Nerd Out EP 50. Venue protection, 2/3 of the year awards, acolytes and dragons!

In the latest episode of Nerd Out, Dave and Alec looked at some recent security concerns related to venues including the cancellation of Taylor Swift concerts in Austria, and sabotage surround the Olympics. Then they moved to the 2/3 of the year awards - congratulations to our winners!

1. MVP. Secure by Design. https://www.cisa.gov/securebydesign
2. The Cobra (Sly Stallone) Award (you're the disease, and I'm the cure). Gate 15 GRIP (no shameless plugs).
3. The Dennis Green (they are who we thought they are). Politically motivated threat actors.
4. The Aldus Snow (don't forget about me). Ransomware - as if there was another.
5. Dumpster Fire award - CrowdStrike - despite their up front stance and taking accountability, this is still a big deal.
6. Scotty Doesn’t Know award (the threat that is lurking within). AI powered BEC. https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/04/asia/deepfake-cfo-scam-hong-kong-intl-hnk/index.html
7. Avengers Team Up award. Co-winners. Companies helping rural healthcare (https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/microsoft-and-google-white-house-offers-cybersecurity-tools-rural-hospitals) and the Loudon County Sherrif’s office for helping faith-based organizations.
8. Heath Ledger Joker award. Accelerationist - they just want to watch the world burn.

Then the nerds go all in on the season and the finale's of the Acolyte and House of the Dragon.

Some of the references from the above topics include:

T Swift Plot

• https://apnews.com/article/austria-taylor-swift-concerts-canceled-extremism-arrests 17b494f1a164b205128d7faeb607e731
  
• 
  https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1k37dm9e0eo
  
• 
  https://thesoufancenter.org/intelbrief-2024-august-9/
  

French Infrastructure Attacks

• https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/26/europe/france-rail-network-disruption-paris-olympics-intl-hnk/index.html
  
• 
  https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c28eyr3y18yo
  
• 
  https://www.newsweek.com/cables-sabotaged-france-paris-olympics-2024-phones-1931370
  
• 
  https://www.cbsnews.com/news/paris-olympics-trains-sabotage-arrest-far-left-activist-phone-lines-telecommunications/
  
• 
  https://www.axios.com/2024/07/29/france-fiber-optic-olympic-attack