Aniket Bhardwaj
Appearances
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
The attack wasn't just about systems being down. It was more on the lines of potential geopolitical implications, regulatory notification obligations, and really securing evidence for law enforcement in particular. So in situations like that, you're not just really solving a technical problem. You are really helping the leadership teams manage risk at the highest level under immense pressure.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
threat actors don't end up exploiting those vulnerabilities, you know, really identify, clean up network segmentation, visibility, threat hunting to really ensure that you are ahead of the game before a threat actor successfully infiltrates your environment.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
So all of that needs to happen quickly after the whole containment, because if it doesn't, you're not just closing out an incident, you're opening the door to the sequel.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
Absolutely. So at Charles River Associates, within the incident response practice, we work with clients across the full spectrum of cyber events, from urgent breach response to proactive resilience planning. A big part of our work is helping organizations navigate the technical, the legal, and business dimensions of an incident all in real time.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
So we are not just fixing systems, we are helping leaders make high-impact decisions under pressure. So let me share a few examples. In one case, a global manufacturing company was hit by ransomware that crippled their operations across three continents. Every hour offline was costing millions. Our team helped prioritize system restoration.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
coordinated with the forensics and legal teams and supported the overall executive communications and even the insurer reporting. So once again, we weren't just restoring IT, we were helping the business survive the whole critical moment. In another matter, we worked with a private equity firm assessing a potential portfolio company.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
Everything looked fine on the surface, but our review uncovered weak identity controls, shadow IT, and traces of past compromise. That was a big one. That really changed the entire valuation discussion and gave the acquirer critical leverage to really protect their investment. And then there was a sensitive case involving suspected ties to North Korean IT workers posing as remote contractors.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
They essentially had quietly embedded themselves inside a US-based software company's development pipeline. So from the overall investigation, the risk wasn't just critical, it was legal, reputational, even geopolitical, for instance. Our team guided the client through threat containment.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
We also coordinated with the law enforcement agencies and ultimately helped manage the overall regulatory fallout as well. So whether it's again, recovering from a breach, supporting a transaction or navigating complex risks within the nation state activity, our team really built a step in when Clarity really mattered the most.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
In the end, our job is to help clients take back control when the stakes are high and the margin for error is very small.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
On a personal note, aside from my family, which is obviously the most important part of my life, I'm someone who genuinely enjoys the intersection of problem solving and people. I really make it a point to prioritize my health and wellness because being present and ready both mentally and physically is key to showing up for clients when they need you the most.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
Absolutely, absolutely. So this year I'm most focused on really helping organizations move from reactive to more resilient slash proactive. We have really spent the past few years responding to some of the most complex cyber incidents globally. Now the question is, how do we take those hard-earned lessons and turn them into muscle memory for the future?
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
So at Charles Cerato Theater, we're building new playbooks proactively that really go beyond traditional incident response, focusing on proactive risk identification, simulation-based training, and tighter collaboration between legal, security, and the business.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
I'm also working closely with clients in the M&A and private equity space to really embed cyber diligence earlier in the deal lifecycle and to then help firms mature their portfolio-wide risk oversight.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
So on a personal level, I'm also excited about the intersection of cyber risks and innovation, especially the role cyber plays in shaping investment decisions, insurance models, and national security policy.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
I'm also advising emerging startups, you know, really sitting on the ransomware advisory board and exploring new ways to bring context-rich risk signals into the overall decision-making before an incident ever occurs. So whether it's helping a company prepare for tomorrow or investing in the next generation of solutions, this year for me, it's all about being one step ahead.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
Absolutely, absolutely. So maybe I'll cover the Johns Hopkins part. I think that was a big turning factor in overall. So my overall journey into cybersecurity started roughly 20 years ago during my undergraduate degree in computer science back in India.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
I got deeply interested in how systems authenticate users, especially the mechanics behind Windows authentication in general, and really started playing around with intrusion detection systems before it was mainstream. That early curiosity about how things break and how we can build smarter defenses was the spark for me.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
Fast forward a few years and doing my master's at Johns Hopkins back in Baltimore really helped sharpen the passion and ultimately expand my thinking. Also at the same time, the program was deeply interdisciplinary as well, really combining technical depth with national security, regulatory strategy, and real world risk management.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
In the end, I'm there for my clients and my loved ones when they really need it the most. So yeah, thank you.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
