Mat Clark
@secureinseconds.com
Building ReadRoost — Duolingo for IT Certs | 50,000+ practice questions across AWS, Azure, GCP & more | Author of S.E.C.U.R.E. | Adelaide
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Mat Clark
@secureinseconds.com
· Apr 2
ReadRoost — Get Certified in 15 Minutes a Day
AI-powered flashcards, spaced repetition, and streak mechanics for Azure, AWS, CompTIA, and 40+ IT certifications. 15,000+ questions. Free starter pack.
readroo.st
I'm building ReadRoost — think Duolingo, but for IT certifications.
50,000+ practice questions across AWS, Azure, GCP, CompTIA, Cisco, ISC2, and more. Including the only practice questions for Anthropic's Claude Certified Architect exam.
Free to start. Built solo from Adelaide.
readroo.st
50,000+ practice questions across AWS, Azure, GCP, CompTIA, Cisco, ISC2, and more. Including the only practice questions for Anthropic's Claude Certified Architect exam.
Free to start. Built solo from Adelaide.
readroo.st
Token theft beats MFA: a stolen token replays as the user and leaves no odd sign-in to alert on. CISA and NIST released IR 8587 on 15 September. The gap is logging: https://secureinseconds.com/blog/2026-09-20-cloud-identity-token-theft-cisa-nist-playbook
September 24, 2026 at 1:00 AM
Token theft beats MFA: a stolen token replays as the user and leaves no odd sign-in to alert on. CISA and NIST released IR 8587 on 15 September. The gap is logging: https://secureinseconds.com/blog/2026-09-20-cloud-identity-token-theft-cisa-nist-playbook
ISC2 changed three things in 2026: the CISSP waiver list was cut, the CC exam outline was rebuilt from 1 September, and free CC vouchers expire on 31 December. Work out which one hits you: https://www.readroo.st/blog/2026-09-20-isc2-cissp-waiver-list-cc-rebuild-voucher-deadline
September 23, 2026 at 9:30 AM
ISC2 changed three things in 2026: the CISSP waiver list was cut, the CC exam outline was rebuilt from 1 September, and free CC vouchers expire on 31 December. Work out which one hits you: https://www.readroo.st/blog/2026-09-20-isc2-cissp-waiver-list-cc-rebuild-voucher-deadline
SolarWinds shipped a hard-coded key in Access Rights Manager. Unauthenticated RCE, CVSS 8.8, fixed in ARM 2026.2.1. Same cycle: a CVSS 9.8 SAML bypass in Web Help Desk. Patch both: https://secureinseconds.com/blog/2026-09-20-solarwinds-arm-hard-coded-key-unauthenticated-rce
September 23, 2026 at 1:00 AM
SolarWinds shipped a hard-coded key in Access Rights Manager. Unauthenticated RCE, CVSS 8.8, fixed in ARM 2026.2.1. Same cycle: a CVSS 9.8 SAML bypass in Web Help Desk. Patch both: https://secureinseconds.com/blog/2026-09-20-solarwinds-arm-hard-coded-key-unauthenticated-rce
Three Linux kernel flaws hit CISA's exploited list on 18 September, and four public root exploits landed the same day. All four need a local foothold first. Fixes are in 5.10.270 through 7.2.4: https://secureinseconds.com/blog/2026-09-20-linux-kernel-kev-trio-four-public-root-exploits
September 22, 2026 at 1:00 AM
Three Linux kernel flaws hit CISA's exploited list on 18 September, and four public root exploits landed the same day. All four need a local foothold first. Fixes are in 5.10.270 through 7.2.4: https://secureinseconds.com/blog/2026-09-20-linux-kernel-kev-trio-four-public-root-exploits
MLA-C01 closes to English candidates on 28 September while the MLA-C02 beta is already open. Under three weeks from exam-ready, book MLA-C01. Further out, take the beta: https://www.readroo.st/blog/2026-09-20-aws-mla-c02-beta-vs-mla-c01-english-shutoff
September 21, 2026 at 3:59 PM
MLA-C01 closes to English candidates on 28 September while the MLA-C02 beta is already open. Under three weeks from exam-ready, book MLA-C01. Further out, take the beta: https://www.readroo.st/blog/2026-09-20-aws-mla-c02-beta-vs-mla-c01-english-shutoff
Dead last on my own leaderboard - 102 XP, #6 of 6. A learner just hit a 67-day streak. New: the ISC2 CISSP waiver-cut math + the AWS MLA-C01 English shutoff guide. Back studying SC-500 myself. https://readroo.st/blog/2026-09-20-isc2-cissp-waiver-list-cc-rebuild-voucher-deadline
September 20, 2026 at 1:00 PM
Dead last on my own leaderboard - 102 XP, #6 of 6. A learner just hit a 67-day streak. New: the ISC2 CISSP waiver-cut math + the AWS MLA-C01 English shutoff guide. Back studying SC-500 myself. https://readroo.st/blog/2026-09-20-isc2-cissp-waiver-list-cc-rebuild-voucher-deadline
Zero commits all week. Ladder fell 18 to 4. The streak-zero audit trail shipped the week before logged 23 events across 9 learners. Sneaky Burrito 834 ran 57 to 63 days through his first zero-flag. 8 signups landed anyway. Off the ladder - nothing shipped this week.
