Giuseppe Toscano - By Reference

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Giuseppe Toscano

🚀 Co-founder of By Reference | 💻 Computer Engineer | 🔒 Cybersecurity & AI Enthusiast

Bybit Hack Explained: A Step-by-Step Breakdown for Beginners

Bybit Hack Explained: A Step-by-Step Breakdown for Beginners

Hello world, let's start from scratch. First of all, what is Bybit and why is the cryptocurrency market crashing these days? 📉 🪙 Bybit is a cryptocurrency exchange that primarily offers trading services for cryptocurrencies. It allows users to buy, sell, and trade them in a variety of ways (e.

Web Application Penetration Testing (WAPT): JWT Vulnerabilities

Web Application Penetration Testing (WAPT): JWT Vulnerabilities

Hello everyone, in this article we will look at the most common vulnerabilities involving misconfigured JWTs! 🕵️‍♂️🐛 First of all, what is a Json Web Token (JWT)? In brief, it is a compact, URL-safe means of representing claims between two parties. It is widely used for handling authentication and authorization in

Web Application Penetration Testing (WAPT): Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)

Web Application Penetration Testing (WAPT): Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)

Hello world, today we will see Cross-Site Scripting (also known as XSS) which is one of the most famous cyber attacks against web applications. This attack is relatively easy to carry out, but can lead to serious consequences, such as: data theft, session hijacking, phishing attacks, web defacement, and malware

Web Application Penetration Testing (WAPT): SQLmap

Web Application Penetration Testing (WAPT): SQLmap

Hello everyone! Today, I will share my knowledge about SQLmap, an open-source penetration testing tool designed to detect and exploit SQL injection vulnerabilities in web applications. This tool is an essential addition to your toolbox. 😈💉 If you do not know anything about SQL injection attacks? Please read this article before

The New Features of iOS 18

The New Features of iOS 18

Hello world, last week Apple announced the new version of their operating system for iPhone which will be publicly released in September. I am here to recap all its new exciting features. 🍏📱 First of all, if you want to see the entire keynote you can find it below: Apple Intelligence

Web Application Penetration Testing (WAPT): SQL Injection

Web Application Penetration Testing (WAPT): SQL Injection

Hello world, SQL Injection (SQLi) is a cybersecurity threat targeting relational databases which exploits vulnerabilities in the back-end code to execute malicious SQL commands. This allows attackers to access and/or manipulate sensitive data. 💉😈 Below there is an example of a vulnerable snippet of Python code where the untrusted user

Web Application Penetration Testing (WAPT): Introduction

Web Application Penetration Testing (WAPT): Introduction

Hello world, let's start a new exciting journey about Web Application Penetration Testing (WAPT), which is a security testing method that involves the identification, analysis, and exploitation of vulnerabilities in web applications with the aim of improving their resistance to cyber attacks. The primary goal of WAPT is

Say Goodbye to Passwords!

Say Goodbye to Passwords!

Hello world, in this article we will talk about Passkeys, the future way to authenticate yourself without using the obsolete password mechanism. 🔐 You already know what is a password, how complex is its management, and all its related security risks. Handling strong passwords is extremely difficult and they are the

Do You Really Need a VPN?

Do You Really Need a VPN?

Hello world, today we will see what a VPN is and how it works. Don't worry, this article was not sponsored by NordVPN or Wireshark! 🤣 In brief, a Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a technology that creates a secure and encrypted connection over a less secure network, such

Deep Dive into LLM Security: Best Practices, Guardrails, and AI Firewalls

Deep Dive into LLM Security: Best Practices, Guardrails, and AI Firewalls

Hello everyone, this is the last post of the "Deep Dive into LLM Security" journey. In this article we will see how to protect your LLMs against the most common security threats! 🛡️🔥 LLMs were designed to be as accurate as possible in their answers, but they were not

5 Interesting Linux Distro (2024)

5 Interesting Linux Distro (2024)

Hello everyone, in this article we will see the 5 best Linux distributions (in my opinion)! 🐧 First of all, for those of you who know nothing about Linux, it is a family of Operating Systems (OSs) for personal devices based on the Linux Kernel. Its main competitors are Windows and

What is an ETF?

What is an ETF?

Hello world! 👋 In today's fast-paced and ever-evolving financial landscape, investors are constantly looking for ways to diversify their portfolios, minimise risk and maximise returns. Among the myriad of investment vehicles available, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) have emerged as a popular choice for both novice and seasoned investors. But

Deep Dive into LLM Security: Automated Scanners

Deep Dive into LLM Security: Automated Scanners

Hello everyone, this is the 5th post of the "Deep Dive into LLM Security" journey. In this article we will see how to automatically scan LLMs to identify potential vulnerabilities! ⚔️🎯 There are a lot of existing tools which can help you to evaluate the security posture of your

FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early)

FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early)

Hello everyone, do you know what is FIRE? 🔥 Imagine a life where you no longer have to work, where your time is entirely your own, and financial stress is something you no longer have to about. This isn't a distant dream but a reality for the people who

The Cryptography behind Bitcoin Addresses

The Cryptography behind Bitcoin Addresses

Hello world, in this article we will see how our BTC addresses work! 🪙 In brief, a BTC address is generated using cryptographic algorithms based on elliptic curves. The three main steps to generate a public and unique BTC address are the following: * Generation of a Private Key * Generation of the

My Personal Top 10 Mobile Apps (Q2 24)

My Personal Top 10 Mobile Apps (Q2 24)

Hello world, I am constantly on the lookout for the latest and greatest apps that can simplify my life, boost my productivity, and provide endless entertainment. That’s why I want to share with you a curated a list of my personal top 10 mobile apps for Q2 2023. Perplexity

Deep Dive into LLM Security: Prompt Injection vs. Jailbreak

Deep Dive into LLM Security: Prompt Injection vs. Jailbreak

Hello everyone, this is the 4th post of the "Deep Dive into LLM Security" journey. In this article we will see the difference between Prompt Injection and Jailbreak! 💉⛓️ The techniques described below are intended solely for educational purposes and ethical penetration testing. They should never be used for

Deep Dive into LLM Security: Adversarial Prompts

Deep Dive into LLM Security: Adversarial Prompts

Hello everyone, this is the 3rd post of the "Deep Dive into LLM Security" journey. In this article we will see how to persuade LLMs to generate harmful content! 😈 The techniques described below are intended solely for educational purposes and ethical penetration testing. They should never be used

Deep Dive into LLM Security: Leading Security Frameworks

Deep Dive into LLM Security: Leading Security Frameworks

Hello everyone, this is the 2nd post of the "Deep Dive into LLM Security" journey. In this article we will see the two most famous security frameworks for LLMs! 🛡️😈 While LLM-specific security frameworks are still emerging, several broader AI and cybersecurity frameworks can be applied to LLMs. Here

Deep Dive into LLM Security: Introduction

Deep Dive into LLM Security: Introduction

Hello everyone, let's start our first journey about LLM security! 😄 First of all, what is a journey? In our site, a journey is simply a series of articles on the same topic with the aim of providing the reader with a good level of knowledge on the matter.

By Value vs. By Reference in C

By Value vs. By Reference in C

Hello world, this is our first article. It requires some previous technical knowledge of C, was made for fun and it does not represent future articles which will be more structured and easy to understand 😄. By default, the C programming language uses the pass "by value" approach when