My phone lit up at 3 AM. Nobody calls with good news at 3 AM.
“Hey, we’ve got a situation. Someone’s accessing data they shouldn’t see.”

I jumped out of bed. My heart was pounding. This was the lead capture platform I’d just launched for my team to use . The one I was so proud of. The one that was supposed to be perfect.

It wasn’t.

Look, I’m writing this as 2025 comes to an end because I need to tell you what I learned this year. And if you’re building anything with AI right now, you really need to hear this story.

Two Projects That Changed How I Think This Year

This year, I built two platforms. Let me tell you about them.
The first one was a lead capture tool. You know, the kind where AI chats with people who visit your website, figures out what they need, and passes the good leads to your sales team.

It was beautiful. Fast. I was thrilled. I felt like a rockstar.
I launched it and immediately started working on my next project.

Two weeks later, someone figured out how to trick the AI. They asked it questions in a certain way, and it started sharing information about other people’s conversations. Names, email addresses, things they’d said in private. All there for the taking.

I felt sick. How did I miss this?

The second platform was different. It was for the financial space — helping people track their money and make better decisions.

But this time, I changed my approach completely.
Before I wrote even one line of code, I called up a security friend. We sat together for three whole days. Just talking. Just asking questions.

What could go wrong here?
How would someone try to break this?
What’s the worst thing that could happen?

My client kept texting me. “When do we start building?”

I told him. “We already are.”

When we finally launched, that platform was solid. No panicked phone calls. No emergency meetings. No sleepless nights wondering if someone was stealing data.

See. Same builder. Same year. Two completely different outcomes.

Want to know what made the difference?

This Is What Nobody Tells You
Here’s what I wish someone had told me when I started.

Building with AI is like giving someone the keys to your house. You want them to get in when they need to. But you also need to make sure strangers can’t just walk in behind them.

With my first platform, I was so excited about making the AI smart and helpful that I forgot to ask questions like “How could someone use this helpfulness to hurt us?”

With the second one, we asked that question about every single feature. Examples of those qestios were

“Should the AI remember what users told it last time? Yes, but only for that specific user.” “Should it give financial advice? Yes, but with clear limits on what it can suggest.”
“Should it connect to bank accounts? Maybe, but let’s add three layers of protection first.”

Every decision had two parts.
1. How do we make this work?
2. How do we keep it safe?

Especially for the backend.

What I’m seeing for 2026 Is going to be completely different

Let me be honest with you as we head into the new year.
AI is getting scary powerful. And I mean that in both good and bad ways.

The stuff we’re building now? It’s making real decisions. Managing real money. Affecting real lives.

And here’s the part that keeps me up at night. The bad guys have AI too.

They’re using it to find holes in our systems. They’re using it to trick our AI. They’re getting better at breaking things faster than we’re getting at protecting them.

If you’re building without thinking about security from day one, you’re already falling behind.

Here Are Five Things I Do Now (That I Wish I’d Done Before)
After everything I learned this year, here’s what I do with every single project now.

1. I imagine the worst first

Before building anything, I sit down and ask, “What’s the absolute worst thing that could happen with this tool?”

Not to be negative. To be prepared.

I write down every scary scenario I can think of. Then I make sure we’re protecting against those things before we build anything else.

2. I trust nothing automatically

Your AI will surprise you. Users will do things you never expected. Someone will always try something you didn’t plan for.

So I build like I’m expecting surprises. I add safety checks everywhere. I set limits on what the AI can do, even if technically it could do more.

Better safe than sorry isn’t just a saying. It’s a survival strategy.

3. I try to break my own stuff

This sounds weird, but I spend hours trying to break what I build. I ask friends to try to break it.

Because if I can break it, a hacker definitely can. And I’d rather find out in my test environment than at 3 AM with a phone call.

4. I keep it simple

The fancier your security setup, the more places things can go wrong.

I learned this the hard way. Simple, strong protection beats complicated, clever tricks every single time.

Think of it like locks on your door. One really good deadbolt is better than five cheap padlocks that might not work right.

5. I never stop watching

Launching isn’t the finish line. It’s the starting line.

I check my platforms constantly. I look at the data. I watch for weird patterns. The earlier you catch something odd, the easier it is to fix.

