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

In this week's episode, Christina & Rory talk with guest Heath Renfrow, co-founder of breach recovery specialist Fenix24. Warning: It's a sobering look at the "cleanup" side of cybersecurity, emphasizing that most organizations are fundamentally unprepared for the complexity of full system restoration after a major attack. From the failure of backups and the hidden cost of business interruption, the discussion concludes the need for resiliency to be the top security control in every organization.
NEWS
JADEPUFFER: Agentic ransomware for automated database extortion
Startup sues Palo Alto Networks' Koi Security, saying an AI-hallucinated report falsely linked it to Chinese espionage
 
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, guest Jayesh Kamat, Global Competency Leader in Application Security at IBM, chats with Christina about the profound impact of AI frontier models on cybersecurity and the necessity of shifting toward an "AI-native" security posture. 
With machines now generating code at an exponential rate through agents like "IBM Bob," traditional application security (AppSec) methods are no longer sufficient. Kamat advocates for AI-native security, which integrates protection directly into the development lifecycle:
Secure by Design: Security requirements, such as whitelisted libraries and functions, should be defined in the specifications before any code is generated.
Agent Verification: AI agents should be tasked with reviewing their own code, verifying its security, and explaining their "thought process" for human oversight.
The Security Harness: This new approach involves using a specialized "harness" to deploy frontier models to identify vulnerabilities and map exploit paths.
Once a path is identified, other agents can auto-remediate the code or update firewall controls in real-time
Ultimately, Kamat views this as a "moment under the sun" for application security, which has shifted from a neglected back-office function to a primary focus of enterprise strategy
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 show, Brandon Dobrec, VP of Product at SecurityScorecard, chats with Christina & Rory about the escalating challenges of supply chain security and why traditional risk management is failing in the face of modern complexity.
NEWS
SailPoint to Acquire Entro in Reported $200 Million Deal
“FortiBleed”: Sweeping Credential-Harvesting Heist Compromises 30K+ Fortinet Devices
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

It's another special episode this week! 
Hosts Christina Richmond and Rory Duncan examine the evolution of the identity market from a back-office IT function to a central pillar of modern business risk management. The discussion traces the shift from simple human credential management to a complex landscape dominated by non-human identities (NHIs), such as service accounts, APIs, and emerging AI agents.
Why is this such a risk? Attackers are now much more likely to "log in" rather than "hack in," and organisations must move toward a model of accountability and zero standing privileges to secure their digital perimeters.
Which vendors and service providers should you consider? Establish players include IBM/HashiCorp, Cisco, CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks, Sailpoint, Securonix, Sphere Technology Solutions and others. Newer and emerging firms include Glide Security, Token Security, Silverfort, SingulrAI and more!
What do we recommend? The need for identity hygiene and the integration of behavioural detection to manage the exponential growth of autonomous machine identities.
 
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 chat with Simon Hunt, Chief Product Officer at Securonix about the intersection of human intelligence and AI in cybersecurity, and the current hype and "anthropomorphizing" of large language models (LLMs). 
Christina also gives us an update on her visit to Cisco Live! She's also written a great blog that includes her thoughts and insights from the event.
We also cover a couple of news items, including this week's "wtf" moment from the demo of the AI- hallucinated VibeOS and discuss what the potential security implications might be.
 
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, another in our series of Special Episodes - this one dedicated to an analysis of the state of the Threat Hunting market, the key players and the early movers in pre-emptive cybersecurity. Richmond Advisory Group's Principal Analysts Christina Richmond & Rory Duncan outline the evolution of threat hunting from reactive, through proactive, to pre-emptive, debating the use of AI agents and "machine speed" defence. The team also look at some of the more prominent early movers, including Netcraft, Bfore.ai, Nisos, DeepWatch, IBM and Sweet Security.
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

Cody Pierce, Co-Founder & CEO of Neon Cyber chat with Rory this week about visibility, context, and the importance of decentralized security as he proposes that the browser will become the operating system for most people's daily work. 
NEWS
Christina & Rory discuss healthcare and data confidentiality this week - outlining the alarming increase in cyber-attacks in this sector: 118 large-scale healthcare data breaches in the first 2 months of 2026 alone! What’s behind it and what can we do about it? Counter measures, strategies and tactics are debated and discussed in a wide-ranging discussion!
 
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

How do you differentiate between a scenario where agents are getting smarter and working for you versus getting smarter and working against you? This week, Christina & Rory chat with Shiv Agarwal, Co-Founder & CEO at Singulr AI, discussing the advancements in detective and preventive technologies and the importance of modelling out the Good vs. the Bad
NEWS
Google Detects First AI-Generated Zero-Day Exploit
Sweet Security Launches Agentic AI Red Teaming to Counter ‘Mythos Moment’
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

The critical topic of securing the software supply chain is discussed this week with Daniel Bardenstein, CEO & Co-Founder of Manifest Cyber. Rory, Christina & Daniel talk about the critical intersection of AI, supply chain security, and the erosion of trust in technology.
Christina also shares her thoughts about her visit to IBM Think 2026, including why specific solutions for orchestration and observability have calmed many of her fears about the governance of agentic AI !
Link to the IBM video that Christina mentions:
Agentic Runtime Security Explained: Securing Non-Human Identity
 
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, Kory Daniels, Chief Security & Trust Officer at LevelBlue describes how the rapid advancement of AI is fundamentally altering the cybersecurity landscape, necessitating a shift in how organizations approach defense, culture, and risk management. In discussion with Christina and Rory, Kory argues that the speed of AI agentic capabilities—specifically citing models like Anthropic’s Opus and the newly-announced Mythos —is making traditional vulnerability management irrelevant.
NEWS
Claude-powered AI coding agent deletes entire company database in 9 seconds — backups zapped, after Cursor tool powered by Anthropic's Claude goes rogue!
Airbus strengthens sovereign cyber security with acquisition of Quarkslab in France
 
 
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