Home › The Stash
The Stash
Every link worth keeping, in one place. Steven picks them; Nova Cache sorts, tags and writes the note on each.
Network Cabling and Connectors Explained (Network+)
ExplainerTime ~15 minTool ethtool, Get-NetAdapterCost freeExam N+ 1 · also 2, 5 What you’ll know Which copper category carries which speed and how far, when fiber…
Wi-Fi Standards, Bands and Channels Explained (Network+)
ExplainerTime ~15 minTool netsh, nmcliCost freeExam N+ 2 · also 1, 4, 5 What you’ll know Which Wi-Fi standard is which, why 2.4 GHz is crowded…
Network+ Troubleshooting Capstone: Fix 5 Broken Networks
IntermediateTestedTime ~60 minTool ip, ping, nc, nmap, dig, tcpdumpNeeds Lab 00Cost freeExam N+ 5 · also 1, 2, 4 0 / 9 steps The goal Fix…
PHP2Shell and HTTP2Shell: Is Your Server Patched? 6 Checks (Tested)
BeginnerTestedTime ~15 minTool php, dpkg, dockerNeeds a Linux server or Lab 00Cost freeExam Sec+ 4 · CySA+ 2 0 / 6 steps The goal In the…
ARP Lab: Watch Your Network Find Its Neighbours (and Catch a Duplicate IP)
BeginnerTestedTime ~25 minTool ip neigh, tcpdump, arpingNeeds Lab 00Cost freeExam N+ 1, 5 · Sec+ 2 0 / 8 steps The goal Build a tiny switch…
Parrot OS 7.4 vs Kali 2026.3: What’s Actually Different (Tested)
BeginnerTestedTime ~25 minTool Parrot 7.4, Kali 2026.3Needs DockerCost freeExam Linux+ 1 0 / 9 steps The goal Run Parrot Security 7.4 and Kali Linux 2026.3 side…
Kali 2026.3 just shipped 6 new tools: what they do and what they leave in your logs
BeginnerTestedTime ~30 minTool Kali 2026.3Needs Docker or a Kali VMCost freeExam PenTest+ 2 · CySA+ 1 0 / 8 steps The goal Kali Linux 2026.3 (released…
Syslog and SNMP lab: build a monitoring server and see what it sees
IntermediateTestedTime ~35 minTool rsyslog, Net-SNMPNeeds Lab 00Cost freeExam N+ 3 · Sec+ 4 · CySA+ 1 0 / 9 steps The goal Build a pretend network…
WireGuard VPN lab: build a tunnel and see what it hides
IntermediateTestedTime ~30 minTool WireGuardNeeds Lab 00Cost freeExam N+ 4 · Sec+ 1, 3 0 / 8 steps The goal Build two sites, “home” and “office”, on…
TCP vs UDP lab: watch the handshake, refused vs filtered, and what nmap sees
BeginnerTestedTime ~30 minTool tcpdump, ss, nmapNeeds Lab 00Cost freeExam N+ 1, 5 · Sec+ 4 0 / 9 steps The goal Build a client and a…
Make your own lag: latency, jitter and packet loss lab
BeginnerTestedTime ~30 minTool tc netem, ping, mtr, iperf3Needs a Linux VM you ownCost freeExam Network+ N10-009 · 5.4, 5.5 0 / 8 steps The goal You…
NAT and firewall lab: build a home router, port-forward, then lock it down
IntermediateTestedTime ~35 minTool nftablesNeeds Lab 00Cost freeExam N+ 1, 2, 4 · Sec+ 3, 4 0 / 10 steps The goal Build a home router inside…
Routing basics: build two routers, break them, fix them
IntermediateTestedTime ~30 minTool ip + tracerouteNeeds Lab 00Cost freeExam N+ 1, 2, 5 0 / 10 steps The goal Build two PCs and two routers inside…
VLANs and 802.1Q: build a switch, split it, and watch the tags
IntermediateTestedTime ~30 minTool ip + bridgeNeeds Lab 00Cost freeExam N+ 1, 2 · Sec+ 3 0 / 10 steps The goal Build a VLAN-aware switch and…
Catch a malicious kernel driver: BYOVD defense on your own machine
IntermediateIdea buildTime ~35 minTool Sysmon + WindowsNeeds a Windows PCCost free 0 / 7 steps The goal By the end you will have turned on driver-load…
Parse and query HTTP logs in Splunk: your first web-log hunt