It’s like going to the doctor for checkups. You don’t wait until you’re really sick to see what’s wrong.

So, Here’s What’s Coming Next Year and How You Can Get Ready For It.

1. Attacks are getting smarter

Hackers aren’t just trying random things anymore. They’re using AI to study your system, find the weak spots, and hit you where it hurts.

How to prepare. Make someone responsible for security full-time. Not as a side task. As their main job.

2. The stakes are getting higher

When your AI is managing important stuff — money, health data, business secrets — a security problem isn’t just embarrassing. It’s devastating.

How to prepare: Ask yourself. “What happens if this break?” If the answer scares you, add more protection.

3. Things change fast

What worked yesterday might not work tomorrow. AI learns. It evolves. Your security needs to evolve too.

How to prepare. Set a reminder for the first Monday of every month. Spend an hour reviewing your security. Update what needs updating.

My Ask for You Before 2026

Look, I get it. Security feels boring. When you’re building something cool, you want to see it work. You want to launch. You want people to use it.

Thinking about security feels like someone telling you to eat your vegetables when you just want dessert.

But I’ve been on both sides now.
I’ve launched fast and paid the price. I’ve built carefully and slept well.
Trust me — the second way is so much better.
So here’s what I’m asking as we count down to the new year:

If you’re building something right now, stop for just one hour. Ask yourself a question like,

“How could someone mess this up?”
Then Write down three ways.
Fix those three things before you do anything else.

If you’re planning to build in 2026, add one question to your first meeting.

“How do we protect people who use this?” Make it as important as “How do we make this work?”

If you already have something running, schedule time in January to check your security. Don’t wait for problems to find you.

As We Step Into 2026

You know what? I’m actually excited about next year.

Not because I think it’s going to be easy. It won’t be.

But because I think we’re finally learning the right lessons.

We’re learning that building powerful things means building safe things.

We’re learning that going fast doesn’t mean cutting corners.

We’re learning that the best platforms aren’t just the ones that work. They’re the ones that work and protect people.

That 3 AM phone call was the worst and best thing that happened to me this year.

Worst because it was terrifying and embarrassing.

Best because it taught me something I needed to learn. Security isn’t something you add at the end. It’s something you build in from the very beginning.

Happy New Year, Fellow Builders

As we head into 2026, I want to wish you something specific.

May your builds be strong. May your users be safe. May you never get that 3 AM call.

And may you remember that the best gift you can give the people who use what you build is not just something that works amazingly well.

It’s something that protects them while it works.

So here’s to 2026. Here’s to building incredible things. And here’s to building them the right way.

Let’s make this year count.

Happy New Year. Now go build something amazing and build it secure from day one.

From one builder to another. The future is bright if we build it right. See you in 2026.

Want to learn more about AI and cybersecurity subscribe to this newsletter follow me to learn more every week.

Happy New Year 2026!

The Phone Call That Taught Me Everything was originally published in HackTrace on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Today I don’t necessarily have a goal in mind. I just am playing around exploring my kali and windows environment.

Upon booting both environments up, I notice that the reverse shell is not established and it seems like I would have to reset the handler in kali before re-executing the Resume.pdf.exe file in windows to re-establish the reverse shell.

After doing some research I found out that I can save the handler to a Metasploit resource script (.rc) file

I saved my handler.rc script to this location:

/home/xp-uno/Desktop/MyWork/MyHandler.rc

I triggered the msfconsole to start while running my .rc script using this command:

msfconsole -r /home/xp-uno/Desktop/MyWork/MyHandler.rc

My first attempt to maintain persistence was unsuccessful. My theory originally was to put the Resume.pdf.exe file in the Startup folder at this location:

C:\Users\Xp\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

My theory behind this was that by putting this file here, everytime the user logs into the windows machine that the Resume.pdf.exe file would execute, allowing me to re-establish the reverse shell.

I logged into Xp and checked the task manager to see if the payload was running but it was not.
I checked the firewall and real time protection is toggled back on which after doing some research I found out that this is a built in windows security feature and that simply turning off real-time protection in the windows security app is not enough. I must first disable Tamper Protection, then use Group Policy or Registry edits to make the changes stick after a reboot.

