EIC 2021 finally took place in Munich in a hybrid format between on-site and online. Of course, Matthias took the opportunity to sit down with his analyst colleagues in person for some EIC special analyst chat episodes. In the first of three specials, Christopher Schütze talks to him about the findings from his pre-conference workshop on defending against ransomware, and they also turn their attention to a promising new approach to creating globally secured identities.