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

Serious discussions this week as Christina & Rory look more closely at how a combination of physical and digital threats are bringing the effects of the conflict in the Middle East home to people across a wide region. Datacenter outages, AI-powered targeting and large-scale hacktivist attacks outline the heightened vulnerability of critical infrastructure.   AWS UAE data center hit by outage following military strikes across the region Iran war heralds era of AI-powered bombing quicker than ‘speed of thought’  Iran Cyber Front: Hacktivist Activity Rises, but State-Sponsored Attacks Stay Low As War Continues, Pro-Iranian Actors Launch Barrage of Cyberattacks   AI NEWS GenAI content spawns a new acronym Microsoft gets pissed at new AI term - I wonder why? AI Agent scans GitHub for exploitable Actions - asks for crypto 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 discuss some of the trends, new directions and common approaches of some of this year's RSAC 2026 Innovation Sandbox Finalists! We also cover the latest M&A News: Palo Alto Networks announcing their intention to buy AI endpoint security platform Koi; the pitfalls of using an AI-generated random password (hint: they're not actually unique or necessarily secure...), and; the latest threat from LLM "distillation"..... NEWS Palo Alto Networks to Acquire Koi in Reported $400 Million Transaction Your AI-generated password isn't random: it just looks that way Detecting & Preventing Distillation Attacks 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 the run-up to RSAC 2026 we have the first of a series of shows highlighting some of the new and innovative cybersecurity firms in the event's Innovation Sandbox Top 10 Final. This week, Christina & Rory chat with Hanah-Marie Darley, Chief AI Officer at Geordie.ai about how to govern AI agents by deeply understanding what they are capable of, their behaviour, and how to manage and govern them through the context that they are operating in, on a minute-by-minute basis.   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 week, another acquisition? This time, Sophos is front-and-centre with the announcement that it intends to purchase UK-based Arco Cyber in a move that the company says will help customers by combining agentic AI, integrated platforms, and trusted human expertise delivered in partnership with managed service providers (MSPs) and managed security service providers (MSSPs). We also have a great chat with cybersecurity community activist, semi-retired industry analyst, consultant, and board member Jon Oltsik about SOAPA - stay tuned for more content around this architecture/framework! NEWS Sophos to acquire Arco Cyber “to Bring CISO-Level, Agentic AI-Powered Expertise to Every Organization”     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 discuss Moltbook: the social network built for AI agents - but what are the security implications, and how could attackers take advantage of potential vulnerabilities? Also, more AI-fuelled attacks on AWS' S3 public buckets make credential finding much quicker, and an update on how Poland's cybersecurity police are cracking down on the increase in domestic hacking and DDoS / botnet crime! NEWS Security Analysis of Moltbook Agent Network: Bot-to-Bot Prompt Injection and Data Leaks 8-Minute Access: AI Accelerates Breach of AWS Environment Polish cops bail 20-year-old bedroom botnet operator RSAC 2026 The preparations have started! Let us know what you would like to see covered on our special Show Episode at the end of March. We recorded a fun episode with IBM in 2025 - take a look at the video on our YouTube channel.   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 big announcement this week as LevelBlue signs a strategic alliance with Fortra, marking a partnership that will benefit from a combined product + services play. As part of the deal, LevelBlue will acquire Fortra's managed services - including those of the former Alert Logic acquisition - covering MDR, XDR & WAF. NEWS LevelBlue and Fortra Launch Strategic Managed Services Partnership to Accelerate Cybersecurity Innovation PwC and Google Cloud Ink $400 Million Deal to Scale AI-Powered Defense Sandworm Blamed for Wiper Attack on Poland Power Grid Ed Martin of Sophos was due to join is this week but couldn't make it. However, we hope to have him on next week!   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 have an extended discussion with Ryan LaSalle, CEO of Nisos on the topic of digital executive protection and "exhaust" management. Ryan also joins our chat about the announcement of ChatGPT Health and what the security implications of sharing personal, medical information might be.... NEWS Analysis of 6 Billion Passwords Shows Stagnant User Behavior ChatGPT Health Raises Big Security, Safety Concerns Goldman's profit beats on record stock trading, sees robust M&A activity in 2026   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

An M&A focused episode this week as CrowdStrike announces it intends to purchase identity security vendor SGNL, as well as browser runtime security vendor Seraphic Security - moves designed to beef-up it's Falcon platform, enhancing its capabilities for continuous authorization, and protecting in-session browser activity for both human and autonomous identities. Christina & Rory discuss the implications for CrowdStrike and what it means for the wider industry.  NEWS CrowdStrike to Acquire SGNL to Secure Every Identity in the AI Era CrowdStrike to Acquire Seraphic, Turning Any Browser into a Secure Enterprise Browser WitnessAI Raises $58 Million for AI Security Platform 'Most Severe AI Vulnerability to Date' Hits ServiceNow   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 episode, Christina and Rory highlight alarming news regarding cybersecurity professionals who pleaded guilty to participating in ransomware-as-a-service schemes. They also examine shifts in cyber insurance, noting a rise in phishing-related claims even as third-party outage risks appear to decline. AI security remains a primary focus, and a discussion around analyzing the potential for autonomous agents to act as a new form of insider threat rounds out the news section. Guest James Rice, VP of Product Marketing & Strategy at Protegrity joins the conversation to advocate for a "whitelist" approach to data protection that enables business growth rather than obstructing it. Ultimately, he emphasizes the necessity of merging data observability with security to protect organizations in an increasingly automated landscape. NEWS Two US Cybersecurity Pros Plead Guilty Over Ransomware Attacks New Tech Deployments That Cyber Insurers Recommend for 2026 Palo Alto Networks security-intel boss calls AI agents 2026's biggest insider threat Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella becomes AI influencer, asks us all to move beyond slop LINKS 2025 Cybersecurity Market Recap Part #1: More M&A as Deal Sizes Increase! 2025 Cybersecurity Market Re-cap Part #2: Cyber Offense, Platform Wars, and the "boring bits" Stealth AI, Defensive Agents & Quantum Resilience: The 2026 Cybersecurity Battle Lines are Drawn   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

