Exploited: The Cyber Truth

As manufacturing systems and industrial control devices become increasingly connected, attackers are finding new ways to hijack machines, disrupt operations, and steal intellectual property. In this episode of Exploited: The Cyber Truth , host Paul Ducklin and RunSafe Security Founder and CEO Joseph M. Saunders break down how embedded threats unfold and why manufacturers are in the crosshairs. Joe...

As advanced weapons platforms become increasingly software-driven, cybersecurity has emerged as a frontline concern for Aerospace & Defense. In this episode of Exploited: The Cyber Truth , host Paul Ducklin and RunSafe Security CEO Joseph M. Saunders welcome Dave Salwen, VP of Embedded Systems at RunSafe Security, for a deep dive into the cultural and technical shifts required to defend tomorr...

Taiwan sits at the heart of the global economy, producing nearly 90% of the world’s advanced semiconductors. But with 2.4 million cyberattacks hitting the island daily, could a digital siege cripple it before a single missile is launched? In this episode of Exploited: The Cyber Truth , host Paul Ducklin and RunSafe Security CEO and Founder Joseph M. Saunders examine Taiwan’s fragile critical infra...

Is patching enough to secure critical systems? In this episode of Exploited: The Cyber Truth , host Paul Ducklin sits down with Joe Saunders, Founder and CEO of RunSafe Security, to challenge the idea that vulnerabilities can be solved after software ships. Joe explains why embedded systems and critical infrastructure demand a different approach—one that builds protections in from the start. He un...

What do drivers really think about the cyber and safety risks in connected and autonomous vehicles? In this episode of Exploited: The Cyber Truth , host Paul Ducklin speaks with Joe Saunders, CEO and Founder of RunSafe Security, about the findings from RunSafe’s 2025 Connected Car Cyber Safety & Security Survey. With responses from 2,000 drivers across the U.S., U.K., and Germany, the survey u...

How do you respond when a vulnerability opens the door to your most sensitive data? In this urgent episode of Exploited: The Cyber Truth , host Paul Ducklin is joined by RunSafe Security CEO Joe Saunders and special guest Ron Reiter, CTO and co-founder of Sentra, to dissect the SharePoint vulnerabilities (CVE-2025-53770 and CVE-2025-53771) that have already impacted hundreds of organizations, incl...

How do you protect the beating heart of modern manufacturing—smart factories—from equally smart attackers? In this episode of Exploited: The Cyber Truth , host Paul Ducklin speaks with Joe Saunders, CEO and Founder of RunSafe Security, about the complex risks inside today’s highly connected industrial environments. Joe shares insights into: Why the Purdue security model falls short in the cloud an...

DEF CON 33 put the maritime industry in the hacker’s crosshairs for the first time and the results were eye-opening. In this episode of Exploited: The Cyber Truth , host Paul Ducklin sits down with Joe Saunders, CEO of RunSafe Security, and RunSafe’s Shiv Saxena to unpack what happened inside the Maritime Hacking Village and what it means for the future of industrial control systems (ICS) and oper...

Can defense programs achieve both innovation and compliance—without compromising security? In this episode of Exploited: The Cyber Truth , host Paul Ducklin is joined by Joe Saunders, CEO of RunSafe Security, for a deep dive into the balancing act of rapid software development and strict regulatory demands in the defense sector. Joe shares first-hand insights into: The risks of layered supplier ne...

As vehicles edge closer to full autonomy, cybersecurity becomes a make-or-break component of innovation. In this episode of Exploited: The Cyber Truth , host Paul Ducklin is joined by RunSafe Security CEO Joe Saunders and special guest Gabriel Gonzalez, Director of Hardware Security at IOActive, for an insider’s look at embedded security in the automotive industry. Gabriel shares eye-opening resea...

In this episode of Exploited: The Cyber Truth , RunSafe Security CEO Joe Saunders joins host Paul Ducklin to confront a troubling reality: Iranian and pro-Iranian threat actors are targeting critical infrastructure in the United States. From small-town water utilities to nationwide energy providers, the systems we rely on every day are increasingly vulnerable. Joe explains how groups like CyberAv3...

In this episode of Exploited: The Cyber Truth , we go below deck to expose the vulnerabilities lurking in the digital systems steering today’s maritime operations. RunSafe Security CEO Joe Saunders and special guest Duncan Woodbury—CEO of Liberas and Executive Director of the Maritime Hacking Village at DEF CON—join host Paul Ducklin for a candid conversation about securing the floating infrastruc...

