About PalmerSec

I decided to create this site as a way to document the projects I’m working on at home. To put it bluntly, this site serves a few purposes: (1) help me remember details, (2) a showcase for my work, and (3) maybe even a platform that others can learn from. If even a single person can say that they were able to gain a better understanding of technology or security from reading this, then I’ll consider it a success.

I’m going to be as honest as possible here and this may seem strange coming from someone who decided to write for fun, but I’ve never been that good at taking notes or writing things down. In retrospect, I had been flying by the seat of my pants for far too long; living my life one improvised decision at a time. I’ve been able to get by a large portion of my life with minimal notes and reminders, but it gets difficult to remember exactly how and why certain decisions were made as projects become more complex. I needed order and structure. Note taking doesn’t just keep me on schedule, it provides a history. Notes still hold value after they’ve served to help me organize my thoughts and improve my understanding of a problem. They serve as my own mind’s logs.

I’ve recently started getting much more in depth with my note taking. Rather than simple reminders, I’m diving into details and really making sure I set aside time to jot down my process, decisions, expectations, scope, and anything else that might seem relevant. If it’s something that I might forget and there’s any chance it will have the slightest significance later, then I write it down. It only takes a moment here and a moment there to build up a healthy set of notes. It’s been making a big difference in my ability to stay on task, remember details, and justify decisions.

PalmerSec is meant to serve more as a long-form version of my notes. It’s a place for me to document the process I go through–from discussing problem statements and proposing solutions to system implementation and testing–for each of my projects. I’ll be diving into topics centered on home-labbing, vulnerability management, data analysis techniques, red teaming, threat detection, productivity hacks, hardware hacking, tinkering, radio, and various other cyber-adjacent topics.

The first major project on this site is an implementation of a centralized home security platform within my home-lab. This home “SOC” is meant to be a solid launching off point for various other projects to branch out. The idea is to begin solidifying the security posture of my home network as well as provide the opportunity to test out exploits in a controlled and isolated lab environment, see how the system responds, and fine-tune the system’s parameters accordingly.

Thanks for taking a look.

-Doug Palmer