Defense in Depth

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series. A security data lake, a data repository of everything you need to analyze and get analyzed sounds wonderful. But priming that lake, and stocking it with the data you want to get the insights you need is a more difficult task than it seems. Check out this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Geoff Belknap (@geoffbelknap), CISO, LinkedIn. Joining us is our sponsored guest, Matt Tharp, Head of Field Engineering, Comcast DataBee. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Comcast Technology Solutions In this episode: What exactly is a data lake? How are people thinking about and handling the risks? If you want security data lakes to be successful, what customer problem are you trying to solve? How can you make it both dead simple to use AND highly effective?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series. A threat intelligence program sounds like a sound effort in any security program. But, can you pull it off? There are so many phases to execute properly. Blow it with any one of them and your threat intelligence effort is moot. Check out this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Steve Zalewski. Joining us today is our special guest Jon Oltsik, distinguished analyst and fellow, Enterprise Strategy Group. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Comcast DataBee™, from Comcast Technology Solutions, is a cloud-native security, risk and compliance data fabric platform that transforms your security data chaos into connected outcomes. Built by security professionals for security professionals, DataBee enables users to examine the past, react to the present, and protect the future of the business. In this episode: A threat intelligence program sounds like a sound effort in any security program. But, can you pull it off? Which phase of a threat intelligence program gives you the most trouble, and why? What has been your personal experience, and does it change organization to organization? How do you measure the success of the program to prove the value of the work being done?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series. When you have an incident and you're engulfed by the stress that lasts more than a day, how do you manage and deal with it? And not only how do you manage your stress, but how do you manage everyone else's? Check out this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Geoff Belknap (@geoffbelknap), CISO, LinkedIn. Joining us is our special guest, Tim Brown, CISO, Solarwinds. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Push Security Do you have visibility of all the SaaS apps your employees are storing corporate data on? Are employees protecting all their accounts against identity-based attacks? Discover all the SaaS your employees use - including shadow apps and identities - and secure your data. Find out more at pushsecurity.com. In this episode: When you have an incident and you're engulfed by the stress that lasts more than a day, how do you manage and deal with it? And not only how do you manage your stress, but how do you manage everyone else's? During a major incident, which stress is more difficult to manage? Your own, or those around you? How is this everyone's concern?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series. We all know that our employees need to be more security aware, but what are the methods to get them there? How can we make our employees more security conscious? Check out this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Steve Zalewski. Joining us is our sponsored guest Jack Chapman, vp, threat intelligence, Egress. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Egress Egress helps organization stop email security risks is by addressing both inbound and outbound threats together,. We recognize that people get hacked, make mistakes, and break the rules. Egress's Intelligent Cloud Email Security suite uses patented self-learning technology to detect sophisticated inbound and outbound threats, and protect against data loss. Learn more at egress.com. In this episode: We all know that our employees need to be more security aware, but what are the methods to get them there? How can we make our employees more security conscious? What does it take to get security to "stick" with your coworkers? Why does security remain so darn difficult?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series. Users have tried to upload sensitive company information and PII, personally identifiable information, into ChatGPT. Those who are successful getting the data in, have now made that data free to all. Will people's misuse of these generative AI programs be our greatest downfall to security and privacy? Check out this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Geoff Belknap (@geoffbelknap), CISO, LinkedIn. Joining us is our special guest Suha Can, CISO, Grammarly. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Opal Opal is building the next generation of intelligent identity. Identity is one of the last great enterprise frontiers. It's fragmented with legacy architecture. Opal's mission is to empower teams to understand and calibrate access end to end, and to build identity security for scale. Learn more by at www.opal.dev. In this episode: Will people's misuse of these generative AI programs be our greatest downfall to security and privacy? Is AI the problem? Or is poor human judgement the problem? Is it better to get started with any guardrails until setting up a full policy? What are we going to do now?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series. The demand for cybertalent is sky high. It's very competitive to get those people with skills. What if you were to train your staff and give them the skills you want? Essentially, what if you were to grow your own unicorn? Check out this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Geoff Belknap (@geoffbelknap), CISO, LinkedIn. Joining us is our special guest, Jesse Whaley, CISO, Amtrak. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Opal Opal is building the next generation of intelligent identity. Identity is one of the last great enterprise frontiers. It's fragmented with legacy architecture. Opal's mission is to empower teams to understand and calibrate access end to end, and to build identity security for scale. Learn more by at www.opal.dev. In this episode: What if you were to train your staff and give them the skills you want? What if you were to grow your own unicorn? What's the best way to grow your staff? How do you figure out the right mix of talent and prioritize the hiring, training, on the job, and other experiences?