Inside Cyber Minds S3E10 — Mackenzie Jackson, Field CTO of Aikido Security, on secrets sprawl, AI-generated code, supply chain attacks on developer machines, and why "shift left" isn't left enough anymore. Recorded onsite at Black Hat / DEF CON.

🛡️ This episode is all about application security, secure coding, and securing AI-generated code. To build practical security skills developers actually need, explore LufSec's cybersecurity courses and hands-on training:👉 https://www.lufsec.com/courses/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=onramp&utm_campaign=career-guide-funnel&utm_content=s3e10-course

Season 3 of Inside Cyber Minds continues with an episode recorded onsite at Black Hat / DEF CON with Mackenzie Jackson, Field CTO of Aikido Security — a developer, former startup CTO, and one of the most recognizable voices in developer-first security.

AI is generating code faster than security can keep up, and Mackenzie's job is closing that gap: embedding security at every stage, from the first line of code to the MCP servers and agents developers use, all the way to runtime — while cutting the false positives that drown development teams.

He also comes clean about accidentally leaking his own real credential — while filming a video about how attackers steal leaked credentials.

We get into why secrets sprawl is provably getting worse, and the new twist nobody planned for: AI agents now hold the same over-permissioned API keys we built for deterministic systems — except agents act unpredictably. Your secrets problem is no longer just attackers finding them; it's your own agents doing weird things with them. Add supply chain attacks that raid the .env files on developer laptops, and the old "best practices" stop looking safe.

Where is application security headed as AI writes most of the code? Mackenzie's take: injection bugs fade, and attackers move to what tools can't easily find — logic flaws, context flaws, and the hidden assumptions AI makes when you don't tell it what matters.

This episode is about securing software at AI speed — and keeping developers in the fight instead of buried in alerts.

Topics Covered

From startup CTO (health tech + HIPAA) to developer securityThe honey token story gone wrongWhy secrets sprawl is provably getting worseAI agents + over-permissioned API keys: the new secrets riskSupply chain attacks targeting developers' machines and .env filesWhy "shift left" isn't left enough — security between prompt and codeIs AI writing more secure code, or just more vulnerabilities?Alert fatigue: meeting developers where they workThe implicit trust problem in the open source ecosystemAppSec in 5 years: logic bugs, context flaws, and AI assumptionsRethinking access and identity for the agent eraAdvice for developers moving into security

About Mackenzie Jackson

Mackenzie Jackson is the Field CTO of Aikido Security, an AI-native code security platform covering everything from the first line of code to runtime. Previously he was co-founder and CTO of health-tech startup Conpago and a security advocate at GitGuardian, where he spent years researching secrets sprawl. He hosts two podcasts: Secure Disclosure, on security leaders, and Bad Dependencies, on bad things happening on the internet.

🌐 https://www.aikido.dev/

About Inside Cyber Minds

Inside Cyber Minds is a cybersecurity podcast by LufSec featuring deep, unscripted conversations with hackers, CISOs, researchers, founders, and security leaders. The show focuses on mindset, decision-making, leadership, security culture, emerging threats, and the human side of cybersecurity.

Mackenzie JacksonField CTO, Aikido Securityhttps://www.aikido.dev/

#Cybersecurity #AppSec #DevSecOps #SecretsSprawl #SupplyChainSecurity #AICode #SecureCoding #OpenSourceSecurity #InfoSec #DEFCON #InsideCyberMinds #LufSec

