched our Paleo meal prep business, people used to love and also laughed at our meme tagline: “Do you even eat, bro?”

It was funny. But it was also the truth. Most people didn’t eat well, not because they didn’t care, but because they didn’t plan. And, the truth is, most people don’t invest any time in preparing their meals, and it costs them.

The business was built on a simple idea:
* Make eating clean easier than ordering pizza.
* Source only local, high-quality foods–from all of our fruits and veggies, to our choices of pasture-raised poultry and beef.
* Take the stress out of nutrition so people could focus on training, work, and life.

And here’s what I learned: meal prep is like security for your diet and prior proper planning always ensures success.

  • Plan ahead, or get hacked by junk food. If you don’t have meals ready, DoorDash or the vending machine will win.
  • Build guardrails, or chaos takes over. Structure (shopping lists, prepped meals, set eating windows) keeps you from drifting.
  • Stay consistent, and resilience follows. Just like training or cybersecurity, it’s the boring reps that make you strong when it counts.
nutrition for busy professionals discipline_paleo fitness_crossfit

That’s why I still fall back on three rules that anyone can run with:

  1. Prep protein in bulk → Grill or roast a few pounds of chicken, beef, or fish. Protein is the foundation; everything else is garnish.
  2. Keep easy fruits & veggies on hand → Frozen, bagged, or pre-chopped. Don’t overcomplicate it. Rotate what you like.
  3. Don’t skip fats → Avocado, olive oil, nuts. They keep your hormones happy and your brain sharp when the day gets heavy.

It’s never about hitting 100% perfection. It’s about persistence — stacking small wins, meal after meal, day after day, week after week. Never forget the 80/20 rule to begin with, and do your best not to get overwhelmed. Small changes build habits that lead to permanent changes.

I didn’t always nail every meal, but because the vast majority of my meal were planned, I could keep training, keep coaching, keep working, and keep moving forward. One day at a time.

Never forget, meal prep is like security for your health and wellbeing. And, in the world I come from, when you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

And yes, I still eat, bro.

What’s your go-to meal prep hack that keeps you fueled during the week?

Training the Body, Training the Mind: Why Security Pros Need Both

training the body trains the mind

When most people think about cybersecurity, they picture glowing screens, rapid typing, “hacking” and maybe a hoodie or two. What they don’t picture is chalk & barbells, sprint intervals, sparring mats or even walking.

But here’s the truth: the body and the mind aren’t separate operating systems. They have a symbiotic relationship. The stronger one becomes, the more resilient the other gets. And in a field like cybersecurity, where pressure is high, hours are unpredictable, and the stakes have real-life impact, that resilience makes all the difference.

Stress Management

No breach ever times itself for your convenience. Alerts fire off at 2 a.m whether youre trying to sleep or not. It doesn’t matter if your judgment is foggy and your nerves are already frayed. Mistakes made in those moments don’t just cost hours, they can cost you and your clients millions.

Physical training is rehearsal for that kind of pressure. Every time you push your heart rate into the red zone, whether it’s during a sprint, a lift, or a round of sparring, you’re training your nervous system to stay sharp and composed. You’ve practiced breathing through discomfort. You’ve felt the panic rising and learned not to flinch.

That calm under physical stress translates directly into composure under digital fire.

Discipline & Consistency

You don’t get strong by lifting once a month. You don’t become a skilled defender by reading one book or passing one certification.

Strength and security are both built on repetition. Small daily habits, squats and deadlifts, daily log reviews, routine key rotations and hardwired discipline.

Discipline isn’t glamorous. Nobody applauds your Tuesday-night study session or your Sunday meal prep. But that quiet consistency is what separates those who dabble from those who attain mastery.

Recovery Matters

Burnout wrecks the mind. Overtraining wrecks the body. And yet in both the gym and SOC, too many people wear exhaustion like a badge of honor.

The best of the best know better. They respect recovery. They take deload weeks. They do their best to sleep 8 hours a night. They understand that stress plus rest equals growth. Without rest, stress is just destruction.

