Link Safety, Lightweight AI & Operationalizing Threat Modeling - Nathan Koester
From The Security Repo by Mackenzie Jackson & Dwayne McDaniel
February 4, 2026 · 21 min
About this episode
Nathan Koester discusses his journey in security, focusing on practical tools and lightweight AI models.
In this episode of the Security Repo Podcast, Nathan Koester shares his path from reverse engineering for the Air Force to building practical security tools for real-world teams. He discusses *Pwnbook.io*, a platform for integrating and visualizing security tools and data, and *Charlemagne Labs*, a local-first browser extension using small language models to detect risky links. The conversation also explores the philosophy behind lightweight AI models, cognitive defense, and staying curious in a fast-evolving field. https://[pwnbook.io](https://pwnbook.io/) https://[Charlemagnelabs.ai](https://charlemagnelabs.ai/) Nathan Koester is an engineer with a diverse background, ranging from forward software development to reverse engineering embedded systems and performing vulnerability assessment. Nathan’s preferred work focus is leveraging his forward and reverse engineering skills with a red team mindset to provide pen-testing and vulnerability assessment capabilities.
People in this episode
Hosts: Mackenzie Jackson, Dwayne McDaniel
Guest: Nathan Koester
Topics covered
- security tools
- lightweight AI
- threat modeling
- reverse engineering
- cognitive defense
Keywords
- security
- AI
- threat modeling
- reverse engineering
- vulnerability assessment
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Pwnbook.io, Charlemagne Labs, Air Force
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