Acquisition combines security-first AI expertise with real-world continuous adversarial emulation to help organizations proactively defend against modern threats
LAS VEGAS – Suzu Labs, a cybersecurity and artificial intelligence firm focused on secure AI adoption, today announced it has acquired Emulated Criminals, a boutique cybersecurity company specializing in adversary emulation and continuous red teaming. The acquisition strengthens Suzu Labs’ ability to pair AI-driven security with human-led, continuous validation, moving beyond point-in-time compliance to provide an unrelenting sparring partner for your defenses. Terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed.
The platform is known for its operator-led adversary emulation approach, replicating the tactics of active threat actors across cyber, human, and physical domains to expose vulnerabilities that traditional testing routinely misses. Integrated into Suzu Labs’ platform, these capabilities provide customers with continuous, behavior-driven security validation alongside AI-powered risk management and defense strategies.
With this acquisition, Suzu Labs announces the establishment of its new Continuous Adversarial Operations (CAO) practice, led by the former EC team and its leaders, Dahvid Schloss and Ann Rinaldi. Their backgrounds in U.S. Special Operations and offensive cyber operations bring a “train how you fight” methodology to the Continuous Adversarial Operations practice, which will execute named adversary operations against clients’ environments at enterprise scale. The CAO team anchors Suzu Labs’ Hacker in the Loop™ operating model.
“AI is cheapening the discovery side of offensive security, and that is fine with us,” said Mike Bell, Founder and CEO of Suzu Labs. “Discovery was never where the real work was. The real work is judgment, campaign design, and detection validation. That is what Adversarial Exposure Validation is actually about, and none of it scales through automation alone. It requires Hacker in the Loop™, the human-led layer of AEV that automation cannot replicate. Dahvid Schloss and his team built the depth in adversary emulation and offensive malware development we needed, and they are now the Suzu Labs Continuous Adversarial Operations team. Not automation alone. Not humans alone. Hacker in the Loop.”
“Building Emulated Criminals has been an incredible and quite enjoyable journey, and I’m excited to share our next chapter as we officially join forces with Suzu Labs,” states Dahvid Schloss, former CEO at Emulated Criminals and now COO at Suzu Labs. ”Before, our focus was strictly high-end bespoke offensive security services. Helping clients truly understand how to ‘Train how they fight.’ But now, by combining our flagship continuous adversarial emulation service, which we call Emulated Crime as a Service, with Suzu’s deep defensive and advisory expertise, we can offer even more to our clients with a truly 360-degree approach to security.”
Schloss adds, “At our core, we have always cared most about the betterment of our industry. This move lets us amplify that contribution and address new and existing security challenges at a much larger scale. I will always live by the ‘Train how you fight’ motto, and I know Suzu Labs has the same mentality. I look forward to working with everyone in this new endeavor.”
The CAO team delivers ongoing, multi-vector attack simulations – including phishing, ransomware scenarios, insider threats, and physical intrusion testing – designed to validate not just technology but also the people and processes defending it. These capabilities now extend Suzu Labs’ ability to deliver continuous validation of security posture across complex environments.
Suzu Labs offers a full suite of services, including penetration testing, adversary emulation, incident response, vCISO leadership, AI risk advisory, and exposure monitoring – giving customers a unified approach to securing digital transformation and AI adoption.
As attackers increasingly leverage automation and AI, the need for continuous, realistic testing has never been greater. The acquisition positions Suzu Labs as a next-generation cybersecurity partner capable of helping enterprises proactively defend against evolving threats.