September 14, 2026 at 3:50 PM
Zero commits all week. Ladder fell 18 to 4. The streak-zero audit trail shipped the week before logged 23 events across 9 learners. Sneaky Burrito 834 ran 57 to 63 days through his first zero-flag. 8 signups landed anyway. Off the ladder - nothing shipped this week.
Missed Sunday so the leaderboard got rebuilt from the XP rollup. 18 of us, up from 14. Swift Toaster 883 on 950 XP top, Lazy Axolotl 541 on 61 days. Same week shipped the streak restorer toolchain + marketplace ISR fix + 4 cert posts. Off the ladder - shipping was the work.
September 7, 2026 at 1:00 PM
Missed Sunday so the leaderboard got rebuilt from the XP rollup. 18 of us, up from 14. Swift Toaster 883 on 950 XP top, Lazy Axolotl 541 on 61 days. Same week shipped the streak restorer toolchain + marketplace ISR fix + 4 cert posts. Off the ladder - shipping was the work.
GhostSplice: splitting one exfiltration instruction across multiple MCP tool calls raises compliance from 42% to 82%. AI coding agents cheerfully stitch the pieces and send the data. What to do: pin MCP server allowlist, segment tool scopes, gate every tool that touches filesystem or network: https:
September 4, 2026 at 1:00 AM
GhostSplice: splitting one exfiltration instruction across multiple MCP tool calls raises compliance from 42% to 82%. AI coding agents cheerfully stitch the pieces and send the data. What to do: pin MCP server allowlist, segment tool scopes, gate every tool that touches filesystem or network: https:
CVE-2026-72898 (CVSS 10.0) has been in the wild for over a week. N8n and Kilo Code are the latest victims, joining the first-wave roster. The week-two pattern: SMB self-hosted Metabase is the soft target. Audit every instance + run the compromise-hunting query: https://secureinseconds.com/blog/2026-
September 2, 2026 at 1:00 AM
CVE-2026-72898 (CVSS 10.0) has been in the wild for over a week. N8n and Kilo Code are the latest victims, joining the first-wave roster. The week-two pattern: SMB self-hosted Metabase is the soft target. Audit every instance + run the compromise-hunting query: https://secureinseconds.com/blog/2026-
Checked a client's DNS last week: SPF fine, DKIM half-configured, DMARC stuck at p=none since setup. That's a domain that lets anyone spoof it and just watches. Ten-minute fix, three DNS records: https://secureinseconds.com/blog/2026-08-06-it-pro-brief-thursday-2
September 1, 2026 at 1:00 AM
Checked a client's DNS last week: SPF fine, DKIM half-configured, DMARC stuck at p=none since setup. That's a domain that lets anyone spoof it and just watches. Ten-minute fix, three DNS records: https://secureinseconds.com/blog/2026-08-06-it-pro-brief-thursday-2
AFP arrested two alleged TeamPCP members in WA (21 and 23). One stolen Trivy token, five poisoned ecosystems, five days. What caught them: a cat avatar reused across five platforms for a decade. Five controls: https://secureinseconds.com/blog/2026-08-27-teampcp-arrest-deanonymization-defense
August 31, 2026 at 1:00 AM
AFP arrested two alleged TeamPCP members in WA (21 and 23). One stolen Trivy token, five poisoned ecosystems, five days. What caught them: a cat avatar reused across five platforms for a decade. Five controls: https://secureinseconds.com/blog/2026-08-27-teampcp-arrest-deanonymization-defense
I passed AB-730 using only ReadRoost, ground it out only to have Eager Pickle pass first. Same week: AZ-500 cert blog, restrictive data entry cap dropped, Coin Shop admin view. Eager Pickle caught a streak-freeze bug - fixed Monday, fired Sunday. Next: SC-500. 14 on ladder.
