In this episode of the Cyber Uncut podcast, David Hollingworth and Daniel Croft discuss CommBank’s use of AI to stop scams, local hacks and international cyber news, creepy AI toys for kids, and the alarming fact that what we know about ransomware attacks is just the tip of the iceberg.

• Hollingworth and Croft begin the podcast with two Commonwealth Bank stories: CBA rolling back its job cuts after AI chatbots fail to keep up with customer demand, and the bank’s novel use of AI to stymie scammers.
• The pair move on to a story with some incredible twists and turns after an Israeli cyber security specialist working for the government was arrested in Las Vegas for a shocking alleged crime, the iiNet hack that saw more Aussie data compromised by cyber criminals, and attacks on Australian institutions by pro-Palestine hackers.
• Hollingworth and Croft round things up with a creepy tale of two AI-powered toys designed to cut down on screen time for children, but which actually sound like a nightmare in their own right.

Enjoy the episode, The Cyber Uncut team

In this episode of the Contested Ground podcast, Major General (Ret’d) Dr Marcus Thompson, Phil Tarrant and Liam Garman dissect the forces shaping Australia’s national security in an increasingly volatile world.

From the shortage of tradespeople to the sustainability of the nuclear submarine program, the team explores how domestic economic realities – including the property market – intersect with defence capability. 

The conversation turns to the AUKUS arrangement, as Thompson questions whether Australia’s defence budget can support the ambitions of the trilateral pact with the United States and the United Kingdom. The hosts unpack the risks of over-prioritising certain branches of the ADF and debate whether political change would have altered the trajectory of defence spending.

The team then discusses the recognition of Palestinian statehood – with conditions excluding Hamas from governance. They assess the potential impact on relations with Israel – a nation that has long shared intelligence and counter-terrorism support with Australia – and on Canberra’s role in Middle Eastern geopolitics.

The discussion also delves into public sentiment, with Tarrant highlighting the humanitarian toll of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and the difficulty of separating moral imperatives from strategic realities.

Enjoy the podcast, The Contested Ground team

In this episode of the Cyber Uncut podcast, David Hollingworth and Daniel Croft continue to talk about demands that Australia loosen copyright laws protecting Aussie artists, discover a dangerous new hacking super group, and laugh at how hacking is presented in the latest adaptation of War of the Worlds.

• Hollingworth and Croft open up proceedings with more views on the Australian Productivity Commission’s suggestion that AI companies should have full access to the sum total of Australian artistic output. Both Peter Garrett and Tony Burke are against it, but there are still some Aussie executives who feel it’s a good idea. Hollingworth also brings up a couple of reasons why artificial intelligence still lacks intelligence.
• The big hacking news this week is the formation of a possible hacking super group, as the notorious ShinyHunters and Scattered Spider collectives merge. Is this the real deal, and a threat to companies around the globe, or just hacker hot air? The pair also discuss the week in Australian cyber crime, and it’s not been a great week for Aussie organisations.
• Hollingworth and Croft then catch up on the latest cyber crime statistics from the Australian Institute of Criminology, before taking a lighthearted look at the depiction of hacking in the latest streaming stinker from Amazon.

Enjoy the episode, The Cyber Uncut team

In this episode of the Contested Ground podcast, Major General (Ret’d) Dr Marcus Thompson and Phil Tarrant are joined by Simon Bergman, CEO of M+C Saatchi World Services, to unpack the evolving landscape of grey zone warfare and the role of creative industries in modern conflict.

Drawing on decades of operational and commercial experience, Bergman explores how advertising expertise is being harnessed to support government information operations: crafting narratives, influencing audiences, and shaping perceptions in the contested information environment.

Thompson and Bergman discuss the cultural and operational divide between government and industry, and how M+C Saatchi World Services is bridging this gap through a hybrid team of former military personnel and creative professionals. Together, they examine how this model can enable faster, more effective responses in the grey zone.

The conversation also turns to the impact of artificial intelligence on information warfare. While acknowledging AI’s ability to enhance speed and reach, Bergman stresses the irreplaceable value of human insight in crafting authentic, effective messaging.

Finally, the team reflects on Australia’s information warfare capability, with Thompson calling for greater investment and deeper collaboration with industry to keep pace with adversaries operating below the threshold of open conflict.

Enjoy the podcast, The Contested Ground team

In this episode of the Cyber Uncut podcast, David Hollingworth and Daniel Croft discuss the future of AI and copyright in Australia, ShinyHunters and their relationship to the Scattered Spider hacking collective, and a new ransomware operator targeting small businesses in the ANZ region.

• Hollingworth and Croft kick open things up with a discussion on the Australian Productivity Commission’s suggestion that AI regulations in Australia should be eased, an idea that the pair are not impressed by.
• After a short chat on the latest developments with Elon Musk’s Grok AI, Hollingworth and Croft discuss the latest wave of Salesforce-related hacks and the possible links between two hacking groups, ShinyHunters and Scattered Spider.
• The pair wrap things up with the emergence of a new ransomware operation that has already targeted businesses in Australia and New Zealand. Called PEAR, the group focuses purely on data theft over encryption, which seems to be an emerging trend in ransomware operations.

