Tag: infosec

Infosec Hamilton – 2025 Year in Review

On December 8 2025, we held our last Infosec Hamilton event of 2025. We did something different for this session – instead of one speaker, we opened the floor for “lightning talks” – Each person had up to 15 minutes to share something Infosec related with the rest of the group. We had great turnout and lots of participation.

Here are the speakers and their session titles:

Brandon Aubie: “The Kaminsky Attack of 2008” or “It’s always DNS.”
Todd Dow: “InfoSec Hamilton 2025 Year in Review”
Danielle Morris: “Cybercrime Supply Chain”
Othman Alamoudi: “Securing Google Drive”
Don Mallory: “Setting Rules of Engagement for Information Sharing”
Elena Kolomeets: “My InfoSec story”

And, we also had a year in review discussion where we recapped some of the great things that happened in 2025. We also conducted a live poll where we asked the group to provide their feedback on the year. Here’s a summary of the discussion:

2025 sessions:

Date	Topic	Speaker	# of Attendees
February	Hello From the Dumpster Fire: Real Examples of Artificially Generated Malware, Disinformation and Scam Campaigns	Ashley Jess	57
March	ShadowHQ’s origins and growth story	Nick Scozzaro	54
April	The State of AI Security in 2025	Todd Dow	42
May	Email: From SMTP to WTF	Brandon Aubie	56
June	An intro to Vulnerability Management and the history of CVSS, through to v4.0A	Ali Salari	39
July	Cisco XDR hands on lab night!	Todd Dow	46
August	Smart Building Red Teaming	Amir Hosseinpour	50
September	Software Defined Radio & Cybersecurity	Frank Coburn	44
October	Hunting the Ghost in the Shell – Case studies of Insider Risk	Don Mallory	42
November	What to Expect When You’re Expecting Pentesters	Andrew Wade	44
December	Lightning Talks	Group	37

And here are the Slido summaries from the live poll (9 slides in total):

Plenty of helpful info from those slides. We’ll be using the feedback from those slides to help make Infosec Hamilton even better in 2026.

Did you attend the event? Are you going to attend in 2026? Let me know in the comments below!

January 8, 2026

Worth reading this week – privacy, playtime and emotions
Quote I’ve been pondering this week:

“Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner.” – Lao Tzu

I’m a huge security and privacy proponent. Stumbled across this great visual example of ways we all expect privacy in our everyday lives – and it highlights why our digital privacy should be no different:

And it helps that it’s an Apple ad. I’m a huge Apple fanboy. I’m a big Google user too though, so I’m really a fan of both. Especially when I see optimism in Google making strides towards better privacy protections as well. #GoPrivacy

My kids love our Springfree trampoline. Next time they say they are bored, I’m gonna go through these lists (one idea I hadn’t thought of: Make a laser course on the mat out of yarn and try not to touch it) :
- 50 Ways to Use your Springfree Trampoline
- 20 Fun Ideas To Do When Kids Say “I’m Bored”
Suck it up buttercup: Forget Your Feelings (summary: There’s no meaning attached to feelings)

And, a bit more privacy related goodness: Here are all of the ways that Google tracks you (I am doubtful this is ALL of the ways, but it sure looks like a good start). And here’s a great primer on removing your info from the web – mainly focused on mailing lists a la “do not call lists”.

And, I’m a bit bummed because I don’t think I’ll be able to attend my local Wordcamp Hamilton this weekend. I bought my ticket, but life sometimes gets in the way. (In this case, it’s my son’s birthday – and family comes first!)

Have a great weekend!

Todd
June 1, 2019
SC Congress 2016 – free passes & VIP ticket draw!
Folks,

SC Congress is coming up fast. The conference is next week! If you don’t have your ticket yet, I’m here to help. The team at SC Magazine has given me a unique opportunity to pass on to you:
- free Expo Only VIP Passes ($150 value) – simply register using promo code “DOWEXPO”; and
- a chance to win one of five VIP Two-Day Full Conference Passes ($1,295 value);
Here’s the deal:

