Ask-a-Thrunt3r: August 2025 Recap 🐏

THOR Collective Radio

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Ask-a-Thrunt3r: August 2025 Recap 🐏

Mainly ramblings. And maybe some wisdom.

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Sep 09, 2025

📝 Episode Summary

Back from the desert and (mostly) intact! The THOR Collective crew returns from Hacker Summer Camp with minimal tattoos and maximum insights in this August edition of Ask a Thrunt3r. We're diving deep into the post-DEF CON content dump, exploring everything from Brett's first-timer perspective to Damien's philosophical take on the evolving threat landscape in "The Quiet War."

The team breaks down Q2's wildest attack vectors, from help desk social engineering to AI-powered supply chain attacks that'll make you side-eye every IDE extension. We tackle the big questions in this month’s Hunt Clinic: hypothesis vs. baseline hunts, lessons for newbie threat hunters, and the tools we wish everyone was using (spoiler: it's not always Splunk). Plus, we celebrate our growing community of 150+ new Thrunters and spotlight some incredible contributions to HEARTH and the Dispatch.

Whether you're organizing your hunt ideas in 18 different places like Lauren or taking meticulous notes like Sydney, this episode's got the practical wisdom and chaotic energy to fuel your next threat hunting adventure.

⏱ Episode Breakdown

00:00 – Welcome to Ask a Thrunter (August Edition)
01:08 – Post-Hacker Summer Camp check-in & survival status
02:00 – Welcome to 150+ new Thrunters
02:44 – Team intros: Lauren, John, Sydney
05:12 – Icebreaker: How do you organize your threat hunt ideas?
08:04 – Community spotlight: Contributors & IRL meetups
09:26 – Joshua Hines' epic Hearth submission (#048)
14:18 – Dispatch Highlights begins
14:39 – Brett Schoenwald's "From Noob to Woo" DEF CON recap
17:00 – Damien Lewke’s "The Quiet War" on AI & threat evolution
20:21 – Lauren's Q2FY25 From the Fire
24:52 – Hunt Clinic Q&A: One lesson for your newbie threat hunter self
31:16 – Hunt Clinic Q&A: Favorite hunting tool you wish more people used
37:05 – Hunt Clinic Q&A: Hypothesis-driven vs. baseline-driven hunts
39:59 – Wheel of Spins winner announcement
41:52 – Wrap-up & call for guest contributors

🎤 Hosts

Lauren Proehl (Host) – Global Head of Detection & Response at a Fortune 500 financial firm. Co-founder of THOR Collective. Self-proclaimed wildcard queen who doesn't care about money.
Sydney Marrone (Host) – Principal Threat Hunter at a major software company. Co-founder of THOR Collective. The "thrunter of the group" who hunts for work and fun.
John Grageda (Host) – Red Teamer celebrating 10 years at his current role. Co-founder of THOR Collective. Keeps everyone up at night with attack scenarios.