BRZ TechBlog

Patching software via OCI Hooks

Did you ever need to change a few settings in a container, but something (eg., an OpenShift Operator) won't let you? Here's a quick way to (temporarily) install modifications.

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File Encryption in OpenShift

The NIS2 directive requires quite a few (security) improvements everywhere. One of the changes the BRZ implements is per-file encryption for application data in the on-premise OpenShift installation.

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Abstrakte Grafik mit blauen und weißen Punkten

Now on OpenCode: Smaller Images!

"Open Code is the common platform of the public administration for the exchange of open source software" - and now we're contributing to it, too!
Our first contribution is a set of two small scripts (one in Perl5, one in Python3) that help to reduce image sizes in Kubernetes environments.

more Now on OpenCode: Smaller Images!

Troubleshooting by strace

Obscure command line options, lots of data, output readable only for the initiated - what's not to like?

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Hibernate: How to keep calm

Watch Gregor Lucnys (Lead Java Developer at BRZ) presentation at the WeAreDevelopers Java Developer Day in january 2023.

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Symbolic Analysis of Grants

Our 2nd Tech Blog entry had a short description of Grants4Companies. Here we expand on what can be done as soon as legal texts are available in machine-interpretable (and not only machine-readable!) form!

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Our Journey with Spring Boot in a Microservice Architecture

Watch Philipp Frauenthaler and Michael Eders presentation at the WeAreDevelopers Java Day in september 2022.

more Our Journey with Spring Boot in a Microservice Architecture

Live Hack: Controlling a Smartphone via Laser

In the USENIX Security Symposium 2020 "Laser-Based Audio Injection on Voice-Controllable Systems" was presented: making MEMS-microphones believe that audio input happens via amplitude-modulated light from far away. We reproduced these efforts, to show that such threats are legit and shouldn't be underestimated.

more Live Hack: Controlling a Smartphone via Laser

eBPF in OpenShift: finding the namespace

eBPF recently became very popular - for tracing, debugging, and performance measurements. Here I'll show how to use it in an OpenShift environment to find out which container resp. namespace is responsible for some behaviour.

more eBPF in OpenShift: finding the namespace

Lines of Code

After the Log4Shell debacle in December (no, I don't want to provide a zillion links) some security aspect comes up in discussions again: Lines of Code, ie. the attack surface of services.

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The Austrian Public Services Blockchain

The BRZ got a useful idea for a Blockchain project: notarizing document existence via their cryptographic hashes, codename "Blockstempel".

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Short intro to "Grants4Companies"

Our project "Grants for Companies" won the first price in the competition "eGovernment Wettbewerb 2021". In this blogpost, we show you some details about the implementation.

more Short intro to "Grants4Companies"

Don't load-balance your (invisible) queues!

A queue is a device for delaying. A governor is used to control a flow. Control engineering tells you that you shouldn't add a delaying device into a control circuit as that may cause oscillations. That's easy, right? Well, only if you know about your queues – but there might be some invisible lurking to get you.

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