plain.txt

Making sense of the stories shaping cybersecurity, privacy, AI, and everything in between. plain.txt unpacks what matters as we navigate an increasingly complex digital landscape – for individuals, organisations, and society alike – cutting through noise to focus on what’s actually happening, and what it means in practice. Hosted by Arjun Ramachandran and Jordan Wilson-Otto, bringing a practitioner-led perspective from their work at ctrl:cyber, an Australian cybersecurity firm helping organisations manage cyber risk across the full security lifecycle.

plain.txt is a business podcast hosted by ctrl:cyber, with 160 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

ctrl:cyber hosts plain.txt, a business show with 160 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

• 

  Episode #153

  #158 Cyber breakout - What fronter AI means for cyber risk (part one)

  Aug 11, 202633 min

  *** This is the first part of a two-part series on how frontier AI is reshaping cyber risk. *** In recent months the cyber security industry has been grappling with a key question: how do highly capable frontier AI models change the threat environment? In this episode we break this question down by looking at how AI has affected the cat and mouse game between attackers and defenders, and the operational reality facing most organisations. In turns out that, while the technologies behind this disruption are undoubtedly advanced, many of the lessons for businesses are pretty old school. In part two we'll explore the growing coverage of so-called "autonomous AI security incidents". Links Anthropic - Project Glasswing overview https://www.anthropic.com/glasswing UK AI Security Institute independent evaluation of frontier AI cyber capabilities https://www.aisi.gov.uk/blog/our-evaluation-of-claude-mythos-previews-cyber-capabilities Mozilla vulnerability findings using Mythos (Wired) https://www.wired.com/story/anthropic-claude-ai-model-mozilla-firefox-vulnerabilities/ Why AI has not yet meant more hacks (Risky Business podcast) https://risky.biz APRA letter to regulated entities on frontier AI and cyber risk https://www.apra.gov.au/news-and-publications/apra-letter-industry-artificial-intelligence-ai ASIC letter to licensees and directors about cyber risk https://download.asic.gov.au/media/xhrf1w0e/26-092mr-open-letter-to-afs-licensees-and-market-participants.pdf Trump executive order https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/02/trump-executive-order-ai.html Credits Editing and post-production by Martin Franklin (East Coast Studio) www.eastcoaststudio.com.au

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #157

  #157 AI pendulum - How Pope Leo, Trump and the Australian public have swung sentiment

  Jul 30, 202630 min

  This week we check in on what we've previously called the "AI pendulum" - the swing between a pro-safety, pro-regulation instinct that marked AI conversations a couple of years ago to the hands-off, innovation-first mindset dominating the last 12 months. Recent events indicate the pendulum may be swinging back towards a more cautious and considered view of AI. The most striking incursion came from the Vatican, with Pope Leo XIV issuing "Magnifica Humanitas" a 42,000-word encyclical on the moral challenges of AI. We also explore the Trump Administration's recent executive orders and other moves to bring more government scrutiny to frontier models, and new research from the Tech Policy Design Institute that shows strong support by Australians for AI regulation. Links Full encyclical — Magnifica Humanitas https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/encyclicals/documents/20260515-magnifica-humanitas.html Article about AI encyclical (Time) https://time.com/article/2026/05/25/pope-leo-encyclical-ai-magnifica-humanitas/ Analysis of AI encyclical (Brookings) https://www.brookings.edu/articles/understanding-pope-leos-ai-encyclical/ Article about Trump executive order (CNBC) https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/02/trump-executive-order-ai.html TPDi report — Earning Trust: Unlocking AI Adoption for Australians https://techpolicy.au/news/earning-trust TPDi — AI Agency Tool and 2025 Australia AI Agency Assessment https://techpolicy.au Credits Editing and post-production by Martin Franklin (East Coast Studio) www.eastcoaststudio.com.au

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #156

  #156 False choice, real harm - how power asymmetries and dark patterns erode privacy

  Jul 13, 202628 min

  In this episode we break down the OAIC's determination against Australia's largest rental technology platform ("RentTech") 2Apply. After a year-long investigation, Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind found that 2Apply collected personal information far beyond what was reasonably necessary, and via means deemed unfair. The ruling is another example of the Commissioner's more assertive enforcement posture. Noting the challenges in the housing market facing renters, we unpack how this determination might also matter more broadly to any situation where there's an imbalance of power. We also explore how the ruling applies the concept of "online choice architecture", in which the design of digital platforms can shape the decisions people make. Links OAIC media release https://www.oaic.gov.au/news/media-centre/renttech-platforms-must-stop-unfair-and-excessive-personal-information-collection,-says-privacy-commissioner Full determination https://www.oaic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0022/263254/IRE-Pty-Ltd-Privacy-2026-AICmr-24.pdf Reporting on poor real estate agent cybersecurity (Josh Taylor, The Guardian) https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/feb/02/real-estate-agents-in-australia-using-apps-that-leave-millions-of-lease-documents-at-risk-digital-researcher-says Previous plain.txt interview with Commissioner Carly Kind https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/151-trust-is-built-here-privacy-awareness-week-with/id16163866... Credits Editing and post-production by Martin Franklin (East Coast Studio) www.eastcoaststudio.com.au

