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Chipotle Chicken with Cauliflower Mexican Rice

The Student Who Helped Uncover a Massive Botnet

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Rest day

Smoky, spicy chipotle chicken served with flavorful Mexican-style cauliflower rice.

A college researcher used online sleuthing—and a well-timed meme—to help expose one of the internet’s largest cyberattack networks.

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The
Daily
Fix

Photo of Chipotle Chicken with Cauliflower Mexican Rice Article Heading Photo

Enjoy the recovery time, or make-up anything you missed from last week.

Ingredients

For the Chicken:
1 lb chicken thighs or breasts
2 Tbsp butter or tallow (for cooking)
1 chipotle pepper in adobo, minced (or 1 tsp chipotle paste)
1 tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp cumin
Salt and black pepper, to taste
1 Tbsp lime juice

For the Cauliflower Mexican Rice:
3 cups cauliflower rice
1 Tbsp butter or tallow
1 small tomato, finely diced
¼ cup onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
½ tsp cumin
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 Tbsp lime juice

Macronutrients
(per serving, serves 4)

Protein: 33g
Fat: 28g
Carbs: 6g

Preparation

Pat chicken dry and season both sides with chipotle, smoked paprika, garlic powder, cumin, salt, and pepper.

Heat butter or tallow in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook 4–5 minutes per side until golden and fully cooked through.

Drizzle lime juice over the chicken, toss to coat, and remove from the pan to rest.

In the same skillet, melt butter or tallow over medium heat. Add diced onion and garlic, cooking 2–3 minutes until softened.

Add diced tomato and cook for another 2 minutes until slightly broken down.

Stir in cauliflower rice, cumin, salt, and pepper. Cook 4–5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender and lightly toasted.

Remove from heat and stir in lime juice and chopped cilantro.

Serve chipotle chicken over the cauliflower rice and garnish with extra cilantro and lime wedges if desired.

This article tells the story of Benjamin Brundage, a college student at the Rochester Institute of Technology who helped uncover the origins of a massive cyberattack network known as Kimwolf. The botnet used millions of compromised consumer devices—including streaming boxes, phones, cameras, and digital picture frames—to launch large distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks capable of knocking major internet services offline. While investigating residential proxy networks, Brundage discovered that hackers were exploiting a vulnerability in software from a company called Ipidea, allowing them to secretly install their own proxy tools on millions of Android-based devices. By gathering information in online hacker communities—sometimes using humor and memes to build rapport—Brundage helped researchers and law enforcement trace how the network operated and how it spread. His findings eventually helped cybersecurity teams warn companies, patch vulnerabilities, and dismantle parts of the botnet. The investigation revealed that as many as 2 million devices had been hijacked and used in more than 26,000 cyberattacks, highlighting how insecure consumer electronics can be weaponized at global scale.

Read the article

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