Security

The “Security by” Model Approach — Part 2: Meet the Cousins

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If you thought “Security by Obscurity”, “Security by Isolation”, and “Security by Default” were the only models crashing the cybersecurity party… think again.

Turns out, the “Security by” (first uncovered in Part 1 of this series) family tree has a few more colorful cousins, the kind that only show up late to the party, wearing niche distro hoodies and carrying encrypted USB drives. They may not be household names like SaaS or PaaS (and they certainly don’t rhyme), but trust me, they bring their own brand of weird… and sometimes wonderful security vibes.

These models don’t always follow industry buzzwords. They aren’t trending on Hacker News. But behind the scenes, they’ve helped protect sensitive systems, dodge mass attacks, and keep threats guessing. They’re the oddballs, the security underdogs but don’t mistake them for weak links.

So, grab your cyber-coffee, log out of root, update your threat model… and let’s meet the next batch of “Security by” models.

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CryptoLocker Was Just the Beginning

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Back in 2013, CryptoLocker was terrifying enough. It didn’t sneak in to steal your passwords or spy on your browsing habits, no!, it marched straight in, slammed the door behind it, encrypted everything in sight, and flashed a blinking red ransom note demanding Bitcoin like a digital hostage negotiator with a countdown clock. It was bold, it was brutal, and it was the first time many people realized: your files could be locked up and leveraged against you with no Hollywood-style hacker, just a suspicious ZIP file in your inbox.

CryptoLocker didn’t need a flashy exploit or deep system knowledge. It weaponized trust disguised as invoices, delivery slips, or bank statements and lured users into opening attachments that detonated silently in the background. Once triggered, it encrypted documents, photos, spreadsheets, and anything else it could get its hands on, and then calmly asked for payment in Bitcoin, which, at the time, still sounded like something from a hacker movie.

But that was then, the opening act. What followed after my first article, was a decade-long escalation that turned ransomware from a nuisance

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Of Hacks & Keyloggers – Part 1

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Of Hacks & Keyloggers…!!! “I don’t know what happened!; I don’t remember visiting any dodgy websites, downloading any weird apps, opening any suspicious emails or attachments, let alone links!, why I am receiving these sms & email notifications from my Bank!?!?” Sounds familiar right? Come to think of it, in most cases the unsuspecting victim is being honest. That being said, I just remembered something; a previous write up revolving around one of the methods used to carry out this type of attack. It can happen to anyone, in fact I was once a victim!

 

 

What is a keylogger? 

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