X vs Y, settled with mechanisms

KQL (Sentinel, Defender, Data Explorer) vs SPL (Splunk): data model, syntax, performance and a side by side cheat sheet for analysts.

SAML 2.0 vs OpenID Connect for single sign-on: XML assertions vs JWT ID tokens, flows, mobile support, attack surface and when to use each.

OAuth 2.0 grants access to APIs; OpenID Connect adds login. Tokens, scopes, flows and the mistakes that come from mixing them up.

AES-GCM vs ChaCha20-Poly1305: speed with and without AES hardware, nonce limits, FIPS status and how to pick an AEAD you will not misuse.

TPM vs HSM: what each protects, performance, certification, attestation and when you need a per-device chip or a shared key appliance.

Open Policy Agent (Rego) vs Cedar: language design, analysis, performance and where each fits, from Kubernetes admission to app permissions.

RBAC grants by role, ABAC decides from attributes at request time. How each works, the same rule in Rego, and when to combine them.

JWTs are validated locally from a signature; opaque tokens need a lookup or introspection. Trade-offs in revocation, latency, size and privacy.

A SIEM ingests and correlates any log source; XDR correlates a vendor's own telemetry and acts on it. What each does well and how they fit together.

SAST reads source code for flaws; DAST attacks a running app from outside. What each finds and misses, example configs, and where each sits in CI.

Argon2id is memory hard and the modern default; bcrypt is CPU hard, battle tested and capped at 72 bytes. Parameters, code and migration path.

IOCs match known artefacts like hashes and IPs; TTPs describe how attackers operate. Why TTP detections last longer, with KQL for both.