From Recon to Ransom: Inside the Attacker's Playbook with Glenn Wilkinson, Ethical Hacker

Most organisations think about cybersecurity in terms of tools and compliance. Attackers think in objectives, timelines, and human behaviour. That gap is exactly where breaches happen.In this episode, Katie speaks with Glenn Wilkinson, CEO of Agger Labs and ethical hacker with 15 years of experience breaking into organisations, legally. Glenn has tested financial institutions, trained law enforcement, and presented at Black Hat and DEF CON. He brings that attacker's perspective directly to the conversations organisations need to be having right now.The episode covers significant ground: the structured methodology that makes hackers effective, why most breaches still start with a person rather than a system, and what it really means that attackers spend an average of 197 days on a network before anyone notices. Glenn also explains why a passed pen test is not the same as being secure, and makes the case for reframing cybersecurity as a business continuity issue, not an IT problem, to get genuine board-level engagement.The conversation closes on ransomware: what it actually is, how to build your defences before it hits, and the decision no organisation properly prepares for until it's too late, pay, or don't pay, including the legal and moral complications most people don't see coming.Practical, direct, and grounded in real-world experience. This is how attackers think. This is what that should change about how you defend.