CISO Series Podcast (David Spark, Mike Johnson, and Andy Ellis)

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series

What do you give to the person who wants to learn how to steal everything?

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Andy Ellis (@csoandy), operating partner, YL Ventures. Our sponsored guest Jim Wachhaus (@imanapt), risk intelligence evangelist, CyCognito.

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, CyCognito

By understanding risks, attacks, and behaviors from attack surface management data, CyCognito visualizes the pathways attackers will take to exploit your network enabling you the ability to see, understand and eradicate the threat. CyCognito is the only cyber risk intelligence platform that visualizes the attackers paths into your network.

In this episode:

• How can we shore up our cybersecurity hygiene?
• What have we heard enough about with risk intelligence ?
• Gifts to buy someone who is looking into red teaming/vulnerability

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series

It's all risk, all show, for the entire show. It's just the kind of risk we like to take.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Mike Johnson. Our sponsored guest is Derek Vadala (@derekvadala), chief risk officer, BitSight.

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, BitSight

These are challenging times for security professionals. From managing third party supply chain risk, to quantifying financial exposure, to reducing the likelihood of ransomware, BitSight helps security and risk professionals create more effective cybersecurity programs with cybersecurity ratings and analytics. Learn why Moody’s, the Department of Defense, and other leading institutions partner with BitSight at www.bitsight.com

In this episode:

• What cybersecurity risk is currently the most severe?
• What's important about of evaluating a startup's security protocols?
• What about third party risk management?
• Do you and your board know how resilient you are to a cyber attack?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series

There are vendors that CISOs can't look away from. Who are they and what did they do to get so much attention from CISOs?

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Mike Johnson. Our guest is Saša Zdjelar, svp, security assurance, Salesforce.

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Sysdig

Sysdig is driving the standard for cloud and container security. With Sysdig, teams find and prioritize software vulnerabilities, detect and respond to threats, and manage cloud configurations, permissions and compliance. Customers get a single view of risk from source to run, with no blind spots, no guesswork, no black boxes.

In this episode:

• What’s a great approach from a security vendor?
  
• What techniques do CISOs deploy to cut through the marketing noise?
  
• Can you think of vendors that were so good that you couldn't ignore them. What made them achieve that status?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series

What if we could convince management that security is not a cost center, but a means to actually make and save money for the business? The concept isn't so completely outrageous. Companies are using privacy and security as differentiators, and certain security tools such as single sign on, password managers, and passwordless reduce operational costs in support tickets.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Mike Johnson. Our guest is Mary Gardner, CISO, The Greenbrier Companies.

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Buchanan Technologies

Short staffed and overworked IT groups can be overwhelmed by the massive scope of a comprehensive cybersecurity program. Buchanan Technologies makes the complex simple with our twenty-four by seven, customized, vetted strategies that identify risks, detect threats, implement security controls, and protect the confidentiality, availability, and integrity of your data. Discover more.

In this episode:

What are areas we should focus on improving the security user experience for non-security people?
We ask if CISOs have it easier than their middle managers.
We think about the factors that result in the workload being tougher or easier for a CISO.
And we examine how we can protect our machine learning algorithms and AI from absorbing poisoned data.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series

Risk is scary. Cyber risk is scarier. Not because it's worse, but mostly because we barely understand it. We've gone this long not understanding it. Maybe just ignoring it will allow us to wish it away.

On this week's episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast we have our first in-studio guest (since we moved the studio). Joining me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Mike Johnson is our in-studio guest TJ Lingenfelter (@tj_555), sr. program manager, information security, Taylormade Golf.

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, BitSight

These are challenging times for security professionals. From managing third party supply chain risk, to quantifying financial exposure, to reducing the likelihood of ransomware, BitSight helps security and risk professionals create more effective cybersecurity programs with cybersecurity ratings and analytics. Learn why Moody’s, the Department of Defense, and other leading institutions partner with BitSight at www.bitsight.com

In this episode:

• How can competitive companies can help each other be more secure?
• What to do when you can't get time with your CIO to discuss plans?
• Are we fooling ourselves to think we can maintain privacy for ourselves and that organizations can do it for us as well?
• What new cybersecurity buzzwords should be put to rest?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/dos-and-donts-of-trashing-your-competition/)

We want to malign our competitors, but just don't know how mean we should be. Miss Manners steps in on the latest episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and special guest co-host, Mark Eggleston (@meggleston), CISO, Health Partners Plans, and our guest is Anahi Santiago (@AnahiSantiago), CISO, ChristianaCare Health System.

We recorded in front of a live audience at Evanta's CISO Executive Summit in Philadelphia on November 5th, 2019.

Recording CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast in front of a live audience at Evanta's CISO Executive Summit in Philadelphia (11-05-19)

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsors Trend Micro, Thinkst, and Secure Controls Framework.

Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, helps to make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Our innovative solutions for consumers, businesses, and governments provide layered security for data centers, cloud environments, networks, and endpoints. For more information, visit www.trendmicro.com.

The Secure Controls Framework (SCF) is a meta-framework – a framework of frameworks. This free solution is available for companies to use to design, implement and manage their cybersecurity and privacy controls in an efficient and sustainable manner. Our approach provides a comprehensive solution to manage complex compliance needs.

Most companies find out way too late that they’ve been breached. Thinkst Canary changes this. Find out why the Thinkst Canary is one of the most loved products in the business and why the smartest security teams in the world run Canary. Visit https://canary.tools.

On this week’s episode

Why is everyone talking about this now?

Greg van der Gaast, former guest who runs security at The University of Salford, initiated a popular LinkedIn discussion on the topic of human error. According to his colleague Matthew Trump of the University of Sussex, in critical industries, such as aerospace, oil & gas, and medical, “human error” is not an acceptable answer. You simply have to prevent the incident. If not, a mistake can be both a regulatory violation and lethal.

But people are a part of the security equation. It’s unavoidable.

We know zero erros is impossible, but can you accept “human error” as a fail point?

Hey, you’re a CISO, what’s your take on this?

Listener David said, “One thing I have experienced at my last two jobs is integrating with a ‘global’ security team whose security program is effectively and functionally inferior to our own. In these occasions, the global security team wanted us to remove current safeguards, processes/procedures and tooling that reduced the preparedness and effectiveness of our security program and introduced risk(s) that we have not been exposed to in years. All of these changes were always touted as a ‘one team’ initiative but never once was due diligence on security posture taken into account.

“What is the best way to go about a consolidation like this? Do you not mess with a good thing and ask the ‘better’ security program to report up incidents, conform to compliance check boxes etc. or as a CISO do you sign off on a risk acceptance knowing that the operating company is now in a worse state of security.”

“What’s Worse?!”

We’ve got two rounds of really bad scenarios.

What annoys a security professional

Geoff Belknap, former guest and CISO of LinkedIn, appreciates a vendor’s desire to “bring like minds” together around food or drink, but the invite is not welcome on a weekend. Belknap feels that the weekend intrudes into a CISO’s personal/family space. There was a lot of debate and disagreements on this, but there were some solutions. One mentioned a vendor invite that included round trip Lyft rides and childcare.

Oh, they did something stupid on social media again

Jason Hoenich, CEO of Habitu8 posted on LinkedIn that he didn’t appreciate Fortinet writing about security training for CSO Online, something for which Jason’s business does and for which he believes Fortinet does not have any expertise. It appears this was a sponsored article, but Jason didn’t point to the article nor did he isolate specifically what he felt was wrong with Fortinet’s advice.

Here at the CISO Series, we like Jason and Habitu8. They’ve been strong contributors to the community. But complaining and not pointing to any concrete evidence is not the best way to convince an audience. Earlier this year we saw something similar with the CEO of Crowdstrike going after the CEO of Cybereason claiming an underhanded sales tactic that was not specified nor anyone at Cybereason knew what he was talking about.

Is it OK to go after your competition in a public forum? If so, what’s the most professional and respectful way to handle it?

It’s time for the audience question speed round

Our Philadelphia audience has questions and our CISOs had some answers. We rattle off a quick series of questions and answers to close the show.

Images and links for this episode can be found at CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/worst-question-award-goes-to-how-secure-are-we/)

We've got better ways to determine the overall quality of your security posture than asking this unanswerable question. It's all coming up on CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Helen Patton (@osucisohelen), CISO, Ohio State University.

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor Trend Micro.

On this week's episode

Why is everyone talking about this now?

Jamil Fashchi, CISO, Equifax, "In speaking with a CEO the other day, I was asked, 'As someone who isn’t technical, what questions should I ask to determine if my security team is effective?'" This caused a flurry of discussion. What's your advice, and do you agree it's a lot better question than "How secure are we?"

Hey, you're a CISO, what's your take on this?

One issue that comes up a lot in cybersecurity is the lack of diversity. We have discussed the value of diversity, in that it avoids "one think" and brings in the critical need of different viewpoints. The problem is we're often attracted to people like us, and we ask for referrals which if you hired people like you is probably going to deliver more people like you. We focus this discussion on actionable tips that CISOs can take to bring in a diverse workforce.

What's Worse?!

What's it like to work with the business and their acceptance or lack of acceptance of risk?

First 90 days of a CISO

Steve Luczynski, just became CISO of T-Rex Corporation. In the past the CIO has handled both IT and security at the company.

"Now with a CISO onboard, the struggle is figuring out who does what with the expected reluctance by the CIO to let go of certain things and trust me, the new CISO to maintain the same standards. For example, I wanted to change our password policy when I first showed up to match the new NIST guidance of not changing based on a set time period. There was disagreement and it did not change even when I showed the NIST verbiage," said Luczynski.

How should Steve deal with such disagreements?

Ask a CISO

For a while, FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) worked on the average person, to get them to install basic security measures, like an anti-virus. But it appears that's all changed. The cause could be apathy. When there's so many breaches happening the average person feels powerless. Are we marketing cyber-awareness wrong to non-security people? What would get them to be true advocates?

The Pre-nup. It’s a difficult thing for most people to talk about in their personal lives, but it’s something that should always be considered when setting up a relationship with a cloud service provider. Not all business relationships last, and if your organization needs to move its data to another provider, it’s not like packing up your furniture and saying goodbye to your half of the dog. 

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Andy Ellis (@csoandy), operating partner, YL Ventures. Joining me is our guest, Arvin Bansal, former CISO for Nissan Americas.

In this episode:

• Why are so many companies unprepared for phone-based social engineering?
• Why do many orgs not give this attack surface the attention it deserves?
• Are we doing enough to support whistleblowers in cybersecurity?

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Palo Alto Networks

As cloud attacks increase, how should AppSec respond? Hear from Daniel Krivelevich, CTO of AppSec at Palo Alto Networks, as he dives into modern application security strategies that can help teams defend their engineering ecosystems from modern attacks. Watch now to level up your AppSec program.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/like-fine-wine-our-vendor-bs-meter-gets-better-with-age/) 

The bouquet of this particular vendor BS is a mixture of FUD, unnecessary urgency, and a hint of pecan. Look to your left and grab the spittoon because we don't expect everyone to swallow what you're about to hear on this week's episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Olivia Rose, CISO for MailChimp.

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor Remediant

Eighty one percent of cyberattacks utilize stolen administrative credentials. Yet, legacy enterprise password vaults solve only a fraction of the problem and are difficult to rollout. Remediant’s SecureONE takes a new approach to privileged access management: offering agent-less, vault-less, continuous detection and just-in-time-administration. Learn what Remediant can do in a half-day POC deployment.

On this week's episode

Why is everyone talking about this now?

One of the reasons we hate hearing security buzzwords is because it doesn't help us understand what it is a vendor is trying to sell. When a vendor says we have a "zero trust" product, what does that mean?

We delve into some of the tell-tale signs that a vendor or consultant is trying to BS you.

According to Olivia Rose, if you're going to pitch a CISO, make sure you can answer the following simply and succinctly:

What does our product/service do?
What specific security problem does it solve?
How will it affect the typical strategic/business drivers for a company?

It's time for "Ask a CISO"

Fernando Montenegro, analyst for 451 Research, asked, "How can the CISO be a change agent for the security team so it can better align with the business?"

What's Worse?!

For this week's game I picked a question very apropos for our guest's current situation.

Um… maybe you shouldn't have done that

Unconscious bias towards women in professional settings is not always overt nor intentional, but it happens. We discuss some examples of unconscious bias for both women and men. And we discuss how too much of it can really push women out of the security industry.

A distributed denial of service attack is the scourge of IT security. According to Verisign, one-third of all downtime incidents are attributed to DDoS attacks, and thousands happen every day. Are they created by sophisticated black hatted evil doers from an underground lair? Of course not. Welcome to the world of cybercrime-as-a-service.

You too can silence a competitor or cause havoc for pretty much anyone for as low as $23.99 a month. Just have your credit card or Bitcoin ready.

For more, go to CISOSeries.com.

Check out lots more cloud security tips sponsored by OpenVPN, provider of next-gen secure and scalable communication software. OpenVPN Access Server keeps your company’s data safe with end-to-end encryption, secure remote access, and extension for your centralized UTM.

First 90 days of a CISO

Being just six weeks in, our guest, Olivia Rose is living the first 90 days of a CISO. We asked her and Mike what it's like those first few weeks. And to no one's surprise, it's beyond overwhelming.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series.

Why does it seem that the only time we hear about a company’s concern about security and privacy is after they’re compromised. It is only at that moment they feel compelled to let us know that they’re taking this situation very seriously because as we’ve ll heard before “security and privacy are very important to us.”

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Andy Ellis (@csoandy), operating partner, YL Ventures. Our guest is Andrea Bergamini, CISO, Orbia.

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Varonis

Everyday, your employees share thousands of sensitive files with too many people, exposing data to the entire organization – or even the entire internet. Varonis monitors sharing link activity and intelligently eliminates links that aren’t needed – reducing your risk on a continual basis. Discover more at www.varonis.com/cisoseries.

In this episode: 

• Why does it seem that the only time we hear about a company’s concern about security and privacy is after they’re compromised?
• Is it only because at that moment they feel compelled to let us know that they’re taking this situation very seriously?
• How do you get things going before you have a massive breach?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Mike Johnson, CISO, Rivian. Joining me is our sponsored guest, Aaron Shaha, CISO, CyberMaxx.

In this episode:

• Is technical debt an inevitability in any organization?

• How do you go about "paying it down?"

• How do you decide when you need a systematic refresh and when can you kick the can down the road a little longer?

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, CyberMaxx

CyberMaxx offers MaxxMDR, our next-generation managed detection and response (MDR) solution that helps customers assess, monitor, and manage their cyber risks. MaxxMDR fuels defensive capabilities with insights from offensive security, DFIR, and threat hunting, on top of a technology-agnostic deployment model. We think like an adversary but defend like a guardian.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series

https://cisoseries.com/our-top-ten-list-of-vendors-that-arent-you/

You look at a top ten list is to see if you made the list. Don't bother. You're not on it.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Nancy Hunter, vp, CISO, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Code42

Redefine data security standards for the hybrid workforce. Check out Code42.

In this episode:

• Threat tracking: what’s better? Your SOC’s data or reading industry trends?
• Finding good security people -what’s better?: existing skills/experience, or a hunger to learn?
• Listing the things we like about security vendors
• Diversity hiring still has some challenges

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series

Should you monitor your staff? I mean reallymonitor them. Some bosses are installing screen grabbing and click tracking software to monitor employees and by most estimates employees hate it so much that half of them would quit if their supervisors installed monitoring software on their computers. But in some cases an employee's behavior may lend themselves to being monitored.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Mike Johnson. Our sponsored guest is Ian Hassard (@ihassard), director of product management, Okta.

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Okta

Auth0 is the leading provider of customer identity solutions. Watch Jameeka Aaaron, CISO for Auth0, explain how to balance security with friction to create a safe authentication experience without compromising on privacy.

In this episode:

• What are the real world positive impacts that result on the business in terms of risk reduction, product development, and prevention?
  
• What are some alternatives to address the authentication problem?
  
• What have you heard enough about with authentication, and what would you like to hear a lot more about?
  
• To what level should you and shouldn't you monitor your staff? What cases do you feel you would have to install monitoring software?
  

We have an exciting announcement. Our latest version of the podcast is packed with new features and they're riddled with security holes. We know you wanted the features. The security vulnerabilities are just a bonus.

On this episode of the CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast, we discuss:

• Cybersecurity burnout: How bad is it? What can be done to mitigate it? And what are the warning signs? All tech professionals have burnout issues, but InfoSec has it toughest because it's very hard for them to get a sense of accomplishment for their work.
• CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast is making an impact in the vendor community: We hear multiple stories from vendors how the advice from Mike and the guests is really changing the way they reach out to security professionals.
• Are you willing to release a product with known security vulnerabilities? What if the customer really demands the new feature next week and they're expecting it, but remediation may take much longer. Do you give the customer what they want, or are there other solutions?
• What's Worse?! We play a round of picking the worse of two evils. This one is all about training your staff.
• We unleash another pitch on the security professionals: Their response will surprise you as will the outcome of this pitch.
• Dumb CISO mistakes: This one actually may not be so dumb. It could actually be good advice when it comes to product testing.
• Ten-second security tip: This one offers up a more holistic view of security that you may have not considered, but definitely should.

