Hidden (Krypto) Treasures

To get pearls, one must dive deep!

Month: March 2009

Christian Hackers as Transformers

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On March 5, 2009

In Christian

Christian HackersYesterday, I wrote about Johnny Long and how though he is world renowned security professional hacker, he is not ashamed of being known first as a Christian and how his family is serving the Lord, helping children in Africa, by using his skills through his organization – IHackCharities – www.IHackCharities.org. At the end of his talk at IPIC, Johnny put up a slide with the images and names of his hacker friends, all of them, well known in the information security space. Names like PDP, HD, Adam Laurie etc were on that slide. This gave me an idea to compile a similar slide (or hopefully many slides) that showed the names and images of Christian Hackers. We can start here and then start working on using our security talents (See the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25), to do some good works that people may see our lives and glorify the Father (God) in heaven. Ideas of projects or work could be performing security consulting, code reviews, vulnerability assessments for, penetration testing, security education etc for churches, charities and christian organizations pro bono.

In the movie Transformers, as it ends, the main character, Optimus Prime speaks the following words; “With the All Spark gone, we cannot return life to our planet. And fate has yielded its reward: a new world to call home. We live among its people now, hiding in plain sight, but watching over them in secret, waiting, protecting. I have witnessed their capacity for courage, and though we are worlds apart, like us, there’s more to them than meets the eye. I am Optimus Prime, and I send this message to any surviving Autobots taking refuge among the stars; we are here, we are waiting.”

We are called to be TRANSFORMERS, sharing the Gospel so that the Holy Spirit can transform the lives of others and so it is aptly befitting that I adapt the words of Optimus Prime to invite all the Christian Hackers out there.

So here is the official invitation for Christian Hackers out there.
“With the OLD SELF gone, we cannot return to a life we lived before we knew JESUS CHRIST as LORD and MASTER. And GRACE has yielded its reward: a new world (HEAVEN) to call home. We NOW live for a short time among Others who are yet to meet with God and acknowledge His Lordship, often hiding in plain sight, but watching OUT FOR them in secret, waiting, protecting (SAVING). I have witnessed their capacity TO CONTINUE IN THEIR PATH THAT LEADS TO ETERNAL SEPARATION FROM GOD, and though we are worlds apart, like us, there’s more to them than meets the eye. I am Mano Paul, and I send this message to any surviving CHRISTIAN HACKERS taking refuge in the HEAVENLY REALMS; we are here, we are waiting.”

Send mano(dot)paul(at)securisksolutions(dot)com the following information
Name: What you are called?
a.k.a.: Also known (would like to be known) as in the hacker community
Work/Project: How you would like to use your skills and talents to glorify God.

RESPOND NOW

Not Ashamed – A ‘Long’ (Johnny Long) Story

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On March 4, 2009

In Christian

Johnny Long needs no introduction to those in the information security community. The ‘ihackcharities‘ guy, the ‘ihackstuff’ guy,  professional hacker, author of many books (Google hacking, No Tech hacking …), Ninja, Pirate, excellent speaker, yada yada yada , and trust me I can go on. I first heard of Johnny Long, a  few years ago, at Blackhat security conference in Las Vegas and for years wanted to meet him. So when I found out that he will be at the IPIC security conference where both of us were speaking, I was thrilled and searched for his information before the conference. To my pleasant surprise, I found out that he was a Christian (and yes, there can be Christian Hackers; not an oxymoron :-)) and that he was not going to be offended if someone called him a Christian.

Finally, I had the privilege of meeting him today, before his talk on No Tech hacking (which was wonderful and highly recommended), I approached him, and our introductory conversation went something like this
Mano Paul: So Johnny, you are a Jesus Freak?
Johnny Long : Absolutely
Mano Paul; So am I (maybe not as openly a Jesus freak as Johnny is because I often shy away from being bold to proclaim my allegiance).

This led to a faith connection far beyond anything I have experienced with another fellow security hacker professional and we talked about various things of eternal value, hidden treasures in the Bible, God’s provisions, lessons from the birds of the air etc.

And then when he started his No Tech Hacking talk. Johnny introduced himself, first as a Christian, which he said, some may think is ‘Leet’ (hacker jargon for elite) or ‘Lame’. Through the course of his talk, his again eluded to the fact that he was a Christian. Wow, what a testimony to the 100+ people in the room. One thing was sure, Johnny was not ashamed of being called a “Christian”.

I learned that soon he will be leaving his work to go to Africa on a mission trip (not his first). Check out his organization at www.ihackcharities.org on what their mission is and if the LORD leads you, support him and his family in whatever way you can. This is a truly noble cause.