Inside Cyber Minds S3E9 — Jayson E. Street: hacker, author, and "scientific hooligan" on robbing banks with permission, silver teaming, why security awareness training fails, and why hacking is not a crime. Recorded onsite at DEF CON.🛡️ This episode is all about social engineering, physical security, and the human side of hacking. To build practical offensive security skills, explore LufSec's cybersecurity courses and hands-on training: 👉 https://www.lufsec.com/courses/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=onramp&utm_campaign=career-guide-funnel&utm_content=s3e9-courseWe open Cybersecurity Awareness Month with one of the most recognizable humans in the hacker community: Jayson E. Street — hacker, author of the Dissecting the Hack trilogy, DEF CON Groups global ambassador, Hack Not Crime ambassador, and self-described "hacker helper human" — recorded onsite at DEF CON.Jayson has spent years walking into banks and government buildings around the world and robbing them — with permission (except that one time he robbed the wrong bank by accident). In this conversation he explains what all those break-ins taught him: in almost every case, the people didn't fail. Management failed them, by never empowering employees to question, to verify, to be the "roadblock" that stops an intruder.He takes us inside silver teaming — the approach he created in 2016, where instead of writing a report about who failed the audit, he lets himself get caught, then personally walks every person he compromised through exactly how it happened. Not a test. A teachable moment. He guarantees every client that he will get caught — because a red teamer rooting for their client to fail is doing it wrong.We also get the story behind "scientific hooligan" (it starts with a magician hacking an "unbreakable" encrypted telegraph in the 1800s), why Nikola Tesla and Hedy Lamarr were hackers, why calling cybercriminals "hackers" insults actual hackers, and his answer to the AI panic: the blacksmiths who adapted became mechanics — "if you can be replaced by AI, you could be replaced by a small shell script already."This episode is about the human layer: situational awareness over policy, teaching through stories, kindness as a security strategy, and why the hacker mindset has nothing to do with computers.Topics CoveredWho is Jayson E. Street — "hacker helper human" From blue team at a bank to robbing ten branches Silver teaming: getting caught on purpose as training The government facility epiphany that changed his career Why security awareness fails — and situational awareness works Empowering employees to question and verify Teaching security through fiction: the Dissecting the Hack trilogy Hack Not Crime: Tesla, Hedy Lamarr, and the black hat/white hat myth Advice for newcomers: imposter syndrome, failing, and community AI: blacksmiths became mechanics — adapt, don't panicAbout Jayson E. StreetJayson E. Street is a hacker, speaker, and author of the Dissecting the Hack book series — required reading at colleges in several countries. He is a DEF CON Groups global ambassador, a Hack Not Crime ambassador, and a simulated adversary with CovertSwarm, famous for permission-based bank and building "robberies" on five continents.🌐 https://jaysonestreet.com/ 🐝 https://covertswarm.com/About Inside Cyber MindsInside Cyber Minds is a cybersecurity podcast by LufSec featuring deep, unscripted conversations with hackers, CISOs, researchers, founders, and security leaders. The show focuses on mindset, decision-making, leadership, security culture, emerging threats, and the human side of cybersecurity.LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/company/lufsec/Jayson E. Street Hacker, Author & Simulated Adversary https://jaysonestreet.com/ https://covertswarm.com/#Cybersecurity #SocialEngineering #JaysonEStreet #Hackers #RedTeam #SecurityAwareness #PhysicalSecurity #HackNotCrime #InfoSec #DEFCON #InsideCyberMinds #LufSec

Inside Cyber Minds S3E8 — James Kettle, Director of Research at PortSwigger (Burp Suite), on HTTP request smuggling, why HTTP/1.1 must die, and the HTTP Terminator — an AI that invents novel attack techniques. Recorded onsite at DEF CON.🎓 Bonus: download the guide, and you'll unlock a free lesson from the LufSec course library.🛡️ This episode is all about web security research, offensive techniques, and AI-powered hacking. To build practical web hacking and offensive security skills, explore LufSec's cybersecurity courses and hands-on training: 👉 https://www.lufsec.com/courses/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=onramp&utm_campaign=career-guide-funnel&utm_content=s3e8-courseSeason 3 of Inside Cyber Minds continues with an episode recorded onsite at DEF CON with James Kettle (albinowax), Director of Research at PortSwigger — the company behind Burp Suite — and one of the most influential web security researchers of the last decade.If you've ever heard the terms HTTP request smuggling, web cache poisoning, or the single-packet attack, you've seen James's work. For roughly ten consecutive years he has taken the Black Hat USA stage with research that changed how the industry attacks and defends the web, and his techniques are built into the tools millions of security testers use — Burp Collaborator, Param Miner, Turbo Intruder, and the Web Security Academy.This year he brought something different: the HTTP Terminator — an autonomous AI system built to answer a provocative question. Can AI do novel security research? Not triage, not scanning: actually inventing new desync triggers, gadgets, and exploits — and proving them against real-world targets including banks, security vendors, and government systems. And he's open-sourcing it.We also dig into his campaign to kill HTTP/1.1 — why the protocol underneath most of the web is fundamentally unfixable, what "the desync endgame" means, and what has to happen before the industry finally moves on.This episode is about research at the frontier: how new attack classes get discovered, what AI changes about the economics of finding them, and what's left for human researchers when machines start inventing exploits.Topics CoveredHow James got into web security research The origin of HTTP request smuggling and desync attacks Why HTTP/1.1 must die — and what the desync endgame looks like The HTTP Terminator: an AI that invents novel attack techniques Testing AI-discovered exploits against banks, vendors, and governments Can AI do novel security research — or just scale old ideas? Building tools for millions: Burp Collaborator, Param Miner, Turbo Intruder The research process behind a decade of Black Hat talks What's left for human researchers in the AI era The next great attack surface on the webAbout James KettleJames Kettle (albinowax) is the Director of Research at PortSwigger, the company behind Burp Suite. He pioneered HTTP desync attacks, web cache poisoning, the single-packet attack, and server-side template injection exploitation, and designed much of the Web Security Academy. His 2026 Black Hat USA and DEF CON research, "Can AI Do Novel Security Research? Meet the HTTP Terminator," introduces an open-source autonomous system for discovering new attack techniques.🌐 https://jameskettle.com/ 🔧 https://portswigger.net/About Inside Cyber MindsInside Cyber Minds is a cybersecurity podcast by LufSec featuring deep, unscripted conversations with hackers, CISOs, researchers, founders, and security leaders. The show focuses on mindset, decision-making, leadership, security culture, emerging threats, and the human side of cybersecurity.LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/company/lufsec/James Kettle Director of Research, PortSwigger https://jameskettle.com/#Cybersecurity #WebSecurity #BurpSuite #RequestSmuggling #EthicalHacking #BugBounty #AIHacking #AppSec #InfoSec #DEFCON #InsideCyberMinds #LufSec