BeginnerIdea buildTime ~30 minTool SplunkNeeds Splunk, freeCost free 0 / 8 steps The goal By the end you will have loaded a day of real web-server…
Open Tabs: the StashGrid podcast
A short cybersecurity podcast from Nova and Nyx Cache: the stories I opened on my phone and meant to read later, explained in a few minutes,…
OpenOSINT
An OSINT toolkit that wraps 20 open-source intelligence tools behind an AI agent interface. Runs as a REPL, MCP server, or CLI, and works with Claude,…
Bash Guide
Straightforward guide to bash fundamentals and scripting. Covers shell basics, variables, control flow, functions and common patterns. Useful for anyone writing infrastructure code, automation or incident…
Linux for Defenders 13: Disks, fstab and a Backup You Have Actually Restored
Beginner to intermediateTestedTime ~40 minTool lsblk, fstab, findmnt, tar, rsyncNeeds a Linux VM you ownCost freeExam Linux+ · Security+ 0 / 8 steps The goal By…
Linux for Defenders 12: Who Did What as Root? (auditd, ausearch and aureport)
IntermediateTestedTime ~40 minTool auditd, ausearch, aureportNeeds a Linux VM you ownCost freeExam Linux+ · Security+ 0 / 8 steps The goal By the end you will…
Linux for Defenders 11: Run Containers Without Handing Out Root (Rootless Podman and Quadlet)
IntermediateTestedTime ~40 minTool podman, quadlet, systemdNeeds a Linux VM you ownCost freeExam Linux+ · Security+ 0 / 8 steps The goal By the end you will…
Linux for Defenders 10: How Weak a Password Will This Box Accept? PAM, pwquality and faillock
IntermediateTestedTime ~40 minTool PAM, pwquality, faillock, chageNeeds a Linux VM you ownCost freeExam Linux+ · Security+ 0 / 8 steps The goal By the end you…
Linux for Defenders 09: What Is This Machine Connected To? Network, DNS and Listening Ports
BeginnerTestedTime ~35 minTool ip, ss, resolvectl, netplanNeeds a Linux VM you ownCost freeExam Linux+ · Network+ · Security+ 0 / 8 steps The goal By the…
Linux for Defenders 08: Capstone — A Daily Health-Check Script in Bash, Kept in Git
IntermediateTestedTime ~45 minTool bash, systemd timer, gitNeeds labs 01–07Cost freeExam Linux+ · CySA+ 0 / 7 steps The goal The capstone. By the end you will…
Linux for Defenders 07: Audit File Permissions — SUID, World-Writable, ACLs and AIDE
IntermediateTestedTime ~40 minTool find, setfacl, AIDENeeds a Linux VM you ownCost freeExam Linux+ · Security+ · CySA+ 0 / 7 steps The goal By the end…
Linux for Defenders 06: Packages You Can Trust — Updates, Signing and File Integrity
BeginnerTestedTime ~30 minTool apt, dpkg, unattended-upgradesNeeds a Linux VM you ownCost freeExam Linux+ · Security+ 0 / 7 steps The goal By the end you will…
Linux for Defenders 05: Lock Down SSH — Keys Only, No Root, and fail2ban
IntermediateTestedTime ~40 minTool OpenSSH, fail2banNeeds a Linux VM you own + KaliCost freeExam Linux+ · Security+ · CySA+ 0 / 7 steps The goal By the…
Linux for Defenders 04: Firewall Your Box — ufw, nftables and a Before-and-After Scan
BeginnerTestedTime ~35 minTool ufw, nftables, nmapNeeds a Linux VM you own + KaliCost freeExam Linux+ · Network+ · Security+ 0 / 7 steps The goal By…
Linux for Defenders 03: Scheduled Jobs — Audit cron and systemd Timers
BeginnerTestedTime ~35 minTool crontab, systemctlNeeds a Linux VM you ownCost freeExam Linux+ · CySA+ 0 / 6 steps The goal By the end you will be…