Almost every incident worth writing about starts with something that was working exactly as designed. The design was just describing a different world than the one the system ended up in.
This piece walks through how we think about it at Paycux, what we have changed our minds about, and where the sharp edges are.
What is a hash function?
Consider what is a hash function?. Blast radius is the metric that actually matters. A credential that can read one organization's data is an incident; the same credential scoped to every organization is a company-ending event, and the difference is a design decision made months earlier.
Rotate on a schedule, not on an incident. A rotation path that has been exercised is a routine change; one that has never been used is an outage waiting for the worst possible moment.
The brute-force baseline
Consider the brute-force baseline. Blast radius is the metric that actually matters. A credential that can read one organization's data is an incident; the same credential scoped to every organization is a company-ending event, and the difference is a design decision made months earlier.
Rotate on a schedule, not on an incident. A rotation path that has been exercised is a routine change; one that has never been used is an outage waiting for the worst possible moment.
- Scope credentials to the smallest useful blast radius
- Alert on the abuse you cannot prevent
- Exercise the rotation path before you need it
- Log the decision, not just the outcome
Precomputed hash tables: The naive approach
Consider precomputed hash tables: the naive approach. Blast radius is the metric that actually matters. A credential that can read one organization's data is an incident; the same credential scoped to every organization is a company-ending event, and the difference is a design decision made months earlier.
Rotate on a schedule, not on an incident. A rotation path that has been exercised is a routine change; one that has never been used is an outage waiting for the worst possible moment.
How rainbow tables actually work
Consider how rainbow tables actually work. Detection beats prevention when prevention is uncertain. If you cannot stop a class of abuse outright, make sure it produces a signal loud enough that someone sees it the same day.
Blast radius is the metric that actually matters. A credential that can read one organization's data is an incident; the same credential scoped to every organization is a company-ending event, and the difference is a design decision made months earlier.
Blast radius is the metric that actually matters.
Building the table
Building the table deserves its own treatment. Detection beats prevention when prevention is uncertain. If you cannot stop a class of abuse outright, make sure it produces a signal loud enough that someone sees it the same day.
Rotate on a schedule, not on an incident. A rotation path that has been exercised is a routine change; one that has never been used is an outage waiting for the worst possible moment.
The role of multiple reduction functions
The role of multiple reduction functions deserves its own treatment. Blast radius is the metric that actually matters. A credential that can read one organization's data is an incident; the same credential scoped to every organization is a company-ending event, and the difference is a design decision made months earlier.
Rotate on a schedule, not on an incident. A rotation path that has been exercised is a routine change; one that has never been used is an outage waiting for the worst possible moment.
Looking up a hash
That brings us to looking up a hash. Blast radius is the metric that actually matters. A credential that can read one organization's data is an incident; the same credential scoped to every organization is a company-ending event, and the difference is a design decision made months earlier.
Blast radius is the metric that actually matters. A credential that can read one organization's data is an incident; the same credential scoped to every organization is a company-ending event, and the difference is a design decision made months earlier.
Where this leaves us
The pattern repeats across every system we have looked at: the hard part is not the mechanism, it is keeping the mechanism honest as the surrounding assumptions change.
If you are working through the same problem and want to compare notes, the docs cover the mechanics and the console shows the behaviour on your own data.
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