Each free Expo Only Pass provides you:
- Network with 1,000 cybersecurity luminaries and peers
- Learn valuable insights for safeguarding your organization during our five Keynote Addresses
- Attend one additional session of your choice
- Visit leading brands in our Exhibit Hall
- Participate in SC Congress’ signature Passport to Prizes program: network for a chance to win a hot, new gadget
- Earn up to 5 CPE credits – just for attending our sessions
Also, SC Magazine has given me five VIP Two-Day Full Conference Passes to give away. To be entered to win one of these five tickets, here’s what you need to do:
1. Register for a free Expo Only VIP Pass before next Monday morning (May 30); and
2. Tweet the following: “Got my free Expo Plus Pass to @SCCongress Toronto June 1/2. Get yours & chance to win a VIP pass at toddhdow.com #infosec” (We’ll accept a similar shoutout on Facebook if you aren’t on Twitter); OR
3. Sign up for my newsletter here at toddhdow.com (link);
4. Email me at toddhdow [at] gmail. [dot] com to let me know that you’ve completed the above steps;
And yes, if you have previously registered for an Expo Only pass and you want to upgrade, just tweet or share on Facebook or sign up for my newsletter and you’re all set.

So don’t delay… register today!

And, while you’re at it, sign up for a complimentary digital subscription to SC Magazine.

Are you going to SC Congress 2016? Let me know in the comments!

Talk soon!

Todd
May 27, 2016
Sector 2015: Stealth Attack from the Produce Aisle
It’s official: Keith Benedict (@mehtryx) and I will be presenting at Sector 2015 in Toronto. Our topic is called “Stealth Attack from the Produce Aisle”. Here’s a summary of what to expect:

The proliferation of devices like the Raspberry Pi, Pineapple Express, PwnPi and more make it easier (and cheaper) than ever to obtain a complete stealth attack or defense arsenal.

In this session, we’ll take a low-cost, credit-card sized ARM computer, add some freely available software and see what we get. We’ll learn:
- what options are available to build such a device
- how to build a working device
- add-ons including additional network adapters and wireless extenders
- overview of some commonly available software tools
- how to conduct attack and defense scenarios
Hardware will include Cubox, Hummingboard, Raspberry Pi and more. Software will include Kali Linux and a multitude of offensive and defensive infosec tools.

You’ll come away from this session with a better understanding of how much you can accomplish with one of these devices and a healthier respect (or greater fear) of tiny computers.

Registration for Sector has begun – hurry now and get your ticket before prices rise!

Let Keith and I know if you’ll be coming to Sector and let us know what you’d like us to touch on during our presentation.

Talk soon!

Todd
May 26, 2015
SC Congress 2015 – free passes, VIP ticket draw and more!
Folks,

SC Congress is coming up fast. There’s only a month left to get your ticket. And, I’m here to help make it easy. The team at SC Magazine have given me a unique opportunity to pass on to you:
- free Expo Only VIP Passes ($150 value);
- an Amazon gift card to the first 50 people to register using promo code “TODDHDOWEXPOVIP”; and
- a chance to win one of two VIP Two-Day Full Conference Passes ($1,095 value);
Here’s the deal:

Each free Expo Only VIP Pass provides you:
- unlimited access to the Exhibit Hall
- all five Keynote Addresses
- one editorial session of your choice
- inclusion in Passport to Prizes (take home one of the latest Apple products or other must-have device)
- a chance to network with industry luminaries and business decision makers at the Cocktail Reception
- and the opportunity to visit with all of the leading brands on the expo floor.
Expo Plus Passes cost $150, but register as a ToddHDow.com Expo VIP with the Discount Code TODDHDOWEXPOVIP and gain complimentary admission – courtesy of ToddHDow.com.

As an added bonus, if you are one of the first 50 people to register for a free Expo Only VIP Pass using promo code TODDHDOWEXPOVIP, you will receive a free amazon gift card directly from SC Magazine.

And finally, SC Magazine has two VIP Two-Day Full Conference Passes to give away. To be entered to win one of these two tickets, here’s what you need to do:
1. Register for a free Expo Only VIP Pass anytime between today (Monday May 11) and next Monday morning (May 18); and
2. Tweet the following: “Got my free Expo Plus Pass to @SCCongress Toronto June 10/11. Get yours & chance to win a VIP pass at toddhdow.com #infosec” (We’ll accept a similar shoutout on Facebook if you aren’t on Twitter)
So don’t delay… register today!

Alternately, if you just want to get a significant discount on a full conference pass, feel free to use discount code TODDHDOW to get the following discounted ticket prices:

You can get your discounted tickets here:
2-day pass: $595 (reg. $1,095)
1-day pass: $495 (reg. $845)
Use discount code TODDHDOW or click this link.

And, while you’re at it, sign up for a complimentary digital subscription to SC Magazine.

Are you going to SC Congress 2015? Let me know in the comments!

Talk soon!

Todd
May 11, 2015