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Happy New Year!
Year in Review: The 10 Stories That Shaped Our Most Turbulent Year Yet
I love wraps. Every year my family sits down together and we compare our Spotify wraps and laugh at each other. These days everyone is doing it, from LinkedIn to Instagram, even Chat GPT got into the mix.
But, looking back, this year didn’t drift by quietly. Just as I predicted in Spies, Lies and Cybercrime (the book), 2025 challenged every assumption we hold about digital trust, and forced us to confront the reality that the world of espionage and cyber conflict is no longer confined to classified war rooms. It’s woven into daily life, every device, every app, every infrastructure system we take for granted. 2026 is going to be wild!
As we wrap up the year, here are the ten stories that carried the greatest weight. These are the stories that moved conversations, sharpened understanding, and, in many cases, exposed threats hiding in plain sight.
1. Your Devices Are Listening
This story pulled back the curtain on a modern reality most people sense but rarely confront: the microphones around us are always on. Drawing from both intelligence tradecraft and documented patents, whistleblower reporting, and academic research, the piece explained how phones, smart speakers, apps, and even browsers continuously monitor audio streams for wake words, context, and behavioral signals. The reason? To feed algorithms trained to predict, influence, and monetize human behavior. The issue resonated with you because it didn’t rely on paranoia or theatrics; it treated consumer technology the way intelligence professionals treat any listening device: assume collection, minimize exposure, and control the microphone before it controls you.
2. Happy Thanksgiving
This story marked a deliberate pause in a year dominated by cyber threats and digital noise, while still delivering practical value. Alongside a personal challenge to put phones away and reclaim Thanksgiving as a moment of real human connection, the issue also introduced the launch of my PROTECT page—a new resource designed to help readers defend themselves and their families from scams, fraud, deepfakes, and account takeovers. Timed for the holiday shopping rush, the newsletter outlined clear, actionable steps to avoid AI imposters, smishing attacks, fake deals, and fraudulent charities, reinforcing that staying present doesn’t mean staying unprepared.
3. China’s Typhoon Attack Groups: The Quiet War That Already Started
Our most consequential reporting centered on China’s aggressive cyber posture, led by Volt and Salt Typhoon. These state-backed groups methodically infiltrated U.S. critical infrastructure, not to steal data but to position themselves for potential disruption at a moment of geopolitical friction. Paired with China’s public outing of NSA operatives, the story made clear that we are no longer discussing hypothetical conflict. We are documenting an ongoing campaign that demands national attention and a sober reassessment of what modern deterrence really requires.
4. The TikTok Ban and America’s Fractured Attention
The TikTok investigation went beyond alarm over a popular app. It explored how digital addiction reshapes human behavior, how foreign adversaries weaponize that dependence, and why bipartisan leaders finally took aim at a platform designed to extract data and manipulate attention at unprecedented scale. The issue resonated because it bridged personal vulnerability and national security risk, ultimately leading us to the uncomfortable but necessary conclusion that TikTok is a Chinese influence operation.
5. Idiocracy: The Cognitive Cost of an AI-Driven World
In examining whether AI is quietly eroding human intelligence, we confronted a truth many sensed but few articulated: reliance breeds complacency. The MIT research revealed measurable drops in brain activity when users let AI systems do the thinking for them, and the broader analysis showed how emotional dependence on AI companions further accelerates mental atrophy. My warning is that our greatest risk may be forgetting how to think critically as machines become more convenient than our own judgment.
6. Trusted Insiders: The Betrayal That Never Goes Out of Style
This year’s insider-threat feature revisited infamous cases (Hanssen, the Toebbes, Gregory Allen Justice, and GhostExodus) to show how betrayal evolves but never disappears. The motivations range from ideology to ego to financial desperation, but the outcome is constant: catastrophic loss delivered by someone who was trusted to guard the vault. The lesson for every organization, from government agencies to private companies, is that insider threats aren’t rare or exceptional, they are predictable, and preventable, if we remain vigilant.
7. O’Neill’s Four Rules of Surveillance
This piece distilled years of real undercover experience into four practical principles that readers could apply immediately to their careers and daily lives. The response was overwhelming because the message was simple: awareness is a skill, not a gift. I taught you how to observe with intention, anticipate behavior, and navigate high-pressure environments with the same clarity demanded in counterintelligence. It became one of the defining frameworks of the newsletter: a bridge between spycraft and everyday success.
8. The Great Escape: A Prison Break with a Digital Lesson
By dissecting a real-world prison escape through a cybersecurity lens, we exposed a parallel that security professionals know too well: systems rarely fail because of sophistication; they fail because someone left a door open. The issue tied together an FBI warning, a DragonForce ransomware attack, and the value of tools like Have I Been Pwned to show how breaches unfold in both physical and digital worlds. It was a reminder that the attackers’ greatest asset is often human complacency.
9. Signal-Gate: When a Privacy App Stumbles
The Signal-gate issue cut through the online hysteria to explain what actually happened, what didn’t, and why it mattered. In a year defined by anxiety over digital surveillance, this piece offered a measured assessment during a week when misinformation traveled faster than facts. It became one of the highest converting stories of the year because readers recognized the need for sober analysis in a space overcrowded with absolutists and alarmists.
10. The Paris Heist
I’ll close the list with one of the year’s most compelling narrative pieces: a field story rooted in tension, tradecraft, and the enduring truth that information is power. Readers responded not because it was cinematic, although it was, but because it illuminated the mindset required to operate in uncertain environments. It reminded you that espionage is not an abstraction. It is a discipline built on patience, awareness, and the relentless pursuit of detail.
As we step into a new year, one thing is certain: the threats will continue to evolve, and the world will not slow down to give anyone time to catch up. But we gather here each week to separate signal from noise, expose the unseen, and navigate the digital battlefield with clarity rather than fear. Thank you for being part of this mission. Stay alert, stay curious, and above all, stay ready.
And here’s hoping that your 2026 is happy, joyous and filled with success!
~ Eric
Get the Book: Spies, Lies, and Cybercrime
If you haven’t already, please buy SPIES, LIES, AND CYBERCRIME. If you already have, thank you, and please consider gifting some to friends and colleagues. It’s the perfect holiday gift and stocking stuffer!
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🎤 I’m on the road doing speaking events. If your company or organization is interested in bringing me to a stage in 2026, book me to speak at your next event.
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