Terraform learning

As someone who hasn’t been using Terraform for years, something things I’m about to say are obvious to you, someone who likely already knows that it’s a powerful infrastructure-as-code (IAC) tool that allows you to automate the provisioning and management of your cloud resources. With Terraform, you can define your infrastructure using a declarative language, and then use that definition to create, update, and destroy your resources in a consistent and repeatable way.

It has been a fantastic tool to get to know. Most fun I’ve had in technology in a long time.

One of the key benefits of using Terraform is that it allows you to abstract away the complexity of the underlying cloud APIs and services. Instead of having to write custom scripts or manually configure each individual resource, you can define your infrastructure in a high-level, human-readable format that can be version-controlled and shared with your team. This makes it easier to collaborate, track changes, and ensure consistency across your infrastructure.

Terraform also provides a number of built-in features and plugins that make it easy to work with a wide range of cloud providers, services, and tools. For example, you can use Terraform to provision infrastructure on AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and many other cloud providers. Additionally, Terraform supports a wide range of resource types, including compute instances, load balancers, databases, and more.

Another benefit of using Terraform is that it allows you to automate your infrastructure changes with confidence. Because Terraform is declarative, you can see exactly what changes will be made to your infrastructure before you apply them. This helps you avoid unexpected changes and ensures that your infrastructure remains stable and secure.

Terraform is a fantastic tool for automating your infrastructure and managing your cloud resources. Whether you’re working on a small project or a large-scale enterprise deployment, Terraform can help you achieve your goals quickly and efficiently.

Figuring out DKIM

I often wonder why haven’t more companies rolled out DKIM at this point as it is clearly a fix for so many phishing/SPAM issues.

DKIM, which stands for DomainKeys Identified Mail, is an email authentication method designed to detect email spoofing and phishing. It works by allowing an organization to attach a digital signature to an email message, which can be validated by the recipient’s email server. DKIM is an important security feature for any organization that sends email, as it helps to prevent fraudulent emails from being delivered to the recipient’s inbox.

In Office365 and Exchange online, not using DKIM can pose several dangers. Here are a few of them:

  1. Increased risk of phishing attacks: Phishing attacks are a type of cyber attack that involve tricking users into revealing sensitive information, such as login credentials or credit card details. Without DKIM, it becomes easier for attackers to impersonate legitimate senders and convince recipients to provide their personal information.
  2. Increased risk of email spoofing: Email spoofing is when an attacker sends an email that appears to be from a legitimate sender, but is actually from a fraudulent source. DKIM helps to prevent email spoofing by verifying that the email actually came from the sender’s domain. Without DKIM, it becomes easier for attackers to impersonate legitimate senders and deceive recipients.
  3. Increased risk of email interception: Email interception is when an attacker intercepts an email in transit and reads its contents. Without DKIM, it becomes easier for attackers to intercept and read emails, as there is no digital signature to validate the authenticity of the email.
  4. Decreased email deliverability: Many email providers, including O365, use DKIM as a factor in their spam filtering algorithms. Without DKIM, emails may be more likely to be flagged as spam or rejected by the recipient’s email server, resulting in decreased email deliverability.

Not using DKIM in O365 can pose several dangers, including increased risk of phishing attacks and email spoofing, increased risk of email interception, and decreased email deliverability. Therefore, it is highly recommended that organizations use DKIM to help ensure the security and authenticity of their email communications.