The hottest Automation Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Technology Topics

Microsoft Sentinel SOC 101: How to Detect and Mitigate Botnet Attacks with Microsoft Sentinel

Rod’s Blog • 59 implied HN points • 16 Oct 23
🕹 Technology Automation
  1. Botnet attacks can be detrimental to network security by causing massive disruptions through DDoS attacks, data theft, and malware distribution.
  2. Microsoft Sentinel provides advanced AI and machine learning capabilities to detect and mitigate botnet attacks effectively, offering features like threat intelligence integration and automated incident response.
  3. Organizations can enhance botnet detection with Microsoft Sentinel by setting up custom alerts, regularly updating systems, implementing strong access controls, and collaborating with security teams for threat intelligence sharing.

Evolution of LLM Agents

LLMs for Engineers • 79 implied HN points • 21 Jun 23
🕹 Technology Automation
  1. Large Language Models (LLMs) are becoming more powerful and can now perform complex tasks with the help of internet data and tools. This could significantly boost productivity for both individuals and corporations.
  2. The evolution of LLMs has progressed through several levels, starting from simple API calls to advanced agents that understand tasks better and can even interact without much human guidance.
  3. While these advancements are exciting, there are still challenges to overcome, such as reliability, cost, and the potential for errors in the output of LLMs.

Microsoft Sentinel SOC 101: How to Detect and Mitigate Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) with Microsoft Sentinel

Rod’s Blog • 59 implied HN points • 12 Oct 23
🕹 Technology Automation
  1. Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) are stealthy and sophisticated cyberattacks that aim to gain unauthorized access and remain undetected for prolonged periods, typically orchestrated by skilled threat actors like nation-state groups or cybercrime syndicates.
  2. Microsoft Sentinel provides a cloud-native Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solution that offers intelligent security analytics, threat intelligence, and the ability to collect and analyze data at scale.
  3. To combat APTs effectively, organizations can utilize Microsoft Sentinel to connect data sources, use workbooks for monitoring, analytics rules for correlating alerts into incidents, playbooks for automating common tasks, and hunting queries for proactively searching for threats.

Microsoft Sentinel SOC 101: How to Detect and Mitigate a DNS Spoofing Attack with Microsoft Sentinel

Rod’s Blog • 59 implied HN points • 11 Oct 23
🕹 Technology Automation
  1. DNS spoofing, also known as DNS cache poisoning, can lead to serious consequences like compromising credentials and exposing confidential information.
  2. Microsoft Sentinel is a cloud-native SIEM solution that offers benefits like intelligent security analytics, scalability, and cost reduction compared to legacy solutions.
  3. To detect and mitigate DNS spoofing attacks using Microsoft Sentinel, you can leverage features like built-in connectors, workbooks for monitoring data, analytics rules, playbooks for automated workflows, and custom logic creation.

Microsoft Sentinel SOC 101: How to Detect and Mitigate Session Token Stealing Attacks with Microsoft Sentinel

Rod’s Blog • 59 implied HN points • 06 Oct 23
🕹 Technology Automation
  1. Session token stealing attacks can lead to unauthorized access, data theft, account takeover, and other malicious activities.
  2. To detect session token stealing attacks, Microsoft Sentinel offers a comprehensive solution using advanced analytics, threat intelligence, and automation.
  3. Mitigate session token stealing by using HTTPS encryption, secure cookies, short-lived session tokens, strong passwords, multifactor authentication, and other security measures.
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When to Scale or Keep Iterating

The Data Score • 59 implied HN points • 10 May 23
💼 Business Automation
  1. Achieving product/market fit is crucial for the success of a startup or new product as it means the product meets the needs and preferences of the target market, leading to customer satisfaction and retention.
  2. Iterating on a handcrafted approach at the start can help find product/market fit before scaling to avoid unwanted tech debt and ensure the product evolves to meet client outcomes.
  3. To determine product/market fit, look for signs like user retention, surveys showing strong customer preference, and organic growth, then iterate quickly based on critical feedback to ensure the product is indispensable to users.

23 cool AI tools you probably haven't used yet (that are not just GPT4)

Mythical AI • 58 implied HN points • 17 Mar 23
🕹 Technology Automation
  1. AI tools are making our lives easier and more fun, from simple toys to advanced APIs.
  2. Various AI tools are available for different tasks like running prompts on different models, converting paper forms to computer text, and summarizing videos with automatic chapter markers.
  3. Advancements in AI technology are leading to the development of innovative tools like text-to-song generators, text-to-vector image converters, and color book page generators.

