The State of Cybersecurity Hiring, 2026 content plans, and the weekly news - ESW #441

Jan 12, 2026

Discover the ambitious content plans for 2026, focusing on the future of AI and infosealers. The conversation dives into the evolving cybersecurity job market, highlighting the importance of showcasing projects over mere certifications. Expect insights on building a personal brand and using AI effectively in interviews. The hosts also discuss notable acquisitions, the threats posed by info stealers, and a unique Raspberry Pi incident involving ferry access. Plus, they recap significant cyberattacks from the previous year.

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INSIGHT

2026 Will Sort AI Winners From Hype

Adrian predicts 2026 will separate AI winners from hype-driven losers as use-at-scale wins surface.
He wants episodes featuring real, scaled GenAI success stories rather than demos.

ANECDOTE

Discouraging Teacher Meets Real-World Reassurance

Jackie recounts a teacher telling a high schooler to leave cybersecurity because AI will eliminate jobs.
She convinced the teen that creativity and mischief still drive novel attacks and job demand.

INSIGHT

Third-Party Risk Became Central Concern

Third-party breaches dominated 2025 and challenge trust in outsourcing and MSSPs.
Adrian wants deeper coverage on derisking vendors and Cloud Act balkanization.

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First Topic - Podcast Content Plans for 2026

Every year, I like to sit down and consider what the podcast should be focusing on. Not doing so ensures every single episode will be about AI and nobody wants that. Least of all, me. If I have one more all-AI episode, my head is going to explode.

With that said, most of what we talk about in this segment is AI (picard face palm.png). I think 2026 will be THE defining year for GenAI. Three years after the release of ChatGPT, I think we've hit peak GenAI hype and folks are ready for it to put up or shut up. We'll see winners grow and get acquired and losers pivot to something else. More than anything, I want to interview folks who have actually seen it work at scale, rather than just in a cool demo in a vendor sandbox.

Also on the agenda for this year:

The battle against infostealers and session hijacking: we didn't have a good answer in 2025. When is it coming? Will it include Macs, despite them not having a traditional TPM?
The state of trust in outsourcing and third party use (Cloud, MSSPs, SaaS, contractors): 2025 was not a good year for third parties. Lots of them got breached and caused their customers a lot of pain. Also, there's the state of balkanization between the US and... the rest of the entire world. Everyone outside the US seems to be trying to derisk their companies and systems from the Cloud Act right now.
Vulnerability management market disruption: there are half a dozen startups already plotting to disrupt the market, likely to come out of stealth in 2026
Future of the SOC: if it's not AI, what is it?
What else???

What am I missing? What would you like to see us discuss? Please drop me a line and let me know: adrian.sanabria@cyberriskalliance.com

Topic 2: The state of cybersecurity hiring

This topic has been in the works for a while! Ayman had a whole podcast and book focused on all the paths people take to get into security. Jackie worked with WiSys on outlining pathways into a cybersecurity career.

Whether you're already in cyber or looking for a way in, this segment crams a lot of great advice into just 15-20 minutes.

Segment resources:

Ayman's personal guide for getting into security
https://www.wicys.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/WiCyS-Pathways-in-Cyber-PDF-9.24.25.pdf

News

Finally, in the enterprise security news,

Fundings and acquisitions still strong in 2026!
Santa might be done delivering gifts, but not protecting Macs!
ClickFix attacks
Weaponized Raspberry Pis
MongoDB incidents for Christmas
Top 10 Cyber attacks of 2025
US gets tough on nation state hackers?
Brute force attacks on Banks
An AI Vending Machine

All that and more, on this episode of Enterprise Security Weekly.

Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/esw for all the latest episodes!

Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/esw-441