CrankySec

This is a call

What up, friends? It's been a while, eh? I was on vacation, but now I'm back with more hot takes and general aggression. More difficult and abrasive than ever! Our Discord is this close from hitting 1,000 comrades, and our Matrix server is also open for business. Things are good! Except, things are very much not good at all.

First of all, go read this absolute banger of a post from our good friend Ludic. I'll wait. Done? Good. Go read this article now. I'm sorry about assigning homework, but do bear with me. There's no TL;DR. Go read that shit, really.

If you're here, we are something of kindred spirits. You might not agree with me on everything, but I have a feeling that, at the very least, we agree that shit's fucked up, right? We may disagree on the specifics, but we cannot escape this nagging feeling that something ain't quite right. That this (gestures broadly) makes no sense. That it is inherently unfair that a small number of silver-tongued crooks are reaping all the benefits of our labor. Unless you're a silver-tongued crook, or extremely lucky, you can :s/cybersecurity/anything at all/g and get the same results. So, let's talk about that for a minute, then we'll get to our call to action.

An ice hockey truism is that blocked shots win cups. It's not pretty, it's not glamorous, it's hard work, it fucking hurts. But it wins cups. You, sitting at a desk right now, poring over logs, reading poorly written documentation, de-obfuscating binaries, fighting regexes, diligently tweaking threat models, crafting clever strings to break some API before the bad guys do, trying to understand the cybersecurity implications of dense legislation, and so much more: you're blocking shots. You're not going to all-inclusive retreats. Or making money with someone else's money. You're not invited to podcasts. You're not sitting down to chat with Fast Company. You ain't even getting a raise to keep up with inflation. In this circlejerk, you're not getting jerked. In this sense, we're all brothers and sisters. As some English weirdo wrote a while ago:

For he to-day that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.

And here we are: shedding blood, losing sleep, stressed, unhealthy, depressed, and isolated. We can't cook a meal, walk the dog, go to the gym, watch trash TV, grab a drink with our buddies, play with our fucking kids. We're too tired. Too busy. Too broke. Too sick. We're putting our bodies on the line, taking all those 100 mph pucks to the knee, blocking shots so a worthless, dumb piece of shit sociopath can raise the trophy. We're shedding our blood so one spoiled brat with more money than god can demand a raise, and the people playing with your money happily obliged.

This is not normal, and this is not sustainable. It's a race to the bottom, but we're the only ones actually racing. Actually, let me amend that statement: we're the only ones racing to the bottom. The sociopaths are racing to Mars or whatever the fuck. And I truly hope they get there like, next week, because these 10-ply bitches will die in a matter of seconds and I'm here for it.

It is truly amazing how much we've lost after giving so much.

We are all facing the same problems, and we're reaching the same conclusions independently. Now we need to find solutions collectively, and the grifters hate this one simple trick. And every little bit matters a lot. Don't "accept all cookies." Roll your eyes when your manager mentions AI. Don't apply for jobs at stupid companies that have no goals besides growing and being acquired. Bring your talents to a place where you can actually do some good. That blob between your ears that we call brain fucking matters, and a bunch of those together are capable of amazing things that are not reinventing vending machines or buses or hotels. The problems that need solving are elsewhere, so let's look for those together.

So, this is a call to all of those who shed their blood with me. There must be a way out of this, and I think the way forward is through. And together. Join us on Discord or Matrix. Or both. Send your colleagues some incendiary shit like this blog, or from many other sources. Subscribe to independent news outlets. Write to your representatives in government. Break free from the linkedin miasma of corporate bullshit because feeding that beast, earnestly or otherwise, helps no one. Including you. Every time some imbecile posts something stupid there, don't hit that "cElEbRaTe" button, just reply "lol." Let's start calling a pile of shit a pile of shit.

The pendulum is swinging back, super chiefs. Go to Reddit, or HN, or any forum with tech people, and you'll see that this whole façade is crumbling. People are fed up with the grift, and it's reaching a critical mass. This is good. Let those fucks go to Mars, or Alpha Centauri, or a fucking black hole. We can take care of things here just fine. Let's make some noise and raise some hell. Ferda.