In this episode of The Resilience Room, host Sam Dickison and co-host Jamie Knobles sit down with Mahdi Raza, a lifelong tech enthusiast and cyber ecosystem activator. Mahdi shares his nostalgic journey into the digital world—from accidentally brute-forcing his way into AOL at age 12 to navigating today’s complex, fast-moving threat landscape.

The conversation dives deep into why traditional security awareness training fails and how Mahdi’s company, SiberX, is turning the industry upside down. By leveraging the power of gamification, immersive physical escape rooms, and eSports principles, they are shifting the narrative from boring, repetitive checklists to hands-on, high-stakes defense learning.

They also break down the mechanics of "Operation Defend the North"—a massive, real-world tabletop crisis simulation designed along ...