About Five Cyber Stories

Why hello there!

Welcome to Five Cyber Stories - a newsletter (from me, Danny Brugmann) featuring five cyber security stories every week.

So why start a newsletter and why a cyber security newsletter?

For those who know me well, this might not be all that surprising. But if you haven't had the pleasure of listening to me rant about the real-lief implications of cyber security trends, I'll explain where I'm coming from.

So, really ... why cyber security?

Though I’ve been working in Hollywood for four plus years, I actually studied and worked in IT. While in school, I ate up cyber security lectures and went down rabbit holes on things like the world's first digital weapon. (It's called Stuxnet and it's still relevant today!). I was awed by stories featuring high stake security audits (similar to this one). Though it was captivating, I was also wary of what seemed a Sword of Damocles - a tool that creates both great power and great peril for those that use it.

I was convinced, maybe like many of you, that though cyber security stories take place in the digital realm, they are all about “real” life.

If someone uses bits and bytes to virtually spy on someone via a webcam, the victim’s very real right to privacy is violated in the realest sense. Internet Crimes robbed Americans of $16 Billion (that’s with nine zeros) in just 2024, and $5 billion of that was stolen from those over 60. That's real money and real impact. These cyber stories can affect all of us. When my youngest son was born, one of my local town’s hospitals was struggling to provide care in the midst of a ransomware attack. Cyber security affects everyone.

My goal for this newsletter is to share stories that reveal how cyber security is becoming more and more relevant to our physical lives.

Why a newsletter?

I’m so glad you asked! My longterm goal is to make a feature length content about cyber topics. While I already have experience working on documentaries, a newsletter is the first step in building my personal credibility in telling stories to a larger audience. I think this journey could eventually lead to a podcast, YouTube channel, and (maybe) even a full-length documentary.

We’ll see how far I get, but for now, I just look forward to delivering you five cyber stories a week that help you understand how the digital realm is affecting you, your neighbors and your communities.

My promise(s) to readers

Every Sunday, I’ll send you, dear reader, my five favorite stories from the previous week about cyber security. I’ll be (mostly) picking stories that highlight how cyber security affects our everyday lives rather than the latest and greatest cyber security tips.

So, if you’re looking for tips on setting up a firewall, this newsletter might not be for you. But if stories about spying robo vacuums, AI’s potential to enable mass surveillance, and international espionage make you want to click for more, subscribing is a one-way ticket to great, future reads (and maybe watches and listens too - we'll keep our minds open to what form these stories can take.)

As part of gathering these five links, here are my promises to you:

  • I will always disclose if something is a paid sponsorship, ad, or other form of revenue. (A guy can dream!)
  • I will always disclose if I know something was generated via AI or something similar.
  • If I begin gathering my own reporting in the future, I will create and share an updated ethics policy to reflect how I go about that reporting.
  • I will also probably include too many GIFs. Sorry.

If I haven’t managed to scare you off at this point, see you Sunday with five cyber stories!

Danny