Special thanks to Signal Sciences for sponsoring this episode. If you’re using WAFs, make sure you read “Three Ways Legacy WAFs Fail,” by their head of research, James Wickett.

As always, the show is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), founder, Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson, CISO, Lyft. Our guest is Anne Marie Zettlemoyer, a security strategist and independent researcher who is also on the board of directors for SSH.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series

https://cisoseries.com/foul-that-interview-question-is-unfair/

Pick a side. You either want your employees to have a work/life balance, or you want them to be obsessed with security 24/7. You can't have both.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Arpita Biswas, (@0sn1s) senior incident response engineer, Databricks

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, StackRox

StackRox is the industry’s first Kubernetes-native security platform that enables organizations to securely build, deploy, and run cloud-native applications anywhere. The StackRox Kubernetes Security Platform delivers lower operational cost, reduced operational risk, and greater developer productivity through a Kubernetes-native approach that supports built-in security across the entire software development lifecycle.

What would you advise?

People speak a lot about the importance of integrating security and DevOps. Now it's time to learn some specifics, like how to energize developers to be more security minded in their development. What works? What hasn't worked?

"What's Worse?!"

You just learned something was breached. Uggh. (Thanks to Mike Toole, Censys)

What’s the best way to handle this ?

What questions should be asked to see if a security team is cloud incident ready? A good article over on F5 by Sara Boddy, Raymond Pompon, and Sander Vinberg, provides some suggestions such as "Can you describe our attack surface and how have you reduced it to the bare minimum?" and "How are we managing access control?" and "What do we do when systems or security controls fail?" Which of the questions is the most revealing to cloud security readiness and why?

Should you ignore this security advice?

On the AskNetSec subreddit someone inquired about a good hiring question. One redditor suggested asking "What do you do on your own home network with respect to security?" to which another redditor argued that the question was unfair. He left the security and networking for work. He had other hobbies and interests for home life. Another person said, yes it is unfair, but there are plenty of candidates who do breathe security 24/7 and if given a choice, the redditor would take that person. The politically correct thing to say is you want the person with the work-life balance, but wouldn't we be more impressed with the person who has security in their blood day and night?

Close your eyes and visualize the perfect engagement

Another question on AskNetSec subreddit asked "What are the most important skills you see missing among other coworkers or your team?" The two most common answers I saw on the thread were communications and critical thinking. Are these correct. or should something else go there? ? And if those two did improve, what would be the resulting effect to a company's security program?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series.

It appears our security awareness training is working, up to a point. Most people are well aware of the need for secure passwords, but they don't actually create secure passwords.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Andy Ellis (@csoandy), operating partner, YL Ventures. Our sponsored guest is Patrick Harr, CEO, SlashNext.

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, SlashNext

With today’s transition to hybrid working, phishing attacks are becoming more prevalent than ever. Mobile phishing and credential harvesting are exploding and affecting business reputations, finances and most importantly, data loss. With new methods of phishing attacks appearing year over year, enterprises need more robust phishing protection to better protect this expanding attack surface and companies’ most valuable assets. Check out the report.

In this episode:

• Why does it seem like our security awareness training is only working up to a certain point?
• Most people are well aware of the need for secure passwords, but why don't they actually create secure passwords?
• Is it true that, “people are not the weakest link, they're just the top attack vector?”

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Mike Johnson, CISO, Rivian. Joining us is Stephen Harrison, CISO, MGM Resorts International.

In this episode:

• Understanding the AI attack surface
• Low code, low security?
• Chief information storytelling officer
• Finding the right partners

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Vectra AI!

Vectra AI is the only extended detection and response (XDR) with AI-driven Attack Signal Intelligence. Vectra AI’s attack signal intelligence platform uses AI to find attacks on networks, identities, clouds and GenAI tools. Learn more at vectra.ai/showme.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Andy Ellis (@csoandy), operating partner, YL Ventures. Joining us is our guest, Ryan Bachman, evp and global CISO, GM Financial.

In this episode:

• A changing of the executive guard?

• Playing nice with cyber insurance

• What does leadership want out of a CISO?

• Who does a CISO call first?

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Vanta

Whether you’re starting or scaling your security program, Vanta helps you automate compliance across SOC 2, ISO 27001, and more. Streamline security reviews by automating questionnaires and demonstrating your security posture with a customer-facing Trust Center. Over 7,000 global companies use Vanta to manage risk and prove security.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/we-compensate-our-low-paying-ciso-jobs-with-high-stress/)

On this week's episode we're seeking candidates for unrealistically low-paying CISO positions.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Nir Rothenberg, CISO, Rapyd.

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor Trend Micro.

Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, helps to make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Our innovative solutions for consumers, businesses, and governments provide layered security for data centers, cloud environments, networks, and endpoints. For more information, visit www.trendmicro.com.

On this week's episode

Why is everyone talking about this now?

On LinkedIn, Farhan Khan, a recruiter at CyberApt Recruitment, told a tale of getting a call asking if he could help his company recruit a seasoned CISO for their 300+ person company. He was excited until he found out the salary they were offering the CISO was in the range of $90-$105K.

We've talked before about unrealistic CISO salaries before, but this is actually below the rate of entry level cyber positions in the Bay Area. How do CISOs or heck any cybersecurity professional handle someone's unrealistic expectations? Do you say something or just say, "No thank you"?

Also, Davi Ottenheimer of Inrupt, brought this story to my attention and argued that high CISO salaries are just attracting fraudsters. Does our panel agree, and if so, what would a company have to be wary of?

Mike's Confused. Let’s help him out

On previous shows Mike has admitted he would not want to (not confused although that may be part of it) run the IT department. Nir mentioned that he feels that getting out of one's comfort zone is critical, no matter what department you're in. What are the pros and cons of other departments not just being security aware, but taking on cybersecurity responsibilities? And vice versa, cybersecurity taking on other department responsibilities? How far can/should it go?

What's Worse?!

Too much flexibility or too many restrictions?

We’ve got listeners and they’ve got questions

Anya Shpilman of Swiss Gulf Partners sent recorded this question: "I'm a recruiter and I specialize in cybersecurity recruitment. At the end of the show everyone says they're hiring. But I have a hard time getting traction from CISOs. So what would you like to see/hear in those initial emails or LinkedIn messages."

Go here to record a question to be played on one of our shows.

Umm, Is this good idea?

I recently published an article on CISO Series entitled "25 API Security Tips You're Probably Not Considering”. The very first tip, from Gary Hayslip, CISO, Softbank Investment Advisers, is K.I.S.S. or Keep It Simple Stupid. I then went on to provide 24 more tips from experts which if you were to deploy them all would in no way be simple. KISS sounds great in theory, but how the heck do you pull it off in practice. Can you point to an example of how you took something that was complicated and simplified it?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Andy Ellis (@csoandy), operating partner, YL Ventures. Joining me is our guest, Alex Green, CISO, Delta Dental.

In this episode:

• Is it true that employees cause as many significant cybersecurity incidents as outside threat actors?

• Does this come down to a lack of awareness or poorly designed security implementation?

• And what can we do to improve this situation?

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Silk Security

Silk makes it easy for security teams to resolve more critical cyber risks in a fraction of the time. Instead of toiling over spreadsheets, and watching alert backlog graphs go up, Silk helps security teams contextualize, prioritize and collaborate with stakeholders in IT to regain control over their risk posture.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series

https://cisoseries.com/please-accept-this-not-a-bribe-gift-as-an-act-of-desperation/

Offering me a gift for a meeting was definitely not Plan A. Or was this a situation that you ran out of creative ideas and it's actually more cost efficient to buy your way into meeting with me?

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is
John Overbaugh, (@johnoverbaugh) vp, security, CareCentrix.

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Nucleus Security

Nucleus unifies your existing security stack, integrating with over 70 scanners and external tools, creating a centralized hub to control the chaos of vulnerability analysis, triage, and remediation. Ready to make the tedious VM process simple through smart automation and workflow optimization? See for yourself at https://nucleussec.com/demo.

On this week's episode

OK, what’s the risk?

People hear all too often that risk security isn't compliant security and vice versa, but isn't compliance just another form of risk? Shouldn't it be given quantitative and qualitative ratings like any other risk, prioritized, and remediated especially in highly regulated environments?

Why is everyone talking about this now?

On LinkedIn, LinkedIn CISO, Geoff Belknap asked, "Tech Vendors: Please, stop offering cash or gift cards for meetings. It throws into question the entire basis for a relationship and It's not ethical."

Vendors take CISOs out for lunch all the time. That is a form of a gift. One vendor said because they can't take a CISO out they send a Starbucks card in lieu of the coffee they were going to purchase. Then there are the gifts that arrive for attending an event.

Edward Kiledjian at OpenText, said, "I recently had a vendor get upset with me that I wasn't willing to accept his gifts. He said others in my position accept it and he couldn't understand why I was being so 'stubborn.'"

How should this situation be handled and does a CISO's opinion of the vendor change as a result?

"What's Worse?!"

David tried to second guess Mike and was wrong on this bad idea from Jesse Whaley, CISO, Amtrak.

If you haven’t made this mistake you’re not in security

When Zero Day bugs arrive, security flaws just keep perpetuating. Garrett Moreau of Augury IT posted an article from MIT Technology Review about Google's research finding that when patches are released for zero days, they're often incomplete. Hackers can actually find the vulnerability sitting on the next line of code right next to the patched line of code, making it very easy for a hacker to reignite the zero day vulnerability. How can this problem stop perpetuating itself?

Someone has a question on the cybersecurity subreddit

A frustrated redditor eager to learn cybersecurity is getting stuck on CTFs (Capture the Flags ) and is losing the motivation as a result. The person is worried that relying on walkthroughs will be harmful. Responses from the reddit community were that the walkthroughs are there to help people learn, and that most CTFs don't resemble real life. They're there to teach a few tricks. So, is that the case?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/why-am-i-working-harder-during-this-pandemic/)

Is it the increased work or the pandemic itself that's causing us all to work more than we've ever worked before?

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Christopher Zell, vp, head of information security, The Wendy’s Company.

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor GitGuardian.

GitGuardian empowers organizations to secure their secrets - such as API keys and other credentials - from being exposed in compromised places or leaked publicly. GitGuardian offers a threat intelligence solution focused on detecting secrets leaked on public GitHub and an automated secrets detection solution which tightly integrates with your DevOps pipeline.

On this week's episode

Why is everybody talking about this now?

On TechRepublic, Scott Matteson wrote an article about cybersecurity pros working harder than ever during the pandemic. Stuart Mitchell of Stott and May posted the article to LinkedIn and asked if anyone has taken a day off since COVID-19 started, and the general consensus is no. I see a multitude of factors affecting this: increased surface area to protect, compliance is more difficult, I also have to deal with my family, and where the heck is anyone going to go for vacation? I guess I'll just work.

Close your eyes and visualize the perfect engagement

On LinkedIn, our guest Chris Zell asked others to be more welcoming when you see someone post "aspiring cybersecurity professional." We discussed the approach and what the community could teach us.

What's Worse?!

Three options of how to talk to the board.

There’s got to be a better way to handle this

On CSO Online, Mary Pratt has a guide for CISOs on securely laying people off. What are critical technical considerations during layoff time, and as a manager how do you manage security for those people who are still there. Have either of you made a massive security mistake during a layoff that was a great learning experience for you?

What Is It and Why Do I Care?

We played this game before and like the "What's Worse?!" game, the title pretty much explains it. I have three pitches from three different vendors who are all in the same category of governance, risk and compliance or GRC. I have asked the reps to first, in 25 words or less, just explain their category. That’s the “What Is It?” and then for the “Why Do I Care?” I asked them to explain what differentiates their product or makes them unique also in 25 words or less. It is up to Mike and Chris to pick their favorite of each and explain why. I only reveal the winning contestants and their companies. Ready to play?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Andy Ellis (@csoandy), partner, YL Ventures. Joining us is Yabing Wang, VP and CISO, Justworks.

In this episode:

• Building a path to action
• Cracking the EOL conundrum
• The burning platform question
• Uncertainty is our only constant

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Entro!

Reclaim control of your non-human identities with Entro Security! Our platform securely manages non-human identities and secrets throughout their lifecycle. Detect and prevent unusual activity before it becomes a threat. Trust Entro to safeguard your non-human identities in today’s complex digital ecosystem.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series

(https://cisoseries.com/why-do-we-fire-the-ciso-tradition/)

Yes, firing the CISO probably won't solve our security issues. But our community has a multi-generational heritage of relying on scapegoats to make them feel good about their decisions.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Kirsten Davies (@kirstendiva), CISO, Estee Lauder Companies.

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Kenna Security

With Kenna Security, companies efficiently manage the right level of risk for their business. Our Modern Vulnerability Management model eliminates the friction between Security and IT teams about what to patch, providing clear prioritization based on real-time threat intelligence and guidance applied to each customer’s unique environment across infrastructure, applications and IoT.

Why is everybody talking about this now?

On the AskNetSec subreddit one redditor asked, "Why do people always get fired over a breach?" to which one responded, like many others, "it’s just tradition. Military, government, corporations. It’s an old-fashioned thing really, but a lot of people still believe a 'blood sacrifice' is required to restore faith from the public or the shareholders." How tenable is it to keep doing this with so many breaches? After a breach what are the different actions needed to appease shareholders, executives, employees, and customers? And when is blood letting warranted?

How to become a CISO

Over on the CISOseries subreddit, a hopefully soon-to-be-CISO asked, "What should I ask before being a CISO at a startup?" This startup is pre-IPO. 2000 employees. About $1B in valuation. The redditor is looking for advice beyond asking what's the current security strategy and what the reporting structure would look like. What would you want to ask in such a situation?

"What's Worse?!"

Probably the ultimate "What's Worse?!" scenario.

Hey you’re a CISO. What’s your take?

On LinkedIn, Kris Rides asked, "If you can only do one thing to retain your staff what would that be?" What have you done and has any of your staff let you know that certain actions you took meant a lot to them. According to research from leadership consulting firm DDI, 57 percent of employees who walk out the door, do so because they can't stand their boss. For that reason, the pressure is heavily on the CISO to make sure they're well-liked by their staff.

There’s got to be a better way to handle this

Can you think of a moment you had to make a significant shift in your security program? What did you do and why? Was there a specific event that triggered it?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series

Every organization has an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) for their computers and network. Nobody reads it and everybody violates it. How the heck do you enforce or discipline people who violate your company's AUP?

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Andy Ellis (@csoandy), operating partner, YL Ventures. Our sponsored guest is Matt Radolec, senior director, incident response and cloud operations, Varonis.

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Varonis

On average, an employee can access 17 million files on day one. Varonis will show you where critical data is vulnerable, detect anomalies, and automatically right-size privileges to get you to “Zero Trust.” Their data security platform can test your ransomware readiness and show you where you stack up. Learn more at www.varonis.com/cisoseries.

In this episode:

• Why do tabletop exercises fail?
• How should we deal with AUPs that do not get read?
• Is cyber resiliency an overused term?
• How valuable are visual detection techniques?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/youre-mistaken-im-not-annoying-its-chutzpah/)

We're pushing just to the edge of irritation on the latest episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This episode was recorded in front of a live audience in Tel Aviv on the eve of the 2020 Cybertech conference. Special thanks to Glilot Capital for hosting this event.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and my special guest co-host, Bobby Ford, global CISO for Unilever. Our guest is John Meakin, veteran financial CISO, and currently CISO for Equiniti.

David Spark, producer, CISO Series, Bobby Ford, CISO, Unilver, and John Meakin, CISO, Equiniti.

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsors, Polyrize and Intsights.

As newly adopted SaaS and IaaS services add an additional layer of risk for security teams, Polyrize provides a cloud-centric approach to simplifying the task of protecting user identities and their access across the public cloud by right-sizing their privileges and continuously protecting them through a unified authorization model.

IntSights is revolutionizing cybersecurity operations with the industry’s only all-in-one external threat protection platform designed to neutralize cyberattacks outside the wire. Our unique cyber reconnaissance capabilities enable continuous monitoring of an enterprise’s external digital profile across the clear, deep, and dark web to identify emerging threats and orchestrate proactive response. To learn more, visit intsights.com.

On this week's episode

How do you go about discovering new security solutions?

In an article on LinkedIn entitled, "Why do CISOs take a vendor meeting?" Dutch Schwartz, of AWS said that they take meetings per a recommendation of their staff, their peers, or they have an explicit problem that they've already researched, or they have known unknowns. Are those the reasons to take a meeting with a security vendor? We discuss what meetings CISOs take, and which ones are the most attractive.

It's time for "Ask a CISO"

Israel is known for a thriving startup community. But what I always see is cross pollination between Israel and Silicon Valley when it comes to startups. We discuss what Israeli startups can learn from Silicon Valley and vice versa.

What's Worse?!

We've got two rounds. One agreement and one split vote.

It’s time to measure the risk

Five years ago I wrote an article for CIO.com about the greatest myths of cloud security, The first myth was the cloud is inherently insecure. And the other 19 are ones I'm still hearing today. My conclusion for the whole article was if you can overcome these myths about cloud security, you can reduce risk. In this segment we dispel cloud security myths and explain how the cloud helps reduce risk possibly in ways many of us are not aware.

