Suzu Labs Acquires Emulated Criminals to Launch AI Driven Continuous Adversarial Operations Practice

Cybersecurity firm Suzu Labs acquires Emulated Criminals to launch a Continuous Adversarial Operations practice using the Hacker in the Loop model.

By: AXL Media

Published: Apr 27, 2026, 10:11 AM EDT

Source: Information for this report was sourced from Business Wire

Strategic Acquisition Enhances Proactive Defense Capabilities

Suzu Labs, a cybersecurity firm specializing in the secure adoption of artificial intelligence, has finalized the acquisition of Emulated Criminals to expand its offensive security portfolio. Announced during an industry event in Las Vegas, the deal integrates Emulated Criminals' bespoke adversarial services into the broader Suzu Labs platform. The move is designed to shift corporate security away from traditional, point in time compliance audits toward a model of unrelenting, real world testing. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed at the time of the announcement.

Establishment of Continuous Adversarial Operations Practice

The primary outcome of the acquisition is the launch of Suzu Labs’ Continuous Adversarial Operations practice, a dedicated unit tasked with executing large scale, named adversary simulations. This new division will be led by the former Emulated Criminals leadership team, including Dahvid Schloss and Ann Rinaldi. Drawing on their backgrounds in U.S. Special Operations and offensive cyber tactics, the team plans to implement a "train how you fight" methodology, allowing organizations to stress test their defenses against simulations of specific, active threat actors.

Implementing the Hacker in the Loop Operating Model

Central to the merger is the introduction of Suzu Labs’ proprietary Hacker in the Loop framework. This philosophy suggests that while AI can significantly lower the cost and increase the speed of vulnerability discovery, human judgment remains essential for campaign design and detection validation. Mike Bell, Founder and CEO of Suzu Labs, emphasized that automation alone cannot replicate the nuanced execution required for high end adversarial exposure validation. The model positions human operators as the final layer of judgment in an AI accelerated security environment.