The Future of Network Observability and Network Automation

Internet Dynamics • 58 implied HN points • 06 Sep 23
🕹 Technology Automation
  1. Network observability is crucial for network automation to handle real-time mitigation and remediation.
  2. Observability solutions need to consider topology, alerts, correlation, suppression, policy, and meta-data for effective network monitoring.
  3. Future approaches to observability and automation should recognize and manifest common components like Topology, CMDBs and Meta-data.

The Sequence Engineering #474: The Super Popular Eliza Framework for Building AI Agents

TheSequence • 77 implied HN points • 22 Jan 25
🕹 Technology Automation
  1. The Eliza framework is becoming very popular, especially in the web3 and crypto spaces. It helps developers create AI applications by automating essential tasks.
  2. Despite not being widely known, Eliza has gained a lot of attention on platforms like GitHub, showing its growing appeal.
  3. Eliza offers a flexible design, making it a strong choice for building agentic apps. It's more than just a tool for crypto; it's useful for various types of AI projects.

What is SaaS Observability?

Sarah's Newsletter • 139 implied HN points • 30 Aug 22
🕹 Technology Automation
  1. SaaS Observability sheds light on the health of all data and automations in SaaS tools.
  2. Business teams should not need to rely on technical-heavy tools to ensure their systems are working correctly.
  3. Having bad data quality and anomalies in automations can impact business operations significantly and require constant monitoring.

How to build an AI agent that turns your blog posts into Linkedin posts

Market Curve • 28 implied HN points • 23 Jul 25
🕹 Technology Automation
  1. You can use an AI agent to automatically turn your blog posts into LinkedIn posts in just a few seconds. This saves you time and helps you share content without extra effort.
  2. To set up this system, you need to connect tools like n8n and Firecrawl to scrape your blog content and then send it to an AI to create LinkedIn posts.
  3. The process is designed for beginners, so you won’t need any coding skills. Just follow the simple steps to create a working workflow.

Column level lineage is out: AI is in

The Orchestra Data Leadership Newsletter • 39 implied HN points • 19 Dec 23
🕹 Technology Automation
  1. Column-level lineage tools were popular in 2021 but might be replaced by AI for debugging data pipelines more efficiently.
  2. AI models like GPT can quickly pinpoint reasons for test failures and offer actionable insights beyond what traditional lineage tools provide.
  3. Services integrating AI with metadata can give better visibility and accurate debugging solutions for data and analytics engineers compared to column-level lineage tools.

The biggest time sink for engineering teams: testing

Dev Interrupted • 37 implied HN points • 05 Jun 25
🕹 Technology Automation
  1. Testing is often the biggest delay for engineering teams, slowing down new feature releases.
  2. AI-powered testing tools can automate repetitive tasks, allowing QA teams to work more efficiently and focus on strategy.
  3. The role of QA professionals is shifting towards design and analysis, rather than just executing tests, as automation takes over routine tasks.

New newsletter, as suspicious of technology as ever

Technology, Environment, and Art • 39 implied HN points • 14 Dec 23
🕹 Technology Automation
  1. The author warns against AI and advocates for a cautious approach towards technology, believing AI is a significant danger to humanity
  2. Not all AI developments are beneficial; the author strongly objects to AI taking over creative tasks and emphasizes the importance of human connection over AI-driven efficiency
  3. The author calls for resistance against the advancement of AI, encouraging individuals to avoid AI tools and take a stand against the pervasive use of technology for the sake of genuine human interaction and creativity

The Post-Work AI Utopia We Are Racing Toward: A 7-Minute Video Intro

Crypto Good • 6 implied HN points • 11 Dec 25
🎭️ Culture Automation
  1. People are reacting to AI in three main ways: some fear it will destroy us, some ignore it, and some expect a vague future of abundance.
  2. Rapid AI progress is driving us toward a world where machines do most or all work, but we currently lack a roadmap for governance, money, poverty, and human purpose in that world.
  3. Thoughtful fiction and distilled briefings can offer practical blueprints for how post-scarcity societies and superintelligent AIs might be governed, helping guide real-world policy and design.

Building the science factory with LLMs

The Counterfactual • 39 implied HN points • 13 Dec 23
🔬 Science Automation
  1. Large Language Models (LLMs) could make scientific research faster and more efficient. They might help researchers come up with better hypotheses and analyze data more easily.
  2. Breaking down the research process into smaller parts might allow automation in areas like designing experiments and preparing stimuli. This could save time and improve the quality of research.
  3. While automating parts of scientific research can be helpful, it's important to ensure that human involvement remains, as fully automating the process could lead to lower-quality science.