Close your eyes. Breathe in. It’s time for a little security philosophy.

On this podcast we talk a lot about CISOs needing to understand the business. In a thought-provoking post on Peerlyst, Eh-den Biber, a student of information security at Royal Holloway, University of London, noted that the job of cybsecurity is more than that. It's about understanding the flow of business and being present in the individuals' lives and their stories. We discuss the importance of being present in your users' lives.

It's time for the audience question speed round

The audience has questions and our CISOs have answers. We get through a lot really quickly.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series.

It appears we're not providing security awareness training fast enough. That's because hackers are specifically targeting brand new employees who don't yet know the company's procedures. Illicit hackers are discovering they're far easier to phish.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Mike Johnson. Our guest is Gene Spafford (@therealspaf), Professor, Purdue University.

Gene's book available for pre-order Cybersecurity Myths and Misconceptions: Avoiding the Hazards and Pitfalls that Derail Us.

25th anniversary of CERIAS

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Lacework

Lacework offers the data-driven security platform for the cloud and is the leading cloud-native application protection platform (CNAPP) solution. Only Lacework can collect, analyze, and accurately correlate data — without requiring manually written rules — across an organization’s AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and Kubernetes environments, and narrow it down to the handful of security events that matter. Security and DevOps teams around the world trust Lacework to secure cloud-native applications across the full lifecycle from code to cloud. Get started at lacework.com/cisoseries.

In this episode:

• Is cybersecurity awareness a long term marketing effort?
  
• Where are we making progress with the general populous when it comes to improving the human aspect of cybersecurity?
  
• How difficult and how long can it take to discover what a company's crown jewels are, and what needs to be done?

Links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/ciso-confessions-its-not-you-its-me-/)

Vendors are trying to understand why CISOs are ghosting them and sometimes, it really isn't their fault. CISOs accept the blame on the latest episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and joining me is special guest co-host Betsy Bevilacqua (@HEALTHeSECURITY), CISO, Butterfly Network. Our guest will be Matt Southworth (@bronx), CISO of Priceline.

This episode was recorded live in WeWork's Times Square location on September 5th, 2019. Here are all the photos.

Enormous thanks to WeWork for hosting this event. They're hiring! Contact JJ Agha, vp of information security at WeWork.

Also, huge thanks to David Raviv and the NY Information Security Meetup group for partnering with us on this event.

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor Tehama, Tenable, and Devo.

Tehama provides secure and compliant virtual desktops on the cloud, and all the IT infrastructure needed for enterprises to connect and grow global and remote teams. Tehama's built-in SOC 2 Type II controls reduce the risk of malware intrusion from endpoint devices, data breaches, and other vulnerabilities.  Learn more at tehama.io.

Effective vulnerability prioritization helps you answer three questions: Where should we prioritize based on risk? Which vulnerabilities are likeliest to be exploited? What should we fix first? Tenable gives you the accurate and actionable data you need to answer these questions and better secure your business. Learn more: tenable.com/predictive-prioritization.

SOC teams have been struggling with many of the same issues for years – lack of visibility, too much noise – all while the threat landscape grows more complex. Devo Security Operations is a next-gen cloud SIEM that enables you to gain complete visibility, reduce noise, and focus on the threats that matter most to the business.

On this week's episode

How are CISOs digesting the latest security news?

An article on Bloomberg and an ensuing discussion on LinkedIn pointed out that costs after a breach go beyond fines and lost reputation. It also includes the cost to keep top cybersecurity talent. Salaries for a CISO post-breach can range from $2.5-$6.5 million, that includes stock. What could a security professional show and demonstrate in this time of crisis that they are the one to hire to garner such a salary?

Hey, you're a CISO, what's your take on this?

Michael Mortensen of Risk Based Security asks a question about when there's considerable dialogue with a prospect, and they go cold. Michael wants to know what causes this? He has theories on sales people being impatient or wrong set of expectations, but he's interested in the CISO's viewpoint. Assuming you have had conversations with a vendor, have you gone cold on their outreach? If so, what was the reason?

It's time to play, "What's Worse?!"

Two rounds lots of agreement, but plenty of struggle.

Why is everybody talking about this now?

Cryptography firm Crown Sterling has sued Black Hat for breaching its sponsorship agreement and also suing 10 individuals for orchestrating a disruption of the company's sponsored talk at the conference in which the CEO presented a finding on discovering prime numbers which are key to public-key encryption. The crowd didn't like it and they booed him. You can see a video of one individual yelling, "Get off the stage, you shouldn't be here." Crown Sterling argued that Black Hat was in violation of their sponsorship agreement because they didn't do enough to stop it.

At Black Hat and related parties I saw many printed signs about codes of conduct. It doesn't appear anyone had a plan to enforce those rules.
What has happened in the security community that some security professionals feel they have the right to shout down a speaker like this?
If one of these 10 disruptors was your employee, how would you respond?

What's a CISO to do?

So much of a job of a CISO is to change behavior. How do CISOs change behavior to a more secure posture? Where should a CISO start? What's the low hanging fruit?

It’s time for the audience question speed round

Our audience has questions, and our CISOs tried to come up with as many answers as possible. Our closing question put my guest co-host in the hot seat.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series

Do you really need hundreds of questions to know if you want to work with a vendor? Won’t just two or three well-pointed questions really give you a good idea?

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Andy Ellis (@csoandy), operating partner, YL Ventures. Our guest is Nick Selby (@fuzztech), CSO, Paxos Trust Company and co-host of Tech Debt Burndown podcast.

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Kenna Security

In this episode:

• How do you suss out security vendors to make sure they're not a risk?
• How do you battle a typosquatter?
• What types of preparations do you have in place to know you're well prepared for an incident?
• How should CISOs and CIOs share cybersecurity ownership?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series

You can make the right decision given the information you have, but everything is a risk, so there are times those good decisions are going to result in not the result you were hoping for. In essence, plenty of good decisions result in poor outcomes.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Andy Ellis (@csoandy), operating partner, YL Ventures. Our guest is Aviv Grafi, founder and CTO, Votiro and winner of season one of Capture the CISO.

In this episode:

• We welcome the winner of “Capture The CISO!” How did they prepare in terms of making the demo and for appearing on the show? And what advice would they give for contestants in season 2?
  
• What do employers look for or ask in an interview that would lead them to hire and promote someone into a CISO role in their company?
  
• How can cybersecurity professionals improve their decision making over time?
  

Our CISOs don't have much confidence they'll receive any support when they hit the 'Send' button on your web form. 

Check out our NEW SITE: CISOseries.com

This show, like all the previous ones is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson, CISO of Lyft. Our guest this week is Aaron Peck, CISO of Shutterfly.

Special thanks to our sponsor, ConnecTech, producer of intimate custom executive events for IT professionals.

Executives: Register to be notified when one of their events will be coming to your city.

Vendors: Sponsor one of their events to get meetings with executives that are looking for solutions that your company provides.

On this episode of the CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast:

Ask a CISO

What were the turning points that led you to achieve the title of CISO? We've got a shout out to Mike Rothman's book, "The Pragmatic CISO" and the desire to find and solve the toughest most needed security problems.

How a security vendor helped me

CISOs have heard the stories from all the major InfoSec vendors. They're tired of playing second and third fiddler to a vendor's hundreds if not thousands of other clients. While a young startup company, potentially in stealth mode, doesn't necessarily have a track record, they do have eagerness and are willing to make their earliest and first customers extremely happy. This hand-holding-type relationship is very attractive to a CISO.

What's Worse?!

This entry into our weekly game is all about the following two images. There's so much going on in these pictures of a man who has decided to start day trading in public at a local Starbucks. Can you determine what's worse in these two pictures? Our CISOs debate. For more, check out the avid discussion on LinkedIn.

What do you think of this pitch?

Mike delivers probably the most thorough analysis of a vendor pitch I've ever heard on the show.

What's a CISO to do?

Hiring great InfoSec talent is an extreme challenge. Our guest, Aaron Peck, makes an argument for speedy hiring to get value for the company as quickly as possible.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series

We explore the world of dishonesty in cybersecurity. Practitioners know that marketers will stretch the truth, but how far are we willing to let that go? Isn't this industry built on trust? Can cybersecurity continue to thrive if we can't trust each other?

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Mike Johnson. Our sponsored guest is Anna Belak (@aabelak), director of thought leadership, Sysdig.

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Sysdig

Sysdig is driving the standard for cloud and container security. With Sysdig, teams find and prioritize software vulnerabilities, detect and respond to threats, and manage cloud configurations, permissions and compliance. Customers get a single view of risk from source to run, with no blind spots, no guesswork, no black boxes.

In this episode:

• What are the questions a CISO should be able to answer?
  
• How much dishonesty do you find in cybersecurity?
  
• How does one LEAD a cloud migration?
  
• What are some lies about machine learning that everyone needs to be aware of?
  

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/cybercrimes-solved-in-an-hour-or-your-next-ones-free/)

In the real world, cybercrimes just don't get solved as fast as they do on CSI. So we're offering a guarantee. If we don't catch the cyber-perpetrator in an hour (including commercial breaks) we'll make sure you're attacked again.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our sponsored guest this week is Jason Hill (@chillisec), lead researcher at CyberInt Research Lab.

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor, Cyberint.

The high ROI is what makes spear phishing campaigns so attractive to threat actors. Read our breakdown of TA505’s latest series of attacks. CyberInt has been tracking various activities surrounding this and other similar attacks where legit means were used to hack international companies in the retail & financial industries.

On this week's episode

What annoys a security professional

Question on Quora asks, "What does everybody get wrong about working in the field of forensics?" There were a handful of answers from looking to TV and film dramas to that it's only a post mortem analysis. What are the biggest misconception of digital forensics?

Why is everybody talking about this now?

Tip of the hat to Stu Hirst of Just Eat who posted this Dilbert cartoon that got a flurry of response. Read for yourself, but in essence, it's a boss that thought technology would solve all his problems. Not realizing that people and process are also part of the equation.

All too familiar. The "I've been hearing a lot about __________" phenomenon. What causes this behavior and how do you manage it?

"What's Worse?!"

How much flexibility to you require in your security team and the business?

Please, Enough. No, More.

How far can AI go? Where does the human element need to exist? What are the claims of the far reaching capabilities of AI? We discuss what we'd like to hear regarding the realistic capabilities and limitations of AI.

Every year, the Fall season sees billions of dollars being spent on home-based IoT devices. The back-to-school sales are the starting point, Cyber Monday is the clubhouse turn and the year-end holiday season is the finish line.

As usual, these devices – printers, DVRs, IP cameras, smart home assistants, are relatively inexpensive and provide plug and play convenience, to satisfy an impatient customer base.

For the rest of the cloud tip, head to CISO Series.

Check out lots more cloud security tips sponsored by OpenVPN, provider of next-gen secure and scalable communication software. OpenVPN Access Server keeps your company’s data safe with end-to-end encryption, secure remote access, and extension for your centralized UTM.

We don't have much time. What's your decision?

What are the best models for crowdsourcing security? There are entire businesses, such as bug bounty firms, that are dedicated to creating crowdsourced security environments. Our guest this week is passionate about investigative work. We asked him and Mike what elements they've found that inspire and simplify the community to participate in a crowdsourced security effort.

I’m proud and excited to announce the launch of the CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast based on the series of articles and videos I produced that examine the relationship between security buyers and sellers. That series was heavily inspired by the writings, posts and insane engagement that Mike Johnson, CISO of Lyft, continues to drive on LinkedIn. And what’s even more awesome, Mike agreed to be my co-host! For our first episode, Mike and I invite Dwayne Melançon (@ThatDwayne), CTO, Innovyze.   In this episode we have:

• 10-second security tips.
• Tidal claims “breach” when they’re accused of faking streaming numbers
• Google Chrome switches its “secured” website alert to one of “not secured”
• Juro introduces a privacy policy that anyone can read.
• How security vendors helped me this week
• How to improve your pitch
• And ASK a CISO

The written content for this podcast was first published on Security Boulevard.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark, producer of CISO Series and Andy Ellis, partner, YL Ventures. Joining us is Mike D’Arezzo, executive director of infosec and GRC, Wellstar Health Systems.

In this episode:

• The shift left myth
• Reconsidering CISO evaluations
• The power of “how”
• Building bridges

Huge thanks to our sponsor, ThreatLocker

ThreatLocker® is a global leader in Zero Trust endpoint security, offering cybersecurity controls to protect businesses from zero-day attacks and ransomware. ThreatLocker operates with a default deny approach to reduce the attack surface and mitigate potential cyber vulnerabilities. To learn more and start your free trial, visit ThreatLocker.com.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/facebook-personality-quiz-asks-whats-your-favorite-password/)

What's your favorite combination of letters, numbers, and symbols you like to use to log onto your favorite app or financial institution? Let us know and we'll see if it matches any of your friends!

This week's episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Lakshmi Hanspal (@lakshmihanspal), CISO, Box.

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor, CyberArk.

At CyberArk, we believe that sharing insights and guidance across the CISO community will help strengthen security strategies and lead to better-protected organizations. CyberArk is committed to the continued exploration of topics that matter most to CISOs related to improving and integrating privileged access controls.

On this week's episode

Why is everybody talking about this now?

On AskNetSec on reddit, user u/L7nx asks, "How do you handle alert fatigue?" Many vendors out there listening want to scream, "We've got a single pane of glass solution!"

On reddit, Kamwind commented that it's not so much managing the output, but rather the input and false positives. "What are you doing to tune those rules and IOCs (indicators of compromise) to reflect your network vs accepting them from whatever vendor you're getting them from."

Is alert fatigue a real thing and what can be done to manage input and output?

It's security awareness training time

There's a meme resurfacing that pokes fun at Facebook personality quizzes that ask seemingly innocuous questions such as "What's Your Favorite Band?" and "What's Your Favorite Teacher's Name?" In the meme, the answers to each question are just one word of the sentence, "Stop giving people your personal info to guess your passwords and security questions."
We've talked about training programs that rely on fear. Humor seems rather effective here, but heck, I don't know. Does humor in security training work? Does fear? What tone have you seen actually foster behavioral change?

What's Worse?!

Do you likeable or useful vendors? Sometimes they're not both.

Here's some surprising research

The Verizon DBIR is out. Mike's favorite. There's a ton to unpack as there always is, but for this segment I just want to visit one item in this report and that's configuration errors. From a quote by Larry Dignan on ZDNet: "Errors definitely win the award for best supporting action this year. They are now equally as common as social breaches and more common than malware... hacking remains higher, and that is due to credential theft and use." I get the sense that second to black hat hackers, we're our own worst enemy. One argument for the increase in cloud breaches is because security researchers and others are discovering exposed storage in the cloud. Could it be just poor training of cloud security? Or poorly maintained cloud providers?

Vendors have questions. Our CISOs have answers

Landon Winkelvoss of Nisos asks, "What do your good vendors do on an ongoing basis (quarterly, monthly, weekly, etc) that make renewals easier around budget season? How often should they do it? What metrics and impacts to the business should they document and present that make this relatable to people outside of security such as the CFO?"

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/networks-wobble-but-they-dont-fall-down/)

Eager cyberprofessional looking to really impress a CISO? Create a home network lab and show how you can handle incidents on that network without shutting it down.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest is Steve Zalewski, deputy CISO, Levi Strauss.

Thanks to our sponsor, BitSight.

BitSight is the most widely used Security Ratings service with a mission to change the way the world addresses cyber risk. Learn how BitSight for Third-Party Risk Management helps you efficiently mitigate the growing risk across your vendor ecosystem by taking an automated, data-driven approach.

On this week’s episode

Why is everybody talking about this now

Following the horrible terrorist attack in Vienna, the EU has proposed a ban on encryption, requiring companies like WhatsApp and Signal to provide backdoor keys to decipher their end-to-end encryption. It's questionable whether this attack could have been thwarted had the data they couldn't see been read, but regardless, it appears this ban is going to be approved. As you might imagine, the cybersecurity community blew up... on reddit.

This is obviously a complicated and thorny issue. What's at play here are authorities being blocked from doing their job because of technology. The loss of human life. And the loss of democratized privacy. Are there any checks and balances that can provide some benefit to any side of this equation?

What would you advise?

On a previous episode Mike mentioned that if you're an aspiring cybersecurity professional, one way to really impress a CISO is to setup a network and show how you can deal with incidents without taking down the network.

I get Mike to talk specifics of that. What if he was in the shoes of that aspiring cyberprofessional. If he were to set one up, what would it have on it and how would he do it?

"What's Worse?!"

Do you need experience or communications?

Close your eyes and visualize the perfect engagement

On CSO Online, Jaikumar Vijayan wrote a best practices guide to negotiating SaaS contracts for risk and security. It's a good primer. He mentioned know your risks, state what's non-negotiable, insist on early breach notifications, and be clear on terms for termination. What is the most important concern when negotiating a SaaS contract, and what has been the most difficult to manage?

"What Is It and Why Do I Care?"

The panoply of security products is very confusing. There are so many product categories and then there are so many companies delivering solutions for all these categories. As a security vendor, how do you know if your pitch is landing with CISOs? That's why we play "What Is It and Why Do I Care?" I ask vendor listeners to submit to our game which you can find under the Participate menu option and then "Challenge Us".

