Episodes

Submarine cables are a hidden wonder. These fiber optic bundles carry data and voice traffic around the world and serve as critical global links for communication and commerce. Today on Packet Protector, guest Andy Champagne dives into the history of submarine cables, the technological and operational advancements that allow voice and data to travel hundreds... Read more »

Once a month, the Packet Protector podcast likes to see what’s going on out there via our news roundup. There’s a lot happening! Today we discuss Fortinet warning that a threat actor has found a way to maintain read-only access on Fortinet devices even if you’ve applied the patch for the original threat. Avanti VPNs... Read more »

We’re diving into NMAP on today’s show with guest Chris Greer. Chris, an expert in network analysis and forensics, explains what NMAP is, the difference types of scans, how device fingerprinting works, and more. We also coin the term “swaptions” as we have some fun with NMAP terminology. He also gives details on how to... Read more »

Cisco Systems has a sprawling portfolio of home-grown and acquired products. What’s it like trying to find and address bugs and vulnerabilities across this portfolio? Omar Santos, a Distinguished Engineer at Cisco, gives us an inside look. We dig into how Cisco identifies security bugs using internal and external sources, the growing role of AI... Read more »

On today’s show, we chat with Joe Evangelisto, CISO at NetSPI. He recounts his journey to becoming a Chief Information Security Officer, one that started as an IT sysadmin, advanced to management, and led him ultimately to the CISO role. Joe talks about building security programs from the ground up and developing both personally and... Read more »

This week we dive into security headlines including a botnet bonanza that includes TP-Link routers, Chinese attackers targeting Juniper and Fortinet, and a case study of nation-state actors penetrating the operator of a small US electric utility. We also discuss ransomware attacks targeting critical infrastructure, a backdoor in an Android variant used in streaming devices,... Read more »

WireGuard and other overlay VPNs are the focus of today’s podcast with guest Tom Lawrence from Lawrence Systems. We dig into differences between WireGuard and traditional IPSec VPNs, how WireGuard’s opinionated approach to crypto suites helps improve its performance, and how WireGuard compares to OpenVPN. We also look at the broader category of overlay VPNs... Read more »

On today’s Packet Protector episode we talk with sponsor Bowtie about its secure network access offering. If you think secure network access is just another way to say ‘VPN,’ you’ll want to think again. Bowtie’s approach aims to provide fast, resilient connectivity while also incorporating zero trust network access, a secure Web gateway, CASB, and... Read more »

How big is the network security market? Is it growing? How is that growth measured? What effect is SASE having on security spending? Will security products or security operators get more effective thanks to AI? We put these and other questions to Mauricio Sanchez. He’s Sr. Director, Enterprise Security and Networking at the Dell’Oro Group, a... Read more »

Certifications are a fact of life in a technical career. They can also provide a pathway to help you earn new roles, sharpen your skills, and boost your salary. On today’s Packet Protector we look at security certifications for beginners, experienced professionals, and advanced practitioners. This episode was inspired by a LinkedIn post by Ethan... Read more »

There’s a robust malware economy with an active market for exploits, brokered access to compromised systems, ransomware, bots-as-a-service, and more. And this malware economy is targeted at you. On today’s Packet Protector we talk with Jake Williams, a security researcher, consultant, and instructor, about the malware economy, how it operates, and the most effective strategies... Read more »

The Cloud Security Maturity Model (CSMM) is a practical blueprint for improving the security of your public cloud deployments. Developed in partnership with the Cloud Security Alliance, IANS, and Securosis, the model covers 12 categories, such as network security and application security, across 3 domains. It describes 5 levels of security maturity, and includes process... Read more »

JJ and Drew catch you up on cybersecurity news including new research that uncovers a host of 5G/LTE vulnerabilities, the chain of breaches in a BeyondTrust attack that led to infiltration of the US Treasury Dept., and a lawsuit against LinkedIn alleging that data from paying customers was used to train AI models. Researchers unpack... Read more »

Don’t underestimate the value of packet analysis in your security strategy. And if you’re analyzing packets, the open-source Wireshark software is a go-to tool. On today’s episode, we talk with Chris Greer, a Wireshark trainer and consultant specializing in packet analysis. Chris explains the critical role of packet analysis in cybersecurity, particularly in threat hunting... Read more »

You asked for more IPv6 and we listened. In today’s episode, we talk with Ed Horley, co-host of the IPv6 Buzz podcast about IPv6 security, migration, and adoption. We talk about how your general security strategy doesn’t change with v4 or v6, but the trouble starts with a lack of v6 knowledge. We talk about... Read more »

Transport Layer Security (TLS) relies on certificates to authenticate Web sites and enable encryption. On today’s Packet Protector we look at mechanisms that domain owners can take to ensure the validity of their digital certificates. More specifically, we cover Certification Authority Authorization (CAA) and Certificate Transparency (CT). Our guest is Ed Harmoush. Ed is a... Read more »

Autonomous Digital Experience Management, or ADEM, measures network and application performance from the user perspective and gives network and IT teams visibility into the entire data path—including the home user network, first mile and last mile, and the WAN. On today’s Packet Protector, we learn how ADEM can complement your network and security efforts with... Read more »

A Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) helps to architect and drive an organization’s security strategy. The role requires technical chops and business acumen. You also need strong communication skills to help executives understand risk and response, choose the right metrics to measure infosec effectiveness, and provide guidance to the technical teams actually running security operations.... Read more »

Our monthly news roundup discusses liability insurance for CISOs (if you are one, you should get it), serious intrusions of US telecom companies by Chinese state actors (according to the FBI), and a novel attack that leapt across multiple Wi-Fi networks. We also discuss significant vulnerabilities affecting Palo Alto Networks’ Expedition migration product, how fake... Read more »

Cyber insurance provides compensation if a company suffers financial loss due to a security incident such as a ransonware payment, costs of data recovery, legal expenses or fines, or damage to a company’s reputation. Today on the Packet Protector podcast, we discuss the ins and outs of cyber insurance with a policy holder. Joe Stern... Read more »

Surveillance is a fact of life with modern technology, be it corporate data harvesting or government snooping. If you’re thinking about personal privacy, today’s episode covers common tools for communication and Web browsing. We dig into the end-to-end encryption capabilities of the messaging tools Signal and WhatsApp, look at the capabilities and limits of the... Read more »

Microsoft’s Active Directory and Entra ID are valuable targets for attackers because they store critical identity information. On today’s Packet Protector, we talk with penetration tester and security consultant Eric Kuehn about how he approaches compromising AD/Entra ID, common problems he sees during client engagements, quick wins for administrators and security pros to fortify their... Read more »

Security professionals often have an impulse to want to move on to the next new thing. While that can be helpful in a field that thrives on change, it can also make it hard to focus on routine tasks and mundane (yet essential) security controls and practices. Whether this impulse is due to varying degrees... Read more »

This episode was recorded live at Security Field Day (XFD) 12 in October, 2024. As delegates at the event, JJ and Drew heard presentations from DigiCert, Dell Technologies, SonicWall, and Citrix. These presentations covered topics including digital certificate management, post-quantum cryptography, supply chain security, recovering from ransomware, Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), and Secure Service... Read more »