1.) Disable Real-Time Protection(This command will temporarily disable real-time protection):
 — Set-MpPreference -DisableRealtimeMonitoring $true

2.) Enable Real-Time Protection:
 — Set-MpPreference -DisableRealtimeMonitoring $false

3.) Registry command to disable Anti-spyware:
 — reg add “HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender” /v DisableAntiSpyware /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

This command disabled Microsoft Defender antivirus (Windows Defender) by setting the disableAntiSpyware registry key to 1.

In Win 10 and 11, this key is protected by tamper protection and might not work unless tamper protection is disabled first. If Tamper Protection is off, Defender will be disabled. If Tamper Protection is on, Windows will ignore this key and re-enable Defender automatically.

4.) Registry command to disable real-time protection
 — reg add “HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Real-Time Protection” /v DisableRealtimeMonitoring /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

This command disabled defender’s real-time protection which scans files and processes in real time for malware. This is also subjected to Tamper Protection

So I got it to work now. I have my Resume.pdf.exe file in the startup folder. I added the disable real time protection and the disable antispyware registry keys.

After rebooting the windows machine and logging in the file executed and reestablished the shell on kali I now have a level of persistence

For day 4 I’m planning on looking from things from a defenders POV. I want to look through the endpoints index I created in Splunk to see any of the network connections, registry modifications, disabling antivirus, or executable files run.

Documenting my threat detection home lab Day 3 was originally published in HackTrace on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

PhishGuard Pro — AI-Powered Phishing Training for Businesses

Marcus had been running his fintech startup for three years. He prided himself on being tech-savvy. So when he got an email from his “bank” asking him to verify some suspicious activity on his business account, he almost clicked without thinking.

The email was perfect. No spelling mistakes. Professional design. It even knew his account number and recent transaction amounts. The sender’s address looked right. Everything seemed normal.

But something felt off. Maybe it was the urgent tone, or the fact that his bank usually called for big issues. Marcus decided to call his bank directly instead of clicking the link.

“Mr. Johnson,” the bank representative said, “we never sent you any email. What you received was a phishing attempt. And a very sophisticated one.”

That “sophisticated” attack wasn’t created by a human hacker typing in broken English. It was generated by AI. And it almost fooled one of the most careful entrepreneurs in the business.

Marcus’s story isn’t unique. AI has changed the phishing game completely. And if you don’t know what to look for, you could be next.

The New Reality: AI-Powered Phishing Is Here (And It’s Terrifying)

Remember the old phishing emails? The ones from “Nigerian princes” with terrible grammar and obvious mistakes? Those days are gone forever.

Today’s AI-powered phishing attacks are like having a professional con artist who:

• Speaks perfect English (or any language)
• Knows your business inside and out
• Can create convincing websites in minutes
• Learns from every failed attempt

Here’s what makes AI phishing so dangerous:

These attacks are personal. AI can scan your social media, your company website, and public records to create emails that seem like they came from people you actually know. They mention your recent projects, use your company’s writing style, and reference real events.

They’re fast. What used to take hackers weeks to plan, AI can do in minutes. A criminal can launch thousands of personalized attacks before lunch.

They’re also cheap. You don’t need to hire a team of skilled hackers anymore. Anyone with basic computer skills can buy AI tools and launch sophisticated attacks.

The Real Stories: How Smart People Get Fooled

Lisa’s $30,000 Mistake

Lisa runs a healthcare startup. She got an email that looked like it came from her software vendor, asking her to update her payment information due to “new compliance requirements.” The email mentioned specific HIPAA regulations and even included her account manager’s name.

She clicked the link and entered her company’s banking information. Within hours, $30,000 was gone from her business account.

“It was so convincing,” Lisa told me later. “They knew everything about our account, our industry, even our upcoming renewal date. How was I supposed to know it was fake?”

David’s Close Call

David almost lost his entire client database. He received an email that appeared to be from Microsoft, warning him that his business email account had been compromised. The email looked identical to real Microsoft messages — same fonts, colors, and layout.

The only reason David didn’t fall for it? He noticed the sender’s email address had one extra letter: “microsofft.com” instead of “microsoft.com.”

