Black Hat USA 2025: Does successful cybersecurity today increase cyber-risk tomorrow?

The 2025 edition of the Black Hat USA conference kicked off with an address from founder Jeff Moss that featured several thought-provoking comments.

Among other things, he remarked that technology has become political and pointed to geopolitical sanctions and bans that limit cooperation and hit revenues, ultimately slowing down innovation. In some instances, there may be grounds to limit the use of some technologies, but referring to technology as political certainly grabbed my attention.

Another comment was more philosophical: do companies adapt to the culture of technology or do they adapt technology to their culture? This question is highly relevant today, as we can all relate to moments when we see a company change path to maximize profits at the expense of the customer.

In my experience, customer service is almost always a prime target for cost saving – from outsourcing a call center to low-cost labor markets through to today ...