I turned late-night terminal sessions into a hacker merch shop

Chris — Sat, 24 Oct 2026 23:37:08 +0000

It usually starts the same way.

Terminal open. Coffee going cold. One more command, one more log to check, one more password prompt staring back at me. If you work in — or are learning — cybersecurity, you know that screen. It is where the jokes live too: the password jokes nobody outside the field quite gets, the terminal humour you have to have typed at 1 a.m. to find funny.

That is where PasswordIsPassword came from.

I kept noticing that security culture has its own language — and almost nowhere to wear it. Most tech merch is generic. It says "coder" in a big font and calls it a day. It does not get the specific, slightly paranoid, very funny world of passwords, prompts, and late-night sessions. So I started turning those in-jokes into designs, and opened a small Etsy shop from Chicago to sell them.

I got into cybersecurity because I couldn't see a password prompt without wondering how it worked — and how someone might get past it.

WHAT IS IN THE SHOP

PasswordIsPassword is hacker- and cybersecurity-themed apparel and accessories — currently 44 listings, including:
• Tees and hoodies built around password and terminal humour
• Mugs for the desk next to the keyboard
• Caps and other everyday pieces with security-minded designs
• Seasonal drops — right now, Halloween designs for the security-minded

Featured listing — Nightmare on Port 443 Cyber Horror Sweatshirt: https://www.etsy.com/listing/4601931925/nightmare-on-port-443-cyber-horror

That is the Halloween one I keep coming back to — a cyber-horror take on a classic nightmare, built around the port every security person knows.

It is a small, independent shop and it is still growing. That is the honest pitch: if you have ever laughed at a password joke only another security person would get, this was made for you. If a design makes you think of a teammate, a study partner, or your favourite CTF buddy, that is exactly who I had in mind.

WHY I AM POSTING THIS HERE

Dev.to is where a lot of those people actually are — people learning security, breaking into the field, or deep in it and fluent in the humour. I would rather introduce the shop here, in a story, than drop a link somewhere it just reads as spam.

I would genuinely love feedback:
• Which joke or phrase deserves to be a design next?
• Is there a tool, prompt, or late-night moment every security person recognises?
• What would you actually wear — tee, hoodie, mug, or cap?

Drop it in the comments. The best suggestions tend to become the next listings.

Have a look if it sounds like your thing: https://www.etsy.com/shop/PasswordIsPassword

You can also find the shop on Threads at @passwordispasswordetsy.

Thanks for reading — and change your passwords. You know, the good ones. Not "password".

— Chris #cybersecurity #showdev #sideprojects #hack

DEV Community: Chris

I turned late-night terminal sessions into a hacker merch shop