Security pros need the same rhythm. Downtime, sleep, and boundaries. They’re not luxuries, they’re daily essentials. A fried analyst is a liability, not a hero.

Confidence Under Pressure

Just like any APT or other malicious actor, the iron doesn’t care how you feel today. The sparring partner doesn’t care if you’re tired. They test you anyway. No matter how tired you are that day, the weight still weighs the same.

That pressure teaches confidence. You must feel what it’s like to fail a lift, get winded mid-round, or be pushed beyond what you thought you could handle to know that you can. Only then you’ll learn you can stay composed, reset, and respond decisively.

That kind of grounded confidence is exactly what’s needed in the middle of a high-stakes incident response, defending your infrastructure under scrutiny, or having to brief leadership with incomplete information. It’s not bravado, it’s composure forged under fire.

The Long Game

Neither training nor cybersecurity has a finish line. You’re never “done.”

Martial arts teach that a black belt isn’t an end state, it’s proof that you’ve mastered the basics and are ready to start again at a higher level. Security works the same way. Every new CVE, every new framework, every new technology is another layer, not the final one.

The goal isn’t perfection, it’s persistence. The discipline to keep showing up, stacking reps, and sharpening your resilience over time is what it takes.

Closing Thoughts

A strong body fuels a sharp mind. A sharp mind makes a stronger defender. Separate them, and you limit yourself. Train both, and you’ll be prepared for whatever comes your way — whether it’s on the mat, under the bar, or in the middle of a 2 a.m. incident call.

Next up, I’ll dive into practical ways to sharpen your eating habits — how to drop body fat, boost metabolic health, and fuel both physical and mental performance.

The Martial Artist’s Guide to Cloud Security

matt shannon security pro

The hallmark of good martial arts training isn’t punching, kicking, grappling or strategy, per se. What they’re really about is mastery of the basics over time through discipline and repetition. At a certain point you attain virtuosity in all of your movements. What is virtuosity? It was once famously described as, “performing the common uncommonly well.” What that means is you repeat and practice the basics for so long they become instinctual or habitual. Cloud security functions on the same principles.

Here’s what the dojo has to teach the data center:

Stance = Identity & Access Management (IAM) Every fight starts on the feet/with a good stance. Get your footwork wrong, and you’re off balance before anything even happens. In the cloud, IAM is your stance. Sloppy permissions or overextended access? You’re already being taken down.

*Fix: Always apply the principle of least privilege. Review access on a regular cadence and thus lock-in a solid foundation.

Defense = Network Segmentation
Your guard protects you before the strike ever comes. In cloud environments, segmentation is your guard. Break systems into zones so one hit doesn’t take down the whole body.

*Fix: Use VPCs, VLANs, subnets, NACLs and security groups like a strong guard.

Drills = Patching & Updates to View Protection as an Automated Process
Most folks hate endless drilling — until the day they save you. Patching helps in the same way. Repetition keeps you sharp and keeps vulnerabilities from stacking up.

*Fix: Automate updates. Drill patch cycles until they’re habit.

Sparring = Tabletop Exercises and Incident Response
Sparring helps to teach how to deploy your offense, avoid being hit, how to take a punch if one lands and helps you adapt, and respond under fire. Incident response does the same. If you never practice, the first real strike will knock you flat.

Fix: Run tabletop exercises and red-team drills so your team isn’t surprised when it counts.

Black Belt = Resilience
The belt, in and of itself, doesn’t mean you know everything. It means you’ve mastered the basics so well you can adapt to whatever’s thrown your way. That’s resilience in the cloud: strong architecture, backups, monitoring, and a mindset of continuous improvement.

*Fix: Architect for failure. Test recovery. Expect the unexpected.

the supreme art of war

Closing Thoughts
Martial artists don’t rise to the occasion, they sink to the level of their training. Cloud security is no different. Drill the basics, protection your vital points of attack, accept the associated risks of some less protected areas, and keep your stance fluid, flexible and grounded. Then , when any attacks come, you won’t just survive, you’ll be ready to win before the attack is even launched. And that my friends, is the supreme art of war.