“If I hadn’t been having coffee and really paying attention, I would have clicked,” David said. “The difference was so small I almost missed it.”

The AI Phishing Playbook: How These Attacks Really Work

Understanding how AI phishing works is your first line of defense. Here’s what’s happening behind the scenes:

Step 1: Information Gathering

AI tools scan the internet for information about you and your company. They look at:

• Your company website and employee pages
• Social media profiles
• News articles about your business
• Public business records
• LinkedIn connections and posts

Step 2: Creating the Perfect Message

The AI uses this information to create personalized messages that:

• Use your industry’s specific language
• Reference real people you work with
• Mention current events or projects
• Match the writing style of legitimate companies

Step 3: Building Convincing Fake Websites

AI can create fake websites that look identical to real ones in minutes. These sites can:

• Copy the exact design of your bank or software provider
• Use real company logos and colors
• Include working contact forms and phone numbers
• Even have SSL certificates (the “secure” lock icon)

Step 4: Learning and Improving

Each time someone clicks (or doesn’t click), the AI learns and gets better at creating more convincing attacks.

The 7-Second Phishing Detection System

Most phishing attacks succeed because people react too quickly. Here’s a simple system that takes just 7 seconds but can save your business:

Second 1–2: Stop and Breathe

When you get any email asking you to click a link or download something, pause. Take a deep breath. This stops your automatic reaction.

Second 3–4: Check the Sender

Look carefully at the email address. AI phishing often uses addresses that are almost right but have small differences:

• Instead of “microsoft.com” they might use “microsofft.com”
• Instead of “paypal.com” they might use “paypaI.com” (with a capital i instead of l)
• Instead of your bank’s real address, they might use “yourbankk.com”

Second 5–6: Look for Urgency Tricks

AI phishing emails often use pressure tactics:

• “Your account will be closed in 24 hours”
• “Immediate action required”
• “Suspicious activity detected”
• “Limited time offer expires today”

Real companies rarely use this kind of urgent language in emails.

Second 7: When in Doubt, Go Direct

If the email claims to be from your bank, software provider, or any service you use, don’t click the email link. Instead:

• Open a new browser tab
• Go directly to their website by typing the address yourself
• Call their customer service number
• Check your account by logging in the normal way

The Entrepreneur’s AI Phishing Survival Guide

Red Flag #1: It’s Too Perfect

Ironically, AI phishing emails often seem “too good” compared to real business emails. If an email from your bank has perfect grammar, fancy graphics, and seems more polished than usual, be suspicious.

Red Flag #2: They Know Too Much (But Not Everything)

AI attacks are good at gathering public information, but they often miss private details. If an email mentions your recent project but gets your team member’s name wrong, that’s a warning sign.

Red Flag #3: The Timing Is Convenient

AI attackers often send emails during busy times when you’re likely to click without thinking — Monday mornings, end of quarter, or during major business events.

Red Flag #4: The Link Doesn’t Match

Hover over any links without clicking. The destination address should match the company the email claims to be from. If the link goes to a weird address with lots of random letters and numbers, don’t click.

Red Flag #5: Generic Greetings With Personal Information

Be suspicious of emails that start with “Dear Customer” but then mention specific details about your account. Real companies usually use your name if they have your account information.

Building Your Human Firewall Is Training Your Team

The best security technology in the world won’t help if your team falls for AI phishing. Here’s how to build awareness:

The 5-Minute Monthly Meeting

Once a month, spend 5 minutes in your team meeting talking about phishing. Share recent examples, discuss any suspicious emails people received, and remind everyone about the 7-second rule.

Create a “Phishing Alert” System

Set up a simple way for team members to report suspicious emails. This could be a Slack channel or a shared email address. When someone spots a potential phishing attempt, they alert everyone else.

Practice With Safe Examples

Show your team real phishing emails (with the dangerous links removed). Help them spot the warning signs. Make it a game — who can find the most red flags?

Reward Good Behaviour

When someone catches a phishing attempt and reports it, celebrate them. Make catching phishing attempts something to be proud of, not embarrassed about.

Apply Email Filters That Understand AI Attacks

Look for business email providers that use AI to fight AI. These systems can spot the subtle patterns that human-created phishing filters might miss.

