Hacker Valley Studio

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
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Breaking Into Banks and Bypassing Modern Security with Greg Hatcher and John Stigerwalt

Three banks in four days isn't just a bragging right for penetration testers. It's a wake-up call showing that expensive security tools and alarm systems often fail when tested by skilled operators who understand both human behavior and technical vulnerabilities.

Greg Hatcher and John Stigerwalt, co-founders of White Knight Labs, talk about their latest physical penetration tests on financial institutions, manufacturing facilities protecting COVID-19 vaccine production, and why their new Server 2025 course had to rewrite most common Active Directory tools. They share stories of armed guards, police gun draws, poison ivy reconnaissance, and a bag of chips that saved them from serious trouble. The conversation reveals why EDR alone won't stop ransomware, how offline backups remain the exception rather than the rule, and what security controls actually work when attackers bring custom tooling.

Impactful Moments:

00:00 - Intro
01:00 - New training courses launched
03:00 - Server 2025 breaks standard tools
05:00 - COVID facility physical penetration
07:00 - Armed guards change the game
10:00 - Police draw guns on operators
13:00 - Bag of chips saves the day
15:00 - Nighttime versus daytime physical tests
18:00 - VIP home security assessments
20:00 - 2026 threat predictions
22:00 - Why EDR doesn't stop ransomware
27:00 - Low cost ransomware simulation ROI
29:00 - Three banks in four days
32:00 - Deepfake as the new EDR

Links:

Connect with our guests – 
Greg Hatcher: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregoryhatcher2/
John Stigerwalt: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-stigerwalt-90a9b4110/
Learn more about White Knight Labs: https://www.whiteknightlabs.com

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/

Defending Your Cyber Systems and Your Mental Attack Surface with Chris Hughes

When your firewall forgets to buckle up, the crash doesn’t happen in the network first, it happens in your blindspots.

In this episode, Ron is joined by returning guest Chris Hughes, Co-Founder of Aquia and host of the Resilient Cyber podcast. Chris helps reframe vulnerability work as exposure management, connect technical risk to human resilience, and break down the scoring and runtime tools security teams actually need today. Expect clear takeaways on EPSS, reachability analysis, ADR, AI’s double-edged role, and the one habit Chris swears by as a CEO. This episode fuses attack-surface reality with mental-attack-surface strategy so you walk away with both tactical moves and daily practices that protect systems and people.

Impactful Moments:
00:00 - Intro
02:00 - Breaking: Fortinet WAF zero-day & visibility lesson
05:00 - Meet Chris Hughes: CEO, author, Resilient Cyber host
08:00 - Mental attack surface explained and why it matters
18:00 - From CVSS to EPSS, reachability, and ADR realities
21:00 - AI as force-multiplier for attackers and defenders
24:30 - Exposure vs vulnerability naming, market trends
26:00 - Chris’s book & how to follow his work
30:00 - Ron’s solo: 3 pillars to patch your mindset
34:00 - Closing takeaways and subscribe reminder

Links:
Connect with our guest, Chris Hughes, on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/resilientcyber/

Check out the article on the Fortinet exploit here: https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2025/11/14/fortinet-fortiweb-zero-day-exploited/ 

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/

 

Thriving Beyond Human Labor with Context-Powered AI with Daniel Miessler

The real disruption isn’t AI replacing humans, it’s the shocking possibility that human labor was the economic bubble all along.

In this episode, Ron Eddings sits down with Daniel Miessler, founder of Unsupervised Learning and longtime security leader, to break open why companies are hitting record profits with shrinking workforces, and what that means for your future. Daniel shares how AI agents, context management, and his Telos problem-first framework are reshaping what it means to create value in the modern economy. From Apple to Human 3.0, Daniel explains why building in public, learning fast, and solving real problems are the ultimate career edge in an AI-powered world.

Impactful Moments:
00:00 - Introduction
02:00 - Jobless profit boom accelerates
05:00 - Daniel's AI journey at Apple
08:00 - Building careers around problems
12:00 - AI bubble or timing problem
15:00 - Nine-year-old codes app in two hours
18:00 - Human labor is the bubble
22:00 - Context management changes everything
26:00 - Adaptation equals survival

Links:
Daniel’s Website: danielmiessler.com/
Daniel’s Github: https://github.com/danielmiessler/
Daniel’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielmiessler/

Upcoming events: https://www.hackervalley.com/livestreams
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/
Join our creative mastermind and stand out as a cybersecurity professional: https://www.patreon.com/hackervalleystudio

 

Building EDR for AI: Controlling Autonomous Agents Before They Go Rogue with Ron Eddings

AI agents aren't just reacting anymore, they're thinking, learning, and sometimes deleting your entire production database without asking. The real question isn't if your AI agent will be hacked, it's when, and whether you'll have the right hooks in place to stop it before it happens.

In this episode, Ron breaks down the ChatGPT Atlas vulnerability that shocked researchers, revealing how malicious prompts can turn AI assistants against their own users by bypassing safeguards and accessing file systems. He presents his new talk "Hooking Before Hacking," introducing a framework for applying EDR principles, prevention, detection, and response, to AI agents before they execute unauthorized commands. From pre-tool use hooks that catch malicious intent to one-time passwords that put humans back in the loop, this episode shares practical security controls you can implement today to prevent your AI agents from going rogue.

 

Impactful Moments:

00:00 - Introduction
02:00 - ChatGPT Atlas vulnerability exposed
04:00 - AI technology outpacing security guardrails
05:00 - Guardrail jailbreaks and prompt injection
06:00 - AI agents deleting production databases
07:00 - EDR principles for AI agents
09:00 - Pre-tool use hooks catch intention
11:00 - User prompt sanitization prevents leaks
14:00 - One-time passwords for agent workflows
16:00 - Automation mistakes across 10 years

 

Links:

Connect with Ron on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronaldeddings/

Check out the entire article here: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/cybersecurity-experts-warn-openai-chatgpt-101658986.html 

GitHub Repository: https://hackervalley.com/hooking-before-hacking 

See Ron's "Hooking Before Hacking" presentation slides here: http://hackervalley.com/hooking-before-hacking-presentation

Check out our website: https://hackervalley.com/

Upcoming events: https://www.hackervalley.com/livestreams

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/

Join our creative mastermind and stand out as a cybersecurity professional: https://www.patreon.com/hackervalleystudio