If you are an individual developer, freelancer, or solo founder, your workstation is your company. It holds source code, cloud credentials, customer context, and your ability to ship. You usually do not have a Security Operations Center (SOC), an IT admin, or enterprise endpoint tooling tuned for your setup.

Enterprise security teams rely on Extended Detection and Response (XDR) — systems that fuse endpoint telemetry, network telemetry, identity telemetry, threat intelligence context, and a response layer into a single triage workflow. The ability to correlate signals across multiple domains to surface threats and act on them makes XDR platforms vastly more effective than any single security tool. The problem is that XDR assumes centralized admin control -- policy push, remote isolation, fleet enforcement. None of that works on an unmanaged personal machine.

EDAMAME Security App brings that same multi-signal fusion to your workstation without taking remote control of your device. It collects structured signals across four planes, asks an LLM to reason over them, and then executes (or recommends) vetted local changes with full transparency and rollback. That is what "Personal CISO" actually means: XDR-grade triage and remediation, user-up, on your own machine.

The four signal planes

Before diving into the attacks, it helps to understand the four planes EDAMAME monitors continuously. Each plane answers a different question. The value comes from correlating across all four simultaneously.

System posture: "Is my machine hardened?" Firewall state, disk encryption, OS and app update posture, endpoint protection status, remote access configuration, screen lock, developer tool hygiene.
Traffic monitoring with L7 process association: "What is talking, to whom, and which process is doing it?" Every network session is linked to the exact executable generating it. ML anomaly detection (Extended Isolation Forest, 12-dimensional feature space) flags statistical outliers.
Identity exposure: "How compromised are my credentials already?" Breach intelligence via HaveIBeenPwned integration cross-checks your email addresses and known credentials against public breach datasets.
LAN scanning with CVE correlation: "What is on my network, and is it dangerous?" Continuous inventory of neighboring devices, open ports, exposed services, vendor fingerprinting, and correlation against known CVE databases.

An enterprise SOC fuses these signals across a fleet. EDAMAME fuses them on a single workstation, for a single user, with no infrastructure dependency.

What does that look like in practice? Let's look at two real attacks in the last couple of years and go through how EDAMAME's security assistant would have helped to mitigate them.

Attack 1: DEV#POPPER / Contagious Interview (Lazarus Group)

What happened

North Korean operators (Lazarus Group) ran a sustained campaign targeting software developers through fake job interviews. Operators impersonated recruiters on LinkedIn, Upwork, and Freelancer.com, sent realistic job descriptions, conducted live video interviews, and then asked candidates to complete "coding assessments" hosted on GitHub or delivered as zip archives.

The coding projects were trojanized. The payload chain was multi-stage:

Stage 1 -- BeaverTail: a JavaScript or Python-based downloader/stealer, often hidden inside an npm install postinstall script or a Python project's setup routine. On execution, BeaverTail harvested browser credentials, session cookies, cryptocurrency wallet data, and keychain entries. It also downloaded the next stage.
Stage 2 -- InvisibleFerret: a Python-based backdoor providing full remote access, keylogging, clipboard capture, and file exfiltration. InvisibleFerret established persistent outbound C2 beaconing over HTTPS to attacker-controlled infrastructure.
Stage 3 -- Persistence and remote control: in multiple documented cases, the final payload installed AnyDesk or similar remote desktop tools for hands-on-keyboard access. The attacker could then manually browse the file system, access cloud dashboards, and pivot to connected services.

The campaign was cross-platform (macOS, Linux, Windows) and specifically targeted developer workstations because those machines typically have: admin privileges, active cloud credentials, package manager access, and SSH keys to production infrastructure.

How EDAMAME catches it -- signal by signal

Signal 1 -- Traffic monitoring with L7 process association (primary)

EDAMAME links every network session to the exact process generating it -- executable path, PID, parent PID, timing, destination, protocol behavior, and session pattern.

At T+2 min, BeaverTail's outbound HTTPS connections are visible as a child process of node or python making connections to unfamiliar infrastructure. The ML anomaly engine flags this because destination, timing pattern, and process lineage are statistical outliers relative to your baseline.

