This episode discusses the US Department of War's AI "Manifest Destiny", hackers going hard on Aussie victims, and Australia bringing in its brand new social media ban.

Hosts David Hollingworth and Daniel Croft kick things off with artificial intelligence, with CommBank trialling a new DevOps agent and the Pentagon launching its new GenAI.mil platform to "dominate" its adversaries.

The pair move on to cyber crime, and the SafePay ransomware gang strikes at three Australian victims in a single week.

Hollingworth and Croft also discuss the social media ban, which came into effect this week.

Finally, the pair look at the Privacy Commissioner's new compliance crusade and a warning that scammers are posing as charities this Christmas season.

Enjoy,
The Cyber Uncut team

In this episode of the Contested Ground podcast, hosts Phil Tarrant and Major General (Ret'd) Dr Marcus Thompson are joined by special guest Dr Ross Babbage, chief executive officer of Strategic Forum and Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington DC.

Together, the trio dive into Australia's rapidly shifting strategic landscape, the pressures shaping the US–Australia relationship, and the risks emerging across the Indo-Pacific as 2026 approaches.

The team also tackles the return of a Trump administration in the US government amid rising uncertainty surrounding the People's Republic of China's internal trajectory.

A central theme of the discussion is Australia's struggle to prioritise national security in line with allied expectations.

The conversation then shifts to the composition of Australia's political leadership and its effect on national preparedness.

Finally, the podcast ends with a discussion on military deterrence and insight into needed improvements in national resilience, industrial mobilisation and defence capability in Australia.

Enjoy the podcast,
The Contested Ground team

In this episode of the Cyber Uncut podcast, David Hollingworth and Bethany Alvaro talk about the week's cyber security and AI news!

Hollingworth and Alvaro get things started by unpacking the Australian government's National AI Plan. Is it actually good governance, or more of a vibe ripe to be abused by the AI giants?

The pair then talk about the eSafety Commissioner's warning that smart car systems are being taken advantage of by domestic abusers, and concern over the impact of the looming social media ban might have on queer youth, before looking at a pair of interesting cyber security incidents from the past week.

But we end on some good news. Hollingworth and Alvaro share some reactions to the National AI Plan, before talking about a new UK initiative to stand up an e-sports event to promote and sharpen vital cyber security skills.

Enjoy,
The Cyber Uncut team