Inside Cyber Minds S3E7 — Alessandra Rizzo, Senior Threat Researcher at Databricks, on hunting North Korean threat actors in the npm supply chain, nation-state malware, and securing the open source ecosystem. Recorded onsite at DEF CON.🛡️ This episode is all about threat intelligence, malware analysis, and supply chain security. To build practical security skills and hands-on experience, explore LufSec's cybersecurity courses and training: 👉 https://www.lufsec.com/courses/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=onramp&utm_campaign=career-guide-funnel&utm_content=s3e7-courseTopics CoveredFrom crime science at UCL to nation-state threat research Inside North Korea's npm supply chain campaigns Contagious Trader: mapping a DPRK delivery network Malware families in the open ecosystem: OtterCookie, ClipViper, NastyC2 Typosquatting and how developers get compromised Attribution: how researchers pin campaigns on nation-states Linux malware and reverse engineering tradecraft LLM security through a threat researcher's eyes What the open source ecosystem must fix Advice for getting into threat intelligence and malware researchAbout Alessandra RizzoAlessandra Rizzo is a Senior Threat Researcher at Databricks. Previously at Panther, she led research into DPRK npm supply chain campaigns, and before that worked in threat detection at Sysdig and as a CTI team lead at Innovery in Italy. She holds an MSc in Advanced Cyber Security from King's College London (with Distinction) and a BSc in Security & Crime Science from UCL. Her specialties span nation-state operations, malware reverse engineering, OSINT, Linux internals, supply chain security, and LLM security. She presented her Contagious Trader research at DEF CON's Recon Village and speaks at BSides Montreal this September.About Inside Cyber MindsInside Cyber Minds is a cybersecurity podcast by LufSec featuring deep, unscripted conversations with hackers, CISOs, researchers, founders, and security leaders. The show focuses on mindset, decision-making, leadership, security culture, emerging threats, and the human side of cybersecurity.Watch & Listen▶️ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@Lufsec🎙️ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6hWg94SxRjHUMCMXoKutlc 🎤 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/87069409-9772-4c83-821a-d5607e52be51/inside-cyber-minds 🎧 Audible: https://www.audible.com/podcast/Inside-Cyber-Minds/B0G15CT6R1?source_code=ASSGB149080119000H&share_location=pdp 🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/inside-cyber-minds/id1851011640LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/company/lufsec/Alessandra Rizzo Senior Threat Researcher, DatabricksMalware creation is now dangerously accessible. We examine how non-experts are building sophisticated tools once reserved for nation-states.The barrier to entry for cyberattacks has collapsed. What used to demand a team of experts and nation-state resources is now achievable in a matter of hours. This shift in the threat landscape is changing how we view cybersecurity threats, as malicious campaigns are increasingly powered by easily accessible code.We analyze the implications of this trend and why standard defenses struggle to keep pace with this new reality. By understanding the accessibility of this sophisticated malware, security research professionals can better anticipate attack vectors and improve detection strategies.Subscribe for weekly security research breakdowns, and let us know your thoughts on the future of automated threat development in the comments.#Cybersecurity #ThreatIntelligence #SupplyChainSecurity #npm #Malware #NorthKorea #DPRK #OpenSourceSecurity #InfoSec #DEFCON #InsideCyberMinds #LufSec