We conclude our 2025 Cybersecurity Market re-cap with a look at the defensive and offensive moves brought in by AI tools - in particular through the use of autonomous AI agents. We also cover the implications of the ongoing "platform wars" between major vendors and service providers. Oh, and some of the boring bits... We also nominate our Heroes of the Year, as well as the Zeros and some of the things we thought were a bit "ho hum" in 2025....   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 the first of our recap of the 2025 cybersecurity market, Christina & I delve into the continuing boom in M&A that has fuelled consolidation since the low-point of 2023, with Alphabet/Google, Palo Alto Networks and others playing a significant role. We also chat with Alex Holland, Principal Threat Researcher at the HP Security Lab who explains how the quality of social engineering has dramatically improved - with some chilling examples. We also hijack his zoo analogy and end-up discussing pine martins (sorry Alex, that was my fault).... In next week's episode - number #49 - we conclude our 2025 recap with a roundup of the other major events and trends we saw, and share our "Heroes of the Year" and our "Zeros of the Year"   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

Our first, annual predictions special episode! We delve into what we believe 2026 will mean for the cybersecurity industry, including what trends, technologies and external factors will be prominent over the next 12 months. Expect a lively discussion covering threat actors, defensive AI agents, post-quantum cryptography, device-level protection, and geopolitical instability. Products/vendors we mention: IBM's ATOM, Deepwatch, Ontinue, HP Inc.     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 discuss the under-the-radar purchase by Palo Alto Networks of observability specialist Chronosphere  for $3.35 billion: what does it mean for both companies and for the wider industry? Rory also has a great chat with Alex Berger, Head of Marketing at Ontinue about the latest developments in MDR. NEWS Palo Alto Networks to Acquire Chronosphere, “Next-Gen Observability Leader”, for the “AI Era” (we added quotes around the parts we think are up for debate/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

We had a wide-ranging chat with renowned cybersecurity researcher, innovator and author Harold Moss, looking at why we need to treat AI Agents like people - with their own identities - so that we can better manage any potential risk around their increasingly autonomous actions. NEWS Bridging the Skills Gap: How Military Veterans Are Strengthening Cybersecurity Wiz and Microsoft alumni launch Mate with $15.5M Seed to build AI-native security operations   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

Cary Hudgins, VP of Product Management for Fortra's Cyber Portfolio joins us this week to chaqt about the increasing complexity of cybersecurity, particularly on the data storage side of things: data lakes, data warehouses and now data lakehouses. Rory also tries telepathy with Christina, with predictable results.... NEWS 5 Plead Guilty in US to Helping North Korean IT Workers Chinese spies told Claude to break into about 30 critical orgs. Some attacks succeeded…   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, Mike Perez, a Director at managed IT and security services provider Ekco chats to us about Digital Loss Prevention (DLP), incident readiness, how they use deepfakes for customer tabletop cybersecurity training exercises and more! NEWS Bank of England says JLR's cyberattack contributed to UK's unexpectedly slower GDP growth Vulnerability management vendor Intruder publishes its 2025 Exposure Management Index   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

Oh boy, we had a wide-ranging and detailed discussion this week with Andy Ash (aka "Andy Two"), CISO at Netacea about the role of AI agents and bots in identity management and threat intelligence. How much risk do we trade off against convenience, and how does this affect our security? NEWS CISO Burnout – Epidemic, Endemic, or Simply Inevitable? CrowdStrike releases its 2025 European Threat Landscape 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, Christina has a great chat with Charles Henderson, EVP & Head of DivisionHex at Coalfire. The discussion covers offensive and defensive security, and managed security services as well as the ins-and-outs of cyber insurance and risk dynamics.... NEWS MITRE Unveils ATT&CK v18 With Updates to Detections, Mobile, ICS Cybersecurity Firms See Surge in AI-Powered Attacks Across Africa   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

Lots to talk about this week as we dissect the AWS outage, what the implications are for resiliency, and AWS' own advice about how to mitigate dependencies on partitional services - with Sean Deuby, Principal Technologist at Semperis. NEWS Amazon fixes huge AWS outage that broke much of the internet – here's what happened Concerns over UK (and European) reliance on AWS and US services White Paper: AWS Fault Isolation Boundaries - Global Services Dutch government takes control of China-owned chip firm     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

Big M&A news of the week as we discuss the announcement that LevelBlue will be acquiring Cybereason!  We also have a great discussion about security, website blocking and threat protection services with this week's guest TK Keanini, CTO at DNSFilter.   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