In this episode of the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Podcast, host Sherrod DeGrippo is joined by Lauren Proehl, Sydney Marrone, and Jamie Williams to dig into the THOR Collective — a fresh, community-driven initiative bringing modern energy to threat intel.

The group discusses the ongoing tension where developers focus on user-friendly design while security professionals aim to break things to prevent malicious use. They also dive into the THOR Collective, a community-driven initiative with open-source projects like Hearth and their twice-weekly Substack newsletter, Dispatch, which combines research, memes, and real-world lessons to uplift the InfoSec community. The conversation touches on the challenges of security, the disconnect between the public and understanding risks, and the need for more user-friendly, AI-driven security solutions that cater to various skill levels.

In this episode you’ll learn:

The value of consistently publishing high-quality content
How the THOR Collective addresses this issue through innovative and digestible content
The importance of making complex InfoSec topics approachable for different experience levels

Some questions we ask:

What’s going on with the rise in toll scam text messages?
Why has social engineering remained such a successful tactic for threat actors?
How does THOR Collective welcome new voices in InfoSec, and why is this crucial in today’s security landscape?

Resources:

View Lauren Proehl on LinkedIn

View Sydney Marrone on LinkedIn

View Jamie Williams on LinkedIn

View Sherrod DeGrippo on LinkedIn

THOR Collective

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The Microsoft Threat Intelligence Podcast is produced by Microsoft and distributed as part of N2K media network.

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