Today's category is penetration testing. We have four challengers. First, I will read four 25-word descriptions from four unnamed security vendors. That's our "What Is It?". Then I will read four 25-word differentiators from the same unnamed vendors. That's the "Why Do I Care?" It's up to our CISOs to pick their favorite. At the end I will announce the winners, and only the winners. Losers are not announced. YES, it's the only risk-free opportunity in cybersecurity. Ready to play?

Submit your pitches to "What Is It and Why Do I Care?" I'm looking for vendors in the following categories to submit: Data loss prevention, human-layer security, MSSPs, third party vendor assessment, and managed detection and response.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Andy Ellis (@csoandy), operating partner, YL Ventures. Joining us is our sponsored guest, Jeremiah Roe, advisory CISO, OffSec.

In this episode:

• What happens as data minimization in the US changes from a potential policy goal to a regulatory imperative?

• How does this impact the rest of the industry?

• How do CISOs start getting ready for compliance?

• How to improve cybersecurity training and development?

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, OffSec

OffSec helps companies like Cisco, Google, and Salesforce upskill cybersecurity talent through comprehensive training and resources. With programs ranging from red team and blue team training and more, your team will be ready to face real-world threats. Request a free trial for your team to explore OffSec’s learning library and cyber range.

We spend a good portion of this episode of the CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast mocking unrealistic job listings that ask for too many unnecessary credentials and on top of it aren't willing to pay a fair market rate. Did companies forget that it's a buyers' market right now in security?

On this episode of the podcast we discuss:

• The security semantics of "responsibility" vs. "accountability": Which one drives which behavior? And it is possible to try to compel one to the detriment of the other? See Chad Loder's post for more.
• How do you motivate employees to be concerned about security outside of hammering them with pen tests and fake phishing emails? If it hasn't happened already, those tests to see how secure your environment is may backfire. What can you do to instill secure behavior without testing employees to the point of annoyance?
• What do you think of this pitch? We get a split decision on a pitch of a company that's operating in a new category. Plus, advice on what never to do in a pitch.
• Unrealistic expectations for position descriptions: Job descriptions in the security field seem to be getting longer, with more certification requirements, and lower pay. What's going on and do companies who list these types of jobs realize they're only hurting themselves? In a buyers' market you can't just put out an unrealistic job posting to "see who will respond." It will actually damage your brand.
• Plus, a 10-second security tip (that's a few seconds longer): It's what you should be doing, but probably aren't doing.
• And a visit from the host of The Cyberwire: Dave Bittner, from The Cyberwire, joins us for a discussion about his daily security tech news show and to tell us about the launch of two more security podcasts.

As always, the show is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), founder, Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson, CISO, Lyft. Our guest this week is Dan Glass, former CISO (as of just a couple days ago) of American Airlines.

Special thanks to SpyCloud for sponsoring this episode. Learn more about how you can protect employees and customers from account takeover with SpyCloud.

Contributions. Contributions. Contributions.

I am cranking out a ton more content for not just the podcast, but also the entire series so I am very open and receptive to story ideas, suggestions for segments of the podcast, or anything else. Just connect with me on LinkedIn.

Sponsor the podcast

If you're interested in sponsoring the podcast, contact David Spark at Spark Media Solutions.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series

First job out of college and you get the cybersecurity job of your dreams... and nightmares. It's just too much, and you definitely don't have the experience to handle it all.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Mike Johnson. Our guest is Rick Doten (@rick_doten), CISO, Carolina Complete Health.

Check out Rick's Youtube channel with the CIS Critical Security Control videos.

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Kenna Security

Kenna Security, now part of Cisco, is the pioneer of risk-based management. The Kenna Security Platform enables organizations to work cross-functionally to determine and remediate cyber risks. It leverages machine learning and data science to track and predict real-world exploitations, empowering security teams to focus on what matters most.

In this episode:

• We look at the #1 job according to a U.S. News & World Report. Hint: It’s Information Security Analyst.
• We examine the possibility & practicality of running a security program entirely based upon free and open-source software.
• We break down how to help brand new recruits on the ground as they start their careers in cybersecurity.
  

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark, producer of CISO Series and Andy Ellis, partner, YL Ventures. Joining us is Edward Contreras, senior evp and CISO, Frost Bank. 

In this episode:

• A gradual language shift
• Don’t reflexively rise and grind
• Lean into focus
• Gauging the unmeasurable 

Huge thanks to our sponsor, ThreatLocker

ThreatLocker® is a global leader in Zero Trust endpoint security, offering cybersecurity controls to protect businesses from zero-day attacks and ransomware. ThreatLocker operates with a default deny approach to reduce the attack surface and mitigate potential cyber vulnerabilities. To learn more and start your free trial, visit ThreatLocker.com.

CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast and Series is available at CISOSeries.com.

We're comparing ourselves to media you already know in hopes you'll better understand our product and listen to our show. It's our first self-produced live recording of the CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast from San Francisco and it came out awesome.

This show, like all the previous ones is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson, CISO of Lyft. Our guest for this live show is Andy Steingruebl (@asteingruebl), CSO of Pinterest.

Check out all the awesome photos from our first self-produced live recording.

Thanks to our sponsors

The Synack Crowdsourced Security platform delivers effective penetration testing at scale. Synack uses the world’s top security researchers and AI-enabled technology to find what scanners and regular testing do not. It’s used by US Dept of Defense and leading enterprises for better security. To learn more, go to synack.com.

New Context helps fortune 500s build secure and compliant data platforms. New Context created “Lean Security”, a set of best practices designed to help enterprises manage and secure data for critical infrastructure, and offers professional services and a software solution, LS/IQ, to help enterprises build a secure and compliant data platforms for their business.

 Create an economical and secure private network for your company with OpenVPN. Used by Fortune 500 companies and IT, Access Server keeps your internal data safe with end-to-end encryption, secure remote access, and extension for your centralized unified threat management. Go to openvpn.net/ciso-series to test drive Access Server for free.  

Why is everybody talking about this now?

Chris Roberts with Attivo Networks caused a flurry of discussion when he argued that using the term "security" is meaningless. He said, "There is no such thing as security. There is just a measurement of risk." He went on to say we shouldn't be talking about security risk, but only business risk. Would it be a good idea to change the terminology?

How are CISOs are digesting the latest security news?

France’s data protection regulator, CNIL, issued Google a $57 million fine for failing to comply with its GDPR obligations. Not the first GDPR fine, but it's first big tech giant. And it's not nearly as much as it could have been. But it's the biggest fine so far. Are GDPR fines starting to get real? Will this embolden even more fines?

Hey, you're a CISO, what's your take on this?

On LinkedIn Mike Johnson brought up the discussion of security vendors marketing what they're not. He claimed that this tactic is doomed to fail, and should just stop. Why is it a failed tactic?

It's time to play, "What's Worse?!"

We get a little philosophical in this round of "What's Worse?!"

Um...What do they do?

I read the copy from a vendor's website and the two CISOs try to figure out, "What do they do?"

Ask a CISO

A listener asks, "What are the signs that tell you that a vendor is serious about improving the security of their product?"

How are CISOs are digesting the latest security news?

A caustic attendee to DerbyCon brings down the entire event because the organizers didn't know how to handle his behavior. How can event producers in the security space avoid this happening in the future?

And now this...

We take questions from our audience.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Andy Ellis (@csoandy), operating partner, YL Ventures. Joining me is my guest, Aamir Niazi, executive director and CISO, SMBC Capital Markets.

In this episode:

• Communicating security accomplishments

• Spotting red flags in an interview

• What does offensive security look like today?

• Where Gen AI is fitting into cybersecurity

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Cyera

Cyera’s AI-powered data security platform gives companies visibility over their sensitive data, context over the risk it represents, and actionable, prioritized remediation guidance.
 As a cloud-native, agentless platform, Cyera provides holistic data security coverage across SaaS, PaaS, IaaS and On-premise environments. Visit www.cyera.io to learn more.

Full episode with images and links available at CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/do-these-jeans-make-my-vulnerabilities-look-too-big/)

We're starting to get a little self-conscious that our vulnerabilities are starting to show. People we don't even know are telling us we have them on the latest episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Fredrick Lee (AKA "Flee") (@fredrickl), CSO of Gusto.

Effective vulnerability prioritization helps you answer three questions: Where should we prioritize based on risk? Which vulnerabilities are likeliest to be exploited? What should we fix first? Tenable gives you the accurate and actionable data you need to answer these questions and better secure your business. Learn more: tenable.com/predictive-prioritization.

What's a CISO to do?

Chris Romeo, CEO of Security Journey, wrote a post where he asked, "What if I had to develop an application security program with a budget of zero dollars?" What he presented was a means to lean on the OWASP open source community and tools to build an application security program.

You're a CISO, what's your take on this?

I was chatting with a pentester, Benjamin McEwan, from Scotland, who reaches out to CISOs trying to responsibly disclose, not expose, a credible security vulnerability. It's his effort to get recognized. He's frustrated though in his ability to find permanent work because those hiring only see him as an independent researcher. Is his exercise the right approach? What can a talented security person in his position do to make himself more attractive to CISOs?

What's Worse?!

We've got a couple of scenarios that shocked our guest at the sheer InfoSec horror.

Breathe In, It's Time for a Little Security Philosophy

On Quora, a question right out of the Matthew Broderick movie WarGames asks, "If a student hacked into university computers and changed his grade in cyber security to an A, does he actually deserve the A?" Except for one person, everyone said, "No," but for different reasons. Mike, are you saying no, and if so, what reason?

What do you think of this pitch?

We've got two pitches from vendors this week. One came directly to me.

Cloud Security Tip, by Steve Prentice - Sponsored by OpenVPN.

The idea behind an Advanced Persistent Threat is both intriguing and a little distracting. It sounds like the title of a Tom Clancy novel – maybe a sequel to Clear and Present Danger.

Designed to penetrate a network, operate while hidden for a long time, all the while receiving commands from an outside agent, an APT is more sophisticated than everyday malware and tends to be deployed against large targets.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/the-department-of-no-thank-you/)

Just go to the front desk, sign in, and then the receptionist will say “no” in the most polite way possible.

This week's episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest is Nina Wyatt, CISO, Sunflower Bank.

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor, CyberArk.

At CyberArk, we believe that sharing insights and guidance across the CISO community will help strengthen security strategies and lead to better-protected organizations. CyberArk is committed to the continued exploration of topics that matter most to CISOs related to improving and integrating privileged access controls.

On this week's episode

There’s got to be a better way to handle this

The hot new cybersecurity threat is the Coronavirus. Not the virus itself or the possible fake phishing emails connected to it, but our overall fear and its impact on work. According to data from Boardish, there is a 42% increase over baseline in fear of immobility, or staff not being able to operate effectively remotely. To put that number in perspective, phishing and ransomware have each seen an 8% threat increase. I read immobility's huge number to mean companies are simply not prepared for how their staff may need to operate.

What we’ve got here is failure to communicate

What's the best way to say 'no' to a vendor? This was a question that was asked of me by Eric Gauthier, CISO at Scout Exchange. He wants to say no because his cloud business has no need for certain services, and he doesn't want to be rude, but just saying no doesn't seem to work. What are the most successful techniques of saying no to a security vendor? And what different kinds of "no" are there?

"What's Worse?!"

A tough decision on a company built on acquisitions.

Walk a mile in this CISO’s shoes

For many CISOs, there is a "What's Next?" as they don't necessarily expect "CISO" to be their final resting place professionally. Gary Hayslip, a CISO for Softbank Investment Advisers and frequent guest, wrote on both LinkedIn and Peerlyst about next steps for CISOs who want to move out of the role. The recommendations were other C-level positions, going independent, and starting a new company.

On January 2 of this year, parking meters in New York City stopped accepting credit and parking cards. At fault? Security software that had expired on the first day of 2020. Reminiscent of Y2K, this draws attention to the next two time-related bugs predicted for 2036 and 2038. The 2038 problem affects 32-bit systems that rely on timecodes that max out on January 19 of that year. A similar rollover is expected in 2036 for Network Time Protocol systems.

In all likelihood, affected systems either have been or will be replaced over the next 18 years, but the dangers still exist, in situations where vulnerable devices remain buried in a legacy system or in cases where advanced calculation of expiry dates are needed, or like New York City, where the upgrade was apparently overlooked.  It serves as a reminder that data security must look to its past while it plans for the future.

More from our sponsor ExtraHop.

Hey, you're a CISO. What's your take on this?

What's the impact of Europe's Right to Be Forgotten (RTFB)? It's been five years and Google has received ~3.2 million requests to delist URLs, from ~502,000 requesters. Forty five percent of those URLs met the criteria for delisting, according to Elie Bursztein, leader of Google's anti-abuse research team. Search engines and media sites hold the greatest responsibility, but what responsibility are companies forced to deal with and do they have the capacity to meet these requests?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/rest-assured-were-confident-our-security-sucks/)

We may not have the protection you want, but what we lack in adequate security we make up in confidence. Sleep better at night after you listen to this week's episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Billy Spears (@billyjspears), CISO, loanDepot.

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor, CyberInt.

The high ROI is what makes spear phishing campaigns so attractive to threat actors. Read our breakdown of TA505’s latest series of attacks. CyberInt has been tracking various activities surrounding this and other similar attacks where legit means were used to hack international companies in the retail & financial industries.

On this week’s episode

Why is everybody talking about this now?

Tip of the hat to Eduardo Ortiz for forwarding this discussion Stuart Mitchell of Stott and May initiated on LinkedIn asking if there should be a "golden bullet" clause in a CISO's contract. He was referring to the CISO of Capital One who had to step down and take on a consulting role after the breach. What are arguments for and against?

Ask a CISO

Nir Rothenberg, CISO, Rapyd asks, "If you were given control of company IT, what would be the first things you would do?"

What's Worse?!

Should a CISO be closing sales or securing the company?

Hey, you're a CISO, what's your take on this?

According to Nominet's Cyber Confidence Report, 71 percent of CISOs say their organization uses the company's security posture as a selling point, even though only 17% of CISOs are confident about their security posture. There are probably many factors that contribute to this disparity. Is it a gap that will ever close, or is this just the nature of security people vs. sales?

Bluetooth is a convenient and easy method of sharing data between devices, which, of course, qualifies it as a prime target for exploitation. A trio of researchers has discovered a vulnerability that has the potential of attacking billions of Bluetooth-enabled devices, including phones, laptops, IoT and IIoT technologies.

In short, this Key Negotiation of Bluetooth vulnerability, which has been given the acronym KNOB, exploits the pairing encryption protocol within the Bluetooth Classic wireless technology standard, which supports encryption keys with entropy between 1 and 16 bytes/octets. It inserts between the pairing devices forcing both to agree to encryption with 1 byte or 8 bits of entropy, after which it simply brute-forces the encryption keys.

More on CISO Series.

Check out lots more cloud security tips sponsored by OpenVPN, provider of next-gen secure and scalable communication software. OpenVPN Access Server keeps your company’s data safe with end-to-end encryption, secure remote access, and extension for your centralized UTM.

What do you think of this pitch?

How targeted should your pitch have to be?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series.

You want an awesome job in cybersecurity, and you want to ask the right questions. What are the right answers, and which ones are red flags that should cause you to run?

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Andy Ellis (@csoandy), operating partner, YL Ventures. Our guest is Renee Guttman, former CISO, Campbell's, Coca-Cola, and Time Warner.

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Okta

Auth0 is the leading provider of customer identity solutions. Watch Jameeka Aaaron, CISO for Auth0, explain how to balance security with friction to create a safe authentication experience without compromising on privacy.

In this episode:

• When interviewing, what are the right answers, and which ones are red flags that should cause you to run?
• Has the cloud just created a bigger security problem that's creeped up on us? 
• Are legacy systems just a ticking time bomb or have you seen success in managing them?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Brett Conlon, CISO, American Century Investments. Joining me is our guest, Mical Solomon, CISO, Port Authority of NY and NJ.

In this episode:

• Does the hype around generative AI tools make it seem like these are a totally new technological challenge for cybersecurity?

• Are many of the challenges with securing them the same that we've seen from the rise of SaaS and proliferation of shadow IT?

• What lessons from that transition can we apply to AI?

Thanks to our podcast sponsors, Living Security & KnowBe4

Living Security is the global leader in human risk management. Our HRM platform Unify transforms human risk into proactive defense by quantifying human risk and engaging the workforce with relevant training and communications proven to change human behavior. Living Security is trusted by security-minded organizations, including Mastercard, Verizon, Biogen, AmerisourceBergen, and Hewlett-Packard. Learn more at www.livingsecurity.com.

KnowBe4's SecurityCoach enables real-time security coaching of your users in response to risky behavior. Based on the rules in your existing security software stack, you can configure your real-time coaching campaign to determine the frequency and type of SecurityTip that is sent to users at the moment risky behavior is detected.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series

Managing my own risk is tough enough, but now I have to worry about my partners' risk and their partners' risk? I don't even know what's easier to manage: the risk profile of all my third parties or all the exclusions I've got to open up to let third parties into my system.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Mike Johnson. Our sponsored guest is Bruce Potter (@gdead), CISO, Expel.

