Episodes

TechSpective Podcast Episode 060 Jack Danahy joined me for this episode of the TechSpective Podcast. I had the opportunity to work with and for Jack during our time together at Alert Logic, which acquired Barkly, a company he had co-founded. Prior to Barkly, Jack had been involved in launching other successful cybersecurity startups. Currently, he is using his years of experience and wisdom gained from working in the cybersecurity industry to act as an advisor and analyst for clients. One of the...

TechSpective Podcast Episode 059 If you have worked in or near cybersecurity in the last 20 years or so, there's a good chance you're familiar with Richard Stiennon. Richard is a former Gartner analyst who has established himself as a leading independent analyst--as well as an author and speaker in the field. His breadth of knowledge about cybersecurity is challenged only by the size of the Rolodex (Kids--that is like the Contacts app on your smartphone, except that every contact was written on ...

TechSpective Podcast Episode 058 What does it take to be a good leader? Well, if anyone should know, it would be my guest for this week's episode, Andy Ellis. Andy Ellis is known throughout the cybersecurity industry as a Hall of Fame CSO, former CSO of Akamai, and a diehard New England Patriots fan. As a lifelong Detroit Lions fan, though, I have to say it's easy to be a loyal fan of a team that wins. I'm not salty. Just sharing facts. Andy recently left Akamai to embark on a new journey--or jo...

TechSpective Podcast Episode 057 We frequently see data referred to as the "new oil" or the "lifeblood of business." Hyperbolic catch phrases aside, though, data is everywhere. All of the things are data. As the rate of data creation skyrockets exponentially, we are struggling as a global community with how to store it, or protect it, and what are the moral and ethical contracts we make related to our data. Sam Curry, CSO of Cybereason, joins me for this episode of the TechSpective podcast to ta...

TechSpective Podcast Episode 056 MITRE ATT&CK has quickly become an invaluable, third-party assessment that the cybersecurity industry and customers can reference as an objective demonstration of how the tools and platforms perform in real-world conditions. MITRE just released the results of the third MITRE ATT&CK Evaluation. 29 vendors participated in the exhaustive exercise to validate the capabilities of their products against Carbanak and Fin7--two threat groups that are known for using inno...

TechSpective Podcast Episode 055 People tend to think of the world as much more binary--more black and white than it really is. In most cases, though, reality lies in the vast gray area between the extremes. When it comes to cybersecurity and digital privacy, the lines between the extremes are getting more blurred as time goes on--expanding the ambiguous gray area where the real risks lie. David Marcus joins me for this episode of the TechSpective Podcast. If you believe his LinkedIn profile, Da...

TechSpective Podcast Episode 055 One of the hot trends right now is the NFT. NFT--pronounced by some as "nifty" because it is catchier than saying N-F-T--stands for "non-fungible token". NFTs exist in a world that few truly understand (and I don't claim to be one of them)--a mix of trendy technology buzzwords including blockchain and cryptocurrency. At face value, they seem to make little sense, and yet those who understand and know how to capitalize on the hype and demand can make insane money ...

TechSpective Podcast Episode 054 Navigating the web of regulatory compliance mandates and mitigating risk from a constantly evolving and expanding threat landscape is challenging. For a company like Adobe--a large enterprise with a global footprint that was also an early adopter of cloud technologies--managing governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) is even more complex. A leader from the Adobe Tech Governance, Risk, and Compliance (TechGRC) team at Adobe joins me on this episode of the TechSpect...

TechSpective Podcast Episode 053 March is Women's History Month, and also the month we celebrate International Women's Day. That also makes it the month that media outlets highlight the challenges and triumphs of women in society. My guest on this episode of the TechSpective Podcast is Sheela Sarva, a Senior Application Security Manager with Qualys, to talk about her experiences as a woman working in technology and cybersecurity, and insights and guidance she can offer young women considering wh...

TechSpective Podcast Episode 052 Companies depend on technology. It really doesn't matter what a company actually does today--even companies that are not "tech" companies rely on technology in some way, shape, or form for day-to-day communications, operations, accounting, and other functions. With so much riding on technology, businesses need access to relevant details and information about the relative security of the devices they buy. Intel provides this sort of visibility for customers with a...

TechSpective Podcast Episode 051 Every year around this time, tech and cybersecurity media take a look back at the year that is winding down, and experts and pundits make predictions about the year ahead. It is a holiday tradition. From a cybersecurity perspective, it generally feels like the holiday we are celebrating is Ground Hog's Day, though. You could take the recap articles and prognostications from almost any year and switch them with another without really losing anything. This year, ho...

TechSpective Podcast Episode 050 "Every company is a software company." That is the quote that kicks off the Executive Summary page of the latest State of Software Security Report from Veracode. This is Volume 11 of the report, with a focus on looking ahead to identify how developers can continue to make applications better and more secure. Obviously, some companies produce microwave ovens, and some businesses repair garage doors. In a purely technical sense, not every company is a software comp...

