Think Like a Hacker Before the Hack Happens with John Hammond

What if the most dangerous hackers are the ones who never touch a keyboard? The real threat isn't just about stolen credentials or ransomware; it's about understanding how attackers think before they even strike. In cybersecurity, defense starts with offense, and the best defenders are those who've walked in the hacker's shoes.

In this episode, Ron sits down with John Hammond, principal security researcher at Huntress and one of cybersecurity's most recognizable educators. John shares his journey from Coast Guard enlistee to YouTube creator, building an entire media company around ethical hacking. They dig into the balance between public research and responsible disclosure, the rise of AI-augmented attacks, and why identity is now the biggest attack surface in modern enterprises.

Impactful Moments: 00:00 - Introduction 01:00 - AI weaponized in cyber espionage 05:00 - Learning by teaching publicly 09:00 - Balancing curiosity with responsible disclosure 13:00 - Building a creator company 16:00 - Identity as the new frontier 20:00 - AI agents running breach simulations 22:00 - Predictions for cybersecurity in 2026 25:00 - Ron's hacking habit confession

Links: John Hammond LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnhammond010/ John Hammond Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@_JohnHammond

Article for Discussion: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-defense-firms-targeted-by-hackers-using-ai-other-tactics-2025-12-19/ 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/

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(424)

Who Owns Your AI Security Policy? with Chris Cochran

Right now, someone in your organization is probably feeding sensitive data into an AI system that nobody approved. So when something goes wrong, who's responsible? And more critically, do you even hav...

18 Touko 35min

Turning 30,000 Findings Into 50 That Matter with Dan Pagel and Brad Hibbert

Mythos just found 30,000 new vulnerabilities, and now every security team is asking the same question: what actually matters? In this episode, Ron Eddings sits down with Dan Pagel, CEO at Brinqa, and ...

1 Touko 34min

Killing the Playbook with Agentic AI with Allan Alford and Tom Findling

SOAR promised to close the loop in the SOC and fell flat. Agentic AI is finally delivering what a decade of playbooks couldn’t. In this episode, Ron sits down with Allan Alford, SVP at NTT Global Dat...

24 Huhti 39min

The Epidemic of Sameness Is Killing Your Brand with Don Jeter

In 2025, Torq brought a monster truck to RSAC. And Don Jeter, Torq's CMO, will be the first to tell you: nobody's buying an AI SOC platform because of a grave digger in the booth. In this episode, Ron...

17 Huhti 34min

Minutes to Meltdown: Cyber Recovery When It Counts with Chris Bevil

Most organizations are prepping for disaster recovery when they should be building for cyber recovery, and those are not the same thing. Recorded live at RSAC Conference 2026, Ron sat down with Chris...

7 Huhti 28min

Building AI Governance Before the Incidents Hit with Guru Sethupathy

AI adoption is outpacing governance at every level, and the cost of waiting is getting higher by the day. Guru Sethupathy, General Manager of AI Governance at Optro and former Founder of FairNow, brea...

1 Huhti 24min

What Happens When Attackers Collaborate More Than Defenders? Ron Eddings Reporting Live from RSAC Conference

What happens when attackers collaborate better than defenders? Recorded live from RSAC 2026, this solo episode with Ron breaks down the biggest themes shaping cybersecurity right now, from organized ...

31 Maalis 13min

RSAC 2026: Show Up or Fall Behind

What does it mean when your smart doorbell becomes an entry point for surveillance? What happens when a single hacker can jailbreak every major AI model within hours of its release? And why are the sa...

20 Maalis 21min