At T+5 min, InvisibleFerret's periodic beaconing (every 30-60s to a fixed endpoint) is a textbook C2 pattern tied to a new Python process that did not exist before you ran the project.

At T+15 min, AnyDesk is detected through traffic + L7 process association -- not a signature scan. EDAMAME sees a new process generating long-lived, bidirectional remote-control sessions. Session characteristics (packet sizes, flow direction, timing) match remote desktop patterns.

Example assistant output: "Three suspicious process-session chains detected since you ran the interview project 15 minutes ago: (1) node child process exfiltrated data to [IP] at T+2min, (2) new python process is beaconing to [IP] every 45 seconds since T+5min, (3) new AnyDesk process opened a remote-control session to [IP] at T+15min. This is a multi-stage compromise chain. Kill all three process trees immediately and begin credential rotation."

Signal 2 -- Identity exposure context (escalation modifier)

EDAMAME cross-checks your identity exposure via breach intelligence (HaveIBeenPwned). If your email/password combinations already appear in breach datasets, the assistant escalates: credentials that are both freshly stolen and already known from previous breaches are highest priority for rotation.

Example assistant output: "Your primary email appears in 3 known breach datasets. Rotate in this order: (1) GitHub personal access tokens, (2) AWS access keys, (3) npm publish tokens, (4) email password. Enable phishing-resistant MFA on all accounts that support it."

Signal 3 -- System posture hardening (automated)

EDAMAME can automatically remediate configuration gaps that increase blast radius: enable/verify firewall, close unnecessary remote access services, verify disk encryption, trigger pending updates, verify endpoint protection. Every change is logged with before/after state and can be rolled back.

First 30 minutes playbook

Minute 0-5: review flagged process-session chains. Confirm parent-child relationship. Export evidence.
Minute 5-10: kill suspicious process tree. Uninstall newly appeared remote-control tools. Verify no persistence (launch agents, cron jobs, login items).
Minute 10-20: rotate credentials in priority order: GitHub tokens, cloud provider keys, package registry tokens, email. Revoke all active browser sessions.
Minute 20-30: apply posture remediation set. Run full posture scan to establish clean baseline.

Why this attack matters for individual developers

This attack does not require breaching a corporation. It requires one developer to trust one fake recruiter and run one malicious repository. Without multi-signal correlation, the beaconing traffic looks like normal HTTPS; the credential theft is invisible at the file-system level; the remote desktop tool is a legitimate application. Only by correlating process lineage, network behavior, timing, and identity exposure does the full chain become visible in minutes rather than days.

Attack 2: APT28 "Nearest Neighbor" WiFi intrusion

What happened

In late 2024, Volexity published a detailed analysis of a GRU/APT28 operation using nearest-neighbor WiFi compromise. The attackers could not physically reach the target's WiFi, so they first compromised a nearby organization, found a dual-homed device on that network, and used its WiFi adapter to connect to the target WiFi from across the street.

The operational chain was:

Credential harvesting: APT28 obtained valid WiFi credentials through credential-stuffing, password spraying, or previous breaches.
Neighbor compromise: they compromised organizations physically near the target (adjacent buildings).
WiFi pivot: from a compromised device in the neighbor's network, they connected to the target WiFi. The dual-homed device acted as a bridge.
Internal reconnaissance: once on the target network, APT28 performed service enumeration, exploited exposed services (SMB, RDP), and moved laterally.

The key insight: an attacker can appear on your local network without ever being physically inside your building.

How EDAMAME catches it -- signal by signal

Signal 1 -- LAN scanning with CVE correlation (primary)

EDAMAME continuously inventories your local network: device MAC addresses, IP assignments, open ports, exposed services, mDNS/SSDP advertisements, vendor fingerprints (OUI lookup). Service versions are correlated against known CVE databases.

