What happens when AI refuses to be replaced? This episode kicks off with a chilling real-world example of an AI threatening blackmail—and only gets more intense from there.

Host Ron Eddings unpacks the terrifyingly innovative ways AI is altering the cybersecurity threat landscape. From deepfakes convincing enough to fool your own family to auto-summarizing email clients acting as unintentional insiders, the stakes have never been higher. Ron also shares insights from his brand-new book Attack Surface Management, co-authored with MJ Kaufman and published by O'Reilly, and breaks down why the simplest social engineering tactics remain the most dangerous—even in the age of advanced AI.

00:00 - Introduction

02:30 - Model Context Protocol explained

05:00 - Google's VEO-3 and fake riot videos

07:00 - Fake Facebook ads pushing malware

09:30 - Social engineering still reigns supreme

13:30 - Using AI to write malicious emails

16:30 - Calendly phishing and credential theft

19:00 - Gemini and the risk of auto-summarization

21:30 - LLM access to your private documents

22:45 - Takeaways and protecting your environment

Links:

Connect with Ron on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronaldeddings/

Grab a copy of Ron’s new book, “Attack Surface Management: Strategies and Techniques for Safeguarding Your Digital Assets”: https://a.co/d/1nmPod2

Check out the full article on “The Rise of ‘Vibe Hacking’ Is the Next AI Nightmare” here: https://www.wired.com/story/youre-not-ready-for-ai-hacker-agents/

Check out our upcoming events: https://www.hackervalley.com/livestreams

Join our creative mastermind and stand out as a cybersecurity professional:

https://www.patreon.com/hackervalleystudio

Love Hacker Valley Studio? Pick up some swag: https://store.hackervalley.com

Continue the conversation by joining our Discord: https://hackervalley.com/discord

Become a sponsor of the show to amplify your brand: https://hackervalley.com/work-with-us/

What if Zero Trust isn’t a framework, but the only viable cybersecurity strategy—more about people than products?

In this episode, George Finney, CISO at the University of Texas System and author of Project Zero Trust, reveals the human-first truth behind the Zero Trust movement, and why it’s not something you buy but something you build. George shares stories from hacking a college database to launching a deepfake of himself trained on his own books, all while breaking down how AI and creativity are reshaping security leadership.

Impactful Moments:

00:00 - Introduction 01:16 - Cyber Hall of Fame recognition 07:00 - Hacked his college to solve mail 09:00 - Took startup job without paycheck 14:14 - Zero Trust is a strategy, not tool 17:00 - Tailoring security like a custom suit 23:29 - AI strategy through Zero Trust lens 29:30 - Built a Zero Trust voice clone hotline 36:00 - You don’t need to be a CISO 38:30 - Why weirdos make cybersecurity stronger

Links:

Connect with our guest, George Finney: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgefinney/

Check out George’s books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B01MT0C6X3

Check out our upcoming events: https://www.hackervalley.com/livestreams

Join our creative mastermind and stand out as a cybersecurity professional:

https://www.patreon.com/hackervalleystudio

Love Hacker Valley Studio? Pick up some swag: https://store.hackervalley.com

Continue the conversation by joining our Discord: https://hackervalley.com/discord

Become a sponsor of the show to amplify your brand: https://hackervalley.com/work-with-us/

You won’t be replaced by AI—you’ll be replaced by someone using it better.

Returning guest Marco Figueroa is back with a frontline report on the AI agent boom. This isn’t a prediction—it’s a tactical update from someone tracking every release, every benchmark battle, and every edge worth chasing.

In this episode, Ron is joined by Marco as he breaks down the rapid evolution of AI agents—from Claude Code to Codex to Google Flow. He explains why general-purpose models are leveling off, how specialized tools are reshaping the landscape, and why creativity is now your most valuable edge. Whether you're in code, ops, or content, your two-year advantage starts right here.

