On this week's Security Sprint, Dave and Andy covered the following topics:
Opening:
• Nerd Out EP 73: 5th Annual 2/3rd of the Year Awards with the Cybersecurity Evangelist
• The Gate 15 Interview EP 73. The FBI’s Josh Obstfeld on Artificial Intelligence, Serving our Nation, and New York City!
• Ice cream makers as ‘critical infrastructure’? EU’s new cybersecurity law suffers wobbly rollout
• Healthcare finance trends for 2026: A mid-year update — Health-ISAC
Main Topics
Iran-linked hackers blamed for cyber-attack that shut down UK power plant — The Guardian — 23 Aug 2026. Hackers linked to Iran have been blamed for a cyberattack that temporarily shut down a small-scale power generator in the United Kingdom.
• UK briefs energy chiefs after Iran-linked cyber attack reports
• Wake-Up Call for CNI After Iranian Attack Shuts Down UK Power Plant
• "Not a single drop of oil" will be exported if US "economic" war continues: Iran's security chief
• Defending Against an Active Threat to Siemens S7 Series PLCs — CISA
Cyber Threats in Times of Conflict — Emsisoft — 17 Aug 2026. Emsisoft assesses that events in Ukraine, Venezuela, and the continuing Iran conflict demonstrate that cyber operations have become a routine component of modern conflict, but cautions against assuming every disruption represents a sophisticated state cyberattack or that cyber operations will replace conventional warfare.
What if America Went Completely Dark? — The New York Times Magazine — 18 Aug 2026. The New York Times examines the potential consequences of a prolonged nationwide electric-grid failure and emphasizes how quickly an electricity crisis would cascade into communications, water and wastewater, fuel distribution, healthcare, transportation, food supply, finance, public safety, and other essential services.
Quarterly Threat Report: Second Quarter, 2026 — Beazley Security — 18 Aug 2026. Beazley Security reports that vulnerability disclosures increased dramatically during the second quarter as agentic AI accelerated vulnerability research, yet confirmed exploitation grew at a substantially slower rate and the fundamental paths attackers used to enter organizations changed very little.
CISA, FBI and HHS Update Joint Cybersecurity Advisory on Medusa Ransomware.
FBI: 2025 had biggest violent-crime drop in 90 years — Axios — 18 Aug 2026. FBI data shows that U.S. violent crime fell sharply in 2025, producing the largest annual decline since the bureau began publishing national estimates in 1936.
Severe Weather: And Get Ready for Winter Weather!
• At least six injured in Reno, Nevada, wildfire as 42,000 forced to evacuate
• California’s coast under siege: A winter of flooding, big waves and erosion in the forecast
• ‘Heat Dome’ to Bring Dangerous and Prolonged Heat Wave to Southern States
Quick Hits:
• Beware the Ransomware Rescuer: Ransom Busters — GuidePoint Security — 18 Aug 2026. GuidePoint Security reports that an entity calling itself Ransom Busters has contacted ransomware victims before incidents became publicly known and offered to recover data or delete stolen information for a fee.
• NoName057(16) targets German government officials in “Tribunal project” — Real Hack History — 23 Aug 2026.
• Protect yourself: Multi-factor authentication — Australian Signals Directorate’s Australian Cyber Security Centre
• Logging Reference Architecture — CISA
• Tip of the Week – August 20, 2026 — WaterISAC — 20 Aug 2026. WaterISAC urged water utilities to periodically review network segmentation between operational technology and business information technology environments.
• Managing the cyber risk of agentic AI — UK National Cyber Security Centre
• AI is changing the economics of vulnerability discovery. Defenders should adapt now — CERT-EU
