Hello, amazing ElectronicsReference community!
I am super excited to announce a new website that I am creating: offwhitesecurity.dev
In the past, I have posted lots of notes about offensive cybersecurity, CTFs, and hacking here at ElectronicsReference. However, from the beginning I’ve wondered if this was broadening the scope of this website a bit too much.
I’ve always wanted ElectronicsReference to feel genuine in its embrace of the field of electronics, and I’m very happy with the content on electric circuits and programming…offensive cybersecurity always just seemed like too much of a leap, although its something that I am very passionate about and have been working on for quite some time.
So with this post, I am officially announcing the launch of a new website: offwhitesecurity.dev!
What Does This Mean For ElectronicsReference?
I am going to re-anchor ElectronicsReference back toward the two main bodies of content that I originally envisioned: fundamental electronics, and programming.
I’m going to continue to develop content for ElectronicsReference, including a new course on hardware hacking. However the focus will mostly be to continue to develop and refine the main course on electronic circuits as well as programming. At some point, I may do a bit of redesign on the site and the main menu to reflect these changes going forward, but it will take some time to figure out what layouts and changes will be best.
I won’t remove the existing content on offensive cybersecurity, but I won’t be posting new content on this specific topic going forward. General topics on computing, networking, and defensive cybersecurity will still be posted here, with the exception of advanced topics that relate directly to the content on offwhitesecurity.dev
What Type of Content Will Offwhitesecurity.dev Have?
For now, I will be focused on posting my notes on two main topical areas:
These are two areas that I have been personally focused on learning for some time. Malware development in particular, has little unpaid content available so I am hoping to help the ethical hacking community by putting together and posting notes on what I have learned. Incidentally, it’s also a great way to improve my own knowledge and retention!
What’s With The Name?
The significance of ‘offwhite’ with regards to offensive security is incidental. I started using ‘offwhite’ and variants of it as a username/handle for gaming, many years ago, when I was a teenager and have continued to use it for all of my gaming needs and was eventually the natural choice for a handle in the world of cybersecurity.
In the field of cybersecurity, white hat hackers are those who only hack legally and for ethically sound purposes, while black hat hackers are those who target people, organizations, and even entire countries with nefarious intent. The term ‘grey hat’ is a bit more ambiguous and often refers to hackers who engage in illegal activities for purposes that they support, such as political causes, or perhaps those who use ethically dubious methods in pursuit of something they perceive as good.
To me, ‘offwhite’ is just my handle, although it has personally come to remind me to always try to think like an adversary; staying stalwart as a white-hat hacker but learning the tools and techniques used by grey and black hat hackers in order to advance my own skillset. In no way do I advocate anything other than pure ethical and legal hacking; my hope is that by publishing my notes I will help even out the odds between the malicious hackers and my fellow white hats.