Are you a small business owner wondering how to protect your business against scams and cyber attacks?

In this episode of Lost in Cyberia, we are joined by Kimberley Roberts-Salee, Head of Marketing & Communications at Cyber Wardens. Australia's free, government-funded cybersecurity training program for small businesses.

Kim brings a human take to a topic that can feel overwhelming. Coming from a small business marketing background, she's proof that you don't need to be an IT expert to protect yourself online.

We cover:

• The three most common cybercrimes targeting small businesses: inbox break-ins, invoice scams, and online banking fraud
• Why long, strong, unique passwords + multi-factor authentication are still the gold standard
• How cyber criminals are less 'hoodie guy in a basement' and more organised crime empires
• The real cost of a cyber attack: financial, mental, and reputational
• Why the fear approach to cybersecurity doesn't work, and what does
• The surprisingly cybersecurity-savvy world of acupuncturists
• Why your team needs a code word in the age of AI deepfakes
• And the simple habit that could save you thousands: just call and check

Whether you run a small business, work for one, or just want to protect yourself online, this episode gives you practical, jargon-free advice you can use today.

Visit cyberwardens.com.au to access free courses (including foundations, AI safety for small business, and supply chain security).

Send us Fan Mail

Find us on Instagram, YouTube or LinkedIn @thecybersecuritygals

If financial crime were a country, it would be the third biggest economy after the United States and China.

Iain Russell, threat prevention director at Unphish, joins Annie-Mei and Anika to walk through the shift from awareness to disruption. He talks about how they're using open-source intelligence, pattern matching, and machine learning to take down fraudulent domains, rogue apps, and social media impersonation before any damage is done. Because relying on consumers to spot every threat is just not feasible.

The conversation goes deep on how AI and cheap dark web toolkits have industrialised fraud, lowering the barrier to entry so that almost anyone can run a scam at scale. Iain explains why this isn't just a consumer affairs issue anymore. The money flowing through these pipelines is funding organised crime and, in some cases, destabilising governments.

That brings us to Australia's Scams Prevention Framework (SPF) and why it falls short. With key industry codes still missing, major sectors like superannuation and crypto left out, and no clear roadmap for what comes next, Iain breaks down what good policy could actually look like, and what other countries are already doing that we could learn from.

We need to stop victim blaming people who fall for scams and instead drive change in a world where everyone is expected to operate online.

Send us Fan Mail

Find us on Instagram, YouTube or LinkedIn @thecybersecuritygals

Why do people click on phishing links? Is it due to lack of awareness training? Is it lack of interest in securing their organisation? And what happens when AI agents, cognitive warfare, and weaponised ambiguity enter the picture?

We chat with Dr. Matt Canham who is the director of the Cognitive Security Institute, former cybercrime investigator with the U.S. Department of Justice, and one of the leading voices in behavioural cybersecurity.

Dr. Canham shares his research on 'repeat clickers'. This is the small percentage of users (around 3–5%) responsible for nearly half of all simulated phishing incidents. Crucially, it's not ignorance. These people know the policies. So what's actually going wrong, and how do we fix it? The answer involves training the brain's fast, automatic responses rather than relying on conscious decision-making.

The conversation then expands into the territory of AI agents as a new attack surface, the emerging field of neurosecurity, and cognitive warfare. If you're not sure what cognitive warfare is we explain how it's the disruption of decision-making as a strategic weapon. Dr. Canham also introduces the concept of ASID attacks, which exploit narrative and ambiguity rather than software vulnerabilities.

Plus, details on the first-ever Cognitive Security Conference, coming to Las Vegas this August.

Cognitive Security Institute:
https://www.cognitivesecurityinstitute.org/

Cognitive Security Institute Conference tickets:
https://www.cognitivesecurityinstitute.org/cognitive-security-conference

Send us Fan Mail

Find us on Instagram, YouTube or LinkedIn @thecybersecuritygals