TechSpective Podcast Episode 049 Malware is a massive problem that costs businesses around the world billions of dollars every year. Much of the effort to fight malware is a simple game of cat and mouse where attackers find a weakness and develop an exploit, security vendors and application developers implement solutions to prevent that exploit, and attackers come up with a new way to circumvent protection. That will probably always be the case to some extent because there is no such thing as pe...

TechSpective Podcast Episode 048 Hello. It's been a while. In my defense, time is just a construct and it seems to have mostly lost meaning--at least for me--during the COVID-19 pandemic quarantine. Days, weeks, and months have little value when the routine is mostly the same regardless. To say that 2020 has been rough would be a wild understatement. It seems like each month we say "Man. It can't possibly get worse than this!" and the next month is like "Hold my beer." That said, life goes on. A...

Inner Circle Podcast Episode 047 My guest for this episode is Fabian Wosar, CTO of Emsisoft. Emsisoft is a New Zealand-based maker of antimalware and endpoint security solutions that has established itself as a leader in the fight against ransomware. This is a really awesome conversation--so much so that we got off topic very quickly and never really got back to it. I promise to have Fabian back again soon so we can delve more deeply into the battle against ransomware and Emsisoft's role in that...

Inner Circle Podcast Episode 046 My guest for this episode is Mike Beckley--co-founder and CTO of Appian. Appian has established itself as a leader in intelligent business process management systmes (iBPMS), dynamic case management (DCM), digital process automation (DPA), and low-code development. With the recent acquisition of Jidoka, Appian is now also in the business or robotic process automation (RPA). Our conversation revolves mostly around low-code development--dispelling some myths about ...

Inner Circle Podcast Episode 045 The podcast is back. It's been a while, but it's time to crank things back up. I will be making a few changes in terms of scope and format and improving the frequency and consistency moving forward. This is an episode that I recorded with Tim Keeler, co-founder and CEO of Remediant, back in November. We talk about some of the challenges of access management and privileged access management, and the ways that many of the existing or traditional solutions fall shor...

Inner Circle Podcast Episode 044 OMG! This was by far my favorite Inner Circle podcast so far--no offense to all former guests or future guests who will now have to try harder. I'm going to "fanboy" out a bit--but 'Marriage and Martinis' is one of my favorite podcasts. It's actually my top go-to podcast, to be honest. When I asked Adam and Danielle about coming on Inner Circle as guests on my podcast, I was blown away when they accepted. Marriage and Martinis First, a little background on Marria...

Inner Circle Podcast Episode 043 I've been writing about cybersecurity and technology since 2002. Over the years, I have had the opportunity to meet many awesome writers and interesting people. One person who falls into both categories is Mike Elgan. Mike is someone I admire for his skill, his integrity, and his sense of adventure--so it was a distinct honor to have him join me for this episode of the Inner Circle podcast. Mike and I discuss the state of tech journalism--and the issues posed by ...

Inner Circle Podcast Episode 042 In theory, social media provides a platform for keeping in touch with friends, family, and peers, and enables you to connect with a community of like-minded individuals or seek out and research different viewpoints from anywhere in the world. It should make the world a smaller place and help everyone communicate more effectively and stay informed of current events. The reality of social media is often quite different. Evan Kirstel--a social media influencer and p...

Inner Circle Podcast Episode 041 This Inner Circle podcast episode is overdue. I'll spare you the reasons and excuses for why there is a delay, but I want to frame the conversation because this episode was actually recorded with Ryan a few weeks ago and it references the Black Hat security conference which is now more than two months in the past. With that said, I had the privilege of spending an hour or so chatting with Ryan Berg about the state of cybersecurity and some of the current trends a...

Inner Circle Podcast Episode 040 My guest for this episode of the Inner Circle podcast is Lakshmi Hanspal--Global CISO for Box. Lakshmi joined Box in January of this year, bringing 20 years of insight and experience from former roles at SAP, Bank of America, and PayPal. Organizations of all sizes and across all industries around the world are under virtually constant siege from an expanding threat landscape. There is a reason for the alternative CISO acronym of "Career Is So Over". The role of C...

Inner Circle Podcast Episode 039 If a nation state launches a cyber attack against another nation state, is it acceptable to retaliate by launching missiles and engaging in a physical response? Or should cyber attacks only be met with a cyber response? That was the topic of a presentation that Mikko Hyppönen gave at Black Hat this year, and the topic he and I discuss on this episode of the Inner Circle podcast. It's an important conversation to have. Some people believe that responding to a cybe...

Inner Circle Podcast Episode 038 Raj Samani is my guest for this episode of the Inner Circle podcast. Raj is a McAfee Fellow and Chief Scientist for McAfee, but he stressed when introducing himself that his title does not define him and that he doesn't put much weight in titles. I want to start by apologizing--to both Raj and to you, the listeners--for the delay in getting this episode edited and published. You will hear us reference the Black Hat security conference as being 26 days away during...