J.M. Porup

Senior Writer

J.M. Porup got his start in security working as a Linux sysadmin in 2002. Since then he's covered national security and information security for a variety of publications, and now calls CSO Online home. He previously reported from Colombia for four years, where he wrote travel guidebooks to Latin America, and speaks Spanish fluently with a hilarious gringo-Colombian accent. He holds a Masters degree in Information and Cybersecurity (MICS) from UC Berkeley.

The Latest from J.M.

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8 video chat apps compared: Which is best for security?

Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Duo, Cisco Webex, FaceTime, Jitsi, Signal and WhatsApp. What does their encryption look like? What are the trade-offs?

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11 penetration testing tools the pros use

Pentesting is a simulated cyber attack where professional ethical hackers break into corporate networks to find weaknesses ... before attackers do.

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11 top DEF CON and Black Hat talks of all time

Hacker summer camp is almost upon us again. Here are some of the best talks of all time. Will this year's virtual talks measure up to these legends?

News Analysis

Why abandoned domain names are so dangerous

Abandoned domain names are low-hanging fruit for attackers, who can use them to access sensitive email or customer data.

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Should you deploy a TLS 1.3 middlebox?

Organizations moving to the TLS 1.3 protocol must decide whether to deploy middleboxes that intercept network traffic for greater visibility, but doing so presents security and regulatory risks.

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5 examples of security theater and how to spot them

Security theater is a term coined by Bruce Schneier to describe security measures that satisfy our emotional need to take action, but don’t actually improve security. Rooting these out can save considerable time and money -- and make...

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Hashcat explained: How this password cracker works

Hashcat is a popular and effective password cracker widely used by both penetration testers and sysadmins as well as criminals and spies. At its most basic level, hashcat guesses a password, hashes it, and then compares the resulting...

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Make simple software security checks part of your purchasing process

A few hours of due diligence when evaluating software for purchase is cheaper than incident response clean up.

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Email spoofing explained: Who does it and how?

Forging email has been with us since the beginning of the internet, but new security kludges are making it a lot harder.

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12 cheap or free cybersecurity training resources

Got time on your hands during the COVID-19 crisis? Here are some great free or cheap resources to add new cybersecurity skills to your resume.

Today in Tech by J.M. Porup

J.M. Porup

Senior Writer

8 video chat apps compared: Which is best for security?

Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Duo, Cisco Webex, FaceTime, Jitsi, Signal and WhatsApp. What does their encryption look like? What are the trade-offs?

11 penetration testing tools the pros use

Pentesting is a simulated cyber attack where professional ethical hackers break into corporate networks to find weaknesses ... before attackers do.

11 top DEF CON and Black Hat talks of all time

Hacker summer camp is almost upon us again. Here are some of the best talks of all time. Will this year's virtual talks measure up to these legends?

Why abandoned domain names are so dangerous

Abandoned domain names are low-hanging fruit for attackers, who can use them to access sensitive email or customer data.

Should you deploy a TLS 1.3 middlebox?

Organizations moving to the TLS 1.3 protocol must decide whether to deploy middleboxes that intercept network traffic for greater visibility, but doing so presents security and regulatory risks.

5 examples of security theater and how to spot them

Security theater is a term coined by Bruce Schneier to describe security measures that satisfy our emotional need to take action, but don’t actually improve security. Rooting these out can save considerable time and money -- and make...

Hashcat explained: How this password cracker works

Hashcat is a popular and effective password cracker widely used by both penetration testers and sysadmins as well as criminals and spies. At its most basic level, hashcat guesses a password, hashes it, and then compares the resulting...

Make simple software security checks part of your purchasing process

A few hours of due diligence when evaluating software for purchase is cheaper than incident response clean up.

Email spoofing explained: Who does it and how?

Forging email has been with us since the beginning of the internet, but new security kludges are making it a lot harder.

12 cheap or free cybersecurity training resources

Got time on your hands during the COVID-19 crisis? Here are some great free or cheap resources to add new cybersecurity skills to your resume.

Podcast: Is end-to-end encryption for videoconferencing important?

More people are relying on videoconferencing software to do their jobs and chat with friends and family. This uptick in use highlighted some security concerns like “Zoombombing” and the lack of end-to-end encryption in popular...