00:00 - Introduction 01:08 - AI agents are no longer hype 03:45 - Major LLM releases and what's next 05:32 - The Grok delay and pricing drama 07:30 - Why general models are losing steam 10:50 - Benchmark manipulation and model specialization 14:15 - The future belongs to creatives 22:05 - The next AI drops to watch

Links:

Connect with our guest, Marco Figueroa: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marco-figueroa-re/

Check out our upcoming events: https://www.hackervalley.com/livestreams

Join our creative mastermind and stand out as a cybersecurity professional:

https://www.patreon.com/hackervalleystudio

Love Hacker Valley Studio? Pick up some swag: https://store.hackervalley.com

Continue the conversation by joining our Discord: https://hackervalley.com/discord

Become a sponsor of the show to amplify your brand: https://hackervalley.com/work-with-us/

Most people think red teaming is digital—until someone bypasses your locks, plants a Raspberry Pi in your server room, and walks out with your data. That’s not sci-fi. That’s White Knight Labs.

In this episode, Ron talks with Greg Hatcher and John Stigerwalt, co-founders of White Knight Labs, a boutique offensive security firm built on real-world action. They share high-stakes red team operations—like triggering alarms and dodging police during a break-in—and explain why most companies are wide open to physical and insider threats. This isn’t a theory. It’s what’s happening right now, and it’s being executed with precision and purpose.

00:00 - Introduction

02:13 - Origin story of White Knight Labs

08:56 - Why physical red teaming is broken

12:20 - Breaking into a lottery facility

16:00 - Hiding from police mid-engagement

22:30 - Getting hired to breach from inside

25:45 - Hijacking code from offshore devs

33:29 - Real difference: red team vs pen test

35:00 - Get in touch with WKL

Connect with our guests! Greg Hatcher: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregoryhatcher2/ John Stigerwalt: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-stigerwalt-90a9b4110/

Learn more about White Knight Labs: https://www.whiteknightlabs.com

Check out our upcoming events: https://www.hackervalley.com/livestreams

Join our creative mastermind and stand out as a cybersecurity professional:

https://www.patreon.com/hackervalleystudio

Love Hacker Valley Studio? Pick up some swag: https://store.hackervalley.com

Continue the conversation by joining our Discord: https://hackervalley.com/discord

Become a sponsor of the show to amplify your brand: https://hackervalley.com/work-with-us/

What if fixing cybersecurity wasn’t about more tools, but about unlocking human potential?

In this episode, Ron Eddings welcomes back David Shipley, CEO and Field CSO of Beauceron Security, for a conversation on the real force behind security resilience: people. Together they expose the failure of "reactive" cybersecurity strategies, drawing parallels with preventative healthcare — and explain why culture, psychological safety, and behavior change are the true secret weapons.

00:00 - Introduction

01:36 - The true meaning of "people in cyber"

03:13 - Cybersecurity’s flawed healthcare analogy

07:31 - Nutrition for cyber: proactive strategies

10:00 - MSPs: why selling tools isn’t enough

16:22 - Measuring culture, not just clicks

19:12 - Why people really click phishing emails

23:59 - Building psychological safety in security

30:30 - Celebrating human wins in security

34:00 - The future: empathy, transparency, trust

Links:

Connect with our guest, David Shipley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dbshipley/

Learn more about Beauceron Security here: https:///www.beauceronsecurity.com/partner

Check out our upcoming events: https://www.hackervalley.com/livestreams

Join our creative mastermind and stand out as a cybersecurity professional:

https://www.patreon.com/hackervalleystudio

Love Hacker Valley Studio? Pick up some swag: https://store.hackervalley.com

Continue the conversation by joining our Discord: https://hackervalley.com/discord

Become a sponsor of the show to amplify your brand: https://hackervalley.com/work-with-us/

Still tracking certificates in a spreadsheet? You’re not alone—and there’s a better way.

In this special episode from RSA 2025, Ron sits down with Michael Klieman, Global Vice President of Product Management for Digital Security Solutions at Entrust, to discuss how leading organizations are rethinking cryptographic security. From simplifying certificate management to preparing for a post-quantum future, this conversation covers real-world risks, surprising breach stories, and practical steps for bringing order to crypto chaos—without the stress.

