Autonomous systems are already moving into the physical world. Drones can fly themselves, robot taxis are carrying passengers, and AI systems are taking more action without direct human control.

Chad Butler joins the Security Cocktail Hour to explain why that changes the risk model.

The issue is what happens when autonomous systems make real-world decisions from sensor data, routing logic, and AI-driven judgment that may be wrong, spoofed, or manipulated.

In this feature version, Chad talks with Joe Patti and Adam Roth about:

• GPS spoofing and drone capture
• beyond visual line of sight drone operations
• trusted and untrusted sensor data
• AI agents and autonomous vehicles
• why optimal-environment testing is not enough
• why "nobody will do that" is not a defense
• how cyber failures can become safety failures
• what Challenger and Feynman still teach us about launch pressure and ignored warnings

This is a feature cut of the conversation. Th full interview will be released soon.

This time we’re revisiting our conversation with Luke Canfield and focusing on how drones are becoming a cybersecurity problem.

Luke walks through war-flying, drone-mounted Wi-Fi Pineapples, rogue access points, cartel drone operations, prison contraband drops, hybrid warfare, and why most security teams are still thinking too flat. The core takeaway: security exists in three dimensions now, and defenders need to start looking up.

Full original episode with Luke Canfield: https://open.spotify.com/episode/18TYWLjiLpqGX995iDmqdL?si=67c757474cc84d33

Security Cocktail Hour:
https://securitycocktailhour.com

Former NASA Administrator and astronaut Charles Bolden joins the Security Cocktail Hour to explain why space is not as isolated as people assume.

We cover:

• Why mission control still sits in the middle
• Why messages get routed, reviewed, and filtered before reaching a vehicle
• How consumer devices expand the attack surface in space
• What cooperation in orbit teaches about security and civics
• Why he does not buy the hype about easy moon or Mars colonization

Organizations mentioned in this episode:

Intrepid Museum: https://intrepidmuseum.org/

Astronauts for America: https://www.astronautsforamerica.org/

Modern cars are phones with wheels: GPS, telematics, connected apps, and data streams that can expose privacy risks, but also help recover a stolen vehicle before it disappears across jurisdictions.

Maria Santos and Eugene Giordani, co-founders of Autoscope, join the Security Cocktail Hour to explain how law enforcement can use consent-based access to connected-car data after a theft. We talk about relay attacks, key cloning, license plate reader limits, built-in GPS, jurisdiction problems, AirTags, immobilizers, Faraday bags, dash cams, and the practical steps car owners can take before something happens.

If you care about cybersecurity, connected vehicles, public safety, privacy, or just keeping your car in your driveway, this one is for you.

Website: https://securitycocktailhour.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/security-cocktail-hour
Twitter/X: @SecCocktailHour

Enjoyed this episode? Follow us and share it with a colleague or friend who owns a connected car.

In this episode, Ché Bolden joins us to talk about drone security, uncrewed systems, satellite security, GPS, autonomy, counter-drone defense, and the growing cyber risks around space-based infrastructure. We get into how drones were originally secured, why unencrypted links were such a problem, how command-and-control attacks can work, and why space is now part of the security conversation.

This conversation sits at the intersection of cyber security, drone warfare, satellite security, space security, and the future of connected systems. If you care about drones, satellites, GPS, cyber risk, or the security of critical infrastructure, this episode is worth a listen.

Guest

Ché Bolden

Learn more:

bolden.group

interastra.institute

Joe South joins the Security Cocktail Hour to discuss the state of communication satellite security and the doctoral research he is doing to change it. Joe is Director of Cloud & AI Security at Abira Security and hosts the Security Unfiltered podcast, one of the larger independent cybersecurity podcasts. The conversation covers what satellite defense actually looks like today: why most of the security is at the ground station rather than on the satellite itself, what happens when CubeSats stay in orbit for 10 to 12 years without meaningful patching, and how a zero trust framework could be made to work on hardware that operates on less than three watts of power. Joe walks through his proposed approach, which combines TPM-based component authentication with a distributed trust ring across satellite orbits.We also get into cyber warfare and the attribution problem, the strategic implications of a compromised satellite fleet, and Joe's personal story about building self-sufficiency. If you work in cloud, infrastructure, or national security and have never had space in your threat model, this is a good place to start. Guest: Joe South, Director of Cloud & AI Security at Abira Security, host of Security Unfiltered (securityunfiltered.com), doctoral candidate at Capital Technology University.Subscribe to the Security Cocktail Hour newsletter at securitycocktailhour.com for a biweekly read on cybersecurity news and upcoming episodes.

Matt Sloane has spent 13 years in the drone industry, working with over 1,000 public safety agencies to build and operate drone programs. As Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of SkyfireAI, he's at the intersection of drone operations, AI-enabled autonomy, and national security policy.

In this conversation, Matt covers how drone first response (DFR) programs are changing 911 operations, why the FAA's upcoming Part 108 framework will prioritize autonomy over human pilots, how counter-UAS mitigation actually works (with memorable stories from the Super Bowl and World Cup preparations), and what he told the White House about the Chinese drone ban's impact on American public safety agencies.

Supply chain risk from Chinese-made drones mirrors the Hikvision and Huawei debates. Counter-UAS involves signal jamming and RF detection. Autonomous drone systems are expanding the attack surface in ways most security programs haven't accounted for yet.

Amanda King was a Senior Director of Breakthrough Technology at an aerospace and defense company when she learned she was on a list of 77 people specifically targeted by Iran's Charming Kitten APT group. In this episode, she tells the full story: how the Associated Press tried to reach her three times, what the attackers accessed, how a US government agency got involved, and what she changed in her personal and professional life afterward.

The conversation covers the real-world experience of being targeted by a nation-state actor, the gap between corporate and personal security, what it's like when a three-letter agency asks for access to your life, and how the experience shaped Amanda's approach as she moved into executive roles. Amanda also shares her perspective on resilience, including her cancer journey, and a practical framework for processing difficult experiences.

Hosts: Joe Patti and Adam Roth. Recorded March 14, 2026.