A ‘Long’ story short, if we combine Matthew 10:32 and Mark 8:38, we arrive at something like this – if you are not ashamed of Jesus or his words and confess Him before men, Jesus will not be ashamed of you and will confess you before his Father (God) in heaven. Irrespective of what the world may think of Johnny, 1337 (leet) or 14m3 (lame), one thing is for sure, Jesus Christ (to whom Johnny and his family have trusted their lives), will NEVER be ashamed of them.

Johnny was an inspiration for me to start to let the world know that I am a Christian as well. So far, I wanted people to know me as a security professional, that is not longer the case, as I want people to first know that I belong to Christ (Christian really means “Christ Ones” as they were called for the first time in Antioch). This of course means, that I have to change who I am, cannot continue to do some of the stupid things I have done in the past,  when I am with my good friends and pals (real cool cats) in my security circles. The old has to pass away (die), and I should live as a new creation. This is not going to be easy, I know, but I have to start sometime. My prayer is that God helps me to be HIS witness, to be a Christian – Not ashamed.

Mark 8:38 (King James Version)
38. Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

Matthew 10:32
32Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.

Birthday on Square Root Day

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On March 3, 2009

In Christian

Today is 03/03/09 and I celebrated my birthday. My wife sent me this email which had the subject line – Interesting day.  Reading the contents, I came to learn of an interesting, humorous and unofficial holiday, known as the “Square Root day”, celebrated by Mathematicians *for the most part). Square Root day are celebrated on days when both the day of the month and the month are the square root of the last two digits of the year. For example, the last Square Root Day was March 3, 2009 (3/3/09), and the next Square Root Day will be April 4, 2016 (4/4/16). The final Square Root Day of the century will occur on September 9, 2081.  These days are unique and occur once (only once) in a century a.k.a 1/1/01, 2/2/04, 3/3/09, 4/4/16 … 9/9/81. This sure is an interesting day, and got me to ponder.

And as I thought about this more, it dawned on me that just as this day is unique, so is my birthday and for that matter, your birthday. Let me explain. We are all unique, one of a kind. Think about this, there is absolutely not a single person in the world (just like you), even if you have a twin or septuplet siblings. Each one of us is unique. The day we were born in this world was a special and interesting day, possibly for your family, but certainly in the Heavenly realms.

The Bible says in Psalm 139 that we were wrought (put together) by the hands of God. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. Each one of us. Even when we were unperfect, God made us (in his own image) and ordained our days recording them and placed us on earth for a short period of time, so that our lives will be reflection of the maker and others will see it and glorify the Father (God) in Heaven.

Point(s) to ponder:
1. Take time to celebrate your Birthday (with family and friends) because it is an interesting and unique day.
2. Thank God for making you unique, one of a kind. There is no one else like you.
3.  For those who feel there is no meaning to life, who think suicide is the way out, please know that we are all fashioned by the very hands of God, and so your life and mine is important to him and to others. Life life and enjoy it. 
4. For the abortionists, dont make the womb a tomb. You are messing with God’s handiwork and no amount of raionalization (zygote, lifeless embryo etc) will be condoned.

Psalm 139 : 13-16
13. For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.
14. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. 
15. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

My Instructor is God

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On March 2, 2009

In Christian

When I started my business (Express Certifications), I was trying to run things on my own, till one day, when I was reminiscing as to whether leaving employment with Corporate America to be an entrepreneur was the right decision,  I realized that I had not committed the business to God. That morning, the Bible reading I read was Psalm 32:8.

Psalm 32:8 states “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.” (KJV).

It was a Sunday and I told myself, I will commit the business to God this evening during Sunday service and I did. Interestingly, out of the blue, the speaker that day, who was talking on a completely different subject, said, God is telling members of this Church that he will lead you and instruct you in the way you should go. What a confirmation! This alleviated the fears and concerns I had when I recognized that I had now an Instructor. My instructor was no one else but God himself. He can be yours too. Just try asking him to.

GPS – God Positioning System

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On March 1, 2009

In Christian

While driving to Austin wildflower center, I punched in the address in the Global Positioning System (GPS) unit in our car and implicitly followed directions. The GPS guided us through a circuitous, bumpy road and at times we felt lost. Nonetheless, it was an extremely scenic route, that we would have completely missed, should we  have taken the Highway that was kind of running parallel. My wife, Sangeetha Johnson and I enjoyed the ride. It was wonderful and we could experience and enjoy the beauty of God’s creation.

This got me thinking (yes it is one of those Mano’s Musing Moments again) and I suddenly realized that God has given us a GPS – a God Positioning System. It is the Bible. Following the directions given in the Bible implicitly will guide us through a beautiful and wonderful life, even if it seems circuitous, bumpy or we feel lost.

The Bible says in Psalm 119: 105 – that God’s word (the Bible) is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.
Enjoy the ride, following God’s direction.

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