Inside Cyber Minds S3E6 — Dr. Martin Strohmeier on aviation cybersecurity, aircraft hacking, and the vulnerabilities in CPDLC — the "instant messaging" system between pilots and air traffic control. Martin is a senior cybersecurity scientist at the Cyber-Defence Campus of armasuisse (Swiss DoD), co-founder of the OpenSky Network, and presented his CPDLC attack research at DEF CON. Recorded onsite at DEF CON. 🎯 Free Cyber Security Career Guide — the roles, skills, certs, and shortest route into cybersecurity (bonus: unlocks a free LufSec lesson):👉 https://www.lufsec.com/products/digital_downloads/cyber-security-career-guide?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=onramp&utm_campaign=career-guide-funnel&utm_content=s3e6 🛡️ Build hands-on offensive security and wireless hacking skills with LufSec courses:👉 https://www.lufsec.com/courses/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=onramp&utm_campaign=career-guide-funnel&utm_content=s3e6-course ------------------------------------------------------- Much of the communication keeping aircraft safe was designed decades ago — with no encryption and no authentication. Martin's research shows what that means today: attackers with cheap radio equipment can read and spoof messages in systems like CPDLC, the datalink pilots and controllers increasingly use instead of voice. In this episode we cover how aviation protocols get hacked, what he presented at DEF CON, how the OpenSky Network turned crowdsourced ADS-B receivers into a global research platform, what it's like doing offensive research inside a defense ministry, and how AI is changing aviation security on both sides. Topics Covered Aviation cybersecurity: the unencrypted skiesCPDLC vulnerabilities: spoofing messages to the flight deckHow aircraft tracking works (ADS-B and the OpenSky Network)Hacking research inside the Swiss Cyber-Defence CampusCivil vs. military aviation securityAI and the future of aviation threats People can connect with Martin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-strohmeier-513b8060/🌐 Personal site: https://mstrohmeier.net/✈️ OpenSky Network: https://opensky-network.org/ Inside Cyber Minds is a cybersecurity podcast by LufSec — unscripted conversations with hackers, CISOs, researchers, founders, and security leaders on mindset, emerging threats, and the human side of cybersecurity. ▶️ Subscribe on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@Lufsec🎙️ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6hWg94SxRjHUMCMXoKutlc🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/inside-cyber-minds/id1851011640🎤 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/87069409-9772-4c83-821a-d5607e52be51/inside-cyber-minds💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lufsec/Aviation cybersecurity is failing because modern cockpits rely on protocols designed decades ago without encryption.Martin Strohmeier joins us to explain how attackers use cheap radio equipment to exploit CPDLC vulnerabilities, allowing them to spoof messages between pilots and air traffic control. We break down the reality of aircraft hacking, how aviation protocols were designed for trust rather than security, and why the lack of authentication in these datalinks creates a significant risk for the flight deck.Beyond the threats, we explore how the OpenSky Network uses crowdsourced ADS-B receivers to create a global research platform and how AI is changing both the attack surface and defense strategies. This is a look at the technical disconnect between legacy infrastructure and modern wireless security requirements.Subscribe for weekly cybersecurity deep dives, and let us know in the comments if you think aviation protocols can ever be truly secured without a total system redesign.#Cybersecurity #AviationSecurity #AircraftHacking #CPDLC #AvionicsSecurity #WirelessSecurity #InfoSec #DEFCON #InsideCyberMinds #LufSec