Enjoy the episode, The Cyber Uncut team

In this episode of the Contested Ground podcast, Major General (Ret’d) Dr Marcus Thompson, Phil Tarrant and Liam Garman unpack the Cambodia–Thai military confrontation and Australia’s economic landscape.  Tarrant and Thompson begin the podcast reflecting on Exercise Talisman Sabre, highlighting how the biennial drills continue to grow in scale and strategic significance with the involvement of multiple partner nations, the live-fire deployment of HIMARS systems, and the strengthening of interoperability between allied forces. The conversation then turns to rising regional tensions, specifically, the flare-up on the Cambodia–Thailand border. Garman explores the historical context behind the clashes and the implications of leaked diplomatic communications, offering a broader perspective on the fluid and often volatile nature of Southeast Asian geopolitics. Zooming out further, the hosts examine internal shifts within the Chinese military. Thompson analyses the recent purges of senior People’s Liberation Army figures and what these changes might signal about Beijing’s strategic posture in the lead-up to the widely discussed 2027 timeline regarding Taiwan. Finally, the team brings the conversation back to Australian shores, with Tarrant raising concerns over domestic defence priorities while Garman shares his concerns over the national security implications of Australia’s sluggish economy.  Enjoy the podcast, The Contested Ground team

In this episode of the Cyber Uncut podcast, David Hollingworth and Daniel Croft discuss the Commonwealth Bank and Atlassian laying off staff to make way for AI, new developments in the Qantas hack, and Ukrainian hackers targeting Aeroflot.

• Hollingworth and Croft kick things off with some worrying AI news: one of Australia’s largest banks and Atlassian announce staff layoffs as the two companies invest in artificial intelligence. Is AI finally coming for our jobs?
• The pair then move on to local news, with the possibility that the Qantas hacker has now been identified – and it might not be the hacking collective everyone’s been thinking of, but rather a group called ShinyHunters, a group named after the Pokéman series of video games.
• The podcast concludes with a discussion of a successful Ukrainian hacking campaign that disrupted the services of Russian airline Aeroflot, causing flight cancellations across the country.

Enjoy the episode, The Cyber Uncut team

In this episode of the Cyber Uncut podcast, David Hollingworth and Daniel Croft discuss Donald Trump’s use and support of AI, the Genea fertility and Qantas hacks, and the United Australia Party hanging its members out to dry in the wake of a data breach.

• The pair open up with news of Trump’s posting of an AI rendition of Barack Obama being arrested in the Oval Office, and his suggestion that AI developers shouldn’t have to worry about copyright when building their AI models.
• Hollingworth and Croft then move on to local news, with Genea going through the process of contacting its patients with confirmed news of the data impacted by its hack earlier in the year. The Qantas hack continues to make news, as court documents reveal its communications with the hackers behind its data breach, and the pair then discuss Microsoft’s woes over a dangerous vulnerability in its SharePoint platform.
• The podcast concludes with a discussion of the United Australia Party’s poor form following a hack that compromised the personal data of up to 80,000 members.

Enjoy the episode, The Cyber Uncut team

In this episode of the Cyber Uncut podcast, host Liam Garman, editor of Cyber Daily, is joined by Kostas Siourthas, founder and CEO of TomorrowX; Rob Parker, partner at Deloitte; and cyber security leader Dr Marcus Thompson for an in-depth discussion on the future of data protection and innovation in the digital age.

The episode was recorded at Deloitte’s Sydney headquarters, where the panel explored how TomorrowX is reimagining cyber security by focusing on the movement and protection of data – rather than traditional infrastructure or application-centric models.

• Siourthas unpacked how Tomorrow X’s data-centric platform enables organisations to apply security policies at the packet level and even add multifactor authentication to legacy systems – a task that was previously resource-heavy and complex.
• Parker elaborates on the limitations of conventional network security in today’s encrypted world, and how TomorrowX’s composable, low-code architecture empowers business analysts to better manage data flows without relying on developers – reducing deployment timelines from months to weeks.
• Thompson shares real-world context around legacy system risk, referencing the recent superannuation credential stuffing attacks, and outlines how TomorrowX provides a cost-effective pathway to modernise outdated systems without full replacement.
• Finally, the trio reflect on what’s next for cyber security, why edge-case vulnerabilities remain one of the industry’s biggest risks, and why now is the time for proactive, data-first strategies.

In this episode of the Contested Ground podcast, hosts Major General (Ret’d) Dr Marcus Thompson and Liam Garman unpack the latest news and events contributing to national security in Australia.

They begin the podcast discussing Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025, including how important these kinds of joint military training activities are for the interoperability between Western nations and the certainty of covert surveillance being carried out by adversaries.

The pair then discuss the recent visit to the People’s Republic of China by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the geopolitical tightrope he must be walking between trading with the PRC and the AUKUS military commitments with the United States.

They wrap up the podcast discussing the recent and very public Qantas hack, as well as the potential flow-on impacts of the cyber security breach.

Enjoy the podcast, The Contested Ground team