What stood out most was that many of the professors were active practitioners. people who were shaping government policy or running security programs at major organizations, or even responding to global incidents in real time that really helped to gather that experience for people who I studied with back in the days.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
So yeah, it gave me a much broader lens, not just how to defend systems, but also how to advise executives or guide legal response or connect security to the bigger picture of business and policy. So that academic foundation really combined with almost two decades in the industry and consulting has shaped the way I lead today.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
So from hands-on technical investigations to advising boardrooms during crises, every step has built on that original spark from my undergrad days. So for me, it has come full circle. What started as fascination with how things work and how they break has become a purpose-driven career and really helping others navigate complexity with confidence.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
So this all was the whole baseline with respect to how I again got nominated for top cybersecurity consulting leaders for two, three years in a row. So that is definitely a big achievement. And really, I thank my family and I thank my clients for believing in me and really
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
Taking that feedback to the global agencies with that respect to then really position me as one of the key leaders in the industry with other fellow people across.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
Thank you for your time, Scott. Really appreciate it.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
Sure, yeah. I mean, it is really central to the whole cyber discussion in particular. I mean, not just part of the future, but really the battleground that's increasingly defining it really from a nation state perspective. Think about it like, you know, everything we value from financial systems, healthcare infrastructure,
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
energy grids to intellectual property, elections, or even personal identity now lives in or depends on the digital domain. And as that dependency grows, so does the attack surface. Cybersecurity, again, is no longer just about protecting data, for instance, it's really about protecting the trust and continuity, and in many cases, national stability, for instance.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
There you go, you know, bringing back the business in particular and ensuring that your business operations are running absolutely, you know, without being impacted, for instance. But again, at the same time, I also want to highlight like really, you know, on the global stage, we are already seeing cyber warfare reshape the overall geopolitics.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
You know, we are seeing nation states using cyber operations to influence economies or disrupt critical infrastructure. We have had many cases of wall typhoon, salt typhoon, which is pretty much, you know, in the same spectrum. But again, the overall objective is to gain strategic advantage, all without crossing a physical barrier. So it's really like the low cost, high impact and often denial.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
And that really makes it incredibly attractive and incredibly dangerous. So whether you are talking about the future of business or diplomacy or warfare or even social trust, cybersecurity is right at the center of it. So from my perspective, the future isn't just digital, it's really contested and those who can secure it are going to shape it.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
So one of the biggest trends we are seeing is that cyber security is no longer an afterthought in M&A. It's becoming a deal driver. So PE or private equity firms are getting more sophisticated about modifying cyber risk before the deal closes. They want to know, is there a breach history? Are there legacy systems or shadow IT that could create downstream exposure?
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
And most importantly, how much will it cost and how long will it take to bring the target company up to the acquirer's security standards? Another trend is around post acquisition readiness. So for instance, PE firms are starting to ask for playbooks, such as how do we onboard a new portfolio company securely? How do we prepare for ransomware incidents or regulatory scrutiny?
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
Especially if the target is in a highly regulated space, again, like healthcare or FinTech or biotech. We are also seeing more interest in attack surface management as part of the overall due diligence. Really, firms want to understand, for example, what's publicly exposed before they even inherit the risk. Now, when it comes to cyber risk, it's now firmly a business risk.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
And then in the context of M&A or M&A ecosystem, it's really affecting valuations, warranties, and integration timelines. The smartest firms are using it as leverage, really both to negotiate and to protect their investment post-close. But again, really, at the end of the day, cyber diligence has become a competitive advantage, not just another compliance checkbox.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
Absolutely. Thank you, Scott. So at Charles Weber Associates, I lead the incident response and cybersecurity services practice, along with other vice presidents in our team. It's a critically important function where we help clients respond to and recover from some of the most high-impact cyber events, such as ransomware, data breaches, business email compromise, you name it.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
That's a key element to understand. Now, the firms that get it right don't just avoid the downside. They really move faster, pay smarter, and sleep better at night.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
So with the respect of cyber insurance, it's becoming increasingly important. We are hearing more and more organizations really ensuring that insurance needs to be in place. Now, with respect to insurance in general, it's definitely about transferring risk is what we have historically heard. But again, no matter how strong your defenses are, no organization is immune to cyber threats either.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
So whether, again, it's ransomware or data theft or any regulatory fallout, I mean, insurance or cyber insurance really steps in to help organizations recover financially and operationally when those threats become the reality. How it typically works, I mean, there are various elements to keep in mind. You know, there's the coverage element.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
