Episode 17 - Home Labs and Tinted Windows: Why Network Visibility Starts at Your Front Door

In this episode, host Richard Bejtlich and guest Ricky Lin explore the practical—and often personal—side of network defense: monitoring the home network. Ricky shares how he uses Corelight and Zeek to track everything from his children's YouTube habits to the constant chatter of IoT devices like Tesla vehicles and smart appliances. They delve into the "tinted windows" analogy to explain why visibility into encrypted traffic is still possible through network metadata, even when the contents are hidden. By reflecting on 30 years of networking history—transitioning from the physical complexity of T1 lines to the dominance of Ethernet and IP—the conversation reveals why building with visibility in mind is the most essential, yet often overlooked, step in modern security architecture and troubleshooting.