Latest Posts
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IPsec Key Management: What NIST Recommends for VPNs and Tunnels
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IPsec is commonly used to secure communication between networks, especially when connecting data centers, cloud environments, or two organizations over the internet. It provides encryption, integrity protection, and authentication so that data can travel across an untrusted network without exposing its contents. But configuring an IPsec tunnel is not only about choosing an encryption algorithm.…
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TLS Key Management: Choosing Cipher Suites, Certificate Lifetimes, and Negotiation Rules
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A TLS endpoint can have a valid certificate and still use a poor security configuration. The certificate identifies the server, but the handshake also decides how the connection establishes secrets and protects application data. Certificate renewal, cipher selection, and negotiation policy solve different parts of the problem. I find it useful to treat these as…
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PKI in Simple Terms: Certificates, CAs, CRLs, OCSP, Trust Stores
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When an application connects to an HTTPS server, it needs to verify that the server is really who it claims to be. Encrypting the connection is not enough. Without identity verification, an attacker could present their own encryption key and intercept the communication. This is one of the problems that Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) solves.…
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Key Management Planning: What Auditors Really Look For
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Encryption is usually one of the first things we think about when protecting sensitive data. We encrypt database fields, API credentials, files, backups, and communication between systems. But there is another question that is sometimes discussed much later: How are we protecting the encryption keys themselves? This is where key management becomes important. Having strong…
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How Issuers Authenticate Cards (and Send Commands Back)
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If you’ve worked with payment systems long enough, you’ve probably heard people say that an issuer simply “approves” or “declines” a transaction. While that is technically true, there is actually much more happening behind the scenes. An issuer does not only decide whether a transaction should be approved. It can also send instructions back to…
About Me
Hi I’m Assi—I’m dedicated to advancing cashless payment technology and sharing insights with fellow developers and solution architects on my blog, Cashless Nomad.
I embrace a mobile lifestyle by replacing cash with digital payments, enabling seamless transactions anywhere. Going cashless keeps me connected, agile, and financially flexible—perfect for traveling light and skipping currency hassles.
Checkout my other blogs at marai.dev