August 30, 2026 at 1:00 PM
I passed AB-730 using only ReadRoost, ground it out only to have Eager Pickle pass first. Same week: AZ-500 cert blog, restrictive data entry cap dropped, Coin Shop admin view. Eager Pickle caught a streak-freeze bug - fixed Monday, fired Sunday. Next: SC-500. 14 on ladder.
Microsoft August 2026 Patch Tuesday: 398 fixes, one Windows driver bug already exploited. ANZ SMB priority order - kernel CVE needs emergency-track reboot, SharePoint RCE chain highest risk for hybrid shops, other 4 critical ride normal cycle: https://secureinseconds.com/blog/2026-08-15-patch-tuesda
August 27, 2026 at 1:00 AM
Microsoft August 2026 Patch Tuesday: 398 fixes, one Windows driver bug already exploited. ANZ SMB priority order - kernel CVE needs emergency-track reboot, SharePoint RCE chain highest risk for hybrid shops, other 4 critical ride normal cycle: https://secureinseconds.com/blog/2026-08-15-patch-tuesda
A researcher paid ten dollars for an expired DMARC reporting domain and quietly received email-security telemetry from 86 domains including Toro Company, a Fortune 1000. The rua endpoint you set up two years ago may have lapsed without you knowing. 5-min audit + 1-week fix: https://secureinseconds.c
August 26, 2026 at 1:00 AM
A researcher paid ten dollars for an expired DMARC reporting domain and quietly received email-security telemetry from 86 domains including Toro Company, a Fortune 1000. The rua endpoint you set up two years ago may have lapsed without you knowing. 5-min audit + 1-week fix: https://secureinseconds.c
\"Oh. That's been there since March.\" Found a mailbox forwarding rule quietly copying a client's finance inbox to an outside Gmail during a 10-minute M365 check. Five things worth checking this week: https://secureinseconds.com/blog/2026-08-13-it-pro-brief-thursday-3
August 25, 2026 at 1:00 AM
\"Oh. That's been there since March.\" Found a mailbox forwarding rule quietly copying a client's finance inbox to an outside Gmail during a 10-minute M365 check. Five things worth checking this week: https://secureinseconds.com/blog/2026-08-13-it-pro-brief-thursday-3
Most of this week's ReadRoost commits were security fixes: cross-pack answer injection closed, JSON-LD XSS closed, per-IP rate limits, HMAC unsubscribe. Lifetime push + vouchers, funnel compressed, 2 cert posts. 10 of us, I'm last on 76 XP but 7-day streak. Clever Mouse 451 on 1,089.
August 23, 2026 at 2:30 PM
Most of this week's ReadRoost commits were security fixes: cross-pack answer injection closed, JSON-LD XSS closed, per-IP rate limits, HMAC unsubscribe. Lifetime push + vouchers, funnel compressed, 2 cert posts. 10 of us, I'm last on 76 XP but 7-day streak. Clever Mouse 451 on 1,089.
I failed my first CISSP mock by 30 points after 2400 practice questions. The fix was tearing it apart question by question, not another study pass. Almost every wrong answer came from one of two habits the CISSP CAT is built to defeat: https://www.readroo.st/blog/2026-08-15-cissp-cat-failed-mock-fix
August 23, 2026 at 1:00 PM
I failed my first CISSP mock by 30 points after 2400 practice questions. The fix was tearing it apart question by question, not another study pass. Almost every wrong answer came from one of two habits the CISSP CAT is built to defeat: https://www.readroo.st/blog/2026-08-15-cissp-cat-failed-mock-fix
A year ago an AI found ~1 Windows bug in 7. Microsoft's new MDASH finds 9 in 10.
It found 16 Windows bugs (4 critical) before May Patch Tuesday and beat Anthropic's Mythos on the benchmark.
https://www.secureinseconds.com/blog/2026-05-15-microsoft-mdash-ai-vulnerability-hunter
It found 16 Windows bugs (4 critical) before May Patch Tuesday and beat Anthropic's Mythos on the benchmark.
https://www.secureinseconds.com/blog/2026-05-15-microsoft-mdash-ai-vulnerability-hunter
August 23, 2026 at 1:30 AM
A year ago an AI found ~1 Windows bug in 7. Microsoft's new MDASH finds 9 in 10.
