In a daring move designed to shake up the cybersecurity scene, security leaders are no longer content with merely defending networks. Instead, they’re embracing their inner hacker through Adversarial Exposure Validation (AEV), an approach that lets them don the black hat without ever leaving the office. Who knew fighting cybercrime could double as method acting?

Forget about just clicking through endless compliance checklists. With AEV, security professionals are living out their wildest cybercriminal fantasies—sans handcuffs. By infiltrating their own systems, they can adopt the mindset of rogue actors, all while staying gainfully employed by the very organizations they’re ‘attacking.’ It’s like a corporate-sponsored midlife crisis, but with more coffee and less risk of buying a motorcycle.

AEV promises to transform the cybersecurity landscape by empowering defenders to think like the ultimate bad guys—minus the data theft and prison sentences. So if you see your CISO sporting a hoodie and typing suspiciously fast, don’t worry, they’re just committed to their craft. Welcome to the brave new world where role-playing is mandatory, and being your own worst enemy is literally part of the job description.