At T+0, the new device triggers immediate detection. At T+5, as the attacker probes your ports, EDAMAME's scan of the new device reveals open ports and service banners with known CVEs. The device's scanning behavior (many ports, many hosts, rapid succession) is itself an indicator -- legitimate devices do not enumerate the network like a penetration tester.

Example assistant output: "New device detected (MAC: XX:XX:XX, vendor: [Unknown], IP: 192.168.1.47). Device is actively probing the network: 23 connection attempts to different hosts/ports in 3 minutes. Open ports: 445, 3389, 8080. Service versions map to CVE-2024-XXXXX (critical) and CVE-2023-YYYYY (high). Treat as hostile. Isolate immediately."

Signal 2 -- Traffic monitoring (escalation and evidence)

When the attacker's device interacts with your workstation, EDAMAME captures: inbound probes (even if firewall blocks them), authentication attempts against your services, and any new outbound connections from your workstation caught by L7 process association. The combination of LAN evidence with traffic evidence creates a high-confidence alert chain invisible to either plane alone.

Signal 3 -- System posture hardening (automated, proactive)

Many nearest-neighbor attacks succeed because workstations expose services they do not need: SMB file sharing enabled by default, Remote Desktop enabled for convenience, firewall allowing local connections broadly, SSH server running but not needed. EDAMAME can automatically remediate these: disable unnecessary remote services, enforce strict firewall rules, close configuration gaps. If applied before the attack, the nearest-neighbor pivot finds a hardened target instead of an open one.

First 30 minutes playbook

Minute 0-5: confirm unknown device in LAN view. Capture MAC, IP, vendor OUI, open ports, CVE correlations.
Minute 5-10: check for inbound connection attempts from this device to your workstation. Check traffic view for correlated outbound sessions.
Minute 10-20: isolate suspicious device at network level. Change WiFi password if you control the AP. If on shared network, disconnect and switch to trusted connection. Apply posture remediations.
Minute 20-30: full posture scan for clean baseline. Verify no persistence. Consider credential rotation for anything used on this network segment.

Why this attack matters for individual developers

For freelancers and home-office developers, "network security" is a blind spot. Consumer routers have weak defaults. Home WiFi passwords rarely rotate. Coworking spaces provide no segmentation. Whether entry comes from a sophisticated nearest-neighbor operation or simpler WiFi credential theft, the symptom is identical: an untrusted device appears and starts interacting with your machine. Without LAN visibility, you would never know it was there.

Signal-fusion view: why single-plane detection fails

Traffic alone sees suspicious connections but cannot tell you the device is new on your network or that your credentials are already breached.
LAN scanning alone sees a new device but cannot tell you it is actively probing your workstation or that a process on your machine is now beaconing out.
Identity alone tells you credentials are exposed but cannot tell you an active attack is exploiting them right now.
Posture alone tells you configuration is weak but cannot tell you someone is actively exploiting that weakness.

Correlation across planes is what turns a "maybe" into a "confirmed" and a "someday" into a "right now." That is the difference between a dashboard and a CISO.

What EDAMAME automates vs what it advises

Automated (with rollback): system-configuration remediation. Firewall, disk encryption, OS/app updates, endpoint protection, remote access lockdown. Every change is logged and reversible.
Advisory (user decides): traffic findings (process/session evidence, anomaly scores), LAN findings (device/port/CVE evidence), and identity findings (breach exposure, rotation priorities). You remain in control.

The business case

Both attacks target the individual developer workstation as the easiest entry point. Both are documented, attributed, and actively used by well-resourced threat actors. Both require multiple signals to detect early with confidence.

If you are selling services to clients, you will increasingly face security questions: encryption status, patch level, firewall state, evidence. EDAMAME can produce verifiable posture proof and continuous attestations without enrolling your personal machine in anyone else's MDM. You keep control. You still produce the evidence.

EDAMAME Security App combines four signal planes into one Personal CISO workflow -- free.

Try it

Sources: MITRE ATT&CK, Volexity Nearest Neighbor analysis, Palo Alto Unit 42 reporting on Contagious Interview, Securonix DEV#POPPER analysis, CISA StopRansomware guidance.