Cyber Uncut

Hosted by Momentum Media

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Episodes

100

Latest episode

Jun 2026

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About the show

Cyber Uncut brings you the key decision makers and cutting edge innovators shaping Australia's cyber revolution. From cyber security to artificial intelligence and information systems, discover how businesses and government are navigating the transition to a digital future. Join Momentum Media's Phil Tarrant, defence and national security podcaster, Major General (Ret'd) Dr Marcus Thompson AM – former head of the ADF's Information Warfare Division, and Liam Garman, editor of Cyber Daily, as they dive head first into the latest breaking news shaping our interconnected world. Get in touch, get your questions answered by our experts or share your stories. Contact cyber@momentummedia.com.au For daily news and analysis visit www.cyberdaily.au

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60 recent

June 15, 202641 min

CONTESTED GROUND: Fortune favours the bold – building a national security strategy for the 21st century, with Marc Ablong

When Opposition Leader Angus Taylor announced a Coalition government would develop and implement a national security strategy, many shouted, "Finally!", but delivering a strategy that is fit for purpose is more political than most would think. Since the release of the nation's first whole-of-nation national security strategy in 2013, successive Australian governments have sought to mask the nation's lack of preparedness with individual but isolated strategies from across government. Championed tirelessly but ultimately unsuccessfully by the late Jim Molan, a national security strategy has often been viewed as solely the remit of a narrow clique of public policy professionals with access to security briefings and the levers of power. But as host Steve Kuper and geostrategic analyst Marc Ablong unpack, a truly encompassing, whole-of-nation national security strategy presents immense opportunities not just for the nation but also for the political party that recognises the challenges we face need to be overcome. This conversation comes at a time when political upheaval, atomisation and social cohesion continue to challenge established and insurgent political movements at home and across the broader Western world. The pair discuss the immense opportunity for the political party that understands and develops a strategy incorporating a distinct and inescapable but seemingly forgotten factor: national security begins with the individual. They discuss just what makes a "good" national security strategy in the modern context, the lessons Australia can learn from the Scandinavian nations, the United States and other like-minded countries that have recognised the challenges and opportunities presented by the return of multipolar, great power competition. Finally, they discuss a question, only just starting to re-emerge in the public and political consciousness: "What sort of country do we want Australia to be?" Enjoy the podcast, The Contested Ground team

June 12, 202620 min

ThreatLocker's Emile Barakat talks Essential Eight, cyber policy, and security as a human challenge

ThreatLocker's APAC director of operations, Emile Barakat, joins Cyber Daily's David Hollingworth to discuss what makes the Essential Eight so essential, the federal government's budget spend on cyber security, and the Australian outlook on cyber crime and why it happens here. This week on the Cyber Uncut podcast, Cyber Daily deputy editor David Hollingworth speaks with Emile Barakat, the head of cyber security firm ThreatLocker's operations in the Asia-Pacific region. ThreatLocker – and its boss, Danny Jenkins – is a big fan of Australia's Essential Eight cyber security standard, but what really makes that tick, and why is it so important? The pair discuss just why it's one of the gold standards of cyber protection and why other countries should take note. Then it's time to consider this year's budget and the role of government in securing businesses, economies, and consumers in a world of growing cyber threats. Finally, Hollingworth and Barakat get to grips with the local threat landscape and the human challenges of cyber security. "Typically, an organisation will run security awareness training every quarter. Some will do it less frequently, unfortunately," Barakat says. "Even with that training, you'll see compromises and, at times, the same employees make the same mistakes." Enjoy, The Cyber Uncut team

June 5, 202646 min

AI profitability, hacker targets Aussie organisations, and Cyber Daily gets given Shirt of Invisibility

This week's essential cyber security podcast uncovers a new threat actor targeting a raft of Australian organisations and asks the important question: Is AI profitable yet? Hint – it is not. Cyber Daily's David Hollingworth and Daniel Croft open the podcast with the good news that Anthropic's Mythos platform is, in fact, coming to Australia, and they talk to the man behind the website that asks – and illustrates – the question of our time: who is actually making money from AI? It's also been a shocker of a week for data breaches in Australia, and it looks like one threat actor is behind most of the activity. Organisations such as the ACMI, the Melbourne International Film Festival, and a corporate catering service have all been allegedly hacked. Find out what's happening in cyber crime in Australia, right here. Just another week in cyber security. Enjoy, The Cyber Uncut team

May 29, 202622 min

Genetec's Mathieu Chevalier on tricking AI and what Claude Mythos really means for the industry