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Expel

Expel offers companies of all shapes and sizes the capabilities of a modern Security Operations Center without the cost and headache of managing one.

In this episode:

• What's easier to manage, 3rd party risk profiles or exclusions?
• Do you need a Git repository to apply for a job? What else?
• What's in your happy-grab-bag for hybrid work environments?
• Is there anything new to say about ransomware strategy?  

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series

For some reason, the ABCs of sales ("Always Be Closing") in the world of cybersecurity sales has translated into "Always Be Creepy." Eagerness to make just a connection, forget closing, has turned into extremely forward approaches that would make anyone feel uncomfortable.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and my guests will be Steve Tran, CSO, Democratic National Committee and Matt Crouse, CISO, Taco Bell. It was recorded in front of a live audience in Santa Monica as part of the ISSA-LA Information Security Summit XII.

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Ostrich Cyber-Risk

Ostrich Cyber-Risk “Birdseye” is a unified qualitative and quantitative cyber risk management application that allows you to quickly assess, prioritize and quantify your organization’s financial and operational risks in real-time, in one place. Benchmarked against industry-standards (NIST, CIS, ISO), Birdseye simulates risk scenarios, continuously tracks roadmap progress, and creates shareable reports.

In this episode:

• What do security leaders do when they can't push through security initiatives they know should be done?
  
• Is this a real concern for CISOs, and if so, how does a CISO handle their staff when best efforts get thwarted?
  
• What's your advice for new CISOs when dealing with unsolicited sales emails from security vendors? Do they just ignore it all? Should they filter it out?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/how-will-the-candidate-respond-to-whats-worse/)

A potential candidate's response to a "What's Worse?!" question will show how they can handle risk decisions.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our sponsored guest this week is Elliot Lewis (@elliotdlewis), CEO, Keyavi Data.

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor, Keyavi Data (formerly Encryptics)

Now you can share data without ever losing control of it. Our advanced architecture makes data self-protecting, intelligent and self-aware – wherever it goes, no matter who has it. Our .SAFE patented multi-key technology enables data to evaluate its own safety conditions, including geo-sensing, recipient authentication, and policy changes from its owner. Contact Keyavi Data today and see for yourself.

On this week's episode

Why is everybody talking about this now

If we could change one thing about the cybersecurity industry, what would it be? Rilhouse on reddit brought this post by Naomi Buckwalter of Energage to my attention. What you can change are processes and behavior currently in the industry.

Is this the best solution?

Both Mike and Elliot hire cybersecurity talent. Here's a question from bubblehack3r on reddit who asked during our AMA. "What are your different methods and tools you use to verify and test the professionally of a new hire in the cyber security domain?"

"What's Worse?!"

The shortest ever "What's Worse?!" question.

Please, Enough. No, More.

Encryption. We've had it around for decades, but people and companies still don't use it. What have you heard enough about regarding encryption and what would you like to hear a lot more?

It’s time for “Ask a CISO”

What have Mike and Elliot learned from a product deployment that they didn't realize until after they deployed it.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series

https://cisoseries.com/how-cisos-make-it-worse-for-other-cisos/

Are CISOs inappropriately putting pressure on themselves and is that hurting the rep of all CISOs as a result?

This week's episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Mike Johnson. Our guest is Andy Ellis (@csoandy), operating partner, YL Ventures.

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Orca Security

Orca Security provides instant-on security and compliance for AWS, Azure, and GCP － without the gaps in coverage, alert fatigue, and operational costs of agents or sidecars. Orca detects and prioritizes risk in minutes ﹣ not months ﹣ and is trusted by global innovators, including Databricks, Lemonade, Gannett, and Robinhood.

In this episode:

• Is the hiring process for CISOs broken?
• Why CISOs aren’t willing to share samples of their risk assessments
• Working with a vCISO through an MSSP
• What are the biggest misconceptions cybersecurity people have about CISOs?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series.

When it comes to security awareness, the advice generally doesn't change. There are a set of best practices that have proven to be effective. So we know what we want to tell people. Communicate it consistently. So how do we relay that information without sounding like a broken record?

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Steve Zalewski. Joining us is our sponsored guest, Daniel Krivelevich, CTO for Appsec, Palo Alto Networks.

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Palo Alto Networks

As cloud attacks increase, how should AppSec respond? Hear from Daniel Krivelevich, CTO of AppSec at Palo Alto Networks, as he dives into modern application security strategies that can help teams defend their engineering ecosystems from modern attacks. Watch now to level up your AppSec program.

In this episode:

• What security measures have been the most successful in preventing cyberattacks?
• What do we need to better understand about misconfigurations to better secure the cloud?
• How do we relay this information without sounding like a broken record?

Find all images and links for this episode on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/we-unleash-our-military-grade-infosec-bs-detector/)

We're trying to clean up vendor pitches of unnecessary and outrageous claims so they can sail through to a CISO's inbox. It's our service to cybersecurity community on this week's episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This show was recorded live in front of an audience of CISOs and security vendors at the San Francisco CISO Executive Summit, hosted by Evanta. This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Aaron Peck, CISO, Shutterfly.

Thanks to our podcast sponsors ExtraHop and Tenable

Unlike security solutions that focus on signature- and rule-based detection, ExtraHop Reveal(x) helps you rise above the noise of alerts with complete east-west visibility and machine learning for real-time detection of known and unknown threats, plus guided investigations for rapid response. Find and address real threats faster with ExtraHop.

Effective vulnerability prioritization helps you answer three questions: Where should we prioritize based on risk? Which vulnerabilities are likeliest to be exploited? What should we fix first? Tenable gives you the accurate and actionable data you need to answer these questions and better secure your business. Learn more: tenable.com/predictive-prioritization.

On this week's episode

Why is everybody talking about this now?

Last week I was about to install a popular and approved app in the Google Play store that asked if the app could read, copy, download, and DELETE my contacts. Also last week during Google I/O, Sundar Pichai, Google’s chief executive touted their focus on privacy. This is not the first time we've heard this from Google or Facebook who is going to be facing the largest privacy violation in FTC history. Getting access to our behaviors is how Facebook and Google make their money. What would we like to see, not hear, from either Google or Facebook that convinces us that yes, they are doing something significant and proactive about privacy. Maybe they've already done it.

Why is this a bad pitch?

A Twitter thread asked, "What do vendors say that immediately undermines their credibility?"

There were a lot listed, but the ones I saw repeated multiple times were military grade, next-gen, bank-level encryption, full visibility, 100% effective, and single pane of glass.

We have brought up many of these on our show. And while we understand companies are trying to find a short pithy way to describe their technology, using terms like these can turn a great pitch into an effort to dig out of a hole.

What's Worse?!

We squeeze in two rounds of this game and our guest tries to dodge the question, but I don't let him.

You're a CISO, what's your take on this?

Brian Fricke, CISO at BBVA Compass is eager to hear how to successfully reconcile the cloud-driven CapEx to OpEx budget shift. CFOs don't get any depreciation benefit from OpEx, and Brian believes they'd prefer to see CapEx even if it's double the cost. He's struggling. Our CISOs offer up some advice.

How to become a CISO

Jason Clark, CISO of Netskope, wrote an article on Forbes about security mentorship. Mentors are needed to create more security leaders, CISOs, increase interest in security, and teach the ability to talk to the business. All of it centered around one theme of motivating others. What are ways to teach motivation across all these areas?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Andy Ellis (@csoandy), operating partner, YL Ventures. Joining me is our sponsored guest, Jay Trinckes, director of compliance, Thoropass.

In this episode:

• Why do credential stuffing attacks put organizations in such a tricky spot?

• Why is blaming the victim rarely the right move?

• What kind of reasonable expectations can companies have about how much users will do to protect themselves?

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Thoropass

Still spending time collecting evidence and worrying about breaking free of an infinite audit loop? Relax! We fixed audits. Thoropass provides complete infosec compliance management, continuous monitoring, and security audits through AI-infused software and expert guidance – allowing you to do business with confidence. Learn more at www.thoropass.com.

To see the blog post and read the transcript, head over to CISO Series.

We don't celebrate quitting. Maybe we should. When should you do it when you don't have another offer?

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Mike Johnson. Our guest is Hadas Cassorla, CISO, M1.

On this episode:

• When a "good" security control is actually bad for business.
• A "how to" engage with a CISO during a presentation meeting.
• Losing your passion for cybersecurity. What next?
• Building a budget for remote team building.

HUGE thanks to our sponsor, Keyavi

Data that protects itself?  Now it does! We made data so smart it can think for itself. Secure itself. Stay continually aware of its surroundings. Control where, when and who is allowed access. And automatically report back to its owner. This changes the entire cybersecurity paradigm. Learn how.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series

https://cisoseries.com/excuse-me-what-bribes-do-you-accept/

The security vendor/practitioner sales cycle would go a lot faster and smoother if CISOs would just take an "incentive" for a meeting. Just tell me what "incentive" you would like. I'm sure it'll cost me a lot less than what I'm spending on marketing and sales.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Mike Johnson. Our guest is Allison Miller (@selenakyle), CISO, reddit. Allison is available on reddit at /u/UndrgrndCartographer.

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Living Security

Why We're Breaking Security Awareness (And You Should Too)
Attend This Free, Virtual Conference From Your Home, Office, Or Even Your Couch. Living Security is breaking the mold of security awareness to wage war on the human risk factor with evolved strategies for the way we live, work, and play today.
Join cybersecurity industry thought leaders for fresh, modern perspectives designed to help you change behaviors and reduce your organization's risk in a world where life happens online.
This year’s sessions will cover:

• Human Risk Management
• Social Engineering
• DEI In Cybersecurity
• Enterprise Security Awareness
• Remote Working Security
• Ransomware

In this episode:

• Relying on the end-user to make an app secure is, in essence, shipping insecure software
• It's official: mandatory password changes are no longer in vogue
• What incentives would you accept to take a meeting with a vendor

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/request-a-demo-of-our-inability-to-post-a-demo/)

It's really easy to include "Request a Demo" button on our site. But potential buyers would actually like to just watch a demo on our site. Should we actually expend just a little more effort to record a demo and upload it to our site?

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Ross Young, CISO, Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation.

Thanks to our sponsor, Kenna Security.

With Kenna Security, companies efficiently manage the right level of risk for their business. Our Modern Vulnerability Management model eliminates the friction between Security and IT teams about what to patch, providing clear prioritization based on real-time threat intelligence and guidance applied to each customer’s unique environment across infrastructure, applications and IoT.

On this week's episode

Why is everybody talking about this now?

Our guest posted about the 10+ daily product pitches he receives and he suggested that vendors place a product demo on their site. It just so happens, I also posted about this on LinkedIn. I am astonished that not every vendor spends their first marketing dollars on creating a product demo and posting that video. If a security practitioner is interested in a company, how do they begin their research? What do they look for? Do they watch product demo videos? Do they click the "request a demo" button?

First 90 Days of a CISO

Our guest shared a study from PWC that points out what management thinks are the most important roles for a CISO. Eighty four percent considered the ability to educate and collaborate across the business was critical making it the top most skill they look for in a CISO. At the same time, it appears investing in a talent management program for leadership was the least important with only 22 percent responding. What I read from this is management wants you to lead, and get the whole company on board, but do it alone. Plus, they expect you to be a perfect cybersecurity leader out of the box. Is that feasible? Is this why we're having so much burnout of CISOs? It's not just the pressure of protecting, but taking on all leadership responsibilities with no ongoing support?

What's Worse?!

How are you advertising for new hires?

There’s got to be a better way to handle this

Turns out half of employees are cutting corners on security when working from home. This includes using home computers for corporate work, emailing sensitive documents from personal accounts. It's not malicious, but the distractions of work from home life and demands to deliver quickly are forcing employees to take the less secure route. Also, being away from the watchful IT and security gives them the breathing room to be less careful. Tip of the hat to Gina Yacone of Agio for posting this article from ZDnet about Tessian's work from home study. How can security leaders stay in contact with employees so they don't stray?

How CISOs are digesting the latest security news

What makes a security podcast valuable? What elements does a cybersecurity podcast need to have for you to say to yourself, "I'm glad I spent the time listening to that"?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/improve-security-by-hiring-people-who-know-everything/)

If you're having a hard time securing your infrastructure, then maybe you need to step up the requirements for expertise. Why not ask for everything? We're offering unreasonable advice on this week's episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This episode was recorded in front of a live audience at ADAPT's CISO Edge conference in Sydney, Australia. This special episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Liam Connolly, CISO of Seek. Our guest is Matt Boon (@mattjboon), director of strategic research for ADAPT. Plus, we have a special sponsored guest appearance from John Karabin, vp, cybersecurity, Dimension Data.

Thanks to this episode's sponsors Dimension Data/NTT and ADAPT

By 1 October 2019, all 28 NTT companies, including Dimension Data, will be branded as NTT. Together we enable the connected future. Visit NTT at hello.global.ntt.

ADAPT’s mission is to equip IT executives with the knowledge, relationships, inspiration and tools needed to gain competitive advantage. ADAPT’s membership platform provides business leaders with fact-based insights, actionable patterns of success and the collective experience of 3,000 peers to improve strategic IT, security, and business decisions. Visit ADAPT for more.

On this week's episode

Why is everyone talking about this now?

Independent security consultant Simon Goldsmith sent this post from Stu Hirst, a security engineer at JUST EAT who posted a job listing that requested subject matter expertise on 12 different aspects of security. This highly demanding request resulted in well over 200 responses from the community. Is it laziness on the part of the company posting? Is it an attempt to just capture job seekers' search queries? Or is it simply an editorial mistake that they shouldn't have requested subject matter expertise but rather basic knowledge across 12 different aspects of security?

Ask a CISO

Mitch Renshaw, Fortinet, describes a problem that many vendors are having. He says:

"Fortinet’s broad portfolio makes it hard to give a concise yet effective overview of our value. As a result I’m worried my emails are going long.
Customers know us for our firewalls – and a full firewall refresh is hard to come by as a sales rep. So if I get more targeted in my demand generation techniques, I’m met with an 'I’m all set, I’ve got Palo/checkpoint/juniper/etc.'"

Mitch has got a conundrum. He's looking for the happy medium on how to sell a company with a wide variety of products, some of which are highly commoditized in the industry. How should he reach out to security professionals?

"What's Worse?!"

We play two rounds and the audience gets to play along as well.

Hey, you're a CISO, what's your take on this?'

My American co-host, Mike Johnson, asked this question of the LinkedIn community, and I ask you this as well. "Why do sites still **** out the password field on a login page?" It's designed to stop shoulder surfing. Is this really the main problem? What else is it helping or hurting, like password reuse? Passwords are a broken system that are easily hacked. We have solutions that add layers on top of it, like multi-factor authentication. What solutions do we have for the password process itself?

OK, what's the risk?

Ross Young of Capital One, asks this question about what risk should you be willing to take on? "What should cyber professionals do when they can’t contract or outsource services like pen testing however they struggle to acquire the talent they need. If they train folks they find them poached sooner and if they don’t they are stuck without the talent they need to survive."

Why is this a bad pitch?

We've got a pitch sent in to us from Eduardo Ortiz. It's not his pitch, but one he received. You may need to strap in when you hear this.

It’s time for the audience question speed round

Yep, it's just like it sounds. I ask the panel to ask some questions submitted from our audience.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series

Uggh, just saying "zero trust" sends shivvers down security professionals' spines. The term is fraught with so many misnomers. The most important is who are you going to trust to actually help you build that darn zero trust program? Are you going to look at a vendor that's consolidated solutions and has built programs like this repeatedly or are you going to look for the best solutions yourself and try to figure out how best to piece it together to create that "zero trust" program?

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Andy Ellis (@csoandy), operating partner, YL Ventures. Our sponsored guest is David Chow, global chief technology strategy officer, Trend Micro.

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Trend Micro

Trend Micro Cloud One, a security services platform for cloud builders, delivers the broadest and deepest cloud security offering in one solution, enabling you to secure your cloud infrastructure with clarity and simplicity. Discover your dynamic attack surface, assess your risk, and respond with the right security at the right time. Discover more!

In this episode:

• Why is the term “zero trust” fraught with so many misnomers?
  
• Is there such a thing as privacy anymore? Do you agree with the term “good enough”, and if so what is a "good enough" factor, what does it entail, and what should we expect from that?
  
• Where has the United States done the most to improve national cybersecurity?
  

On this week’s episode of the CISO/Security Vendor Relationship podcast we ask, “What good is a security alert if there’s no actionable item?” As always, the show is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), founder, Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson, CISO, Lyft. Our guest this week is Wendy Nather (@wendynather), director, advisory CISOs, Duo Security.   On this episode, you’ll learn:

• Flex your incident response muscles.
• Does your cybersecurity policy change around high-profile events?
• What’s the definition of cybersecurity and why do so many people care?
• How a security vendor helped me a long time ago, but Mike thought about them this week.
• A couple of vendors submit their pitches for a critique. One is confusing and one is almost perfect.
• And a couple of “Ask a CISO” questions.

  The written content for this podcast was first published on Security Boulevard.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series https://cisoseries.com/our-hope-it-doesnt-happen-to-me-security-strategy/ 

We're thinking it just might be possible to wish our security problems away.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Mike Johnson. Our sponsored guest this week is Steve Giguere, (@_SteveGiguere_) director of solution architecture and community, StackRox.