Use Multi-Factor Authentication Everywhere

Even if someone gets your password through phishing, multi-factor authentication can stop them from accessing your accounts.

Do Regular Security Updates

Keep all your software updated. New phishing techniques appear daily, and software updates often include protections against the latest threats.

What to Do If You Get Hooked

Even smart people fall for phishing sometimes. If you think you might have clicked on a malicious link or given away information:

First 5 Minutes:

• Disconnect from the internet immediately
• Don’t enter any more information
• Take a screenshot of what happened

First Hour:

• Change passwords for any accounts that might be affected
• Contact your bank and credit card companies
• Run a security scan on your computer

First Day:

• Report the incident to your IT support or security team
• Document exactly what happened
• Alert your team so they can watch for similar attacks

First Week:

• Monitor all accounts for unusual activity
• Consider credit monitoring services
• Review and update your security procedures

Why This Matters More Than Ever

AI phishing isn’t just about individual attacks anymore. It’s about the future of how we do business online. Companies that understand this threat and prepare for it will have a huge advantage over those that don’t.

The entrepreneurs who get this right will:

• Build stronger relationships with customers who trust their security
• Avoid the average $4.45 million cost of a data breach
• Sleep better knowing their business is protected
• Attract better employees who want to work somewhere safe

The entrepreneurs who ignore this threat will:

• Lose money to increasingly sophisticated attacks
• Damage their reputation when customer data gets stolen
• Spend time and resources recovering from attacks instead of growing
• Fall behind competitors who are more secure

Your Next Move: The 48-Hour Action Plan

AI phishing threats aren’t going away. They’re going to get worse. But you can get prepared.

Today:

• Implement the 7-second rule for yourself
• Check your email security settings
• Save the phone numbers for your bank and main service providers

This Week:

• Train your team on AI phishing recognition. Use this site to learn PhishGuard Pro — AI-Powered Phishing Training for Businesses
• Set up your “phishing alert” system
• Review and update your passwords

This Month:

• Research better email security tools for your business
• Create a response plan for if someone falls for an attack
• Make AI phishing awareness part of your regular team training

Remember Marcus from our opening story? After his close call, he implemented all these steps. Six months later, his team caught and reported 12 different phishing attempts. None of them succeeded.

“The best part,” Marcus told me, “is that our clients now see us as the security-conscious option. We win deals because other companies are getting hacked, and we’re not.”

Your business faces AI-powered threats every day. But with the right knowledge and simple systems, you can turn cybersecurity from a weakness into a competitive advantage.

The question isn’t whether AI phishing will target your business. The question is: will you be ready when it does?

Want to test your team’s ability to spot AI phishing? Consider running simulated phishing tests quarterly. Many cybersecurity companies offer these services, or you can create safe examples to share in team meetings. You can also use this interactive prototype I’ve made, where employees can practice safely spotting AI-powered phishing scams here.

The $50,000 Email That Sounded Perfect: How AI Made Phishing Scary Smart (And What You Need to… was originally published in HackTrace on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Sarah thought she was being smart. Her healthcare startup was growing fast, and her team was using AI tools everywhere. ChatGPT for writing emails. AI assistants for customer service. Smart tools for analyzing patient data.

Then came the phone call that changed everything.

“We need to talk,” said their biggest client — a major hospital network. “Our lawyers found out your team has been putting our patient information into AI systems. We’re ending our contract.”

In one day, Sarah’s company lost 60% of its revenue. All because they didn’t have something simple: an AI use policy.

What Is an AI Use Policy? (And Why Every Smart Entrepreneur Has One)

By now, I know you re wondering what’s an AI Policy? Think of an AI use policy like a safety manual for your business. Just like you wouldn’t let employees use heavy machinery without training, you shouldn’t let them use AI tools without rules.

An AI use policy is a simple document that tells your team the following;

• Which AI tools they can use
• What information they can share with these tools
• How to protect customer and company data
• What happens if they break the rules

Here’s what separates successful entrepreneurs from those who struggle.

Companies with AI policies grow 40% faster. They win more clients. They sleep better at night. Why? Because their customers trust them. Their employees know what to do. And they avoid expensive mistakes.

