Cybersecurity News & Analysis by Cyber Sidekicks - Your Weekly Update’

In this week's episode, Christina & Rory talk with Tom Kellermann, VP of AI Security & Threat Intelligence at TrendAI about how rogue nation-states and AI-driven offensive tactics are disrupting traditional cybersecurity defenses. Tom outlines how four rogue nation-states—Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran—are collaborating and sharing command-and-control (C2) capabilities and exploits at unprecedented levels. He explains how Russian guidance is elevating second-tier actors, driving destructive attacks against critical infrastructure like energy and water utilities, while these states actively shield cybercrime cartels as national assets.
NEWS
Anthropic promises zero data retention – but customers must check it worked
Nvidia’s Huang says cybersecurity will be next major AI use case
EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA): Reporting obligations now in effect
NEXT WEEK'S GUEST
Next week's guest is Chris Newton-Smith, CEO of ISMS Online.
 
Leave us a message! Want to leave some feedback and suggestions but would prefer not to write an email? You can leave us a voicemail (90 seconds max). We will share any that are not too spicy in the following episode. SpeakPipe link - https://www.speakpipe.com/Cyber_Sidekicks Or, send us an email: Christina Richmond – christina@richmondadvisorygroup.com Rory Duncan – rory@richmondadvisorygroup.com Subscribe to our Newsletter - "Signal, not noise"Our monthly newsletter is free to subscribers! Sign-up now at Richmond Advisory Group.   Technology we use Podcast Recording Platform – Cleanfeed.com Cyber Sidekicks Show Host – Podbean.com Edited & mastered in GarageBand

This week, host Rory Duncan speaks with guest Raghu Nandakumara, VP of Industry Strategy at Illumio, discussing why traditional security controls are failing against modern threats and why enterprises must prioritize containment and business-led resilience. Raghu emphasizes that while foundational security hygiene is frequently neglected for attractive new technologies, containment must serve as the essential "third pillar" alongside prevention and detection to disrupt the fundamental physics of cyber attacks. His recommendation: to prevent systemic operational shutdowns, organizations must abandon blanket policies across all assets and instead prioritize protecting their most critical business processes to effectively reduce overall operational risk.
NEWS
Criminals publish data of 8.7m people after UK airports hack
153 million Driver License images exposed via IDScan.net leak
 
 
Leave us a message! Want to leave some feedback and suggestions but would prefer not to write an email? You can leave us a voicemail (90 seconds max). We will share any that are not too spicy in the following episode. SpeakPipe link - https://www.speakpipe.com/Cyber_Sidekicks Or, send us an email: Christina Richmond – christina@richmondadvisorygroup.com Rory Duncan – rory@richmondadvisorygroup.com Subscribe to our Newsletter - "Signal, not noise"Our monthly newsletter is free to subscribers! Sign-up now at Richmond Advisory Group.   Technology we use Podcast Recording Platform – Cleanfeed.com Cyber Sidekicks Show Host – Podbean.com Edited & mastered in GarageBand

This week, Christina & Rory are joined by Fractional CISO, Risk & Governance expert,  - and soon to be author - Kayne McGladrey as he returns to the show to discuss the complex and rapidly evolving legal and financial realities of AI liability. Who takes the fall when AI systems make critical errors, violate copyrights, or leak data? The discussion delves into the pros and cons of open-weight models i.e. they save money on token costs, but the deploying company must assume 100% of the liability for both inputs and outputs, unlike when using a frontier model (like Microsoft or OpenAI), the company at least has a contractual defense and some recourse...
Kayne's website, inc. details of his forthcoming book: kaynemcgladrey.com 
NEWS
McKesson Confirms Data Breach as Attacker Deadline Looms
Palo Alto Networks FY26 Q4, Earnings Results & Highlights
NetSPI and Synack to Merge
Leave us a message! Want to leave some feedback and suggestions but would prefer not to write an email? You can leave us a voicemail (90 seconds max). We will share any that are not too spicy in the following episode. SpeakPipe link - https://www.speakpipe.com/Cyber_Sidekicks Or, send us an email: Christina Richmond – christina@richmondadvisorygroup.com Rory Duncan – rory@richmondadvisorygroup.com Subscribe to our Newsletter - "Signal, not noise"Our monthly newsletter is free to subscribers! Sign-up now at Richmond Advisory Group.   Technology we use Podcast Recording Platform – Cleanfeed.com Cyber Sidekicks Show Host – Podbean.com Edited & mastered in GarageBand

