raubvogel/cybersecuritytool

Script to create sales-sounding description for some cybersecurity tool

cyberSecurityTool

Script to create sales-sounding description for some IT security tool. Even the name of the repo has that whiff of what you would expect for a tool advert aimed at managers.

Impress your friends! Be the life of the party!

Usage

For now its config filename, data.json is hardcoded into the script so it require no arguments. That of course can be changed later.

Sample output

I like to see a given tool in action. Output sentences have been split for readability.

user@desktop:~/cyberSecurityTool$ ./cyberSecurityTool.py 
Our disruptive tool implements a Data-driven design enabling you 
to amplify the positive impact of the visibility of your verticals 
by using our intent-driven interface.
user@desktop:~/cyberSecurityTool$ 

user@desktop:~/cyberSecurityTool$ ./cyberSecurityTool.py 
Our trendsetting tool implements a Zero Trust deployment enabling 
you to increase the visibility of the ROI of your non-tangible 
assets by using our intent-driven interface.
user@desktop:~/cyberSecurityTool$ 

user@desktop:~/cyberSecurityTool$ ./cyberSecurityTool.py 
Our cloud-based tool implements a AI deployment enabling you to 
seamless integrate the ROI of your verticals by using our single 
pane of glass interface for improved transactional metrics.
user@desktop:~/cyberSecurityTool$ 

Requirements

• Python 3
• The random and json python libraries. Chances are they came in your python install, but I want to make sure you are aware of them.

Why JSON instead of the much superior YAML?

If I were to have used YAML as the file format of my data file, I would need to get -- download it or install as a package -- the appropriate Python library to read in that file format. JSON I had to do nothing but just import it.

History

Long time ago when I was in high school I found an old book or magazine at the school library with a bunch of programming exercises in basic of all languages; this was not a rich school. Amongst those programs, there was one I still (vaguely) remember. It picked 3 strings at random from 3 arrays (one string per array) and then would use them to craft a jargon-filled sentence in economese on how to fix the economy. Yes, that amused me to no end; I thought it was clever specially because the author took the time to ensure the strings would seamless fit in their respective places in the sentence.

Unfortunately I cannot name the book. I wish I had written it down.

This script is my humble homage to that code. I wrote it aimed at the computer security community because after reading a few articles and watching infomercials disguised as webinars, the original code poped back into my mind screaming "it is the same thing with different buzzwords!"

Its initial version was done in October of 2022. At that time I thought it was not enough with it to make it publicly available, so I left it alone. Fast forward a bit, I cleaned up the code a bit (will not claim it is full PEP 8 compliant, but it sure is much closer than what I had before), put its strings in a JSON config file (still wondering if that was a good idea), and here it is.

If you know where the original economese version was published, please let me know so I can properly acknowledge I got here by standing on the shoulders of giants.

Plot Twist

Recently I found out the original idea was created by Philip Broughton, who proposed a more management-oriented version it in the article "How to Win at Wordsmanship", supposedly (I will remove that word as soon as I can confirm the original source down to the issue number; too many online references just repeat each other) published in a 1968 issue of Newsweek. This article described the "Systematic Buzz Phrase Projector," which works as follows:

1. Think of 3 numbers between 0 and 9.

2. For each column on the table below, pick the buzzword whose row matches the number you picked. So, if you picked 0, 7, and 5, you end up with "integrated incremental concept."

   	Column 1	Column 2	Column 3
   0	integrated	management	options
   1	total	organizational	flexibility
   2	systematized	monitored	capability
   3	parallel	reciprocal	mobility
   4	functional	digital	programming
   5	responsive	logistical	concept
   6	optional	transitional	time-phase
   7	synchronized	incremental	projection
   8	compatible	third-generation	hardware
   9	balanced	policy	contingency

3. Enjoy how this generated phase adds a ring of decisive, knowledgeable authority to any report.

To be done

This may currently look like a very small script but I think it has a lot of entertainment potential. If you want to contribute, please fork it! Some of the items in the to-do list are

1. More acronyms. A lot of infomercials disguise themselves as webinars, articles, and whitepapers. And they, and their presenters, seem to love 'em acronyms.
2. More buzzwords. You can't have too many buzzwords.
3. Rename the fields. Calling them patternN was done to get it working but is not very helpful.
4. Add option to feed the config file from command line?
5. Con others to help improve this extremely useful script