Galactic Research: Articles & Insights
Part 2: The Security Controls Behind a Safe AI Deployment
From the Map to the Hike: The Four Controls and the Client Conversations Behind Them This is Part 2 in a series that covers your AI enablement plan. Part 1 is here if you want the full map. The Little ...
AI Security
Part 2: The Security Controls Behind a Safe AI Deployment
From the Map to the Hike: The Four Controls and the Client Conversations Behind Them This is Part 2 in a series that covers your AI enablement plan. Part 1 is here if you want the full map. The Little ...
Ten of Eleven AI Coding Agents Failed a Decades-Old Attack
What GuardFall Tells Us About Where AI Security Controls Need to Live Picture a security guard stationed at the entrance of a building. Their job is to check IDs. They're good at it, fast and consistent, and the building's occupants ...
Perfect AI Guardrails Are Impossible. That's Not an Excuse for Ignoring Them.
What a NIST Mathematician Proved, Why the Internet Got it Wrong, and What Your AI Security Program Should Look Like Years ago, running an MSSP, I had a vendor pitch us a next-gen firewall on a single promise: one hundred ...
Threat Intelligence
Threat Thursday: July 16th, 2026
Welcome to Threat Thursday, Galactic’s threat intelligence roundup. Every Thursday, we cover the cybersecurity stories that matter most for protecting organizations from emerging threats. Each item breaks down into what happened, what it could mean for your organization, and what ...
Threat Thursday: July 9th, 2026
Welcome to Threat Thursday, Galactic’s weekly threat intelligence roundup. Every Thursday we cover the cybersecurity stories that matter most for protecting organizations from emerging threats, and we break each one down into what happened, what it could mean for your ...
Threat Thursday: July 2nd, 2026
Welcome to Threat Thursday, Galactic’s weekly threat intelligence roundup. Every Thursday, we cover the cybersecurity stories that matter most for protecting organizations from emerging threats. Each item is broken down into what happened, what it could mean for your organization, ...
Security Education
Vulnerabilities Are Now the #1 Way In. The Window to Fix Them Is Closing.
Most of the time, I didn't break into a network so much as let myself in through something with a fix already out (just not installed yet): the VPN concentrator three versions behind, the firewall with a known vulnerability fixed ...
Your OSINT Reality Check: Here’s What an Attacker Is Finding in 30 Minutes or Less
Today’s connected, AI-driven digital ecosystem has made it easier than ever to build a professional brand, network with peers, and share ideas with a wider audience. It’s opened doors for businesses that simply didn't exist before: new customers, new partnerships, ...
Part 2: Threat Actors Don't Pick You. You Just Happen to Be There.
In Part 1, we established that Handala didn't pick Stryker off a strategic target list and then figure out how to break in. They found access, recognized the value, and used it. That's still a deliberate, damaging attack—it just means ...
Strategy & Leadership
Building Trust in Executive Relationships: Lessons from King Lear
A Framework for Establishing the Kind of Trust that Survives Budget Season Imagine the curtain going up and a group of players act out the opening scenes of Shakespeare's King Lear, just for you. An aging king sits in his ...
Your Jokes Were Funny. They Still Didn't Renew.
How MSPs Build the Kind of Client Rapport That Survives a Budget Review You walked out of the meeting feeling good. The handshake was firm, the small talk landed, and you even got a laugh with the printer joke. You ...
Value That Converts: Why Your vCSO Pitch Keeps Getting Pushed to IT
You walked out of that meeting feeling like a closer. Your credentials were on point. You covered the whole stack: EDR, SIEM, MDR, quarterly risk assessments, tabletop exercises, NIST alignment. Your vCSO offering was solid. You even had a phased ...
All Articles
Part 2: Coffee or a Crisis: The CEO’s Choice in Cybersecurity
Last time we looked at why tabletop exercises matter and how they can reveal the cracks business leaders don’t notice until ...
The Ghost in the Server Room
Every growing organization hits that moment: do we keep sprinting after every shiny thing, or do we stop, take a breath, and ask if we’re actually focused on the right battles? We chose the second path. Why? Because our mission ...
Part 1: Coffee or a Crisis: The CEO’s Choice in Cybersecurity
It always starts like a normal day. You grab coffee, glance at your calendar, maybe get ready for the morning rush. Then ...
The $1.5M Mistake Your Employees Are Making—Without Telling You
Let’s set the scene: a group of developers at a grooming software company upload code to their personal GitHub. They quit. They launch a competing platform using that code. A federal court sides with the original company—$572K in damages, $1M ...
New Cybersecurity Laws in NY and MA Could Put Your Business on the Hook—Here’s How to Stay Safe
Think compliance is a formality? Think again. In states like New York and Massachusetts, failing to prove your cybersecurity program is airtight could cost you everything—your reputation, your clients, and your business. Last week I blogged about upcoming California rules ...
The Big Cyber Awareness Lie
So you’ve got a training program. Your IT team told you it was important, so you signed off on it. Now, every so often, your employees sit through a “cyber awareness” session or get hit with a surprise phishing test. ...
Copilot: Your Best Employee or the Hacker’s Dream Intern?
Let me paint you a picture. You finally convinced your team to use Microsoft Copilot. Productivity is up. Reports get written faster. People are actually excited about technology for once. But then someone clicks a link they shouldn’t have. Happens ...
Why Compliance Won’t Save You (But Ignoring It Will Destroy You)
Let’s talk about hospitals. They are compliance machines. Entire teams dedicated to checking boxes, filling binders, and making sure they pass audits. They dot every “i,” cross every “t,” and sleep soundly knowing the paperwork is perfect. And yet—ransomware crews ...
You’re Required to Get a Cyber Audit—Here’s What That Means for Your Business
If your business handles customer data in any meaningful way, California just made something very clear: you will soon need an independent cybersecurity audit—every year. On July 24, 2025, California finalized new privacy regulations under the CCPA. These new rules ...
Small Business, Big Exposure: California’s New Cyber Law Hits More Than You Think
Think you're too small to worry? Think again. On July 24, 2025, California approved new cybersecurity rules that don’t just apply ...
The Keys to Your Digital Kingdom Are Already Stolen
Let me tell you a scary story. Imagine you go on vacation. You lock the doors, set the alarm, and feel pretty good about your security. A week later, you come home—and there’s a stranger on your couch, eating your ...
