This year alone, we've seen major airlines lose millions of customer records. Ransomware attacks have crippled airport operations across Europe. Healthcare systems have been locked out of patient records. The pace isn't slowing.

But here's what should concern you more: Anthropic recently disrupted an attacker using AI agents to automate reconnaissance, exploitation, and extortion across 17 organizations. The ransom demands exceeded $500,000. What once required coordinated expertise now takes only one person armed with an AI coding assistant.

This isn't coming. It's here.

In cybersecurity, time always decides the victor. The window from initial access to persistence keeps shrinking. Not because defenders are getting slower, but because attackers are getting help from systems that learn, adapt, and execute faster than any human team can counter. When your adversary operates with machine speed and learns your defensive patterns in real-time, your security operations center needs to evolve or become irrelevant.

That’s why we unified our intelligence, research, and offensive teams to form Howler Cell: a single, full-spectrum capability built to reduce the time between detection and defense.

The Problem with Reactive Intelligence

Most organizations still treat threat intelligence as a stand-alone function. Identify a threat, write a report, distribute it to clients, and wait for implementation. By the time most organizations implement defenses, attackers have already moved three steps ahead.

We've watched this cycle repeat for two decades. Detection without action is expensive documentation. Intelligence without the ability to act creates delays. And waiting until you're under attack to identify blind spots is how organizations end up in breach notification headlines.

The gap between "we see it" and "we act" is where organizations lose. Not just because of inaction, but because that lost time opens windows of opportunity. And in 2025, with AI-enabled attacks automating what used to require coordination across multiple operators, that window needs to close completely.

Howler Cell closes that gap by uniting intelligence and operational expertise into a single motion, transforming insight into action across the Cyderes portfolio.

First to Warn. Last to Leave.

Howler Cell operates at the intersection of Threat Research & Intelligence, Threat Hunting, Digital Forensics & Incident Response (DFIR), Offensive Security, and AI Engineering. It’s a unified team designed to answer a question most security programs cannot: What’s coming next, and how do we prepare to defend against it?

Led by Brian Hussey, Steve Meckl, and Josh Wyatt, the team works collaboratively to identify

emerging adversary campaigns and translate those findings into practical defenses before threats reach our clients’ environments. Their work brings together proactive intelligence, offensive research, and real-time response to create a single, continuous motion of readiness.

The name reflects the mission. Howler monkeys are the first to detect incoming threats and sound the alarm for their troop. A cell operates with precision, adapts quickly, and doesn’t wait for permission to act. First to warn. Last to leave.

We're already uncovering attack methods and adversary campaigns targeting global organizations. We're identifying what's being developed right now in places most threat intelligence never reaches.

Why Human Expertise Still Matters

Even as attackers adopt AI to accelerate reconnaissance and exploitation, the advantage still belongs to those who understand context. AI can analyze massive datasets, identify patterns, and flag anomalies faster than any analyst. But deciding what truly matters, and how to respond, remains a human skill. Understanding the difference between a vulnerability and an exploitable attack path in your specific environment belongs to people.

That’s why Howler Cell is built around expert judgment. Our analysts use AI-enhanced tools within the Cyderes SOC and offensive operations to focus on what matters most: turning intelligence into decisions and decisions into defensive action. Not another alert. Not another report. Actual operational security improvements that close gaps before they're exploited.

What Comes Next

Starting this month, Howler Cell will release intelligence reports based on what we're seeing in active threat landscapes. What's being used against organizations right now and what's being developed for tomorrow.

We're building this because attacks are evolving faster than most defenses can adapt, and companies need foresight, not hindsight. The ones that survive will be the ones that translate intelligence into immediate, measurable defense.

Growth without security creates unsustainable risk. Security without business velocity fails to protect value. The organizations that win build both as one, creating secure growth powered by speed and foresight.

At Cyderes, we deliver readiness. Howler Cell is the next evolution of that commitment. Because cyber resilience is built into everyday operations or it doesn't exist at all.

First to warn. Last to leave. Always ready.