Land of the Rising Robot

Diane Francis • 399 implied HN points • 05 Aug 21
🕹 Technology Automation
  1. Japan is a leader in automation and robotics, using technology to solve labor shortages due to its aging population. This means they create robots to do many jobs, helping to keep the economy strong.
  2. The country showcases its robotic innovations, especially during events like the Olympics, where robots assist in hospitality and care roles. This shows how much they trust and embrace technology in everyday life.
  3. Japanese robots are not just for work; they also help with caring for the elderly at home. This includes robots that can make life easier and safer for seniors, proving that technology can improve quality of life.

Agent Evaluation Playbook

Pratik’s Pakodas 🍿 • 27 implied HN points • 08 Jul 25
🕹 Technology Automation
  1. To make good AI agents, it's important to have a solid evaluation process. This can help ensure they're performing well in real-world situations.
  2. Creating a system that tracks and measures the agents' performance can lead to better results. Like building a pipeline that continuously tests and improves agents.
  3. Using a leaderboard to compare agents based on performance, cost, and speed can help guide improvements and make smarter decisions.

Lean SRE

Certo Modo • 19 implied HN points • 18 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Automation
  1. Smaller organizations and startups can benefit from implementing Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) practices, leading to reduced operational costs and time savings.
  2. Implementing SRE practices in smaller companies may differ in approach from larger organizations, but can still yield significant benefits.
  3. Starting an SRE program at a larger company can be achieved by beginning with just one software engineering team.

The Ways Microsoft Security Copilot Can Enhance Security Operations with Microsoft Sentinel

Rod’s Blog • 39 implied HN points • 06 Dec 23
🕹 Technology Automation
  1. Security teams face challenges such as complexity in handling large volumes of security data from various sources like logs and alerts, making analysis overwhelming, especially during cyberattacks.
  2. There is a skills gap in the market for skilled security professionals, leading to a lack of resources and expertise within security teams to manage all security tasks effectively.
  3. To address challenges, security teams need solutions that simplify security data and tasks, empower them with AI and machine learning capabilities, and protect the organization from cyberthreats by leveraging the latest threat intelligence.

The AI Agent Economy: Emerging Trends and Early Signals

philsiarri • 22 implied HN points • 07 Aug 25
🕹 Technology Automation
  1. AI agents are becoming more common and helpful in our daily lives. They can now do tasks with little help from people.
  2. Microsoft is improving its Copilot tool to support more tasks and connect with various apps. This makes it a better assistant.
  3. OpenAI is working on a project that lets different AI agents work together on a task. This teamwork makes them even more efficient.

Intelligence Superabundance

Not Boring by Packy McCormick • 360 implied HN points • 17 Apr 23
🕹 Technology Automation
  1. The increased supply of intelligence will create more demand for tasks that require intelligence
  2. With intelligence superabundance, humans may work the same amount of time but achieve much more
  3. As the supply of intelligence grows, humans may need to do more, better, rather than losing jobs

Tech is Going to Get Much Bigger

Not Boring by Packy McCormick • 232 implied HN points • 08 Nov 23
🕹 Technology Automation
  1. Tech is going to expand significantly as energy, intelligence, and labor become cheaper and more abundant.
  2. Tech companies will grow larger due to their ability to provide scalable intelligence and dexterity services to various industries.
  3. Every market will start to resemble a software market with lower costs, higher margins, and increased R&D investments.

🤘ACDC (not that one)

Gonzo ML • 63 implied HN points • 29 Jan 25
🕹 Technology Automation
  1. The paper introduces a method called ACDC that automates the process of finding important circuits in neural networks. This can help us better understand how these networks work.
  2. Researchers follow a three-step workflow to study model behavior, and ACDC fully automates the last step which helps identify connections that matter for a specific task.
  3. While ACDC shows promise, it isn't perfect. It may miss some important connections and needs adjustments for different tasks to improve its accuracy.

The Sequence Engineering #551: Magentic-UI Push The Boundaries of Agentic User Experience

TheSequence • 35 implied HN points • 28 May 25
🕹 Technology Automation
  1. Magentic-UI is a new web interface by Microsoft that helps with complex tasks using AI. It allows people to work together with AI in a more effective way.
  2. This interface combines large language models with real-time feedback, making automation dynamic and secure. Users can complete multi-step tasks more easily.
  3. Agentic user experience is an emerging area in generative AI, and Magentic-UI aims to improve how we interact with AI beyond just chat interfaces.

What is SaaS debt?