In this week's episode, Simon Hodgkinson - strategic advisor for Semperis - returns for his third appearance on the show to discuss why the cybersecurity industry needs to completely re-evaluate how it handles identity resilience. Is ITDR missing it's "R", because it fails to include "Recovery"? Christina, Rory & Simon discuss how a true response to an identity platform compromise cannot be separated from recovery, because the identity platform is the lifeblood of the modern digital ecosystem. ITDRR perhaps??
NEWS
Financial damage from cyber-attacks grows despite falling claims volumes
Iran-Linked Hackers Shut Down UK Power Plant for Four Days
 
 
 
Leave us a message! Want to leave some feedback and suggestions but would prefer not to write an email? You can leave us a voicemail (90 seconds max). We will share any that are not too spicy in the following episode. SpeakPipe link - https://www.speakpipe.com/Cyber_Sidekicks Or, send us an email: Christina Richmond – christina@richmondadvisorygroup.com Rory Duncan – rory@richmondadvisorygroup.com Subscribe to our Newsletter - "Signal, not noise"Our monthly newsletter is free to subscribers! Sign-up now at Richmond Advisory Group.   Technology we use Podcast Recording Platform – Cleanfeed.com Cyber Sidekicks Show Host – Podbean.com Edited & mastered in GarageBand

Another Special Episode this week! Christina and Rory review the state of the cybersecurity M&A landscape in 2026, and discuss how AI is causing a significant shift in strategic positioning, driven by a mixture of time-to-market desire, infrastructure build-outs, and a continuing approach by major telecommunications companies to spin-out their security services divisions.
Fortinet Acquires AI Security Company Virtue AI
Genesis PE Acquires SK Shieldus Security Unit
Bank of America Acquires UK-based MDSec
NEWS
Tech layoffs in 2026 – cybersecurity vendors & service providers
Layoffs.fyi
 
Leave us a message! Want to leave some feedback and suggestions but would prefer not to write an email? You can leave us a voicemail (90 seconds max). We will share any that are not too spicy in the following episode. SpeakPipe link - https://www.speakpipe.com/Cyber_Sidekicks Or, send us an email: Christina Richmond – christina@richmondadvisorygroup.com Rory Duncan – rory@richmondadvisorygroup.com Subscribe to our Newsletter - "Signal, not noise"Our monthly newsletter is free to subscribers! Sign-up now at Richmond Advisory Group.   Technology we use Podcast Recording Platform – Cleanfeed.com Cyber Sidekicks Show Host – Podbean.com Edited & mastered in GarageBand

In this week's episode, Christina are Rory are joined by Russ Bentley, EVP Product Management at ZeroFox to discuss the alarming ease with which AI can now be used to create ultra-realistic and convincing impersonations and the resulting challenges for executive protection. Some great points by Russ, including the need for a return to foundational social engineering awareness. Recommendations: focus on the "basic tells" that are more resistant to AI manipulation - such as questioning the context and character of the contact. Is the topic expected? Is there artificial urgency? Is it out of character for that individual to reach out in this way? 
NEWS
Black Hat Roundup - Rory and Christina select their picks of new and interesting announcements!
IBM Partners with OpenAI to Accelerate Secure AI Deployment for Enterprises Across Core Operations
AI agent hacks gym to get its user a spot in Pilates class
 
Leave us a message! Want to leave some feedback and suggestions but would prefer not to write an email? You can leave us a voicemail (90 seconds max). We will share any that are not too spicy in the following episode. SpeakPipe link - https://www.speakpipe.com/Cyber_Sidekicks Or, send us an email: Christina Richmond – christina@richmondadvisorygroup.com Rory Duncan – rory@richmondadvisorygroup.com Subscribe to our Newsletter - "Signal, not noise"Our monthly newsletter is free to subscribers! Sign-up now at Richmond Advisory Group.   Technology we use Podcast Recording Platform – Cleanfeed.com Cyber Sidekicks Show Host – Podbean.com Edited & mastered in GarageBand

