Please enjoy our latest podcast, the weekly Security Sprint, on Spotify, Apple, as well as other locations accessible via the Spotify for Podcasters link or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.
In this week’s Security Sprint, Dave and Andy discuss a new threat from Iran-affiliated actors targeting U.S. water, energy, and telecom infrastructure, a CISA red team report contrasting strong and weak intrusion response across sectors, and why organizations often recognize cyber risk without acting on it.
Opening:
- Celebrating 5 Years of the Tribal-ISAC: Mid-Year Executive Director Update — TribalHub
- FB-ISAO Newsletter, v8, Issue 8 — Faith-Based ISAO
- AI/Vishing: The Voice Is Not the Control — Crypto ISAC
- National Insider Threat Awareness Month: Protect Our Potential
Main Topics:
Iran hackers: Minnesota ‘warning’ ignored, ‘critical events’ to hit 3 U.S. infrastructure sectors — Threat Beat — 31 Aug 2026. APT IRAN, which has claimed responsibility alongside CyberAv3ngers for recent attacks affecting U.S. municipal water systems, issued a new threat against multiple U.S. critical infrastructure sectors as military tensions with Iran continue. The group characterized its earlier Minnesota activity as a warning and has previously claimed the ability to affect electricity, telecommunications, and water infrastructure, although adversary claims regarding access and capabilities should not be accepted without independent verification. In a new statement posted on their Telegram channel Sunday, the group declared, “Soon, the United States will witness unexpected and critical events in the energy, water, and telecommunications industries.” The FBI and EPA previously reported incidents affecting water systems in multiple states, with some activity degrading operations, while APT IRAN has also tied its threats directly to U.S. actions against Iran. The combination of prior operational activity, explicit threats against three critical lifeline sectors, and the renewed U.S.-Iran confrontation warrants heightened attention from energy, water, and communications operators to exposed operational technology, remote access, anomalous activity, and continuity procedures. (Threat Beat)
A Tale of Two SOCs: Insights From Two Red Team Assessments — CISA — 25 Aug 2026. CISA released findings from simultaneous red-team assessments of organizations in the Government Services and Facilities Sector and the Water and Wastewater Systems Sector. Both organizations experienced successful initial compromise, but the government organization failed to detect or effectively contain subsequent activity while water-sector defenders quickly identified compromised systems and isolated them. CISA attributed the differing outcomes in part to alert noise, organizational silos, cloud-security weaknesses, and differences in how defenders were empowered to respond. The assessment provides a practical demonstration that cybersecurity resilience depends not only on security tools but on well-tuned detection, clear procedures, trained personnel, and the authority to take decisive action when suspicious activity is identified. Water sector passes, government sector fails attempts to spot and halt simulated CISA attack
Institutional Wilful Blindness, NCSC Cyber Series — NCSC Cyber Series — 2026. The first installment of a two-part discussion examines why organizations can understand that cyber risks exist yet still fail to take meaningful action before incidents occur. Leadership expert Margaret Heffernan, Professor Genevieve Liveley of the Research Institute for Sociotechnical Cyber Security, and an NCSC social sciences leader discuss how organizational culture, leadership behavior, communication, and the narratives used to describe cybersecurity can create a gap between awareness and action. The discussion emphasizes that resilience depends on more than technical controls and requires leaders to challenge complacency, communicate uncertainty effectively, and create environments where uncomfortable risk information can influence decisions. The episode reinforces that institutional awareness without corresponding decisions, investment, accountability, and action can itself become a significant source of organizational vulnerability.
Quick Hits:
- Insights into Suspected DPRK Workers: Red Flags to Look Out For — Huntress
- The Who and How of Ten Years of Russian Disinformation — NewsGuard
Read more about Gate 15’s full podcast menu at our Podcast page. You can subscribe and enjoy all the Gate 15 Podcasts on Spotify for Podcasters, Apple, Spotify, as well as other locations accessible from the Spotify for Podcasters link. Week-to-week, you can hear and learn more about our all-hazards threats, risks, mitigation and other issues impacting homeland security risk management from our team as well as our regular and special guests. The full podcast menu includes:
- The Security Sprint is our weekly rundown of the week’s notable all-hazards security news, risks and threats and some of the key focus areas for organizations to consider behind the headlines. Gate 15 team members discuss physical security, cybersecurity, natural hazards, health threats and other issues across our environment.
- Nerd Out! Security Panel Discussion, moderated by Dave Pounder, focuses on physical security topics including terrorism, extremism, hostile events, and other pertinent topics.
- The Gate 15 Interview, is a monthly interview between Gate 15’s founder and Managing Director, Andy Jabbour and guests from throughout the homeland security risk management community addressing a wide range of all-hazards topics and issues.
- The Cybersecurity Evangelist, with Jennifer Lyn Walker, is a cybersecurity-focused discussion with Jen and invited guests. This is presently a Gate 15 special podcast and occasionally is updated on our Gate 15 podcast channel.
- Venue Security, The IAVM Podcast Series was a 2024 limited series podcast as Gate 15’s founder and Managing Director, Andy Jabbour hosted a series of short interviews with venue safety and security experts from the International Association of Venue Managers’ (IAVM) Venue Safety and Security Committee (VSSC) and other special guests from the IAVM community.
- The Risk Roundtable, was a monthly discussion among our team and occasional guests exploring the all-hazards threats and risks impacting the United States and internationally. This was suspended in September 2023.
We hope you’ll subscribe, listen and share your ideas and other feedback! Reach out to us on Bluesky, LinkedIn, via email at Gate15@gate15.global.