Cyberside Chats: Cybersecurity Insights from the Experts

The December release of the Epstein files wasn’t just controversial—it exposed a set of security problems organizations face every day. Documents that appeared heavily redacted weren’t always properly sanitized. Some files were pulled and reissued, drawing even more attention. And as interest surged, attackers quickly stepped in, distributing malware and phishing sites disguised as “Epstein archiv...

Amazon released two security disclosures in the same week — and together, they reveal how modern attackers are getting inside organizations without breaking in. One case involved a North Korean IT worker who entered Amazon’s environment through a third-party contractor and was detected through subtle behavioral anomalies rather than malware. The other detailed a years-long Russian state-sponsored...

AI has supercharged phishing, deepfakes, and impersonation attacks—and 2025 proved that our trust systems aren’t built for this new reality. In this episode, Sherri and Matt break down the #1 change every security program needs in 2026: dramatically improving identity and authentication across the organization.  We explore how AI blurred the lines between legitimate and malicious communication, wh...

Microsoft is rolling out a series of new-ish security features across Microsoft 365 in 2026 — and these updates are no accident. They’re direct responses to how attackers are exploiting collaboration tools like Teams, Slack, Zoom, and Google Chat. In this episode, Sherri and Matt break down the five features that matter most, why they’re happening now, and how every organization can benefit from t...

A massive 7-year espionage campaign hid in plain sight. Harmless Chrome and Edge extensions — wallpaper tools, tab managers, PDF converters — suddenly flipped into full surveillance implants, impacting more than 4.3 million users. In this episode, we break down how ShadyPanda built trust over years, then weaponized auto-updates to steal browsing history, authentication tokens, and even live sessio...

Insider threats are accelerating across every sector. In this episode, Sherri and Matt unpack the CrowdStrike insider leak, the two DigitalMint employees indicted for BlackCat ransomware activity, and Tesla’s multi-year insider incidents ranging from nation-state bribery to post-termination extortion. They also examine the 2025 crackdown on North Korean operatives who used stolen identities and de...

From routers to office cameras to employee phones and even the servers running your network, Chinese-manufactured components are everywhere—including throughout your own organization. In this live Cyberside Chats, we’ll explore how deeply these devices are embedded in modern infrastructure and what that means for cybersecurity, procurement, and third-party risk.  We’ll break down new government wa...

Hackers are using AI to supercharge holiday scams—flooding the web with fake ads, phishing pages, and credential-stealing bots. This season, researchers predict a record spike in automated attacks and malvertising campaigns that blur the line between human and machine. Sherri Davidoff and Matt Durrin break down what’s new this holiday season—from AI-generated phishing kits and bot-driven account t...

When thieves pulled off a lightning-fast heist at the Louvre on October 19, 2025, the world focused on the stolen jewels. But leaked audit reports soon revealed another story — one of weak passwords, legacy systems, and a decade of ignored warnings.  In this episode of Cyberside Chats, Sherri Davidoff and Matt Durrin dig into the cybersecurity lessons behind the Louvre’s seven-minute robbery. They...

Attackers are poisoning search results and buying sponsored ads to push malware disguised as trusted software. In this episode, Sherri Davidoff and Matt Durrin break down the latest SEO poisoning and malvertising research, including the Oyster/Broomstick campaign that hid backdoors inside fake Microsoft Teams installers. Learn how these attacks exploit everyday user behavior, why they’re so effect...

When Amazon Web Services went down on October 20, 2025, the impact rippled around the world. The outage knocked out Slack messages, paused financial trades, grounded flights, and even stopped people from charging their electric cars. From Coinbase to college classrooms, from food delivery apps to smart homes, millions discovered just how deeply their lives depend on a single cloud provider.  In th...

When ransomware forced Jaguar Land Rover to halt production for six weeks, the impact rippled through global supply chains — from luxury car lines to small suppliers fighting to stay afloat. In this episode, Sherri Davidoff and Matt Durrin examine what happened, why manufacturing has become ransomware’s top target, and what new data from Sophos and Black Kite reveal about the latest attack trends....

In this episode of Cyberside Chats, Matt Durrin and his guest explore what makes cybersecurity communication effective — whether you’re leading a sales presentation, a training session, or a tabletop exercise. The discussion dives into how to move beyond technical jargon and statistics to tell stories that resonate. Listeners will learn how understanding and communicating the “why” behind security...