Thanks to this week’s podcast sponsor, Stackrox

StackRox is the industry’s first Kubernetes-native security platform that enables organizations to securely build, deploy, and run cloud-native applications anywhere. The StackRox Kubernetes Security Platform delivers lower operational cost, reduced operational risk, and greater developer productivity through a Kubernetes-native approach that supports built-in security across the entire software development lifecycle.

On this week's episode

That’s something I would like to avoid

Security theater is a security placebo. We're being told that it's effective, and we may fool ourselves into believing it is, but the reality is there's no real security medicine there. Over on Infosecurity Magazine, Danny Bradbury has identified a few key ones I want to call out. In particular, technology buzzwords - like getting a solution with AI, data collection - more data, more insights, right?, and endless security alerts - for practitioners and end users. All of these seem to be in regular practice today. Does calling out security theater result in pushback? And if so, how do you handle calling it out and how would you shift each of these security placebos into a more medicated version?

There’s got to be a better way to handle this

On reddit, kautica0 asks, "If a company becomes aware of a 0-day vulnerability and it impacts their production web application serving customers, what actions should be taken? Should it even be considered an incident?"

Just because it's a 0-day vulnerability does that make it more threatening than any of the known vulnerabilities? There was a lot of logical advice that was akin to how we would handle any vulnerability, but the 0-day nature had the looming feeling of this could be an incident very quickly and would require an incident response plan.

"What's Worse?!"

A "What's Worse?!" entry from our youngest listener.

Please, enough. No, more.

The topic is Kubernetes Security. We discuss what we have heard enough about when it comes to Kubernetes security and what we would like to hear more.

Where does a CISO begin

Is being cloud first a security strategy? Over on the UK's National Cyber Security Centre, an article argues that we should not ask if the cloud is secure, but whether it is being used securely. What does that mean? And is there an argument for and against cloud first being a valid security strategy?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Andy Ellis (@csoandy), operating partner, YL Ventures. Joining me is our guest, Richard Ford, CTO, Praetorian.

In this episode:

• Why do many CISOs think adopting new LLM-based tools will make breaches more likely?
• Why the rush to throw money at them?
• How do you go about building a security program that doesn't depend on individuals?

Thanks to our podcast sponsors, Praetorian

Praetorian helps companies adopt a prevention-first cybersecurity strategy by actively uncovering vulnerabilities and minimizing potential weaknesses before attackers can exploit them.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Mike Johnson, CISO, Rivian. Joining me is our guest, Jamil Farshchi, evp and CISO, Equifax.

In this episode:

• Data leaks are hard enough to deal with when caused by threat actors, but how bad is a self-inflicted data leak?

• Why do these types of incidents happen?

• How should an organization assess the risk it introduced?

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Varonis

Ready to reduce your risk without taking any? Try Varonis’ free data risk assessment. It takes minutes to set up and in 24 hours you’ll have a clear, risk-based view of the data that matters most and a clear path to automated remediation. Get started for free today.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series

If they can find flaws, security professionals are quick to label it as bad security behavior. But often, what is marked as "bad" may have problems, but when looked at from a reducing risk perspective it's actually a very good security behavior.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Mike Johnson. Our guest is Carla Sweeney, vp information security, Red Ventures.

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Protegrity

Protegrity empowers intelligence-driven organizations to use data to drive innovation with secure analytics and artificial intelligence, without fear of violating compliance or jeopardizing privacy. To make this vision a reality, we protect sensitive data anywhere and everywhere to create secure data agility that aligns with the speed of modern business.

In this episode:

• Is a CISO really an architect of choices, for themselves and the other business leaders?
  
• Why and how can controls impose friction or drag on business velocity?
  
• What are the types of questions you ask when you're referencing a resume and what are some examples of really impressive responses?
  
• What are some things that get a bad rap, but are actually quite secure?
  

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Mike Johnson, CISO, Rivian. Joining us is our sponsored guest Daniel Daraban, senior director of product management, Bitdefender.

In this episode:

• Practice makes perfect
• Shaming doesn’t help anyone
• Cybersecurity is a flat circle
• Building the bridge

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Bitdefender!

Enterprise-grade cybersecurity without complexity. Backed by extensive research from hundreds of experts in Bitdefender Labs and consistently top-rated in independent tests, Bitdefender GravityZone platform provides multi-layered prevention, protection, detection, and response capabilities, including managed security services. Learn more at Bitdefender.com.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series.

For some security problems, it can be tough to know when to try to fix the problem yourself or turn to a vendor. Deciding this shouldn't start with talking to someone that wants to sell you something. But how do you determine when it's time to call in a vendor?

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Mike Johnson, CISO, Rivian. Joining us for this episode is our special guest, Katie Ledoux, CISO, Attentive.

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Palo Alto Networks

As cloud attacks increase, how should AppSec respond? Hear from Daniel Krivelevich, CTO of AppSec at Palo Alto Networks, as he dives into modern application security strategies that can help teams defend their engineering ecosystems from modern attacks. Watch now to level up your AppSec program.

In this episode:

• Why do many organizations have a problem relating quantification to something meaningful to the business?
• Is there a way to understand risks on a continuum that will make relating these to business a little more manageable?
• What are the questions security professionals should be asking themselves?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/if-capital-one-listened-to-our-podcast-they-still-would-have-been-breached/) 

We guarantee listening to our show would have done absolutely nothing to prevent the Capital One breach. We've consulted our lawyers and we feel confident about making that claim. It's all coming up on this week's episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This episode was recorded in the ExtraHop booth during Black Hat 2019. It is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our sponsored guest this week is Tom Stitt (@BlinkerBilly), sr. director, product marketing - security, ExtraHop.

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor ExtraHop

Unlike security solutions that focus on signature- and rule-based detection, ExtraHop Reveal(x) helps you rise above the noise of alerts with complete east-west visibility and machine learning for real-time detection of known and unknown threats, plus guided investigations for rapid response. Find and address real threats faster with ExtraHop.

On this week's episode

Why is everyone talking about this now?

I have noticed an either disturbing or coincidental trend. Every year, just before either RSA or Black Hat conferences, there is some massive breach. This year it was Capital One. In the past we've had Ashley Madison, Target, Marriott - all within a few months of the shows. I know I know I know that CISOs absolutely hate being sold on FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt), but all conferences are affected by industry relevant news. You simply can't avoid it. Capital One was brought up multiple times during the Black Hat conference. We discuss the do's and don'ts of bringing up the most recent breach at a huge trade show.

We don't have much time. What's your decision?

On LinkedIn, you asked "When your risk and threat models all agree that this feature/product/decision is of low concern but your gut tells you otherwise, what do you do?" It appears most people said go with your gut to which Richard Seiersen of Soluble pointed out that guts are models too. What happens when you're faced with such a scenario and what causes the tools and threat models to be so off your gut?

"What's Worse?!"

We've got a split decision and a really fun scenario.

Please, Enough. No, More.

Today's topic is "network behavior analysis." In the world of anomaly detection, what have Mike and Tom heard enough about and what would you like to hear a lot more?

It’s been two weeks. Time to change your password again. How many times have we all bumped up against this wall – intended to help keep us secure, but extremely annoying when you have things do do? The battle for password security has been a long and arduous one, moving and evolving, sometimes ahead of, but more often lagging behind the activities of the hackers and bad guys, whose limitless resources seek out every possible weakness.

Challenge questions and strings of letters, numbers and characters might soon be coming to the end of their functional life, as security companies start to roll out biometric and behavioral security protocols in their place. Paired with increased access to data and artificial intelligence, it will become easier for organizations to contemplate a switch from basic strings of words to something more esoteric – a retinal scan paired with an extensive ergonomic behavior database for every individual.

These things are not new to the consumer marketplace of course. Apple iPhones are one of many devices that can be unlocked by a fingerprint, and credit card companies and web applications routinely call out unusual login behaviors.

But the new secret sauce in all of this is the availability of huge amounts of data in real time, which can be used to analyze a much larger set of behavioral activity, not simply an unusually timed login. This can then be managed by an Identity-as-a-service (IDaaS) company that would take over the administration, upkeep and security of its clients using the as-a-service model.

A retinal scan paired with a secure knowledge of which hand you carry your coffee in and where you bought it might very soon replace the old chestnut challenge of your mother’s maiden name. That one should stay safe with Mom.

Check out lots more cloud security tips sponsored by OpenVPN, provider of next-gen secure and scalable communication software. OpenVPN Access Server keeps your company’s data safe with end-to-end encryption, secure remote access, and extension for your centralized UTM.

And now, a listener drops some serious knowledge

On LinkedIn, Ian Murphy of LMNTRIX put together an incredibly funny presentation with great graphics entitled the BS Cybersecurity Awards which included such impressive glass statuettes like the "It'll Never Happen to Us" Award and the "Cash Burner" Award. In general, they were awards for all the bad repeated behavior we see from vendors and users in cybersecurity. What are the awards that are not given out that we'd actually like to see?

The direct link to this episode (https://cisoseries.com/all-aboard-the-5g-paranoia-train/)

We're getting excited and stressed out about the impending 5G network that appears will control our lives and all our cities. Will it be as exciting, productive, and lacking of security protocols as we expect? We discuss that and more on this week's episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This show, like all the previous ones is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Bruce Schneier (@schneiersblog), book author, lecturer at Harvard Kennedy School, and prolific blogger at Schneider on Security.

Thanks to this week's sponsor, Chronicle, makers of Backstory

Chronicle’s Backstory is a global security telemetry platform for investigation and threat hunting within your enterprise network. Backstory makes security analytics instant, easy, and cost-effective. Backstory is a specialized, cloud-native security analytics system, built on the core infrastructure that powers Google itself.

On this week's episode

How CISOs are digesting the latest security news

Marsh, an insurance broker, is working with other cyber insurers to identify products and services that will reduce your cyber risk. With their Cyber Catalyst program, they're offering what appears to be some type of Better Business Bureau stamp of approval on solutions that meet their cyber risk standards. What gets us excited and what sets off red flags when we see such an offering?

Why is everybody talking about this now?

Are you scared of 5G yet? You should be. Well, according to our government, we need to be wary of China and Huawei with their rollout of 5G because owning the next-gen network will conceivably own all of commerce, transportation, and heck anything else. In Schneier's new book, Click Here to Kill Everybody, he speaks to how to survive with all our hyper-connected devices. How aggressively is 5G going to exacerbate the issue of cyber-survival?

What's Worse!?

We have a split decision on a scenario that involves a time limit.

Hey, you're a CISO, what's your take on this?

On Schneier's blog, he shared a study that examined whether freelance programmers hired online would write secure code, whether prompted to do it or not. The coders were paid a small pittance and it was unclear if they knew anything about security and surprise. In the end they didn't write secure code. While there are questions about the validity of this study, this does bring up an interesting question: Using a marketplace like Upwork or Freelance.com, how does one go about hiring a freelance coder that can write secure code?

Ask a CISO

Mark Toney of CrowdStrike asked, after the purchase and use of a security tool, does a CISO or CTO do a post-mortem to see if they got what they paid for? Mark wants to know are you looking at what was improved, where it was improved, and by how much it was improved?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/wait-what-good-news-in-cybersecurity/)

On this episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast, cybercrime fails and we brag about it.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Geoff Belknap (@geoffbelknap), CISO, LinkedIn.

Mike Johnson, co-host, CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast, Geoff Belknap, CISO, LinkedIn, and David Spark, producer, CISO Series.

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor Trend Micro.

On this week's episode

How CISOs are digesting the latest security news

We simply don't hear enough good news cybersecurity stories that make those involved proud. What are the cybersecurity stories that aren't being told publicly that should be?

First 90 Days of a CISO

Michael Farnum, Set Solutions, said, "If you come into the job and aren’t willing to critically review existing projects AND put a stop to the ones that are questionable, then you are going to cause yourself problems later. It might seem like an unwise political move when new to the company, but you have to be willing to swing the axe (or at least push the pause button) on anything that doesn’t make sense." Not so easy, but where's the line where you can actually push and say, "We're changing course"?

It's time to play, "What's Worse?!"

We've got a split decision!

Hey, you're a CISO, what's your take on this?

On a previous episode of Defense in Depth, we talked about employee hacking or getting the staff on the same page as the CISO and the security program. I quoted instructor Sarah Mancinho who said, "I am a firm believer that CISOs/CIOs should have their own dedicated IT strategic communications person(s) that report to them, and not any other office. Most comms roles I've seen...had to report to HR/PR/General Comms....none of whom really knew anything about technology/technical comms/infosec....and had little to no interaction with the IT/security team."

My co-host, Allan Alford, loved this idea, never had it, but would love to have it. What value could a dedicated PR person bring to the security team?

The devious new Android malware called Cerberus steals credentials by using a downloaded fake Adobe Flash player. That is not really innovative in itself, but what’s interesting is the way it seeks to avoid detection by using the phone’s accelerometer to confirm that the infected target is a real device and not on the screen of a security analyst. According to ESET researcher Lukas Stefanko, quoted in Forbes, the app actually counts a number of physical footsteps taken by the phone’s owner, and deploys once the required number has been reached. 

For more, check out the full tip on CISO Series.

Check out lots more cloud security tips sponsored by OpenVPN, provider of next-gen secure and scalable communication software. OpenVPN Access Server keeps your company’s data safe with end-to-end encryption, secure remote access, and extension for your centralized UTM.

Why is everybody talking about this now?

What's behind the cybersecurity skills shortage? In an article on the Forbes Council, Mark Aiello, president of cybersecurity recruiting firm CyberSN, pointed out some ugly truths as to why it's so difficult to hire cybersecurity talent. He pointed to low pay, the desire to find unicorns, poor job descriptions, training and growth. Is the core issue that the cybersecurity industry just does a very poor job welcoming new entrants?

Today, what does a cybersecurity professional need walking in the door? And what are CISOs willing to accept no knowledge of, yet willing to train?

Don’t bother trying to craft a potentially clever, funny and adorable email that you hope will tickle a security practitioner; it’s simply not going to work. When it comes to security pitches, practitioners just want the facts. While humor is appreciated, a cold email pitch is not the time to showcase your creative writing skills. As always, the show is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), founder, Spark Media Solutions  and Mike Johnson, CISO, Lyft. Our guest this week is Jeremiah Grossman (@jeremiahg), CEO, Bit Discovery.   On this week’s CISO/Security Vendor Relationship podcast, You’ll discover that InfoSec truism and:

• 10-second security tip (do you have these security controls in place?).
• The correct pronunciation of CISO (and whether anyone cares).
• Consumers and activists issuing lawsuits in the name of GDPR and why that’s a good thing for the future of GDPR.
• The increasing cost of breaches.
• A new method to get a security practitioner’s time (Is the idea so crazy it will work? Or do we just need more crazy ideas?).
• How a security vendor helped me this week.

  The written content for this podcast was first published on Security Boulevard.

Full post for this episode (https://cisoseries.com/defense-in-depth-machine-learning-failures/)

NOTE: You're seeing this special episode of Defense in Depth, because we think our CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast listeners should hear it. 

Is garbage in, garbage out the reason for machine learning failures? Or is there more to the equation?

Check out this post and discussion for the basis of our conversation on this week’s episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the creator of CISO Series and Allan Alford (@AllanAlfordinTX), CISO at Mitel. Our guest for this episode is Davi Ottenheimer (@daviottenheimer), product security for MongoDB.

Thanks to this week’s podcast sponsor, Remediant

81% of cyberattacks utilize stolen administrative credentials. Yet, legacy enterprise password vaults solve only a fraction of the problem and are difficult to rollout. Remediant's SecureONE takes a new approach to privileged access management: offering agent-less, vault-less, continuous detection and just-in-time-administration. Learn what Remediant can do in a half-day POC deployment.

On this episode of Defense in Depth, you'll learn:

• Don't fall victim to believing that success and failure of machine learning is isolated to just garbage in/garbage out. It's far more nuanced than that. Some human actually has to determine what is considered garbage in and what is not.
• It only takes a very small amount of data to completely corrupt and ruin machine learning data.
• This knowledge of small infection can spread and corrupt all of the data and can have political and economic motivations to do just that.
• We have failures in human intervention. Machine learning can just magnify that at rapid rates.
• While there are many warning signs that machine learning can fail, and we have the examples to back it up, many argue that competitive environments don't allow us to ignore it. We're in a use it or lose it scenario. Even when you're aware of the pitfalls, you may have no choice but to utilize machine learning to accelerate development and/or innovation.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Andy Ellis (@csoandy), partner, YL Ventures. Joining us is Steve Person, CISO, Cambia Health.

In this episode:

• The changing CISO landscape
• Rethinking the cybersecurity talent shortage
• Sharpening your CISO skills
• Do CISOs need to go back to school?

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Vanta!

Whether you’re starting or scaling your security program, Vanta helps you automate compliance across SOC 2, ISO 27001, and more. Streamline security reviews by automating questionnaires and demonstrating your security posture with a customer-facing Trust Center. Over 7,000 global companies use Vanta to manage risk and prove security.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series

It's extremely easy to say you want to diversify. In fact, I'll do it right now three times. We want diversity. We're very pro diversity and it's our focus for the next year. Diversity is a very important part of our security program.

