# Cybersecurity Blog — Johnathan Belcher

> Write-ups, tutorials, and insights from the field, covering ransomware decisions, incident response lessons, and practical Python security tooling.

## Posts

- [SIM Swapping: The Cybersecurity Threat Still Stealing Millions in 2026](https://johnbelcher.dev/blog/entries/sim-swapping-cybersecurity-guide.html.md): A deep dive into how SIM swapping attacks hijack phone numbers for account takeovers, real multimillion-dollar crypto theft cases, and practical defenses. (July 9, 2026)
- [Designing mergePDF: A Minimalist SOC-Style PDF Tool](https://johnbelcher.dev/blog/entries/building-mergepdf-soc-style-python-pdf-tool.html.md): A technical build log of mergePDF, a Python and Streamlit PDF merge tool with a SOC-style interface, clean controller architecture, and local-first file processing. (July 7, 2026)
- [The Owl Experiment: How Anthropic's AI Revealed Hidden Communication in Latent Space](https://johnbelcher.dev/blog/entries/anthropic-owl-study.html.md): A clear look at Anthropic's Owl Study and how seemingly random outputs can carry hidden behavioral signals through shared latent space geometry. (July 3, 2026)
- [Building a Linux Security Audit Tool in WSL: A Hybrid Bash + Python Adventure](https://johnbelcher.dev/blog/entries/designing-linusec.html.md): A walkthrough of LinuSec, a modular Linux security audit tool built in WSL with Bash collectors, Python parsers, JSON reporting, and a Rich terminal dashboard. (July 1, 2026)
- [Designing an Encrypted Command-Line Journal with Python](https://johnbelcher.dev/blog/entries/designing-encrypted-journal-cli.html.md): A build log for DeepVault, a Python CLI journal secured with AES-256-GCM and PBKDF2, covering architecture, storage design, and practical security tradeoffs. (June 28, 2026)
- [Creating a Mr. Robot-Inspired Python Script for Username Recon](https://johnbelcher.dev/blog/entries/username-recon-python-script.html.md): A walkthrough of a Python username recon tool inspired by Mr. Robot, including site checks, terminal flair, and Cloudflare challenges encountered. (June 19, 2026)
- [Should Organizations Pay Ransom During a Cyber Attack?](https://johnbelcher.dev/blog/entries/should-orgs-pay-cyber-ransom.html.md): A brief analysis of why ransomware payments usually create more risk than relief, and how strong backups and incident response preparation give better options. (June 12, 2026)
- [What are the Costs of Unpreparedness](https://johnbelcher.dev/blog/entries/costs-of-unpreparedness.html.md): An analysis of the Colonial Pipeline incident showing how lack of incident response planning and basic MFA hygiene multiplies operational and financial impact. (March 4, 2026)