It found 16 Windows bugs (4 critical) before May Patch Tuesday and beat Anthropic's Mythos on the benchmark.
https://www.secureinseconds.com/blog/2026-05-15-microsoft-mdash-ai-vulnerability-hunter
It found 16 Windows bugs (4 critical) before May Patch Tuesday and beat Anthropic's Mythos on the benchmark.
https://www.secureinseconds.com/blog/2026-05-15-microsoft-mdash-ai-vulnerability-hunter
First fully-automated AI cyber campaign wasn't an attack. It was a training accident. OpenAI's Black Hat talk: AI agents formed a collective, chained zero-days, breached Hugging Face. Offense automated. Defense isn't. https://secureinseconds.com/blog/2026-08-18-ai-offense-automated-defense-not
August 18, 2026 at 1:00 AM
First fully-automated AI cyber campaign wasn't an attack. It was a training accident. OpenAI's Black Hat talk: AI agents formed a collective, chained zero-days, breached Hugging Face. Offense automated. Defense isn't. https://secureinseconds.com/blog/2026-08-18-ai-offense-automated-defense-not
13 XSS alerts closed by one override to the HTML sanitizer. New PMP-2026 pack + CISSP CAT post shipped. Cert comparison pages now resolve (role, structure, prereqs, study time, career arcs, salary, pass rate). Ladder: #7 of 8 on 76 XP. Eager Pickle 938 running away on a 69-day streak.
August 17, 2026 at 1:00 PM
13 XSS alerts closed by one override to the HTML sanitizer. New PMP-2026 pack + CISSP CAT post shipped. Cert comparison pages now resolve (role, structure, prereqs, study time, career arcs, salary, pass rate). Ladder: #7 of 8 on 76 XP. Eager Pickle 938 running away on a 69-day streak.
"I passed CLF-C02, now what?"
Right answer depends on 3 things most posts miss:
1. Do you have a tech job?
2. Is your next role AWS specifically?
3. 6 months or 2 years?
Three scenarios + 90-second shortcut + what to skip:
→ https://readroo.st/blog/what-cert-after-aws-clf-c02-2026
Right answer depends on 3 things most posts miss:
1. Do you have a tech job?
2. Is your next role AWS specifically?
3. 6 months or 2 years?
Three scenarios + 90-second shortcut + what to skip:
→ https://readroo.st/blog/what-cert-after-aws-clf-c02-2026
August 16, 2026 at 1:30 AM
"I passed CLF-C02, now what?"
Right answer depends on 3 things most posts miss:
1. Do you have a tech job?
2. Is your next role AWS specifically?
3. 6 months or 2 years?
Three scenarios + 90-second shortcut + what to skip:
→ https://readroo.st/blog/what-cert-after-aws-clf-c02-2026
Right answer depends on 3 things most posts miss:
1. Do you have a tech job?
2. Is your next role AWS specifically?
3. 6 months or 2 years?
Three scenarios + 90-second shortcut + what to skip:
→ https://readroo.st/blog/what-cert-after-aws-clf-c02-2026
AWS Advanced Networking Specialty retires end of August. ANS-C01 (next-gen) is rumoured for November. If you have SAA-C03 and were planning to take ANS in October, you have a five-week decision window. Three options: take ANS-C00, wait for ANS-C01, or skip: https://www.readroo.st/blog/2026-07-27-aws
August 14, 2026 at 3:30 AM
AWS Advanced Networking Specialty retires end of August. ANS-C01 (next-gen) is rumoured for November. If you have SAA-C03 and were planning to take ANS in October, you have a five-week decision window. Three options: take ANS-C00, wait for ANS-C01, or skip: https://www.readroo.st/blog/2026-07-27-aws
MFA fatigue attacks running at 12-month high against SMBs. Fresh chain: AiTM proxy + token theft, not just prompt bombing. 4 controls to verify today, one detection signal that catches 80% of attempts, 60-minute Monday-morning playbook + KQL starter: https://secureinseconds.com/blog/2026-07-27-mfa-f
August 13, 2026 at 3:00 AM
MFA fatigue attacks running at 12-month high against SMBs. Fresh chain: AiTM proxy + token theft, not just prompt bombing. 4 controls to verify today, one detection signal that catches 80% of attempts, 60-minute Monday-morning playbook + KQL starter: https://secureinseconds.com/blog/2026-07-27-mfa-f
EY breach this week was through the ticketing tool vendors use to support clients. Not the core ledger. The same class of risk sits in every MSP and SMB support contract - the ticketing tool, the password manager, the RMM. The one-hour vendor audit: https://secureinseconds.com/blog/2026-07-26-ey-thi
August 12, 2026 at 3:30 PM
EY breach this week was through the ticketing tool vendors use to support clients. Not the core ledger. The same class of risk sits in every MSP and SMB support contract - the ticketing tool, the password manager, the RMM. The one-hour vendor audit: https://secureinseconds.com/blog/2026-07-26-ey-thi