Please don't ask to though look at the lack of diversity on our staff. It doesn't match our rhetoric.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Andy Ellis (@csoandy), operating partner, YL Ventures. Our guest is Sujeet Bambawale (@sujeet), CISO, 7-11.

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Vulcan Cyber

Vulnerability scanners are commoditized. Cloud service providers provide free scanners. Open source scanners are plentiful. Your team doesn’t need another scanner, but they need to get better at identifying and prioritizing the risk that is buried in that scan data. Attend the Vulcan Cyber virtual user conference and learn how to assess and mitigate risk across all of your surfaces. Go to vulcan.io and click the button at the top of the screen to register for the event.

In this episode:

• How are you overcoming the challenges of diversity hiring?
• Are robocalls defeating MFA?
• Are you collaborative in cyber with your direct competitors?
• Were you sold something differently when you started in cyber?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series

Security professionals should turn in the cyber hero mentality for the "sidekick" role. Many cybersecurity leaders believe they need to save the company from all the stupid users who can't protect themselves. The reality is security professionals should lose the saviour mentality for a supporting role where they're running alongside different business units trying to find a way to make their process run smoother and more secure.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Andy Ellis (@csoandy), operating partner, YL Ventures. Our wponsored guest Clyde Williamson, product management, innovations, Protegrity.

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Protegrity

Protegrity empowers intelligence-driven organizations to use data to drive innovation with secure analytics and artificial intelligence, without fear of violating compliance or jeopardizing privacy. To make this vision a reality, we protect sensitive data anywhere and everywhere to create secure data agility that aligns with the speed of modern business.

In this episode:

• Is it OK if users see security as heroes but security professionals shouldn't see themselves that way?
• What have you heard enough about when it comes to data protection, and what would you like to hear a lot more?
• How can we best create a cyber risk balance sheet?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series.

As children, we don't dream of becoming a CISO, but yet we still have them. What is it a security professional can learn or even show, to demonstrate that they're getting ready for the position of a CISO?

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark, producer of CISO Series and Andy Ellis, operating partner, YL Ventures. Our guest is Paul Connelly, former CISO, HCA Healthcare.

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Nightfall

Nightfall is the leader in cloud data leak prevention. Integrate in minutes with cloud apps such as Slack and Jira to instantly protect data (PII, PHI, Secrets and Keys, PCI) and prevent breaches. Stay compliant with frameworks such as ISO 27001 and more — all powered by Nightfall's industry-leading ML detection.

In this episode:

• What is it a security professional can learn or even show, to demonstrate that they're getting ready for the position of a CISO?
• How to tell that you are NOT CISO material?
• What don't CISOs know about physical security that they should know before they get into big trouble?

Do the biggest tech companies abuse our privacy because they have no competitive incentive to protect it? That debate and more on the latest episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This show, like all the previous ones is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Emilio Escobar (@eaescob), head of information security for Hulu.

Endgame makes military-grade protection as easy as anti-virus. Their converged endpoint security platform is transforming security programs – their people, processes and technology – with the most powerful endpoint protection and simplest user experience, ensuring analysts of any skill level can stop targeted attacks before damage and loss. To learn more visit www.endgame.com.

On this episode

Why is everybody talking about this now?

Why can't security vendors get CRM right? One week after RSA I have received cold phone calls and emails from companies for which I"m already engaging with multiple people at said company, some I've actually interviewed their CEOs, actually worked for the company, and/or they've sponsored this very podcast. Other industries use their CRM. Why does it appear en masse the cybersecurity industry is failing at basic CRM?

How CISOs are digesting the latest security news

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote an opinion piece on Medium saying that if elected President her administration would seek to breakup Amazon, Facebook, and Google. She cited them as monopolies squashing innovation and competition and damaging our privacy for their profit. She said, "With fewer competitors entering the market, the big tech companies do not have to compete as aggressively in key areas like protecting our privacy."

What's Worse!?

What's the best kind of CISO to have?

What's a CISO to do?

Last year at Black Hat I produced a video where I asked attendees, "Should DevOps and security be in couples counseling?" Everyone said yes. Are security leaders taking on the role of couples counselor as they try to get security and DevOps working together?

What do you think of this pitch?

We've got two pitches for the show and the second one has a response that veers into insulting.

All links and images for this post can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/get-out-the-fud-is-coming-from-the-inside/)

On this week's CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast, we're pointing fingers at practitioners, not vendors, for promoting the FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) scare-a-thon.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Eddie Contreras (@CISOEdwardC), CISO, Frost Bank.

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor Trend Micro.

Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, helps to make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Our innovative solutions for consumers, businesses, and governments provide layered security for data centers, cloud environments, networks, and endpoints. For more information, visit www.trendmicro.com.

On this week's episode

Why is everyone talking about this now?

On LinkedIn, Ron C. of CoreSolutions Software said, "Cybersecurity is no longer just a technical problem. It’s now more of a people problem! So why aren’t businesses prioritizing security awareness training for their staff?" There was a massive response and mixed agreement. Regardless, are we falling short on security awareness training? Is it not effective? Is it too complicated to pull off? Is the cost not justified? More importantly, has security awareness training had any impact?

Hey, you're a CISO, what's your take on this?

accidentalciso on our reddit channel, r/cisoseries, asks, How does a security professional know if "CISO truly is the right career goal for them? I don’t think the reality of the role is consistent with what one might think early on in their career." What was it about the CISO role that makes a security professional want to pursue it and how does that previous perception of what a CISO did counter or align with what was really experienced?

It's time to play, "What's Worse?!"

Is there a worst type of attack?

Ask a CISO

James Dobra, Bromium, asks, "Are security organizations guilty of using FUD internally, e.g. with the board and with users, while complaining that vendors use it too much?" Does FUD happen internally? Do security teams do it to get the money they want and/or shame users into submission?

On August 30, 2019, white hat hacker Tavis Ormandy discovered a vulnerability in a LastPass browser extension. This was a vulnerability, not a breach and was very quickly remedied without damage. But it still causes chills when the last bastion of password security reveals its Achilles heel. It’s like seeing your family doctor contract a terminal disease.

But for CISOs, this might be a good thing. Password complacency and sloppy security hygiene are the scourge of security specialists everywhere. A SaaS-based password manager that uses hashes and salts to remove the existence of physical passwords in their own vaults, is still a highly proactive solution.

More found on CISO Series.

Check out lots more cloud security tips sponsored by OpenVPN, provider of next-gen secure and scalable communication software. OpenVPN Access Server keeps your company’s data safe with end-to-end encryption, secure remote access, and extension for your centralized UTM.

First 90 Days of a CISO

Both Mike and our guest, Ed, are second time CISOs in their first 90 days at the role. We review what mistakes they made the first time as a CISO that they're actively avoiding this time. Are there any hurdles that are simply unavoidable and they're just going to have to face it like any new CISO would.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series

What are signs your team is getting burnt out? It's not an imbalance of work and family, it's feeling you're having no impact. That you're working your tail off and nothing is getting accomplished. This happens often in cybersecurity.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Mike Johnson. Our guest is Sara-Michele Lazarus, vp/head of trust and security, Stavvy.

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Sysdig

Sysdig is driving the standard for cloud and container security. With Sysdig, teams find and prioritize software vulnerabilities, detect and respond to threats, and manage cloud configurations, permissions and compliance. Customers get a single view of risk from source to run, with no blind spots, no guesswork, no black boxes.

In this episode:

• What are signs your team is getting burnt out?
• What's the most valuable skill in a cybersecurity analyst?
• Why are we seeing so many zero day exploits right now?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Adam Zoller, svp, CISO at Providence. Joining me is our guest Sam Jacques, vp of clinical engineering, McLaren Health Care.

In this episode:

• When should cybersecurity be brought into the discussion when a merger is underway?
• Why is security always going to be an issue in a merger or acquisition?
• If we know it's so important, why does it always feel like we're reinventing the wheel each time?

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Claroty

Claroty enables varied sectors to protect their cyber-physical systems, known as the Extended IoT. The platform integrates seamlessly, offering comprehensive controls for visibility, risk management, network protection, and more. Trusted by global leaders, Claroty operates in hundreds of organizations worldwide. Headquartered in NYC, it spans Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/when-should-you-stop-trusting-your-ciso/)

How technically capable does my CISO need to be? If they lose their technical chops, should we stop trusting them? Should they even be a CISO if they had no technical chops to begin with?

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is James Dolph, CISO for Guidewire Software.

Thanks to our sponsor, Dtex.

Traditional Employee Monitoring solutions are creepy. Capturing screenshots, recording keystrokes, monitoring web browsing and following social media activities is unnecessary and damages culture. DTEX InTERCEPT is the first and only solution that delivers the real-time workforce monitoring capabilities today’s organizations need and employees will embrace. Learn more at dtexsystems.com.

On this week’s episode

We mentioned past guest, Kelly Shortridge's new book with Aaron Rinehart, "Security Chaos Engineering".

First 90 days of a CISO

It's time for a CISO do-over. One of the great things about being a CISO is you get a chance to actually apply everything you learned from past jobs. Our guest, James, worked in product security with Salesforce before becoming a CISO. When we recorded the episode, James wasn't yet a full 90 days into his job. And Mike also came from Salesforce as well (they worked together) and working at Lyft was his first CISO job directly from Salesforce as well. Did they both have the same viewpoints of applying product security principles to the CISO role?

How do you go about discovering new security solutions

What criteria do you use to evaluate phishing solutions? GigaOM Research released a report earlier this year of the key criteria for evaluating phishing platforms. Some of the criteria they mentioned were phishing solutions that do and do not impede workflows, a security edge solution that's in-band vs. out-of-band, and do you need detonation chambers for potentially malicious emails.

What criteria do Mike and James use to evaluate, and have they seen those criteria change from company to company? What criteria are not as important?

What's Worse?!

Failing as a professional or being a mediocre professional?

What’s a CISO to do

On Defense in Depth, my co-host Allan Alford said, "I think the lack of technical skills in a CISO is expected to a certain degree. You have to have the foundation, but I don't expect my CISOs to be rolling up their sleeves and doing a lot of the hands on work." I turned that quote into a meme image and it caused a flurry of response from the community. How much of applying of security controls that your staff currently does, could a CISO do themselves today?

Let’s dig a little deeper

What are our passion projects that are tangentially related to cybersecurity? Are we adopting any and how is it helping us stay mentally healthy during COVID? Tony Jarvis of Check Point brought this up. He suggested that we should be sharing our passion projects. What have been our passion projects? How have they helped our mood and our work? And have we been able to keep up with them?

CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast and Series has moved to CISOSeries.com.

We gear up in HAZMAT suits and get ready for some dangerous USB drive analysis. We're taking all precautions on the latest episode of the CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This show, like all the previous ones is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson, CISO of Lyft. Our sponsored guest this week is Dean Sysman (@DeanSysman), CEO of Axonius.

Enormous thanks to our sponsor this week, Axonius, simple asset management for cybersecurity.

On this episode:

Opening

We talked about how the history of the Enigma machine speaks volumes to how users react when they're forced to use a way too complicated security solution. They will find ways to simplify even if means weakening the overall security. Learn more from Mark Baldwin, Dr. Enigma.

Why is everyone talking about this now?

I challenged Mike and Dean to this question posed on Quora, "What is the safest way to check the content of a USB stick I found on the ground?"

What's a CISO to do?

Traditionally, CISOs rise through the ranks as security practitioners and slowly learn the business. But what if you're a CISO that never held the title of practitioner, but is very well versed in the business. How is selling to that type of a CISO different?

What's Worse?!

Mike and Dean are challenged with two horrible scenarios in asset management. Both are very risky, it's just one will probably result in a breach faster than the other.

Please, Enough. No, More!

We talk about asset management, and what's shocking is there isn't much to complain about in the "Please, Enough" portion of the segment. The reality is it's all "No, More!"

Ask a CISO

Dennis Leber, CISO for Cabinet for Health and Family Services for the Commonwealth in Kentucky asked if traditional sales pitches for the latest and greatest threat are really detracting companies from dealing with the basics of security.

Are you managing your passwords the same today as you did five years ago? On this episode of the CISO/Security Vendor Relationship podcast, we discuss the changing landscape of what we once thought were best practices, but aren't anymore.

On this episode:

• Which CEOs are more fatalistic about inevitability of cyber attacks
• Explaining cyber risks to the board
• Reappropriating the word "hacker." My cartoon that spurned a debate and Rick McElroy of Carbon Black's discussion on LinkedIn.
• What we're no longer advising you do with your passwords.
• Do cold calls and emails ever work?
• What are CISO's biggest organizational roadblocks?
• All that and a ten-second security tip.

As always, the show is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), founder, Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson, CISO, Lyft. Our guest this week is Maxime Rousseau (@maxrousseau), CISO, Personal Capital.

We Want Your Input and Critiques

For every episode we want input from listeners!

Please contact me here or on LinkedIn and send me the following:

• “Ask a CISO” question.
• A vendor pitch you want us to critique.
• A hot security discussion (please provide a link).
• A quick security tip.
• A big industry story and what it means to security professionals.

In all cases, we can or can’t mention you and your company name or keep you anonymous. Just let me know what you want.

Listen and Subscribe to the CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast

So many ways to connect and listen to the podcast.

• iTunes
• Google Play
• Stitcher
• RSS Feed

Sponsor the Podcast

If your company would like to sponsor this podcast, please contact David Spark at Spark Media Solutions.

Check out more at our site CISOseries.com.

We don't play fair and we're not ashamed to admit it. This week's episode of the podcast is super-sized because it was recorded in front of a live audience at the Silicon Valley Code Camp conference held at PayPal in San Jose.

This show, like all the previous ones is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson, CISO of Lyft. Our guests this week for the live show were Ahsan Mir (@ahsanmir), CISO, Autodesk and Geoff Belknap (@geoffbelknap), CSO, Slack.

(from left) Geoff Belknap, CSO, Slack, Mike Johnson, CISO, Lyft, Ahsan Mir, CISO, Autodesk, David Spark, Founder, Spark Media Solutions

Special thanks to our sponsor, Electronic Frontier Foundation. Please support their efforts to protect your digital privacy.

On this super-sized episode of the CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast:

Ask a CISO

Is cybersecurity an IT problem or not? Do non-security executives pigeon-hole the role of security? Is this an unfair assessment? Is it dangerous to only view InfoSec as an IT problem?

Why is everyone talking about this now?

A hot discussion by Jason Clark of Netskope got everyone discussing why CISOs fail. In general, our panel believes it's a situation of poor alignment with the functions and risk profile of the business.

What game best prepares you for a job in InfoSec?

A few years ago I wrote an article entitled, "What 30 Classic Games Can Teach Us About Security," in which security professionals point to video games, board games, gambling games, and sports as great metaphors and training grounds for a life in security. Our panel debates the value of games as InfoSec teaching tools.

"What's Worse?!"

We play two rounds of the game and we get split decisions! The first round touches upon a major pet peeve Mike Johnson has had since our very first episode.

What's a CISO to do?

Security is often seen as a thankless job. It's though the role of the CISO to make sure everyone knows how awesome their security staff is and what they can do for the rest of the business.

What do you think of this pitch?

We critique another pitch and with this one a CISO does a rewrite that hopefully the security vendor will use.

How do CISOs know they're getting a good deal?

Not only do CISOs need to come up with a security program for the company, but they need to understand whether or not they're getting good price for the security tools they purchase. Do CISOs have a method to actually insure they're getting the best price possible? Do they even care?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Mike Johnson, CISO, Rivian. Joining us is our sponsored guest, Danny Jenkins, CEO, ThreatLocker.

In this episode:

• The limits of zero-trust
• Pentesting for SMBs
• An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of response
• The cream of the security crop

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, ThreatLocker!

ThreatLocker® is a global leader in Zero Trust endpoint security offering cybersecurity controls to protect businesses from zero-day attacks and ransomware. ThreatLocker operates with a default deny approach to reduce the attack surface and mitigate potential cyber vulnerabilities. To learn more and start your free trial, visit ThreatLocker.com.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Andy Ellis (@csoandy), partner, YL Ventures. Joining us is our sponsored guest, Danny Jenkins, CEO, ThreatLocker.

In this episode:

• A zero-day upgrade
• Don’t let a pentest go bad
• Improving user training
• Cybersecurity is made for people

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, ThreatLocker!

ThreatLocker® is a global leader in Zero Trust endpoint security, offering cybersecurity controls to protect businesses from zero-day attacks and ransomware. ThreatLocker operates with a default deny approach to reduce the attack surface and mitigate potential cyber vulnerabilities. To learn more and start your free trial, visit ThreatLocker.com.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/keep-pouring-ill-tell-you-when-ive-had-enough-security/)

When do we hit the diminishing returns of too much cybersecurity? How will we know? Will a bell go off? Will our cup runneth over?

This week's episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest is Tony Sager, svp, chief evangelist, Center for Internet Security.

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor, AppOmni.

