Greg Vedders
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May 26, 2024

How Weather Forecasting Works: A Peek Behind the Curtain

Ever wondered how meteorologists figure out if you’ll need an umbrella tomorrow or if it’s safe to plan that beach outing for the weekend? Weather forecasting is a cool mix of science, tech, and expert analysis. Let’s take a closer look at how it all works, how climate change is shaking things up, and how it helps us plan our daily lives.

Data Collection: The Basics

First up, meteorologists gather data from all sorts of places:

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May 26, 2024

Searching for Threats in Firewall Logs Using Splunk

To search for threats in firewall logs using Splunk, you need to craft a search query that looks for common indicators of malicious activity. Here’s a basic example to get you started:

  1. Open Splunk and navigate to the Search & Reporting app.
  2. Enter the search query.

A typical search query for firewall logs might look like this:

index=firewall_logs sourcetype="firewall"
| search action=blocked OR action=denied OR action=dropped
| table _time src_ip dest_ip action signature
| dedup src_ip, dest_ip, signature
| sort _time

This query does the following:

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May 19, 2024

Understanding Current Security Risks: 2024 Update

In today’s digitally interconnected world, the landscape of security risks is constantly evolving. With new technologies come new vulnerabilities, and cybercriminals are perpetually seeking ways to exploit these weaknesses. This blog post aims to provide an overview of some of the most pressing security risks facing individuals, businesses, and governments today.

1. Phishing Attacks

Phishing remains one of the most prevalent and dangerous security threats. Cybercriminals use deceptive emails, messages, or websites to trick individuals into providing sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details. Despite increased awareness, phishing attacks continue to be successful due to their sophistication and ability to mimic legitimate communications.

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May 18, 2024

The Lantern Festival at John Ball Zoo

If you’re looking for something magical to do in Grand Rapids, Michigan, you’ve got to check out the Lantern Festival at John Ball Zoo (April 10 - June 16, 2024). This event is hands down one of the most enchanting experiences you can have, combining stunning visuals, rich culture, and a whole lot of fun.

Light Up the Night

The moment you step into the zoo during the Lantern Festival, you’re transported into a world of glowing art. Picture this: beautifully handcrafted lanterns in every shape and size imaginable, from majestic animals to mythical creatures and intricate flowers. Each lantern is a masterpiece, lit up to create a dazzling display that will leave you in awe.

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May 17, 2024

How to Use Hugo with Cloudflare Pages

I have migrated https://gregvedders.com to a Hugo CMS backend which is then hosted in Cloudflare Pages. This is a great no-cost option to host your site. For those who are unfamiliar, Hugo is a static site generator written in Go. Hugo is well known for its speed, and Hugo’s official website states it is “the world’s fastest framework for building websites.” The content within Hugo is created using Markdown. Cloudflare Pages is a JAMstack platform for frontend developers to collaborate and deploy websites. The nice thing about this integration, is that you post your website to GitHub which then posts your site to Cloudflare.

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October 8, 2023

Navigating the Digital Frontier: Exploring the State of Cybersecurity Today

The digital age has brought us unprecedented convenience, efficiency, and innovation. From online banking and social media to IoT devices and cloud computing, our lives are deeply intertwined with technology. However, this digital revolution has also given rise to an array of cyber threats that jeopardize our personal information, financial security, and even national security. As part of this threat landscape, I have created the following presentation (that I used to share with my students) on the state of Cyber Security Today…the good, the bad, and the ugly.

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August 25, 2023

Using ChatGPT to Describe Code

I recently wanted to see if ChatGPT could take some sample code I created for a class I was teaching in PHP. I simply asked the ChatGPT to “explain what this code does” and it quickly output a response.

ChatGPT’s Response

For users with older browsers, a conditional statement is in place. If someone visits the page using an outdated version of Internet Explorer (version 9 or below), special scripts are included to ensure that the modern features of the webpage still work as intended.

The webpage’s layout is further enhanced with custom CSS styles. These styles add padding to the top of the page and center the content within a designated area known as the “template.”

Now, let’s get to the main attraction: the Magic 8-Ball functionality, implemented using embedded PHP code.

As a user, when you interact with the webpage, you have the opportunity to ask a question. You’ll notice a section with a text input field and a button labeled “Ask.” This is where you can type in your question, just like you would when using a real Magic 8-Ball.

Upon submitting your question, the magic begins behind the scenes. The PHP code embedded in the webpage starts its work.

First, the code checks if you’ve actually asked a question by examining the submitted form data. If you have indeed asked a question (meaning the “question” field in the form is not empty), the code proceeds.

It generates a random number between 1 and 8. This random number will determine the answer you receive. The code then displays your question on the page, making sure to add a question mark to the end if you didn’t include one.

Based on the random number, the PHP code selects one of the predefined answers that the Magic 8-Ball is known for. These answers range from positive responses like “It is certain” to more ambiguous ones like “Reply hazy try again” and even negative ones like “Don’t count on it.”

Once the answer is chosen, it’s displayed on the webpage, completing the Magic 8-Ball’s response to your question.

But what if you haven’t asked a question yet? The PHP code accounts for that too. If the question field is empty, the webpage will simply wait for you to type in your question and click the “Ask” button.

All of this interactivity and dynamic behavior is brought to life by combining PHP, HTML, and a touch of JavaScript. The JavaScript part is responsible for incorporating Bootstrap’s interactive elements, and it’s sourced from content delivery networks to ensure smooth functionality.

In summary, the “PHP Magic 8-Ball” webpage provides a virtual version of the classic fortune-telling toy. It lets you ask questions, generates random answers, and presents them to you in an engaging and visually appealing format, thanks to a blend of HTML, PHP, and JavaScript technologies.

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April 8, 2022

Phish vs Spam vs Total O365 Email in Microsoft Sentinel

Here is a simple Microsoft Sentinel search to show how much phishing/spam email is received vs good email for a specified user in a given time frame.

let UserToAnalyze="[email protected]";
EmailEvents
| where RecipientEmailAddress==UserToAnalyze
| project RecipientEmailAddress, ThreatTypes
| evaluate pivot(ThreatTypes)
| sort by RecipientEmailAddress asc

Thank you to Microsoft for publishing this query on GitHub.

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December 30, 2020

Leaked Credentials Search in Microsoft Sentinel

Microsoft Sentinel is a great way to get a handle on your security infrastructure. One of the items that Microsoft Security does an excellent job of is scouring the web for evidence of reused credentials being leaked through a third-party service. While you can manually go through all of the alerts located in the portal.cloudappsecurity.com, an easier way to bring this data forward is with the search below:

SecurityAlert\
| summarize arg_max(TimeGenerated, \*) by SystemAlertId\
| where AlertType == "LeakedCredentials"\
| project TimeGenerated, AlertType, Compromised Entity

The results can be tweaked by time and date. You can also build on this search to automate playbook actions within the Microsoft Sentinel environment.

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© Greg Vedders 2025