When the government shut down, the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 expired with it. That law provided liability protections for cyber threat information sharing and underpinned DHS’s Automated Indicator Sharing (AIS) program, which costs about $1M a month to run. Is it worth the cost? In this episode of Cyberside Chats, Sherri Davidoff and Matt Durrin dig into the value of public-pri...

Scattered Spider is back in the headlines, with two recent arrests — Thalha Jubair in the UK and a teenager in Nevada — bringing fresh attention to one of the most disruptive cybercriminal crews today. But the real story is in the indictments: they offer a rare inside look at the group’s structure, their victims, and the mistakes that led law enforcement to track them down. In this episode, Sherri...

What happens when the same AI tools that make coding easier also give cybercriminals new powers? In this episode of Cyberside Chats Live, we explore the rise of “vibe coding” and its darker twin, “vibe hacking.” You’ll learn how AI is reshaping software development, how attackers are turning those vibes into cybercrime, and what it means for the future of security.    Key Takeaways  Establish grou...

When we first covered the Salesforce–Drift breach, we knew it was bad. Now it’s clear the impact is even bigger. Hundreds of organizations — including Cloudflare, Palo Alto Networks, Zscaler, Proofpoint, Rubrik, and even financial firms like Wealthsimple — have confirmed they were affected. The root cause? A compromised GitHub account that opened the door to Drift’s AWS environment and gave attack...

A single weak app integration opened the door for attackers to raid data from some of the world’s largest companies. Salesforce environments were hit hardest—with victims like Cloudflare, Palo Alto Networks, and Zscaler—but the blast radius also reached other SaaS platforms, including Google Workspace. In this episode of Cyberside Chats, Sherri Davidoff and Matt Durrin break down the Salesforce–Dr...

Hackers aren’t untouchable—and sometimes, they become the victims. From North Korean operatives getting exposed at DEF CON, to ransomware gangs like Conti and LockBit crumbling under betrayal and rival leaks, the underground is full of double-crosses and takedowns. Now, Congress is even debating whether to bring back “letters of marque” to authorize cyber privateers to hack back on behalf of the U...

On the eve of the Trump–Putin summit, sensitive U.S. State Department documents were left sitting in a hotel printer in Anchorage. Guests stumbled on pages detailing schedules, contacts, and even a gift list—sparking international headlines and White House mockery.  But the real story isn’t just about geopolitics. It’s about how unmanaged printers—at hotels, in home offices, and everywhere in betw...

A wave of coordinated cyberattacks has hit Salesforce customers across industries and continents, compromising millions of records from some of the world’s most recognized brands — including Google, Allianz Life, Qantas, LVMH, and even government agencies.  In this episode of Cyberside Chats, Sherri Davidoff and Matt Durrin break down how the attackers pulled off one of the most sweeping cloud com...

On National Social Engineering Day, we’re pulling the lid off one of the most dangerous insider threat campaigns in the world — North Korea’s fake remote IT worker program.  Using AI-generated résumés, real-time deepfake interviews, and U.S.-based “laptop farms,” DPRK operatives are gaining legitimate employment inside U.S. companies — funding nuclear weapons programs and potentially opening doors...

A silent compromise, nearly a million developers affected, and no one at Amazon knew for six days. In this episode of Cyberside Chats, we’re diving into the Amazon Q AI Hack, a shocking example of how vulnerable our software development tools have become. Join hosts Sherri Davidoff and Matt Durrin as they unpack how a misconfigured GitHub token allowed a hacker to inject destructive AI commands in...

Iranian cyber operations have sharply escalated in 2025, targeting critical infrastructure, defense sectors, and global businesses—especially those linked to Israel and the U.S. From destructive malware and coordinated DDoS attacks to sophisticated hack-and-leak campaigns leveraging generative AI, Iranian threat actors are rapidly evolving. Join us to explore their latest tactics, notable incident...

On July 13, 2025, a developer at the Department of Government Efficiency—DOGE—accidentally pushed a private xAI API key to GitHub. That key unlocked access to 52 unreleased LLMs, including Grok‑4‑0709, and remained active long after discovery.  In this episode of Cyberside Chats, we examine how a single leaked credential became a national-level risk—and how it mirrors broader API key exposures at...