ShadowTalk: Powered by ReliaQuest

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ShadowTalk: Powered by ReliaQuest episodes

March 11The 2026 Annual Threat Report Breakdown, Part 2 — Once They're In: Post-Compromise Tactics, Ransomware & Exfiltration
Resources: https://linktr.ee/ReliaQuestShadowTalk
Join hosts Tehman and John as they discuss:
Why ransomware now prioritizes exfiltration over encryption
How attackers can exfiltrate your data in just 6 minutes
Why proactive darkweb monitoring is critical
John Dilgen: Cyber Threat Intelligence Analyst at ReliaQuest, where he specializes in researching cyber threats impacting ReliaQuest customers. With a strong technical background, he previously served as an Incident Response Analyst and Trainer at ReliaQuest.
Tehman Tariq: Sr. Manager of Cyber Operations at ReliaQuest. He has spent a majority of my career leading our Incident Response, Security Architecture, and Detection teams. As well has working hand in hand with CISOs to introduce automation allowing for the maturity of their security programs.
27 min
March 04The 2026 Annual Threat Report Breakdown, Part 1 — How AI Contributes to Attacker Speed, and the Malware That's Winning
Resources: https://linktr.ee/ReliaQuestShadowTalk
Join hosts Brandon and John as they discuss:
How attacker breakout times dropped to as little as 4 minutes
Why ClickFix surged 200%
Why behavioral detection is critical
John Dilgen: Cyber Threat Intelligence Analyst at ReliaQuest, where he specializes in researching cyber threats impacting ReliaQuest customers. With a strong technical background, he previously served as an Incident Response Analyst and Trainer at ReliaQuest.
Brandon Tirado: Director of Threat Research for ReliaQuest. A skilled cyber defense professional with a unique combination of management and hands-on experience. With a deep understanding of adversary motives and the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) they use to achieve their goals, Brandon enjoys operationalizing his knowledge to make it more difficult for adversaries to operate within the environments of ReliaQuest customers. His managerial and hands-on experience enriches ShadowTalk with practical and strategic viewpoints.
26 min
February 25Malware Isn't Required—How Ransomware Groups Turn Legitimate RMMs Into a Weapon
Resources: https://linktr.ee/ReliaQuestShadowTalk
Join hosts John and Tehman as they discuss:
What attackers prefer over custom malware
How signature-based detection fails
Proactive governance vs. reactive triage
John Dilgen: Cyber Threat Intelligence Analyst at ReliaQuest, where he specializes in researching cyber threats impacting ReliaQuest customers. With a strong technical background, he previously served as an Incident Response Analyst and Trainer at ReliaQuest.
Tehman Tariq: Sr. Manager of Cyber Operations at ReliaQuest. He has spent a majority of my career leading our Incident Response, Security Architecture, and Detection teams. As well has working hand in hand with CISOs to introduce automation allowing for the maturity of their security programs.
22 min
February 18Ransomware vs. Exfiltration-Only—The Extortion Model Showdown
Resources: https://linktr.ee/ReliaQuestShadowTalk
Join hosts Brandon and John as they discuss:
Why extortion payment rates are the lowest ever
Organizations paying ransomware but refusing data extortion demands
Why defenders need both visibility and speed
John Dilgen: Cyber Threat Intelligence Analyst at ReliaQuest, where he specializes in researching cyber threats impacting ReliaQuest customers. With a strong technical background, he previously served as an Incident Response Analyst and Trainer at ReliaQuest.
Brandon Tirado: Director of Threat Research for ReliaQuest. A skilled cyber defense professional with a unique combination of management and hands-on experience. With a deep understanding of adversary motives and the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) they use to achieve their goals, Brandon enjoys operationalizing his knowledge to make it more difficult for adversaries to operate within the environments of ReliaQuest customers. His managerial and hands-on experience enriches ShadowTalk with practical and strategic viewpoints.
29 min
February 11Patch Management Is Losing—The Case for Predictive Vulnerability Defense
Resources: https://linktr.ee/ReliaQuestShadowTalk
Join hosts Brandon and John as they discuss:
Why traditional patch cycles can't beat attackers exploiting vulnerabilities in 24 hours
The shift from reactive patching to predictive intelligence using EPSS and CISA KEV
How to defend against zero-days when patching isn't an option
John Dilgen: Cyber Threat Intelligence Analyst at ReliaQuest, where he specializes in researching cyber threats impacting ReliaQuest customers. With a strong technical background, he previously served as an Incident Response Analyst and Trainer at ReliaQuest.
Brandon Tirado: Director of Threat Research for ReliaQuest. A skilled cyber defense professional with a unique combination of management and hands-on experience. With a deep understanding of adversary motives and the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) they use to achieve their goals, Brandon enjoys operationalizing his knowledge to make it more difficult for adversaries to operate within the environments of ReliaQuest customers. His managerial and hands-on experience enriches ShadowTalk with practical and strategic viewpoints.
30 min
February 04Beyond Phishing Emails—Social Engineering Drives Initial Access