Companies without AI policies? They’re playing Russian roulette with their business every day.

Still Asking What is The Real Cost of Not Having a Policy?

Meet Tom, who runs a fintech startup. His team was using AI to help analyze customer credit reports. One employee accidentally shared sensitive financial data with an AI tool that stores information on servers in other countries.

The result? A $500,000 fine from regulators. Three months of legal battles. And worst of all, customers who no longer trusted his company.

“I thought AI tools were just like using Google,” Tom told me later. “I had no idea we were putting our entire business at risk.”

Here Is A Smart Entrepreneur’s 5-Step AI Policy Blueprint

Creating an AI use policy isn’t rocket science. Here’s exactly how to do it:

Step 1: Take Inventory (What AI Tools Are You Really Using?)

First, find out what’s happening in your company. Send a simple survey to your team asking them the following;

• What AI tools do you use for work?
• What type of information do you share with these tools?
• How often do you use them?

You might be shocked. Most business owners discover their teams are using 10–15 different AI tools they never knew about.

Step 2: Sort Your Data Into Buckets

Not all information is created equal. Create three simple categories:

Public Information (Green Light): Company blog posts, marketing materials, general industry information. Safe to use with any AI tool.

Internal Information (Yellow Light): Employee emails, meeting notes, project plans. Use only with approved AI tools.

Sensitive Information (Red Light): Customer data, financial records, medical information, trade secrets. Never use with external AI tools.

Step 3: Choose Your Approved AI Tools

Research AI tools that meet your industry’s standards:

For Healthcare Startups: Look for tools that are HIPAA compliant. Examples include Microsoft Copilot for Business, Google Workspace AI (with proper settings), and specialized healthcare AI platforms.

For Fintech Startups: You need tools that meet financial regulations. Consider enterprise versions of AI tools that offer data residency controls and audit trails.

Pro Tip: Free versions of AI tools (like free ChatGPT) usually aren’t safe for business use. They often train on your data and don’t offer the same privacy protections.

Step 4: Write Your Policy (Keep It Simple)

Your policy doesn’t need to be 50 pages long. Here’s a template that works:

Our AI Use Policy

1. Approved Tools: We can use [list your approved tools] for work purposes.
2. What You Can Share:

• ✅ Public company information
• ✅ General questions about your work
• ❌ Customer names, emails, or personal information
• ❌ Financial data or passwords
• ❌ Confidential company information

Before You Share: Ask yourself, “Would I be comfortable if this information appeared on the front page of a newspaper?”

When in Doubt: Ask your manager or IT team.

Breaking These Rules: Could result in disciplinary action and put our company at risk.

Step 5: Train Your Team and Monitor Usage

The best policy in the world doesn’t work if people don’t follow it. Here’s how to make it stick:

• Hold a 30-minute training session for all employees
• Create simple examples: “Good use of AI” vs “Bad use of AI”
• Check in monthly to see how it’s going
• Update your policy as new tools become available

How Will This Change Everything for Your Business?

Companies that get AI policies right see amazing results:

1. Trust: Customers feel safe sharing their information with you
2. Growth: You can pitch bigger clients who require strong security
3. Team Confidence: Employees know they’re doing the right thing
4. Competitive Advantage: While competitors stumble, you’re moving fast and safe

The Bottom Line: Your Next Move

Remember Sarah from our opening story? After losing that big client, she created an AI use policy. Within six months, she won back the hospital network and signed three new major clients. Why? Because she could prove her company was serious about protecting its data.

“The AI policy wasn’t just about avoiding problems,” Sarah says now. “It became our biggest selling point. Clients choose us because they trust us.”

Your AI policy isn’t just about rules. It’s about building a business that customers trust, employees feel confident working for, and investors want to fund.

Start today. Take inventory of your AI tools. Sort your data. Write your policy. Train your team.

Your future self (and your bank account) will thank you.

Ready to create your AI use policy but want expert guidance? Consider working with ME, a cybersecurity consultant who specializes in AI governance for startups. To help you in creating one. The investment in getting it right the first time is always less than the cost of getting it wrong.