Genetec's lead security architect joins the Cyber Uncut podcast to unpack the impact of AI on vulnerability hunting, prompt injection, and how to become invisible with one simple trick. This week on the Cyber Uncut podcast, host David Hollingworth speaks with Genetec's lead security architect, Mathieu Chevalier, about how AI is dramatically impacting both physical and cyber security, the hidden costs of Anthropic's Claude Mythos, and why AI speed must always be matched with human intelligence. But first, Chevalier shares his simple trick to appear invisible to AI with the assistance of just one page of text – or maybe just a T-shirt! The pair then dive into how AI empowers Genetec's security platforms, the rising costs of every AI prompt, and the true power of vulnerability hunting in a post-Mythos world. "I would say the best practices are not established now. It's still so new, and changing so fast," Chevalier says. "So we're kind of trying to learn all together, as a cyber security community, how to do this." Enjoy, The Cyber Uncut team

May 27, 202618 min

CONTESTED GROUND: Assessing the fallout and implications of the latest Trump–Xi meeting for Iran, Taiwan and Australia

When the leaders of the world's two major powers meet, the world stops to take notice and nowhere is this clearer than in the recent meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. There is no escaping the fact that the US–China relationship will be the defining factor of the 21st century, for good or for ill. Join Contested Ground hosts, Steve Kuper and Major General (Ret'd) Dr Marcus Thompson, as they deep dive into the real-world ramifications and fallout following the meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. The pair discuss the shared US–China interest in preventing a renewed trade war and keeping the fragile trade truce intact. Strategically, Taiwan remains the most sensitive and unresolved issue. Xi Jinping frames it as the central risk in the bilateral relationship and warns of the consequences of mismanagement, while Trump largely avoids escalation during formal engagements, later suggesting continued engagement on the issue without committing to a clear stance. Across the wider strategic agenda, the pair cover discussions on military posture, technology restrictions, sanctions and third-party conflicts such as Ukraine, Iran and the Middle East. The pair also discuss the state mutual preference to avoid escalation amid broader global instability, including energy security concerns and supply chain fragility. Finally, they discuss Xi's messaging, which emphasises long-term great-power coexistence, multipolar stability and opposition to bloc confrontation. This presents China as a steady global actor advocating managed competition alongside the traditional Trump approach of more transactional realpolitik, centred on trade, investment flows and market stability, with an emphasis on maintaining flexibility and direct leader-to-leader communication. Enjoy the podcast, The Contested Ground team

May 22, 202637 min

Don't let AI control your bank account, Qilin hackers target Australia, and law enforcement strikes back!

Daniel Croft and David Hollingworth tackle the challenges of linking your finances to an AI agent, break down the Qilin ransomware group's Aussie rampage, the ransom payment dilemma, and round up a week of wins for fighting cyber crime. Australians may soon be able to link their banking details directly with platforms like OpenAI, but is that wise? Croft has recently uncovered a stellar example of why you may want to think twice before clicking "Yes". The pair have been investigating a trio of Qilin ransomware attacks this week, and the victims are all investigating the hackers' claims – but Qilin is acting very strange and not sharing any details of the hacks themselves. Hollingworth and Croft have some suspicions, making this a threat intelligence assessment not to miss. The podcast closes out with a week of law enforcement wins, with cyber criminals both abroad and at home getting their just deserts. You love to see it. Just another week in cyber security. Enjoy, The Cyber Uncut team

May 15, 202638 min

Budget priorities, paying ransoms, and Cyber Daily chats with Frank Briguglio, FCTO at SailPoint

Daniel Croft and David Hollingworth analyse the Albanese government's budget, the Instructure breach and ransom payments, and Dan Marks from Austrade chats with SailPoint's federal chief technology officer. Jim Chalmers has handed down another Labor budget, and while it seems like not a lot for cyber security, Hollingworth thinks the heavy lifting has already been done – do you agree? Then it's on to a massive issue – do you pay a ransom to cyber criminals? That is possibly what learning platform provider Instructure may have done. The pair break that down, from the morality to the fact that sometimes, that may be the best choice. But can you trust a criminal? The jury, as they say, is out. And once again, we are joined by Dan Marks, investment director and cyber security lead for Austrade, who sat down with Frank Briguglio, federal chief technology officer at SailPoint, at the recent RSA Conference. Just another week in cyber security. Enjoy, The Cyber Uncut team

May 11, 202635 min

CONTESTED GROUND: Australia and the West must ask themselves new questions in the face of the modern world, with Robbin Laird