AppOmni is the leading provider of SaaS security and management platform for the enterprise. AppOmni provides unprecedented data access visibility, management and security of SaaS, enabling organizations to secure mission-critical and sensitive data. With AppOmni, organizations can automatically and continuously enforce rules for data access, data sharing and third-party applications.

On this week's episode

Looking down the security roadmap

Dean Webb of ForeScout asked this great question on Peerlyst. "What are the things that are the hardest to fix that leave organizations the most vulnerable?" These are not the quick security fixes or low hanging fruit, but rather the big projects that nobody wants that often never get finished. What are they and is there any way to make them not so painful?

It’s time for “Ask a CISO”

sitdownson on reddit's AskNetSec asked, "How and when did you decide to specialize?" Sultan_of_Ping answered, "For most people it's not a decision, the specialization comes to them." Do you get a taste of everything and then determine which one you're passionate about? Do you read market demands (e.g. cloud security) and go in that route? What have you seen your colleagues do?

What's Worse?!

A "What's Worse?!" first - FOUR scenarios. Which one is worst?

Here's some surprising research

We're revisiting the Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report. Tony's organization, Center for Internet Security had a hand in the report and specifically at the end where you map the CIS top 20 to the breach findings. In particular, the report notes that there are 171 safeguards that are grouped based on the resources and risks the organizations are facing. Has anything shifted significantly in this most recent report?

What’s the return on investment?

Tip of the hat to Norman Hunt, Deputy CISO, GEICO, who sent this article from HelpNet Security about a study on CEOs and CISOs approaches to "When is security enough security?" There seems to be a disparity with CEOs being more confident with the security that CISOs. I have to assume that mature understanding of risk is the biggest contributor, and the nature of the job of a CISO who sees more threats than the CEO, but only in a cyber context. A CEO sees all the other risks. What causes such swings in opinions?

CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast and Series has moved to CISOSeries.com.

Why is our financial institution sending us an email suggesting we click on a link to log into our account? On this episode of the CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast we educate your customers and your marketing department about suspicious looking emails.

This show, like all the previous ones is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson, CISO of Lyft. Our guest this week is Chenxi Wang, managing general partner, Rain Capital.

Special thanks to Virtru for sponsoring this episode. As a reader, I know you’re always worried about your data. That’s why Virtru is providing a free copy of Forrester’s 14-page report on the Future of Data Security and Privacy to readers for a limited time. Click here to grab your copy while it’s still available.

On this episode

Why is everybody talking about this now?

While many security professionals' eyes roll when they hear the word "blockchain," it is currently the second most popular area of security research, according to IDG. What is it about blockchain that VCs and security professionals find so attractive?

Question for the board

What responsibility does the board bear for educating the C-suite about cybersecurity competency? PwC put together a great list of questions the board should be asking regarding cybersecurity competency.

It's time to play "What's Worse?!"

There's a visual attached to this game. Go ahead and look here and tune in to hear the question.

What's a CISO to do?

Our guest, Chenxi Wang, provided some excellent advice for startups on getting on the diversity train early on. If you don't, you'll find it's incredibly hard to build in diversity with an established and non-diverse team.

And now this...

How do VCs play a crucial role in the relationship between buyers and sellers of security products?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Jerich Beason, CISO, WM. Joining us is Teresa Tonthat, vp, associate CIO, Texas Children's Hospital. This episode was recorded live at HOU.SEC.CON.

In this episode:

• Connecting with the business  
• Keep the users in mind
• Ground security in reality
• Teach, don’t shame

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Vorlon Security!

Vorlon helps organizations take back control of their data by providing continuous visibility of sensitive data shared via API across third-party applications. Know what data goes where, when, and how between third-party apps with external threat intelligence. Reduce the complexity of investigating and responding to third-party security incidents with Vorlon.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Andy Ellis (@csoandy), operating partner, YL Ventures. Joining us is our guest, Joshua Brown, vp and global CISO, H&R Block.

In this episode:

• Why is retaining cyber talent so hard?

• How can organizations keep an employee from going elsewhere?

• Why do organizations often not prioritize the factors to keep key employees?

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, CyberMaxx

CyberMaxx offers MaxxMDR, our next-generation managed detection and response (MDR) solution that helps customers assess, monitor, and manage their cyber risks. MaxxMDR fuels defensive capabilities with insights from offensive security, DFIR, and threat hunting, on top of a technology-agnostic deployment model. We think like an adversary but defend like a guardian.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Mike Johnson, CISO, Rivian. Joining me is our sponsored guest, Matt Radolec, vp, incident response and cloud operations, Varonis.

In this episode:

• Why is retaining cyber talent so hard?

• How can organizations keep an employee from going elsewhere?

• Why do organizations often not prioritize the factors to keep key employees?

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Varonis

Ready to reduce your risk without taking any? Try Varonis’ free data risk assessment. It takes minutes to set up and in 24 hours you’ll have a clear, risk-based view of the data that matters most and a clear path to automated remediation. Get started for free today.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series

After every breach, you hear the same mantra from the attacked company: "We take security and privacy seriously." It's lost all its meaning. But what if you truly ARE serious about how you handle security and privacy? Should you say "seriously" twice?

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Mike Johnson. Our guest is Geoff Belknap (@geoffbelknap), CISO, LinkedIn and co-host of Defense in Depth. It was recorded in front of a live audience at Microsoft's Silicon Valley Campus in Mountain View, California as part of a regular ISSA-SV and ISSA-SF meeting.

Check out all the fantastic photos from the event here.

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, SafeBreach and Noname Security

SafeBreach provides continuous security control validation powered by our breach and attack simulation (BAS) platform.
We enable security leaders to proactively prioritize remediation efforts and drive ROI quickly by consolidating technology costs around what truly enhances your security posture.
Real-world attacks. Real-time results.

Prevent API attacks in real-time with automated AI and ML-based detection from Noname Security. Monitor API traffic for data leakage, data tampering, data policy violations, suspicious behavior, and API security attacks. Integrate with your existing IT workflow management system like Jira, ServiceNow, or Slack for seamless remediation. Learn more at nonamesecurity.com/runtime-protection

In this episode:

• If you truly ARE serious about how you handle security and privacy, should you say "seriously" twice?
  
• Given the immense complexity not just on integration but also training, are we going to see more consolidation of point solutions into suites?
  
• When would it make sense for a company to completely dump their security team and completely outsource it? And if you were to outsource it, what the heck would that look like?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/can-a-robot-be-concerned-about-your-privacy/)

I want AI to be efficient, but I also want my space.

This week's episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our sponsored guest is Rebecca Weekly (@rebeccalipon), senior director of hyperscale strategy and execution, senior principal engineer, Intel.

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor, Intel.

Intel’s new suite of security features in the upcoming Xeon Scalable platform improves data confidentiality and integrity in a world that increasingly relies on it. Features like Intel SGX further enable confidential computing scenarios — crucial for organizations in regulated industries to meet growing security requirements and protect sensitive data.

On this week's episode

Why is everybody talking about this now

"The lack of women in cybersecurity leaves the online world at greater risk," stated Naomi Schalit of The Conversation. Mollie Chard of Capgemini shared the article that generated a lot of conversation. Naomi hit many issues we've discussed before like diversity offers different viewpoints, which is critical for building a cybersecurity program.

I would like to focus on the dynamic of the security team. I've been in testosterone-fueled environments and things change dramatically when just one woman enters the room. And it changes even more when there are more women. What is that dynamic, why is it valuable, and what's the danger of the all-male environment?

Well that didn’t work out the way we expected

At the end of every show I ask our guests, "Are you hiring?" And prior to COVID, almost everyone said desperately, "YES, we're hiring." That has changed dramatically for the worse since COVID started. Emma Brighton has a story on InfoSecurity Magazine about the real shortage that's happening. Problems she points to are the need to secure more communications channels, security people being offloaded to do IT support, and the competition for skilled talent. What is COVID doing to our security environment and our staff?

What's Worse?!

Everyone in the loop or out of the loop?

Please, Enough. No, More.

Today's topic is security on the chipset. We have never talked about this on the show, but now we've got someone from Intel and it seemed appropriate now would be the time to do just that. What have we heard enough about chip-level security, and what would we like to hear a lot more?

Are we having communication issues

Will the fight to maintain privacy always be in conflict? The people who collect data always want more information so they can get greater insights. Outside of regulations, they have no incentive to maintain privacy. As we're collecting more and more information automatically and artificial intelligence systems are making decisions for us, can AI systems be made privacy aware while still being effective at gaining insights? What would that even look like?

The images and links for this episode can be found at CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/youre-not-going-anywhere-until-you-clean-up-that-cyber-mess/)

Our CISOs and Miss Manners have some rules you should follow when leaving your security program to someone else. It's all coming up on CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is newly free agent CISO, Gary Hayslip (@ghayslip).

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor Trend Micro

On this week's episode

Why is everyone talking about this now?

Mike, you asked a question to the LinkedIn community about what department owns data privacy. You asserted it was a function of the security team, minus the legal aspects. The community exploded with opinions. What responses most opened your eyes to the data privacy management and responsibility issue you didn't really consider?

Hey, you're a CISO, what's your take on this?'

Someone who is writing a scene for a novel, asks this question on Quora, "How does a hacker know he or she has been caught?" Lots of good suggestions. What's your favorite scenario? And, do you want to let a hacker know he or she has been caught, or do you want to hide it? What circumstances would be appropriate for either?

What's Worse?!

Mike decides What's Worse?! and also what's good for business.

First 90 days of a CISO

Paul Hugenberg of InfoGPS Networks asks, "What fundamentals should the CISO leave for the next, as transitions are fast and frequent and many CISOs approach their role differently. Conversely, what fundamentals should the new CISO (or offered CISO) request evidence of existence before saying YES?" Mike, this is a perfect question for you. You exited and you will eventually re-enter I assume as a CISO. What did you leave and what do you expect?

Ask a CISO

Fernando Montenegro of 451 Research asks, "How do you better align security outcomes with incentives?" Should you incentivize security? Have you done it before? What works, what doesn't?

Imagine how hard it would be to live in a house that is constantly under attack from burglars, vandals, fire ants, drones, wall-piercing radar and virulent bacteria. Most of us are used to putting a lock on the door, cleaning the various surfaces and keeping a can of Raid on hand for anything that moves in the corner. But could you imagine keeping a staff of specialists around 24/7 to do nothing but attack your house in order to find and exploit every weakness?

CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast and Series has moved to CISOSeries.com.

Tired of deleting pages of vendor pitches? Wouldn't it be more efficient if  you could see them altogether on one screen so you could simply choose which ones to ignore? We're improving vendor non-engagement efficiency in the latest installment of the CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This show, like all the previous ones is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson, CISO of Lyft. Our guest this week is Chris Castaldo (@charcuteriecoma), sr. director of cybersecurity, 2U.

This episode is sponsored by Vulcan Cyber, your automated vulnerability remediation solution. Put an end to manual-only patch management and reduce vulnerability risk with a cloud-based solution that bridges the vulnerability remediation gap. Automate and orchestrate the vulnerability remediation process with Vulcan Cyber.

Got feedback? Join the conversation on LinkedIn.

On this episode:

Why is everybody talking about this now?

Six months ago Mike Johnson proposed the idea of "Demos for charities" and it got mixed results, but some people took on the challenge from both the practitioner and the vendor side. See how our guest offered up 45 minutes of his time in exchange for a donation to his favorite charity.

What's a CISO to do?

In light of the most recent Marriott breach, Brian Krebs wrote a great thought piece about our new acceptance of "security" and that is we can't count on companies security our data. How do security professionals communicate that to their team and users and still maintain trust?

What's worse?!

This week's challenge comes from William Birchett, Sr. Manager IT Security at City of Fort Worth. Both options are annoying and we have a split decision on what's worse.

First 90 days of a CISO

Tony Dunham of the Professional Development Academy asks how can InfoSec professionals develop the soft skills needed for leadership prior to being put in the pilot seat?

Ask a CISO

We talk about user-centric design and my co-host has some not-so-nice-words for vendors selling a "single pane of glass" solution.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Steve Zalewski. Joining us is our guest, Brett Perry, CISO, Dot Foods.

In this episode:

• A new MDR policy
• Staying on top of the technical debt cycle
• Beating retention struggles
• In the gully of SOAR

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Tines!

Build, run, and monitor your most important workflows with Tines. Tines' smart, secure workflow platform empowers your whole team regardless of their coding abilities, environment complexities, or tech stack. From low code, no code to natural language, anyone can get up and running in minutes – not days or weeks. Learn more at Tines.com.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series.

"The biggest threat to national security is that many of the most vital systems on the planet CURRENTLY run on outdated and insecure software," said Robert Slaughter of Defense Unicorns on LinkedIn. That's at the core of the third-party security issue.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Andy Ellis (@csoandy), operating partner, YL Ventures. Our sponsored guest is Richard Marcus, vp, InfoSec, AuditBoard.

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, AuditBoard

CrossComply is AuditBoard’s award-winning security compliance solution that allows organizations to build trust and scale their security compliance program with a connected risk platform that unifies SOC 2, ISO 2700x, NIST, CMMC, PCI DSS, and more across your organization.

In this episode:

• How big of a problem is outdated software in our industry? Is insecurity just the result of a lack of efficient process?
  
• How much does a company’s transparency before, during, and after a breach tell us about their corporate character?
  
• What's the behavior after a breach you want to see that reaffirms your commitment to doing business with a vendor?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Andy Ellis (@csoandy), operating partner, YL Ventures. Joining us is Justin Somaini, partner, YL Ventures.

In this episode:

• The startup balancing act

• Giving back is its own reward

• When to pen test

• Getting ahead with generative AI policy

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Vanta!

Whether you’re starting or scaling your security program, Vanta helps you automate compliance across SOC 2, ISO 27001, and more. Streamline security reviews by automating questionnaires and demonstrating your security posture with a customer-facing Trust Center. Over 7,000 global companies use Vanta to manage risk and prove security.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series.

This week’s episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Rinki Sethi, vp and CISO, BILL. Joining us is our sponsored guest, Lamont Orange, CISO, Cyera.

This episode was recorded in front of a live audience at Cyera’s first DataSec conference (November 2024) in Dallas. Thanks to Adam Holland, CISO, Wendy's, Farray Rahman of Vibrant Emotional Health and 988 Lifeline, and Biji John of USAA for our questions in the episode.

In this episode:

• Shifting from traditional recovery
• Do you know where your data is?
• The science of tradeoffs
• How do you measure security culture?

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Cyera!

Cyera’s data security platform discovers your data attack surface, protects sensitive data, governs data access, monitors critical data events, and quickly responds to data risks. Cyera’s agentless design allows us to deploy within minutes across any environment and provide a 95% precision rate through our AI-powered classification engine. Learn more at Cyera.io

CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast and Series is available at CISOSeries.com.

Be afraid. Be very afraid of the latest episode of the CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast where it's possible that 90 percent of your security breaches are coming from within your own company.

This show, like all the previous ones is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson, CISO of Lyft. Our guest this week is Leon Ravenna, CISO, KAR Auction Services.

Synack provides crowdsourced security testing that provides more than older style penetration testing. Instead of using a few researchers who output a final report, Synack uses a globally-sourced crowd of researchers backed by a purpose-built hacking platform. This gives organizations access to security talent that is not available from any one company, and data and insights into the testing process. All Synack security testing is recorded, measured, and analyzed to not only output results like new vulnerabilities and compliance checks, but displays attack patterns and quantities in real-time. By using bug bounties as incentives, researchers are rewarded for the great finds that Synack verifies and shares with its customers. To find out more about the Hacker-Powered Security used by the Internal Revenue Service and many other organizations, go to synack.com.

On this episode

How CISOs are digesting the latest security news

According to a new report from Kroll, "Human Error, Not Hackers, to Blame for Vast Majority of Data Breaches." They report that 2,124 incidents could be attributed to human error, compared to just 292 that were deliberate cyber incidents, They say that's a 75% increase over the past two years but that could be because reporting breaches wasn't mandatory before GDPR. One user commented, these numbers seem to conflict with what the Verizon Breach report says. According to this data it appears a security leader should be spending close to 90 percent of their budget and effort trying to prevent inside data leakage. How would your security plan change if that was your charge?

Hey, you're a CISO, what's your take on this?'

An article and video published last week on this site written and featuring Elliot Lewis, CEO of Encryptics, talks about the need to get cozy with your legal team because when a breach occurs, you're going to need to have possession, custody, and control of your data. If you can't answer those questions you're putting your legal team in a bind. Mike and our guest talk about being able to answer these questions and building relations with the legal team.

It's time to play, "Um... What Do They Do?"

It's a brand new game where I read copy from a vendor's website, and Mike and our guest try to guess, "What do they do?"

What's a CISO to do?

Kip Boyle, past guest, friend of the show, and author of a new book, "Fire Doesn't Innovate," which comes out today asks this question, "Could good cyber risk management be the basis for a competitive differentiator for your business? How?"

Kip's book is available at firedoesntinnovate.com and for the first week it's out it's only $.99 via Kindle.

Ask a CISO

Thomas Torgerson of Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Alabama asks, "How do CISO's feel about presenting webinars or speaking at other events regarding products that they use in their environment?" Are there incentives promoting a vendor solution? Or is it too risky to let threat actors know your security toolsets?