The $10 Million Question: Why Your Startup Needs an AI Use Policy (And How Sarah’s Company Almost… was originally published in HackTrace on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Hello, cybersecurity enthusiasts! Over the past week, I’ve been exploring Shodan — the search engine that reveals what’s really connected to the internet. Today, I’m excited to break down what I’ve learned and show you how this powerful tool can uncover surprising (and sometimes alarming) information about exposed devices and services. Let’s dive in!

So, What is Shodan? You mignt ask!

Shodan is often called “Google for hackers,” but that’s not quite right. While Google searches websites, Shodan searches for actual devices connected to the internet. Think of it as a massive scanner that finds and indexes devices like;

• Security cameras
• Home routers
• Industrial control systems
• Servers
• Smart home devices
• And much more!

Unlike regular search engines that help you find information on websites, Shodan shows you the devices themselves, including details about what software they’re running and how they’re configured.

Why Should You Care About Shodan?

Every day, thousands of devices are connected to the internet without proper security. Shodan makes these devices easy to find. For example:

• Businesses might not realize their security cameras are visible to anyone online
• IT departments might forget about servers with outdated software
• Smart home owners might accidentally expose their devices to the world

I did a query on Shodan to reveal publicly accessible IP cameras located in Kenya.

⚠️ What Does This Screenshot From Shodan Mean?

• These are live, publicly accessible camera interfaces that require little to no authentication.
• An attacker or curious user could potentially:

1. View live feeds
2. Try default credentials (admin:12345, etc.).
3. Scan for firmware vulnerabilities (if not updated).

As a security professional or curious learner, understanding Shodan helps you see the internet as it truly is — not just websites, but a network of actual physical devices, many of which shouldn’t be exposed.

Getting Started with Shodan

Here’s how to begin:

1. Visit Shodan.io and create a free account
2. Start with basic searches using the search bar
3. Learn the search filters to narrow down results

The free account offers limited searches, but it’s enough to learn. If you’re serious about security research, the paid options offer more search capacity and features.

More Practical Shodan Searches

Let me show some more real examples I tried last week:

Find servers with known vulnerabilities:

I searched for product: publicly accessible web server running a vulnerable version of Apache HTTP Server (2.4.49)

Apache 2.4.49 is affected by a critical path traversal vulnerability (CVE-2021–41773). Attackers can:

1. Read arbitrary files outside the web root.
2. Possibly execute code if scripts are accessible.
3. Exploit misconfigurations if mod_cgi is enabled.

This makes any system running this version a potential target.

Discover Internet of Things devices:

Then I tried to search “Server: yawcam” port:8081. Looking for devices running Yawcam (a webcam software) that are publicly accessible on port 8081

This finds webcams around the world are exposed online, sometimes by mistake or due to poor configuration. Without proper security (e.g., strong passwords, firewall rules), these cameras can be viewed, hijacked, or misused.

Real-World Example: Finding Exposed Databases

One of the most concerning things I found was exposed databases. Here’s an example: so I searched for port:27017 -authentication (MongoDB databases with authentication disabled) in Kenya using this query

“MongoDB Server Information” port:27017 -authentication country:KE

Look at the results — these are databases potentially accessible to anyone!

Many organizations don’t realize their databases are publicly accessible because they assume no one would find them without a direct link.

How to Protect Your Own Systems

After seeing what Shodan can find, here’s what I recommend:

• Check your own stuff: Search for your company or home IP addresses
• Use firewalls: Block unnecessary incoming connections
• Update regularly: Old software often has known security holes
• Change default passwords: Many devices come with “admin/admin” credentials
• Disable services you don’t need: If you’re not using it, turn it off

Ethical Considerations

NB: While Shodan itself is legal to use, attempting to access systems you find without permission is illegal and unethical. Shodan is a research tool, not a hacking tool.

In Conclusion

After a week of exploring Shodan, I’ve gained a new perspective on internet security. The truth is, many systems are exposed simply because people don’t know any better. By learning tools like Shodan, you become more aware of potential risks and can better protect your own systems.

Have you tried Shodan before? What surprised you most? Share your experiences in the comments below!

Feel free to connect with me and let's learn together.

Is Your Device Online and Exposed? Learn What Shodan Reveals. was originally published in HackTrace on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.