Each and every day, the world is becoming more unpredictable, yet Australia continues with the post-Cold War status quo. As things continue to deteriorate, we're going to have to ask ourselves some particularly confronting questions. Australia and its allies are entering an "age of chaos" in which the assumptions that shaped the post-Cold War order are rapidly breaking down. Rather than dealing with isolated crises that can be managed and resolved individually, governments, militaries, and societies are now confronting overlapping and mutually reinforcing disruptions, including strategic competition, technological upheaval, economic fragmentation, supply chain vulnerability, and the rise of networked authoritarian powers. Central to Australia's response is understanding the distinction between traditional "crisis management" and "chaos management". Crisis management assumes stability will eventually return and institutions can revert to previous norms once a disruption passes. Chaos management, by contrast, accepts that instability, uncertainty, and persistent competition are now enduring features of the strategic environment. In this episode of the Contested Ground podcast, host Steve Kuper is joined by expert defence and security analyst and White House veteran Robbin Laird to discuss the impact of the emergence of the era of disruption. This only becomes more important and pivotal as we grapple with the reality that the international system is no longer defined by uncontested Western dominance, nor is it returning to a simple Cold War-style bipolar structure. Rather, the world is evolving into a fragmented and highly interconnected environment where economic dependency and geopolitical rivalry coexist simultaneously, particularly between the United States and China. This creates strategic complexity for middle powers such as Australia, whose decisions on defence, trade, industrial policy, and alliances will increasingly shape the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. Australia's response to this is recognising the growing importance of resilience and sovereign capability. The author argues that efficiency and globalisation can no longer be the sole priorities for democratic nations if they undermine strategic security. Supply chains, industrial capacity, digital infrastructure, and technological innovation are increasingly viewed as national security issues rather than purely economic considerations. In this context, adaptability, redundancy, and the ability to rapidly regenerate capability are presented as critical determinants of national power. Ultimately, democratic nations must rethink how they approach leadership, preparedness, and strategy in a world defined by accelerating disruption. Rather than attempting to restore an increasingly obsolete status quo, governments and institutions must develop the capacity to operate effectively amid prolonged uncertainty, while strengthening alliances, industrial resilience, and societal cohesion to navigate an increasingly contested global order. Enjoy the podcast, The Contested Ground Team

May 8, 202641 min

AI security woes, Aussie schools caught in international breach, and ThreatLocker's Rob Allen

Australian students and teachers have been compromised by an international data breach, with thousands of kids likely impacted. David Hollingworth and Daniel Croft break down how it happened, why it matters, and what schools need to do to protect themselves. PLUS! Cyber Daily partners with Austrade to bring you a series of interviews direct from the RSA Conference 2026. Artificial intelligence is having an impact on almost every industry, and finance is no exception – that's why the US Federal Reserve is helping the sector navigate the global impact of AI. And while organisations are adopting the technology at pace, they're often too slow to secure it. Understand why that matters and what your organisation can do. The big news of the week stems from a breach of cloud education platform provider Instructure, and Aussie schools – and staff and students – have already been compromised. Find out what happened, who did the hacking, and what it means for the education sector at large. If you're a school CISO, this is vital information! Finally, the podcast wraps up with a pair of special guests, as Austrade's investment director at the Australian embassy in Washington sits down with ThreatLocker's Rob Allen to talk about the company's philosophy, its operations in Australia, and the importance of application control in the modern enterprise. Just another week in cyber security. Enjoy, The Cyber Uncut team

May 1, 202642 min

AI without guardrails – why Australian businesses are sleepwalking into cyber risk

Qualys ANZ managing director Sam Salehi joins the Cyber Uncut podcast to expose the expanding AI attack surface, the governance gaps exposing organisations, and why boards must translate cyber risk into dollars to take it seriously. This week on the Cyber Uncut podcast, host Liam Garman speaks with Qualys ANZ managing director Sam Salehi about the rapidly evolving "AI attack surface" – from shadow AI usage and prompt injection risks to data leakage and model vulnerabilities – and why a lack of visibility is leaving businesses exposed before they even realise it. Salehi outlines the core problem facing security leaders: organisations often don't know what AI tools are already in use, let alone how to secure them. The conversation explores how fragmented tooling, poor asset inventory, and missing business context are undermining risk management efforts, while boards continue to push AI adoption for efficiency gains. Salehi argues that leaders are flying blind, prioritising the wrong threats while leaving critical exposures unaddressed. From data minimisation and API security to continuous monitoring and the rise of the "risk operations centre", Salehi emphasises the need for a unified, risk-based approach. His bottom line is blunt: in an environment where exploitation timelines are shrinking to hours, the only metric that matters is how quickly organisations can detect and close exposure – before attackers do. Enjoy, The Cyber Uncut team

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