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #155

  #155 Australia's AI moment - Lee Hickin, National AI Centre

  Jun 29, 202639 min

  Australia is one of the world's top per capita users of AI, but outside of large enterprises many businesses aren't using it. In this episode, we speak with Lee Hickin, Executive Director of the National AI Centre (bio below) about what it will take to close the gap between awareness of AI and safe and confident adoption. We explore current attitudes to AI in Australia, what the NAIC's data says about adoption across different sectors, and where Australia should position itself in the "AI risk vs AI opportunity" narrative. Lee also shares his view of why getting this moment right matters not just for improving productivity, but to enhance Australia's place in the global economy. BIO: Lee Hickin, Executive Director, Australian National AI Centre. Lee has over 30 years’ experience in the technology industry, having been in technical, sales and business development roles. Most recently he was the CTO for Microsoft ANZ and then lead the Asia region for Microsoft’s global Responsible AI team. Lee has worked across the UK, Asia, and Australia, before joining the Federal Government. In addition to his time at Microsoft, Lee led the Internet of Things team for Amazon Web Services in Asia Pacific, he was a CISSP security architect with RSA Security and worked at both Tivoli and IBM as a software engineer. During his time in industry, Lee has supported Governments around the world as an independent contributor; having been a member of the Singapore AI-Verify Board and a founding member of the NSW AI Assurance Committee. Today Lee leads the Australian National AI Centre (NAIC), with a mission to enable and support Australian Industry and society in its adoption of and acceleration through AI technology and services. He has a clear focus on the need for consistent and appropriate responsible safety mechanisms to support AI, balanced with the need to empower Australians with the confidence and trust in the positive and transformative potential of AI. Lee brings the importance of technical understanding combined with the need for clear and unambiguous language as we help shape a future where AI will be a powerful enabler of productivity, growth and society broadly. Links Lee Hickin — Executive Director, National AI Centre https://www.industry.gov.au/national-artificial-intelligence-centre/about-national-ai-centre/lee-hic... National AI Centre https://www.ai.gov.au /about/about-national-ai-centre" target="_blank" class="redactor-autoparser-object"> https://www.ai.gov.au /about/about-national-ai-centre Australia's central AI resource platform https://www.ai.gov.au Australia's National AI Plan https://www.industry.gov.au/publications/national-ai-plan US export controls force Anthropic to disable Fable 5 and Mythos 5 globally — what happened (CSIS) https://www.csis.org/analysis/department-commerce-restricted-access-anthropics-latest-models-what-co... Global implications of the White House export controls on Anthropic (IAPP) https://iapp.org/news/a/the-global-implications-of-the-white-houses-export-controls-on-anthropic Expanding AI sovereignty to AI agency (TPDi) https://techpolicy.au/aiagency Safe AI Adoption Model (SAAM) https://www.saam.com.au/ Credits Editing and post-production by Martin Franklin (East Coast Studio) ⁠www.eastcoaststudio.com.au⁠

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #154

  #154 Shattered shield - Product liability rulings crack social media's legal armour

  Jun 17, 202630 min

  This week we explore a shift in how social media platforms are perceived, which could open the door to them taking greater accountability for potential harms experienced by users. The trigger is two recent landmark verdicts in the US. In California, a jury found Meta and Google negligent for the design of their platforms while in New Mexico, a jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million after it was argued the company misled the public about the safety of its platforms. Until now, platforms have largely sheltered behind a legal theory that argues that they aren't publishers and therefore not liable for the content posted by users or the harm it cause. These cases re-direct the source of harm to the way these platforms are designed - much more akin to how we think about product safety. Links Article about Meta and Google found liable (NPR) https://www.npr.org/2026/03/25/nx-s1-5746125/meta-google-social-media-addiction-trial Article about New Mexico child safety verdict (Reuters) https://www.aol.com/articles/jury-orders-meta-pay-375-210501487.html New Mexico Department of Justice — official verdict statement https://nmdoj.gov/press-release/new-mexico-department-of-justice-wins-landmark-verdict-against-meta/ Argument against social media verdicts (TechDirt) https://www.techdirt.com/2026/03/26/everyone-cheering-the-social-media-addiction-verdicts-against-me... Australia's digital duty of care — issues paper (Department of Infrastructure) https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/department/media/publications/digital-duty-care-australia-developi... Australia advancing digital duty of care legislation (The Conversation) https://theconversation.com/australia-will-impose-a-digital-duty-of-care-on-tech-companies-to-reduce... Australia wants social media to be safe by design — what does that actually look like? (The Conversation https://theconversation.com/australia-wants-social-media-to-be-safe-by-design-what-does-that-actuall... Credits Editing and post-production by Martin Franklin (East Coast Studio) www.eastcoaststudio.com.au

  ListenShow Notes

Recent guests on plain.txt. Study who booked and why before you pitch.

Based on semantic analysis of episode topics and host coverage, this show is a strong guest fit for executives in:

Industry fit is computed by PitchCentric using vector embeddings of the show's episode catalog.