Sophia – Security Queens

Pivot, Pivot! Using Open-Source Data to Support Shared Intelligence

by SophiaOSINT, Rapid Reads, Threat Intelligence 21 November 202521 November 2025No Comments

Estimated difficulty: 💜🤍🤍🤍🤍 Introduction: The Art of the Pivot In threat intelligence, the difference between a collection of indicators and a comprehensive threat picture often comes down to one skill: pivoting. Pivoting is the process of following digital breadcrumbs – domains to IP addresses, hashes to infrastructure, alias to forum post, following the breadcrumbs to …

No Pain, No Gain! Introducing the Pyramid of Pain

by SophiaRapid Reads, Threat Intelligence 7 June 202427 June 2024No Comments

Estimated difficulty: 💜💜🤍🤍🤍 A nice quick read this month as we talk about the Cyber Threat Intelligence model the Pyramid of Pain. A long, long, time ago (2013) in a land far, far, away (the United States), David J. Bianco developed the Pyramid of Pain as a conceptual model to visually describe the challenges and …

Untangling the Web: An Introduction to the OWASP Top 10

by SophiaPenetration Testing, Web 1 May 202429 April 2024No Comments

Estimated difficulty: 💜💜🤍🤍🤍 We are back! And what better way to kick things off than a joint blog post from both Sarah & Sophia? Despite our now varying areas of specialty, we’ve gone back to our penetration testing routes and will be covering the current OWASP Top 10 for web application security. What is OWASP …

Under ATT&CK: An introduction to MITRE ATT&CK

by SophiaThreat Intelligence 1 September 20231 September 2023No Comments

Estimated difficulty: 💜💜🤍🤍🤍 Welcome to another blog focusing on my journey into Threat Intelligence, this time introducing the MITRE ATT&CK framework and the concept of Tactic, Techniques and Procedures (TTPs). What are TTPs? Tactics, Techniques and Procedures are used to identify the methods or patterns of activity that are used by a threat actor or …

It’s the (Threat Intelligence) Circle of Life

by SophiaThreat Intelligence 7 July 20236 July 20232 Comments

Estimated difficulty: 💜🤍🤍🤍🤍 As some of you may now know, I’ve recently switched to the (potentially dark?) side of Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI). Don’t worry, I’ll still be doing car hax – but also have a new found love for all things threat intelligence and open-source (OSINT)! As I start this new chapter of my …

Text Me When You Get Pwned: What is SMShing and How Do I Protect Myself?

by SophiaAwareness, Rapid Reads 5 May 202326 April 2023No Comments

Estimated difficulty: 💜🤍🤍🤍🤍 What is SMShing? SMShing (AKA Smishing) is a type of social engineering attack conducted over text messages, also known as SMS phishing. Social engineering attacks rely on exploiting human behaviour and reaction rather than a technical vulnerability. Criminals who “SMSh” or “phish” are usually financially motivated, using stolen information to steal money …

Typo-What?! How Attackers Use Typo-squatting to Lure You to Dodgy Websites

by SophiaAwareness, Learning Resources, OSINT 6 January 20235 January 2023No Comments

Estimated difficulty: 💜🤍🤍🤍🤍 New year, new blog post… obviously! To kick things of in 2023, today we’ll be talking about a commonly used social engineering technique called typo-squatting and how you can identify malicious domains/websites to protect yourself, or how to protect your organisation or brand if you own a website domain. Typo-squatting is by …

The Importance of Not Doing Work: Avoiding Burnout Part Two

by SophiaLearning Resources, Rapid Reads 4 November 20222 November 2022No Comments

So in hindsight this title is a tad misleading, I’m definitely not suggesting to drop all your job responsibilities in a blink of an eye…! But rather evaluate your work/life balance to ensure you’re prioritising your mental health above all – as of course, you should always be your first priority. I’m writing this blog …

XXE Injection: To Entity and Beyond!

by SophiaPenetration Testing, Web 9 September 20228 September 2022No Comments

Estimated difficulty: 💜💜💜💜🤍 Welcome back readers! After a few months hiatus, the Queens are back in action and ready to blog to our heart’s content! This month’s blog we will be delving into the art of XXE injection, what it is, a few ways to exploit it, and the mitigation techniques used “IRL”. A huge …

Smashing Stacks and All the Hax

by SophiaRapid Reads, Special Interest 6 May 202210 May 2022One Comment

Estimated difficulty: 💜💜💜💜🤍 Hulk, smash? Stacks, that is! Welcome to another strictly hax-themed blog, and something a little out of my comfort zone I must say – so if there are any constructive criticisms or feedback… Please let me know! This month we are covering the basics of stack smashing AKA stack-based buffer overflows, we’ll …