Resources: https://linktr.ee/ReliaQuestShadowTalk
Join hosts John and Tehman as they discuss:
Why phishing emails are no longer the top malware delivery method
Emerging social engineering tactics: vishing, copy and paste abuse, and software impersonation
How campaigns have evolved from Black Basta to ShinyHunters
John Dilgen: Cyber Threat Intelligence Analyst at ReliaQuest, where he specializes in researching cyber threats impacting ReliaQuest customers. With a strong technical background, he previously served as an Incident Response Analyst and Trainer at ReliaQuest.
Tehman Tariq: Sr. Manager of Cyber Operations at ReliaQuest. He has spent a majority of my career leading our Incident Response, Security Architecture, and Detection teams. As well has working hand in hand with CISOs to introduce automation allowing for the maturity of their security programs.
23 min
January 28Malicious AI—The New Face of Cyber Threats
Resources: https://linktr.ee/ReliaQuestShadowTalk
John and Tehman as they discuss:
How AI is enabling large-scale, high-speed attacks
Nation-states weaponizing AI for attack automation
The rise of sophisticated AI-generated malware
John Dilgen: Cyber Threat Intelligence Analyst at ReliaQuest, where he specializes in researching cyber threats impacting ReliaQuest customers. With a strong technical background, he previously served as an Incident Response Analyst and Trainer at ReliaQuest.
Tehman Tariq: Sr. Manager of Cyber Operations at ReliaQuest. He has spent a majority of my career leading our Incident Response, Security Architecture, and Detection teams. As well has working hand in hand with CISOs to introduce automation allowing for the maturity of their security programs.
21 min
January 21Maintainer Compromise: The Next Supply-Chain Attack Vector in 2026
Resources: https://linktr.ee/ReliaQuestShadowTalk
Join hosts Brandon and John as they discuss:
How supply-chain attacks evolved
Campaigns targeting NPM package maintainers
Actionable defense strategies
Brandon Tirado: Director of Threat Research for ReliaQuest. A skilled cyber defense professional with a unique combination of management and hands-on experience. With a deep understanding of adversary motives and the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) they use to achieve their goals, Brandon enjoys operationalizing his knowledge to make it more difficult for adversaries to operate within the environments of ReliaQuest customers. His managerial and hands-on experience enriches ShadowTalk with practical and strategic viewpoints.
John Dilgen: Cyber Threat Intelligence Analyst at ReliaQuest, where he specializes in researching cyber threats impacting ReliaQuest customers. With a strong technical background, he previously served as an Incident Response Analyst and Trainer at ReliaQuest.
28 min
January 14Kicking Off 2026 with Ransomware Insights and Defense Strategies
Resources: https://linktr.ee/ReliaQuestShadowTalk
Join hosts Brandon and Tehman as they discuss:
The resurgence of LockBit 5.0 and its December 2025 surge in named organizations
How top ransomware groups like Qilin, Akira, and Clop dominated in 2025.
Actionable defense strategies for organizations to proactively combat ransomware in 2026
Brandon Tirado: Director of Threat Research for ReliaQuest. Brandon is a skilled cyber defense professional with a unique combination of management and hands-on experience. With a deep understanding of adversary motives and the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) they use to achieve their goals, Brandon enjoys operationalizing his knowledge to make it more difficult for adversaries to operate within the environments of ReliaQuest customers. His managerial and hands-on experience enriches ShadowTalk with practical and strategic viewpoints.
Tehman Tariq: Sr. Manager of Cyber Operations at ReliaQuest. He has spent a majority of my career leading our Incident Response, Security Architecture, and Detection teams. As well has working hand in hand with CISOs to introduce automation allowing for the maturity of their security programs.
32 min
December 17, 2025React2Shell Attacks Evolve, ClickFix Attacks, and Holiday Season Threats
Resources: https://linktr.ee/ReliaQuestShadowTalk
Join host John and intelligence analyst Ivan as they discuss:
React2Shell Exploits Flood the Internet as Attacks Continue (1:06)
ClickFix Style Attack Leveraging Grok and ChatGPT for Malware Delivery (7:39)
New ConsentFix Attack Hijacking Microsoft Accounts via Azure CLI (13:50)
Holiday Season Attack Risks: Phishing, Ransomware, and Defense Recommendations (18:22)
John Dilgen: Cyber Threat Intelligence Analyst at ReliaQuest, where he specializes in researching cyber threats impacting ReliaQuest customers. With a strong technical background, he previously served as an Incident Response Analyst and Trainer at ReliaQuest.
Ivan Righi: Threat Intelligence Analyst at ReliaQuest, specializing in technical cyber threat research. Since joining ReliaQuest in June 2019, Ivan has focused on data breach investigations, automations, threat actor profiling, and reverse engineering threat campaigns. He holds a Master of Science degree in Cybersecurity and a GIAC Reverse Engineering Malware (GREM) certification, bringing technical expertise and actionable insights.
32 min

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Want to hear what industry experts really think about the cyber threats they face? ShadowTalk is a weekly cybersecurity podcast, made by practitioners for practitioners, featuring analytical…