🎯 Free Cyber Security Career Guide Break into cybersecurity without wasting years on the wrong path. Get the free guide — the roles, skills, certs, and the shortest route in: 👉 https://www.lufsec.com/products/digital_downloads/cyber-security-career-guide?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=onramp&utm_campaign=career-guide-funnel&utm_content=s3e6🎓 Bonus: download the guide, and you'll unlock a free lesson from the LufSec course library.🛡️ This episode is all about OSINT, reconnaissance, and internet-scale intelligence. To build practical offensive security and recon skills, explore LufSec's cybersecurity courses and hands-on training: 👉 https://www.lufsec.com/courses/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=onramp&utm_campaign=career-guide-funnel&utm_content=s3e6-courseSeason 3 of Inside Cyber Minds continues with an episode recorded onsite at DEF CON with John McCary, founder of Port:194 — an intelligence firm that continuously scans all 4.3 billion IPv4 addresses on the internet and never throws a scan away.A student tracked Elon Musk's apartment using a dark web AI search engine. See how this student's OSINT skills exposed a major privacy gap.While attending Black Hat, I learned the story of a Midwest student who utilized a Chinese dark web AI search engine to pinpoint a high-profile location. This case highlights how accessible, emerging technology is changing the landscape of open source intelligence. We break down the methodology used and why this kind of discovery is becoming a reality for researchers today.This incident serves as a stark reminder of the evolving threat landscape in digital privacy. By leveraging advanced search tools, individuals can bypass traditional barriers to information gathering. We analyze the implications of these tools and what this means for future security operations.Topics CoveredFrom combat veteran and diplomat to DARPA's AI office Building TIGR: classified software that became an Army program of record Why he founded Port:194 and how DarkMouse scans the whole internet Change detection: catching certificate impersonation and brand spoofing How sanctioned operators rebrand — and how history exposes them OSINT tradecraft and teaching the next generation of analysts Commissioned intelligence vs. self-service security tools AI for risk prediction and entity classification at internet scale Advice for anyone building a career in OSINT and cyber intelligenceAbout John McCaryJohn McCary is the founder of Port:194, a decorated combat veteran, former State Department Foreign Service Officer, and Certified Ethical Hacker. At DARPA he designed and led the TIGR software and hardware suite, later developing intelligence and analysis software for national security organizations. He teaches OSINT at the University of Arizona's College of Applied Science and Technology and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and an Oscar-nominated documentary.🌐 https://port194.com/About Inside Cyber MindsInside Cyber Minds is a cybersecurity podcast by LufSec featuring deep, unscripted conversations with hackers, CISOs, researchers, founders, and security leaders. The show focuses on mindset, decision-making, leadership, security culture, emerging threats, and the human side of cybersecurity.LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/company/lufsec/John McCary Founder, Port:194 https://port194.com/Subscribe for more real-world security analysis, and let us know in the comments if you think AI search tools are a net positive or negative for personal privacy.#Cybersecurity #OSINT #ThreatIntelligence #Reconnaissance #DARPA #EthicalHacking #InfoSec #DEFCON #CyberIntelligence #InsideCyberMinds #LufSec

Inside Cyber Minds S3E13 — Ted Harrington on application security, penetration testing, IoT hacking, and the hacker mindset. Ted is Executive Partner at Independent Security Evaluators (ISE) — first to hack the iPhone — #1 bestselling author of Hackable and Inner Hacker, and founder of IoT Village. Recorded onsite at DEF CON.🎯 Free Cyber Security Career Guide — the roles, skills, certs, and shortest route into cybersecurity (bonus: unlocks a free LufSec lesson):👉 https://www.lufsec.com/products/digital_downloads/cyber-security-career-guide?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=onramp&utm_campaign=career-guide-funnel&utm_content=s3e13🛡️ Build hands-on application security and penetration testing skills with LufSec courses:👉 https://www.lufsec.com/courses/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=onramp&utm_campaign=career-guide-funnel&utm_content=s3e13-course-------------------------------------------------------Ted's team at ISE was first to hack the iPhone — and has since hacked cars, medical devices, and password managers to make them safer. In this episode we cover what real penetration testing looks like (and why most "pen tests" are just vulnerability scans), how to do application security right, what a decade of running IoT Village at DEF CON reveals about IoT security, how anyone can build the hacker mindset, and what happens to appsec when AI writes the code.Topics CoveredPenetration testing vs. vulnerability scanningApplication security done right (the Hackable method)First to hack the iPhone: the ISE storyIoT security: lessons from a decade of IoT VillageThe Inner Hacker: thinking like an attackerAI-generated code and the future of appsecPeople can connect with Ted on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/securityted/🌐 ISE: https://www.ise.io/📕 Hackable: https://www.hackablebook.com/📗 Inner Hacker: A New Way of Thinking — https://www.amazon.com/Inner-Hacker-New-Way-Thinking/dp/B0FQ7GTY1RInside Cyber Minds is a cybersecurity podcast by LufSec — unscripted conversations with hackers, CISOs, researchers, founders, and security leaders on mindset, emerging threats, and the human side of cybersecurity.Stop worrying about artificial intelligence as a menace and start viewing it as a neutral instrument for your goals. This talk explains why the outcome of using new technology depends on the person wielding it.Captured at IoT Village, this presentation addresses the common anxiety surrounding automated systems. Just as a kitchen knife is neither inherently evil nor virtuous, the impact of software depends entirely on the operator. We break down the responsibility of the developer, moving the conversation away from abstract fear and toward practical, ethical usage. If you build or manage digital products, this perspective provides a framework for evaluating your daily tech stack.Understanding how we apply these capabilities determines our future success. By focusing on the human intent behind the code, we can better navigate the landscape of modern artificial intelligence without getting lost in the hype. This session is designed for anyone looking to ground their workflow in reality rather than speculation.Subscribe for weekly tech strategy breakdowns, and comment below on how you are currently using artificial intelligence in your own projects.0:00 The Hacker Mindset and Ethical Security0:53 From Career Transition to Security Leadership3:59 Debunking the Security Myth7:25 The Dual Reality of IoT Security12:50 Mastering Threat Modeling for New Devices#Cybersecurity #ApplicationSecurity #PenetrationTesting #IoTSecurity #EthicalHacking #AppSec #DEFCON #InfoSec #InsideCyberMinds #LufSec

