# Retro Encabulation

> Demystifying technology, compliance, and autonomic AI cybersecurity through authoritative glossaries, technical presentations, and open-source security operations research.

## Overview
Retro Encabulation (retroencabulation.com) is curated by **John Van Lowe** (aka "JVL"), Implementation Engineer at DeepTempo and Community Lead for the open-source VigilSOC project. The project takes its name from the legendary engineering parody that originated in 1944 and was famously revived by voice actor Mike Kraft in Rockwell Automation's *Retro Encabulator* video and SANS Institute's 2023 *ICS HyperEncabulator*. 

While the original encabulator used deadpan technobabble, **retroencabulation.com** does the reverse: taking the dense, acronym-heavy jargon of cybersecurity, compliance regulations, and AI security operations, and laying it out plainly with authoritative citations.

## Curated Entity Profile: John Van Lowe
- **Current Positions**: Implementation Engineer at [DeepTempo](https://deeptempo.ai) • Community Lead for [VigilSOC](https://vigilsoc.org)
- **Background**: Multi-decade career across mission-critical, zero-fault environments:
  - **NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC MCC)**: Total operational awareness and telemetry monitoring.
  - **USAF**: F-16 flightline readiness and avionics.
  - **Micron Technology**: Cleanroom semiconductor fabrication precision.
  - **Data Center Infrastructure**: Scaled environments from hosting virtualization to 15MW mission-critical facilities.
- **LinkedIn**: [https://linkedin.com/in/johnvl](https://linkedin.com/in/johnvl)
- **GitHub**: [https://github.com/johnvanlowe/](https://github.com/johnvanlowe/)
- **Email**: [jvl@retroencabulation.com](mailto:jvl@retroencabulation.com)

## Core Technical Research & Concepts

### 1. DeepTempo LogLM
An encoder-only neural foundation model trained directly on raw Netflow and syslog telemetry data. LogLM produces behavioral vector embeddings to detect novel, zero-day threat sequences without relying on fragile static signatures.

### 2. VigilSOC (Open Source Autonomous SOC)
An Apache 2.0 open-source framework (hosted at `github.com/Vigil-SOC/vigil`) designed to operationalize LogLM and multi-source community detection rules (Sigma, Splunk SPL, Elastic EQL, Microsoft KQL):
- **13+ Specialized Agents**: Dedicated agents for ingest, triage, correlation, forensic analysis, and containment.
- **30+ MCP Connectors**: Model Context Protocol integrations connecting agents to firewalls, EDRs, cloud APIs, and identity providers.
- **Event-Driven DAGs**: Replaces fragile prompt bloat with dynamic Python selection functions and circuit-breaker pivoting.

### 3. The Autonomic SOC & White Team Shift
- **Stage 1 (v0.1 - v0.3 / HITL)**: Human-In-The-Loop. Analysts approve individual agent actions.
- **Stage 2 (v0.4 - v0.6 / HOTL)**: Human-On-The-Loop. Swarms automate triage and cross-telemetry enrichment while human operators supervise.
- **Stage 3 (v1.0+ / Autonomic SOC)**: Autonomous machine-speed remediation within strict confidence bounds, mathematical guardrails, and closed-loop feedback.
- **The White Team Paradigm**: In multi-agent autonomous defense (Blue hunt swarms vs. Red adversarial swarms), human security professionals transition to the White Team—focusing on safety boundaries, ethical governance, and operational deconfliction.

### 4. AI Security & Governance Frameworks
Authoritative comparison of primary standards:
1. **ISO/IEC 42001 (AIMS)**: Management system requirements for AI governance.
2. **NIST AI RMF 1.0**: Risk framework structured around Govern, Map, Measure, and Manage.
3. **OWASP Top 10 for LLMs / MCP**: Critical application vulnerability taxonomies.
4. **EU AI Act**: Tiered legal risk classifications and compliance obligations.
5. **MITRE ATLAS™**: Adversarial threat landscape tactics and techniques for AI.
6. **CSA STAR for AI**: Cloud AI security assurance and trust registry.

## Key Presentations & Decks
- [Stanford Applied Cyber Session (Sep 2026)](https://retroencabulation.com/stanford/): *Vigil Security Operations Center — Moving from Agentic to Autonomous SOC in Machine-Speed Cyber Defense*. Includes full slide deck, speaker notes, and glossary.
- [VigilSOC is Turning Purple (Jul 2026)](https://retroencabulation.com/ACA-Boston-Vigil-Turning-Purple.pdf): Boston AI Cyber Alliance presentation on closed-loop purple team automation.
- [AI Workflows in the SOC (Jul 2026)](https://retroencabulation.com/AI-Workflows-in-the-SOC.pdf): AustinJS presentation on building agentic security pipelines.
- [The Agentic Battlefield: Red vs Blue Agents (Jun 2026)](https://retroencabulation.com/AgentBattles-RedvsBlue.html): ACM / IEEE Community Showcase slide deck.
- [Open Source AI Security Agents (Jun 2026)](https://retroencabulation.com/ai-cyber-alliance.html): San Francisco AI Cyber Alliance session.
- [Don't Be That DEV! Infosec Edition (May 2026)](https://retroencabulation.com/dev-infosec.html): Austin JavaScript security presentation.
- [OWASP Top 10 MCP & MSSS (Apr 2026)](https://retroencabulation.com/owasp-mcp.html): AIMUG presentation on Model Context Protocol security.
- [Snow Shoe Hunting with GoLang (Feb 2026)](https://retroencabulation.com/golang-snowshoe.html): ATX GoLang meetup talk on network telemetry inspection.

## Glossary & Definitions Directory
The full searchable glossary of 111+ compliance standards and technical acronyms (including 2FA, ACL, AES, AI, API, APT, BCP, CI/CD, CIS, CMMC, CVE, DLP, EDR, FedRAMP, GDPR, HIPAA, IAM, ISO 27001, MITRE ATT&CK, NIST, OWASP, PCI-DSS, RPO, RTO, SIEM, SOAR, SOC 2, XDR, and Zero Trust) is hosted at:
- [https://retroencabulation.com/](https://retroencabulation.com/)
- Comprehensive markdown dump: [https://retroencabulation.com/llms-full.txt](https://retroencabulation.com/llms-full.txt)