SPECIAL EPISODE: this week, Christina & Rory take the plunge and debate the merits of AI and AI Agents in cybersecurity strategy. What are the pros & cons? How can AI benefit those managing cyber defence vs. the cyber criminals, nation state actors and other attackers pushing on the offensive side? It's often been called an "arms race", so where will it end - if it can? What are the lessons that cybersecurity professionals should bear in mind, and what role will humans have in the rapidly developing security industry?
CALL FOR FEEDBACK: we'd love to hear your thoughts! Send us an email to your choice of address below.
Leave us a message! Want to leave some feedback and suggestions but would prefer not to write an email? You can leave us a voicemail (90 seconds max). We will share any that are not too spicy in the following episode. SpeakPipe link - https://www.speakpipe.com/Cyber_Sidekicks Or, send us an email: Christina Richmond – christina@richmondadvisorygroup.com Rory Duncan – rory@richmondadvisorygroup.com Subscribe to our Newsletter - "Signal, not noise"Our monthly newsletter is free to subscribers! Sign-up now at Richmond Advisory Group.   Technology we use Podcast Recording Platform – Cleanfeed.com Cyber Sidekicks Show Host – Podbean.com Edited & mastered in GarageBand

In this week's episode, Jim LaRoe, CEO of Symphion, discusses the critical security risks associated with printers and IoT devices, which he argues are the most overlooked endpoints in the modern AI-enabled threat landscape. LaRoe emphasizes that while printers are often treated as "dumb appliances," they have evolved into sophisticated servers that reside inside the organizational network. Printers typically represent 20% of all network endpoints, yet they frequently exist in a "print silo" outside the visibility and control of IT and security teams.
NEWS
Microsoft launches its first cybersecurity model, plus a new agentic cybersecurity system
C-Suites Pivot from AI Adoption to Unlocking Value as Escalating Token Costs Trigger Fiscal Scrutiny
Cyera to acquire Oasis Security in reported $1B deal
Leave us a message! Want to leave some feedback and suggestions but would prefer not to write an email? You can leave us a voicemail (90 seconds max). We will share any that are not too spicy in the following episode. SpeakPipe link - https://www.speakpipe.com/Cyber_Sidekicks Or, send us an email: Christina Richmond – christina@richmondadvisorygroup.com Rory Duncan – rory@richmondadvisorygroup.com Subscribe to our Newsletter - "Signal, not noise"Our monthly newsletter is free to subscribers! Sign-up now at Richmond Advisory Group.   Technology we use Podcast Recording Platform – Cleanfeed.com Cyber Sidekicks Show Host – Podbean.com Edited & mastered in GarageBand

Paul Mote, VP Solutions Architect at Synack, chats with Christina & Rory about how artificial intelligence is forcing a radical shift in offensive security and vulnerability management, including why the increasing number of autonomous attacks requires much more robust autonomous defenses. The solution? Organizations must move toward continuous automated patching or blocking to avoid falling hopelessly behind in an expedited attack sequence...
NEWS
Hugging Face experiences cyberattack carried out end-to-end by agentic AI
Sophos releases its “State of Ransomware 2026” report
 
Leave us a message! Want to leave some feedback and suggestions but would prefer not to write an email? You can leave us a voicemail (90 seconds max). We will share any that are not too spicy in the following episode. SpeakPipe link - https://www.speakpipe.com/Cyber_Sidekicks Or, send us an email: Christina Richmond – christina@richmondadvisorygroup.com Rory Duncan – rory@richmondadvisorygroup.com Subscribe to our Newsletter - "Signal, not noise"Our monthly newsletter is free to subscribers! Sign-up now at Richmond Advisory Group.   Technology we use Podcast Recording Platform – Cleanfeed.com Cyber Sidekicks Show Host – Podbean.com Edited & mastered in GarageBand

This week we follow-up on a story from last week's episode about the rise of Agentic Threat Actors (ATAs). Christina & Rory chat with Michael Clark, Senior Director of Threat Research at Sysdig about their discovery of JADEPUFFER, an ATA considered to be the first instance of agentic ransomware - an attack where a Large Language Model (LLM) is on the other end of the connection rather than a human operator. By exploiting the Langflow platform, the agent then autonomously attempted to perform automated database extortion against MySQL instances. But did it achieve its objectives?
Leave us a message! Want to leave some feedback and suggestions but would prefer not to write an email? You can leave us a voicemail (90 seconds max). We will share any that are not too spicy in the following episode. SpeakPipe link - https://www.speakpipe.com/Cyber_Sidekicks Or, send us an email: Christina Richmond – christina@richmondadvisorygroup.com Rory Duncan – rory@richmondadvisorygroup.com Subscribe to our Newsletter - "Signal, not noise"Our monthly newsletter is free to subscribers! Sign-up now at Richmond Advisory Group.   Technology we use Podcast Recording Platform – Cleanfeed.com Cyber Sidekicks Show Host – Podbean.com Edited & mastered in GarageBand