🎯 Free Cyber Security Career GuideBreak into cybersecurity without wasting years on the wrong path. Get the free guide — the roles, skills, certs, and the shortest route in:👉 https://www.lufsec.com/products/digital_downloads/cyber-security-career-guide?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=onramp&utm_campaign=career-guide-funnel&utm_content=s3e3 🎓 Bonus: download the guide, and you'll unlock a free lesson from the LufSec course library. 🛡️ To build practical network and offensive security skills like the ones the NOC uses, explore LufSec's cybersecurity courses and hands-on training:👉 https://www.lufsec.com/courses/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=onramp&utm_campaign=career-guide-funnel&utm_content=s3e3-course ------------------------------------------------------- Season 3 of Inside Cyber Minds continues with a behind-the-scenes episode recorded onsite at DEF CON, inside the operation most attendees never see: the Network Operations Center. Every August, the DEF CON NOC builds a conference network from the ground up — hundreds of access points, terabytes of traffic, tens of thousands of devices — then hands it to a crowd that includes some of the best hackers on the planet, many actively probing it with rogue access points, Wi-Fi Pineapples, Flipper Zeros, and fake SSIDs mimicking the real thing. It's often called the most hostile network in the world. The NOC's job is to keep it running anyway. Sparky, who leads the NOC, and longtime team member Chris "Mac" McEniry take us inside how it all works: planning a network that exists for one week a year, defending infrastructure while it's under constant attack, what they actually see on the wire, and why a volunteer team keeps coming back to do the hardest networking job in the industry. Is DEF CON Wi-Fi actually safe? What attacks show up every single year? And what can enterprise defenders learn from a network that survives the ultimate stress test every August? Topics Covered Inside the DEF CON Network Operations CenterBuilding a conference network from scratch every yearDefending the "most hostile network in the world"Rogue access points, fake SSIDs, and what attendees actually tryIs DEF CON Wi-Fi safe? What the NOC really seesWireless security at massive scaleWar stories from years of DEF CON networksWhat enterprise defenders can learn from the NOCVolunteering and the DEF CON community About the DEF CON NOC The DEF CON NOC is the official networking team of DEF CON, the world's largest hacker conference. The volunteer team designs, deploys, and defends the entire conference network — wired and wireless — for tens of thousands of attendees in one of the most adversarial computing environments anywhere. Sparky leads the NOC; Chris "Mac" McEniry is a longtime team member and infrastructure planner. 🌐 https://noc.defcon.org/ About Inside Cyber Minds Inside Cyber Minds is a cybersecurity podcast by LufSec featuring deep, unscripted conversations with hackers, CISOs, researchers, founders, and security leaders — mindset, leadership, security culture, emerging threats, and the human side of cybersecurity. Watch & Listen ▶️ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@Lufsec 🎙️ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6hWg94SxRjHUMCMXoKutlc🎤 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/87069409-9772-4c83-821a-d5607e52be51/inside-cyber-minds🎧 Audible: https://www.audible.com/podcast/Inside-Cyber-Minds/B0G15CT6R1?source_code=ASSGB149080119000H&share_location=pdp🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/inside-cyber-minds/id1851011640 LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/company/lufsec/ Guests:Sparky — DEF CON NOC LeadChris "Mac" McEniry — DEF CON NOChttps://noc.defcon.org/ #Cybersecurity #DEFCON #NetworkSecurity #WiFiSecurity #WirelessSecurity #InfoSec #HackerConference #InsideCyberMinds #LufSec