You know, does a cyber insurance policy cover things like incident response costs, forensic investigations, you know, costs of engaging a legal counsel, again, ensuring that regulatory fines, you know, there are too many coverage elements that we need to really keep in mind, then they really help in the element of response coordination.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
So most insurance policies, they really give you access to a panel of experts, for instance, like forensic firms that they have on panel, breach coaches, PR specialists. So again, you're not alone in the whole crisis situation. In fact, it's often the insurer who activates and coordinates the whole response, which is the whole duty of it. Then you also have risk incentives.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
Like in my opinion, many insurers are now like tying premiums and coverage to the strength of your cyber posture. So better controls, better coverage, better hygiene, you know, obviously you'll pay more if none of that is effective. And then obviously at some point may even become uninsurable if the ultimate hygiene of your IT environment is not looking good.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
Now, beyond the money aspect, what people often miss is that it's not just about the payout. It's about readiness. And from our perspective, the best carriers and brokers work with clients to run simulations or improve their IT and security controls and really reduce the risk before anything happens. So yes, from my perspective, you absolutely need it.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
not because it replaces cybersecurity, but because it really reinforces that. So just like you wouldn't drive without car insurance, you shouldn't run a digital business without cyber coverage.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
So incident response trends, definitely a growing economy at scale with respect to multiple incidents that are really being impacted. So from our perspective, the key trends that we really observe are really in the space of geopolitical activity. As I briefly mentioned, the whole cyber espionage efforts or state actors,
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
continuously targeting the overall organizations across the globe, which continues to be the key element when we are seeing different threat actors operating. We are also seeing a noticeable shift in both the frequency and really the complexity of incidents. So again, it's no longer just about
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
ransomware, you are really talking about multi-pronged attacks that blend extortion, data theft, and supply chain compromise all in one hit. So, tradactors are really more calculated. They're spending weeks inside networks and learning about different business models, or let's say, understanding vendor relationships, and then really striking with different surgical procedure, for instance.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
We also work closely with external breach coaches, in-house counsel, boards, and cyber insurers, underwriters, claims to really help organizations navigate through chaos with clarity in the event of an incident, for instance. Most recently, we were dealing with a cyber incident involving a nation state threat actor targeting a critical infrastructure organization.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
One major trend maybe I should talk about is the rise in targeted extortion without encryption in ransomware events. So in these cases, threat actors slightly exfiltrate sensitive data and skip the whole encryption phase. So no splashy ransom notes, not that it happens a lot, but still just a quiet threat to publish unless paid.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
And that really changes how executives think about visibility and response because It's not about recovering systems anymore. It's really about the brand, the trust, and the overall legal exposure. The other trend maybe I should also cover is around the legal and regulatory stakes. They are again getting higher and higher.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
So every response is now a coordinated play involving outside counsel, insurance, privacy regulators, and really the law enforcement agencies. Their involvement is key to the whole response process. But ultimately the timelines are shrinking and at the same time, expectations are growing. And one more I should maybe highlight is the overall identity, which is again, becoming the new perimeter.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
So we are seeing compromise after compromise that starts with meek multi-factor authentication or sale administrative accounts or overprivileged service accounts or identities. So again, it's not flashy, but that's where the real risk lives. So we used to really think of incident response as a fire drill.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
Now it's more like crisis leadership and companies that do well, they're the ones who already rehearsed the play. And maybe I'll just say this in the end, the most prepared clients are rarely the ones calling us for the first time.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
Yes, I mean, I think now you're getting in one of the most uncomfortable truths of ransomware, paying the ransom again doesn't guarantee closure. So really, I mean, I think we could spend hours and hours discussing this, but from my perspective, paying the ransom might stop the bleeding in the moment, but it doesn't mean that the tractor is gone for good.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
In fact, we have seen multiple cases where the same group or ransomware affiliate returns within months, sometimes even weeks, either because the organization didn't fully close the back door or worse, because word got out that they were willing to pay. Think of it like this.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
If a burglar breaks into your house and you quietly pay them to leave, but you don't change the locks, what stops them from coming back? Now, sometimes it's not even the same group. The data from the first breach might be resold on underground forums. And a second group sees you as an easy target. Now, in the event of cyber sort of like underground, for instance, a willing pair
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Cybersecurity, M&A, and the Evolving Cyber Battlefield with Aniket Bhardwaj of Charles River Associates 4-22-25
becomes a high value lead. So that's why a critical part of any ransomware response isn't just recovery, it's hardening, making sure you have a solid IT security hygiene, you have full understanding of your digital ecosystem, full understanding of how many assets you have in the environment. Are they patched? Are they vulnerable? Are you taking enough steps in a timely manner so that