Compromising Positions - A Cyber Security Podcast

About Compromising Positions - A Cyber Security Podcast

The award-winning tech podcast that asks : "Are we the ones breaking the world?" Most tech podcasts are an echo chamber for builders. We step outside. We talk to the observers, the social scientists, and the deep thinkers who study the friction we create and the human systems we disrupt. Lianne Potter and Jeff Watkins strip away the industry fluff and pit academic research against the harsh reality of real organisations and real human incentives. We don’t just talk about AI, security, and automation; we explore the unintended consequences of our own "elegant" solutions. We’re here to look at tech through a different lens and ask the uncomfortable questions that the industry usually avoids. Because if you’ve built a system that has become everyone else's problem, you have to ask: "Am I the compromising position here?"

Publisher

Compromising Positions

Category

business · society & culture · technology

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

20 Sept 2020

Latest episode

15 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

66 of 68 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   15 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Thinking Optional: Is AI Making Us Stupid AND More Vulnerable to Cyber Attacks?

   Host Alex Stamos interviews cybersecurity expert Dr. Jane Smith about how AI's increasing role in cybersecurity might be making analysts less effective and more vulnerable.

2. 

   17 Sept 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Wargames aren’t just for generals

   In this special Compromising Positions field trip, we head to Connections UK, a conference dedicated to the art and science of professional wargaming. And no, it’s not about Orcs or Space Marines. We explore what cybersecurity and AI can learn from people who use simulations to test crisis, conflict, disaster response and complex decision-making when there is no single right answer.

3. 

   20 Aug 2026

   The (Dis)Agreeable World of AI Sycophancy

   This episode we look at why large language models become sycophantic, how reinforcement learning and human feedback have encouraged AI systems to be warm, helpful and agreeable, and what happens when those qualities start getting in the way of honesty, uncertainty and actually telling us when we're talking absolute bollocks. Because an AI doesn't necessarily have to lie to you. It can just agree with you.

Inside a recent episode

Thinking Optional: Is AI Making Us Stupid AND More Vulnerable to Cyber Attacks?

Published 15 Oct 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] And then you've got click fatigue and all that long. It's all completely backwards. So the SAIG framework pushes us towards an automation first and human final strategy. So that's that's the difference between what this paper is proposing to kind of counteract this. Leave the final critical decision to the human because they've got the context. So it's about designing an ecosystem where the machine acts as the assistant that augments human capability rather than an oracle that replaces human judgment. Yeah. And designed in such a way that it encourages engagement critical thinking rather than just a big button saying looks good to me. […]

Who has been a guest on Compromising Positions - A Cyber Security Podcast

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Scott Robertson
• Tim Hatton
• Paula Cizek
• Dr Thalita Vergilio

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

30,070

Score snapshot 30 Jan 2026

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

8 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 27 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

0

Social presence

90

YouTube

63

Engagement

27

Contact Compromising Positions - A Cyber Security Podcast

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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Questions about Compromising Positions - A Cyber Security Podcast