The Man Companies Call When They Get Hacked | Renzon Cruz

I sit down with Renzon Cruz, Technical Director at Palo Alto Networks' Unit 42 specializing in Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR), to talk about threat actor negotiation, the rise of AI-powered cyberattacks, and why cybersecurity fundamentals still matter.

Renzon shares stories from the front lines of incident response — including negotiating a $35 million ransom down to $900,000 and nearly being doxxed by a Russian hacking group during a negotiation. We also discuss how hackers are using AI to write attack reports, and his journey from a shy university student to the person global companies call when they get hacked.