The New CISO · 2026-05-14 · 35 min
What does it feel like to stand in the smoking ruin of a ransomware attack? In this episode, Steve Moore is joined by former FBI undercover operative Eric O'Neill - the man who helped capture Robert Hanssen - to explain why modern cybercrime is just traditional espionage repackaged, and why the dark web has quietly become the world's third-largest economy. Eric traces his path from the FBI's counterintelligence trenches to founding NeXasure AI and writing cybersecurity books that read like spy thrillers. He and Steve unpack the staggering scale of cybercrime, which Eric predicts could reach $20 trillion in global GDP within years - a marketplace selling everything from ransomware kits to stolen credentials. They dismantle the “it won't happen to me” mindset that still lingers in boardrooms. Eric describes how attackers use AI agents to scan for vulnerable systems, walks through how Scattered Spider socially engineered MGM in a ten-minute phone call, and explains why disabled MFA remains the leading point of failure for small and mid-size businesses. Eric then unpacks the painful calculus of paying a ransom.
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