Plaintext with Rich
Cybersecurity is an everyone problem. So why does it always sound like it’s only for IT people?
Each week, Rich takes one topic, from phishing to ransomware to how your phone actually tracks you, and explains it in plain language in under ten minutes or less. No buzzwords. No condescension. Just the stuff you need to know to stay safer online, explained like you’re a smart person who never had anyone break it down properly. Because you are!
Plaintext with Rich
Latest Episodes
FortiBleed: When Your Firewall Becomes the Front Door
Your firewall is supposed to be the thing that keeps attackers out. FortiBleed is the story of what happens when it becomes the way in.In June 2026, roughly 86,644 sets of working Fortinet credentials turned up circulating amo...
Post-Quantum Cryptography: Start the Inventory Before Q-Day
You don't inventory your house the morning of the move. You start months before. So why are most organizations still treating post-quantum cryptography as a 2035 problem? Episode 31 of Plaintext with Rich treats the post-quan...
Cybersecurity Careers and AI: The Squeeze and the Opening
Someone pulled Rich aside at a conference recently. Six years in IT, ready to break into security, and asking the question more people ask every week. Should I even bother right now? Here's what the data actually shows.Episode 30 of Plai...
Supply Chain Attacks: How One Update Hit OpenAI
A routine software update. No phishing. No sketchy download. Then a security team finds the unthinkable: trusted code has been hijacked, and the breach rode in through the exact channels engineers rely on every day. I walk through the supply ch...
Microsoft Exchange Zero-Day Under Attack: One Email Hijacks OWA
It's Monday morning. You open the third email of the day. Nothing visible happens, but in the background, an attacker just borrowed the proof you were logged in.Episode 28 of Plaintext with Rich is a hot take on CVE-2026-42897, the Micro...