In this episode of Exploited: The Cyber Truth , RunSafe Security CEO Joe Saunders joins Leslie Grandy, Lead Executive in Residence at the University of Washington, for an insightful conversation about how creative resilience is reshaping cybersecurity in the age of AI. From philosophical strategies like “Premeditation of Evils” to inversion thinking and paradoxical reasoning, Leslie shares how ble...

In this episode of Exploited: The Cyber Truth , host Paul Ducklin is joined by Patrick Garrity, Security Researcher at VulnCheck, and RunSafe Security CEO Joe Saunders for a deep dive into the hidden lifecycle of vulnerabilities—and why many threats are exploited long before public disclosure. As embedded systems grow more complex, attackers are moving faster, exploiting flaws before most organiza...

In this episode of Exploited: The Cyber Truth , host Paul Ducklin sits down with RunSafe Security Founder and CEO Joe Saunders to explore the urgent and evolving risks facing medical devices in healthcare. Based on RunSafe’s 2025 Medical Device Cybersecurity Index —an extensive survey of over 600 healthcare leaders across the U.S., UK, and Germany—they unpack how cyberattacks are no longer limited...

In this episode of Exploited: The Cyber Truth , host Paul Ducklin is joined by Ocean Aero’s Michael “Sparky” Braun and RunSafe Security Founder and CEO Joe Saunders for a deep dive into the vulnerabilities and opportunities in autonomous maritime defense. As navies deploy autonomous vehicles on—and below—the water’s surface, this conversation explores the overlooked cybersecurity risks that threat...

In this episode of Exploited: The Cyber Truth , host Paul Ducklin tackles a core challenge in healthcare cybersecurity: how can medical device manufacturers and healthcare organizations secure legacy systems and meet FDA expectations—without rewriting a single line of code? Guests Phil Englert, VP of Medical Device Security at Health-ISAC, and Joe Saunders, CEO of RunSafe Security, bring decades o...

In this episode of Exploited: The Cyber Truth , RunSafe Security Founder and CEO Joseph M. Saunders returns to explore one of the most urgent challenges in modern transportation: securing the software-defined vehicle. As connected cars grow more complex—with over 100 million lines of code and dozens of software components—they also become more vulnerable. Joe joins host Paul Ducklin to unpack how...

In this episode of Exploited: The Cyber Truth , host Paul Ducklin dives into one of cybersecurity’s most persistent questions: Can companies actually get ahead of zero-day vulnerabilities—or are we all just chasing shadows? Joining the conversation are Steve Barriault, VP of Sales & Solutions Engineering North America, Japan and Korea at TrustInSoft, and Joe Saunders, Founder and CEO of RunSaf...

In this episode of Exploited: The Cyber Truth , RunSafe Security Founder and CEO Joe Saunders joins host Paul Ducklin to uncover one of the most overlooked threats in critical infrastructure: embedded risk. As industrial systems become more automated and interconnected, embedded devices—once isolated—have become prime targets for attackers. Joe explains why embedded risk differs fundamentally from...

In this episode of Exploited: The Cyber Truth , RunSafe Security Founder and CEO Joseph M. Saunders returns to confront a critical question: With nearly 70% of industrial firms hit by OT cyberattacks last year, can we actually fix OT security—or are we forever stuck in a cycle of reaction? Joe takes a hard look at the current state of operational technology security, exposing why legacy systems ru...

In this episode of Exploited: The Cyber Truth , host Paul Ducklin sits down with RunSafe Security CEO Joseph M. Saunders to unpack the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA)—a sweeping new regulation set to reshape software security across Europe and beyond. With enforcement on the horizon in 2026, Joe breaks down what the CRA means for manufacturers, developers, and supply chain partners today. From the c...

In this episode of Exploited: The Cyber Truth , host Paul Ducklin sits down with Joe Saunders, Founder & CEO of RunSafe Security, to unpack the real meaning behind “Secure by Design”—and why it’s more than just the latest industry buzzword. As cyber threats escalate in scale and sophistication, building security into software from the start has become not only best practice but a national impe...

In this episode of “Exploited: The Cyber Truth,” host Paul Ducklin returns with Joe Saunders , CEO and Founder of RunSafe Security, to dissect the alarming Salt Typhoon campaign that infiltrated major telecommunications companies across the United States and beyond. This Chinese state-sponsored group has been quietly harvesting sensitive communications data for at least two years, including potent...

In the debut episode of “Exploited: The Cyber Truth,” host Paul Ducklin talks with Joseph M. Saunders, CEO and Founder of RunSafe Security, about the serious threat Volt Typhoon poses to critical infrastructure in the U.S. and beyond. What makes this Chinese state-sponsored group so dangerous, and how are they exploiting the software in devices that make our world run? Joe breaks it all down, expl...