Discover & Fingerprint: Nmap flags you should actually know (and when to use them)

Discovery and fingerprinting are where recon stops being guesswork and starts being a map. Over the next few weeks I’ll dig into Nmap and other recon tools — for now, here’s a compact, practical list of Nmap switches worth committing to memory for pentesting exams and real-world ops. Don’t just memorize the letters — learn the purpose and the use case.

Quick legal note: Only scan systems you own or have explicit permission to test. Unauthorized scanning can be illegal and definitely burns bridges.

Basic target input / listing

  • nmap -iL targets.txt
    Scan targets from a file. Use when you have a long list to automate.
  • nmap -iR 100
    Scan 100 random hosts. Good for practice/learning about global scanning patterns in a lab.
  • nmap 192.168.1.10 -sL
    List-only — no probes. Use to verify target resolution without touching ports.

Host discovery vs port scan

  • nmap 192.168.1.1/24 -sn
    Ping/host discovery only (no port scan). Fast way to find live hosts on a subnet.
  • nmap 192.168.1.1-5 -Pn
    Skip host discovery (treat hosts as up). Useful when ICMP/ARP are blocked but you still want to try ports.

Port specification

  • nmap 192.168.1.1 -p 21
    Scan a single port (FTP, in this example).
  • nmap 192.168.1.1 -p 21-100
    Scan a specific port range. Use when you want targeted scanning (faster than full 65k).

Service & OS fingerprinting

  • nmap 192.168.1.1 -sV
    Service/version detection. Helps identify vulnerable versions (e.g., out-of-date FTP/SSH).
  • nmap 192.168.1.1 -O
    Remote OS detection (TCP/IP stack fingerprinting). Useful when you need OS-level attack vectors.
  • nmap 192.168.1.1 -A
    Aggressive: OS detection + version detection + scripts + traceroute. Good for a quick, deep look — loud and obvious on the network.

Timing / IDS evasion

Timing templates adjust scan speed and stealth. Choose based on network reliability and detection risk.

  • -T0 Paranoid — ultra-slow. Used to evade IDS or noisy logging systems.
  • -T1 Sneaky — very slow.
  • -T2 Polite — slows scans to reduce bandwidth/impact on target.
  • -T3 Normal — default.
  • -T4 Aggressive — faster, assumes stable network.
  • -T5 Insane — very fast; only on extremely reliable links or internal lab networks.

Memory tricks & practical tips

  • I/O flags: -iL = Input List. File-based scanning automation.
  • List-only: -sL — “List targets only.” No probing.
  • Host discovery: -sn = scan no ports (ping only).
  • Skip discovery: -Pn = treat hosts as Up (No ping).
  • Service info: -sV for service Version, -O for OS.
  • One-shot vs range: -p 21 vs -p 21-100. Single vs range.
  • Aggressive -A = one-shot deep recon; loud but thorough.
  • Timing -T# = speed vs stealth. 0 is slowest/most stealthy; 5 fastest.

Mini workflows (real use-cases)

  • Quick inventory on a subnet:
    nmap 10.0.0.0/24 -sn → find live hosts, then nmap -sV -p 22,80,443 <host> for details.
  • When ICMP blocked:
    nmap -Pn -p 1-1000 <host> → skip discovery, probe ports directly.
  • Stealth check in an IDS lab:
    nmap -T1 -sV <host> → slow timing to reduce IDS noise.
  • Full noisy recon in a lab environment:
    nmap -A -T4 <target> → quick comprehensive view.

Closing — don’t memorize blindly

The exam question isn’t “what flag is X” — it’s “which flag solves this problem.” Memorize the purpose and practice applying them in labs. Over the coming weeks I’ll publish deeper examples for each of these switches, show script usage, and map Nmap output to real exploitation workflows.