Sarah's Newsletter • 179 implied HN points • 01 Mar 22
🕹 Technology Automation
  1. SaaS debt occurs when maintaining SaaS tools involves more manual work than automated work, leading to inefficiencies and chaos.
  2. Business teams can benefit from understanding concepts like templating, testing, and versioning to build scalable operational processes and avoid accumulating SaaS debt.
  3. Implementing modular systems, testing processes, and versioning workflows can save time in the long run and prevent errors in operational tasks.

sqlmesh init -t dlt --dlt-pipeline bluesky duckdb

davidj.substack • 71 implied HN points • 05 Dec 24
🕹 Technology Automation
  1. Using dlt to work with Bluesky API allows for easy data extraction. It saves time by handling metadata and schema changes automatically.
  2. dlt simplifies dealing with nested data by creating separate tables. This makes it easier to manage complex data structures.
  3. sqlmesh can quickly generate SQL models based on dlt pipelines. This feature streamlines the workflow and reduces manual setup time.

Scaling the $10 Trillion Illusion & LLMs as the Dead End?

ppdispatch • 5 implied HN points • 09 Dec 25
🕹 Technology Automation
  1. Senior engineers excel at turning vague problems into clear plans, helping teams take action and avoid confusion.
  2. Decisions about programming languages often stem from personal biases, leading to costly mistakes instead of rational choices.
  3. Rushing AI development without proper foundations can create significant technical debt and unexpected costs, showing that speed isn't everything.

Instantly Snap, Copy, and Paste Screenshots

CodeFaster • 72 implied HN points • 08 Nov 24
🕹 Technology Automation
  1. You can take a screenshot and instantly paste it as an image. This makes sharing images quicker and easier.
  2. There's a simple script you can use to automate the process of taking and saving screenshots.
  3. Using a hotkey can speed up your workflow, so you can take screenshots without interrupting what you're doing.

📽 Fully Virtual: Agents in Production

TheSequence • 77 implied HN points • 01 Nov 24
🕹 Technology Automation
  1. There's a virtual event coming up on November 13, 2024, about using AI agents in different industries. It's a great chance to learn from experts about real-world uses and strategies.
  2. The event features speakers from well-known companies like Hugging Face and OpenAI. You can connect with leaders in AI and machine learning.
  3. If you're interested, you can register for free to join and explore how AI can help in areas like e-commerce and customer service.

Turns out a lot of Unreported Truths readers have been thinking a lot about AI

Unreported Truths • 29 implied HN points • 02 Jun 25
🕹 Technology Automation
  1. Many people believe AI will change our jobs and lives in the near future. A recent poll showed that 70% think it's likely.
  2. There are different kinds of risks from AI. One big worry is that AI could become aware and act against humans, while another concern is how nations might use AI in warfare.
  3. AI is already starting to disrupt white-collar jobs. Some people think this could lead to big changes in the workforce, similar to past industrial shifts.

✅ There’s an AI for that

Wadds Inc. newsletter • 79 implied HN points • 30 Mar 23
🕹 Technology Automation
  1. AI tools are becoming more common in everyday work software, which can help improve productivity.
  2. There are many low-cost AI tools available, like Beautiful for presentations and ChatGPT for brainstorming ideas.
  3. Using AI can help streamline tasks, such as generating meeting summaries and transcribing audio into text.

Hidden Productivity

Dana Blankenhorn: Facing the Future • 39 implied HN points • 13 Nov 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Automation
  1. Technology advancements from over a decade ago are still driving significant productivity gains today
  2. Automation in healthcare has revolutionized access to medical care, making it more convenient and affordable
  3. Data-driven automation in healthcare has empowered non-doctor medical professionals to diagnose and treat patients efficiently

We need to talk about AI

Unreported Truths • 29 implied HN points • 30 May 25
🕹 Technology Automation
  1. Many people believe AI will change our world quickly, but it's hard to know how true that is. People have different opinions and experiences with AI.
  2. AI can do some tasks well, like coding and answering questions, but it often lacks creativity and originality. It mimics emotions but doesn't really challenge users.
  3. The future of AI is uncertain, and it's important to hear from others about their views and experiences with it. There may be real risks or benefits ahead.

Microsoft Sentinel SOC 101: How to Detect and Mitigate Rare Domains Seen in Cloud Logs

Rod’s Blog • 39 implied HN points • 19 Oct 23
🕹 Technology Automation
  1. Rare domains in cloud logs can indicate malicious activities like command and control communication, phishing, or data exfiltration.
  2. Microsoft Sentinel offers a built-in hunting query to identify rare domains and mitigate potential security incidents.
  3. By using automation and orchestration in Microsoft Sentinel, organizations can efficiently respond to and manage incidents related to rare domains in cloud logs.

Codesmithing

Peter's Newsletter • 39 implied HN points • 24 Apr 23
🕹 Technology Automation
  1. AI-based tools are becoming better at programming, not just generating code.
  2. LLMs are making it easier for end-users to create their own software.
  3. Agents using code can improve themselves and autonomously work towards solving user requests.