Impactful Moments:

00:00 – Introduction 04:00 – Three major problems with crypto today 06:45 – Certificates often missing from inventories 08:30 – Managing EV charging infrastructure with spreadsheets 11:00 – The two biggest certificate-related risks 12:50 – Expired certs can tank brand trust 14:45 – Automation usually comes after spreadsheets 16:30 – Why quantum risk grows every year 18:15 – Start with a cryptographic inventory 20:30 – Nation-state threats and critical infrastructure 22:15 – AI could fast-track quantum breakthroughs 24:45 – Entrust’s new unified crypto security platform 26:35 – One question every CISO must answer in 2025

Links:

Connect with our guest, Michael Klieman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mklieman/

Learn more about Entrust at: https://entrust.com/csp

Check out our upcoming events: https://www.hackervalley.com/livestreams

Join our creative mastermind and stand out as a cybersecurity professional:

https://www.patreon.com/hackervalleystudio

Love Hacker Valley Studio? Pick up some swag: https://store.hackervalley.com

Continue the conversation by joining our Discord: https://hackervalley.com/discord

Become a sponsor of the show to amplify your brand: https://hackervalley.com/work-with-us/

AI is reshaping the cybersecurity battlefield, and cyber adversaries are getting smarter.

In this episode, Ron Eddings welcomes Andrey Suzdaltsev, Co-Founder and CEO of Brightside AI, for a look into the evolution of social engineering, AI’s role in personalized phishing, and how Brightside is turning the tables with automation and human-centric protection. From offensive AI simulations to family-inclusive cyber safety, Andrey shares how his team secures both professional and personal perimeters before cybercriminals can strike.

Impactful Moments

00:00 Cyber criminals get a theatrical glow-up

01:47 AI models + personal data = mass fraud

03:42 Brightside’s 3-part solution explained

07:32 Why security must get personal

11:16 Ron’s reaction to Brightside’s realism

13:16 AI research tools now used by hackers

19:33 Why deepfake detection may fail

15:16 Automating attacks with AI agents

37:34 Protecting families = smarter security

41:56 Brightside’s vision for defending human risk

Links

Connect with our guest, Andrey Suzdaltsev: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ndrey

Learn more about Brightside: www.brside.com

Check out our upcoming events: https://www.hackervalley.com/livestreams

Join our creative mastermind and stand out as a cybersecurity professional:

https://www.patreon.com/hackervalleystudio

Love Hacker Valley Studio? Pick up some swag: https://store.hackervalley.com

Continue the conversation by joining our Discord: https://hackervalley.com/discord

Become a sponsor of the show to amplify your brand: https://hackervalley.com/work-with-us/

Passwords are the original digital clutter—messy, overstuffed, and way too easy to forget. Like a junk drawer full of old keys and cables, we keep tossing more into them, hoping they’ll somehow keep working. But what if it’s time to throw the whole thing out?

In this episode, Ron Eddings is joined by Collin Sweeney of ZKX Solutions and Dr. Chase Cunningham, a.k.a. “Dr. Zero Trust,” for a bold conversation on the future of authentication. From the failures of MFA to the promise of zero-knowledge proofs, the crew breaks down how we got stuck with broken access systems—and what it’ll take to finally fix them. Whether it’s SIM swapping, face IDs, or security keys on the battlefield, this is the real talk on identity security you don’t want to miss.

00:00 – Introduction 03:45 – ZKX’s origin: voice verification breakthrough 06:45 – Collin’s “oh crap” SolarWinds realization 09:15 – Why MFA still fails in practice 13:15 – Zero-knowledge proofs explained with a coin 15:30 – How ZKPs reduce identity attack surfaces 17:45 – Making MFA faster, smarter, more human 20:00 – MFA fatigue and ice skating uphill 24:00 – Why people still cling to passwords 30:54 – Quantum fears vs real-world encryption limits

Links:

Connect with Collin Sweeney: https://www.linkedin.com/in/collin-sweeney-6ab6a5176/

Check out ZKX Solutions new product, Helix:

zkxsolutions.com/helix

Connect with Chase Cunningham: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-chase-cunningham/

Grab a copy of Chase Cunningham's book “vArIable: A Novel in the gAbrIel Series” here: www.amazon.com/vArIable-gAbrIel-Dr-Chase-Cunningham-ebook/dp/B0DVMWCWCD?ref_=ast_author_mp

Check out Hacker Valley’s upcoming events: https://www.hackervalley.com/livestreams

Join our creative mastermind and stand out as a cybersecurity professional:

https://www.patreon.com/hackervalleystudio

Love Hacker Valley Studio? Pick up some swag: https://store.hackervalley.com

Continue the conversation by joining our Discord: https://hackervalley.com/discord

B