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series. What are we doing to improve access management? Make it too loose and it's the number one way organizations get breached. Put on too many controls and now you've got irritated users just trying to do their job. How does each organization find their sweet spot? Check out this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Geoff Belknap (@geoffbelknap), CISO, LinkedIn. We welcome our sponsored guest Paul Guthrie (@pguthrie), information security officer, Blend. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Opal Opal is building the next generation of intelligent identity. Identity is one of the last great enterprise frontiers. It's fragmented with legacy architecture. Opal's mission is to empower teams to understand and calibrate access end to end, and to build identity security for scale. Learn more by at www.opal.dev In this episode: What is the one most significant action you've taken to improve access management? What are we doing to improve access management? What is the correct balance between too many controls and not enough? How does each organization find their sweet spot?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series. With the growth of business-led IT, does SaaS security need to be a specific focus in a CISO's architectural strategy? Check out this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Geoff Belknap (@geoffbelknap), CISO, LinkedIn. Our guest is Steve Zalewski who also hosts Defense in Depth. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, AppOmni Do you know which 3rd party apps are connected to your SaaS platforms? After all, one compromised 3rd party app could put your entire SaaS ecosystem at risk. Get visibility to all 3rd party apps — and their level of data access — with AppOmni. Visit AppOmni.com to request a free risk assessment. In this episode: With the growth of business-led IT, does SaaS security need to be a specific focus in a CISO's architectural strategy? Is the problem the architecture of the applications themselves or the fact that a non-security group is bringing these applications online? Is it both? Is this problem solvable? What technical controls can you put in place to mitigate risk from apps you deem risky?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series. When it comes to data, compliance, and reducing risk, where are we gaining control? Where are we losing control? And what are we doing about that? Check out this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Steve Zalewski. We welcome our sponsored guest Amer Deeba, CEO and Co-founder, Normalyze. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Normalyze Normalyze is a cloud data security platform that continuously discovers sensitive data and their access paths across your cloud environments. Normalyze provides the ability to analyze, prioritize and respond to data threats to prevent damaging data breaches. Discover, visualize, and secure your cloud data in minutes with Normalyze Freemium. In this episode: When it comes to data, compliance, and reducing risk, where are we gaining control? Where are we losing control? And what are we doing about that? Is "losing control" inevitable? Is SaaS really extremely difficult to work with at scale?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series. If you're struggling to get your first job in security or you're trying to get back into the industry after being laid off, you need to lean on your security community. But like networking, you should find it before you need it. Check out this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Steve Zalewski. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Egress Egress helps organization stop email security risks is by addressing both inbound and outbound threats together,. We recognize that people get hacked, make mistakes, and break the rules. Egress's Intelligent Cloud Email Security suite uses patented self-learning technology to detect sophisticated inbound and outbound threats, and protect against data loss. Learn more at egress.com. In this episode: Are you struggling to get your first job in security or trying to get back into the industry after being laid off? What is the importance of building your security community network ? What should you look for in a community? What should you expect to put into it, and what should you expect to get back?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series. What should a cyber job description require, and what shouldn't it? What's reasonable and not reasonable? Check out this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Geoff Belknap (@geoffbelknap), CISO, LinkedIn. Our guest is Rob Duhart (@robduhart), deputy CISO, Walmart. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Normalyze Normalyze is a cloud data security platform that continuously discovers sensitive data and their access paths across your cloud environments. Normalyze provides the ability to analyze, prioritize and respond to data threats to prevent damaging data breaches. Discover, visualize, and secure your cloud data in minutes with Normalyze Freemium. In this episode: What should a cyber job description require, and what shouldn't it? What's reasonable and not reasonable? Do these completely unrealistic job descriptions hurt the entire industry? What is it we need to put in a cyber job description, and what do we need to leave out? Who's losing out here?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series. Since so much technology today is not launched by the IT department, but by business units themselves. How do security professionals engage with business and application owners and have a conversation about security policy and procedures? Check out this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Geoff Belknap (@geoffbelknap), CISO, LinkedIn. We welcome our sponsored guest Harold Byun (@haroldnhoward), chief product officer, AppOmni. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, AppOmni Do you know which 3rd party apps are connected to your SaaS platforms? After all, one compromised 3rd party app could put your entire SaaS ecosystem at risk. Get visibility to all 3rd party apps — and their level of data access — with AppOmni. Visit AppOmni.com to request a free risk assessment. In this episode: What's your experience talking about security policy and procedures with business and application owners? How do security professionals engage with business and application owners? How do they have a conversation about security policy and procedures? Is there anything you learned that you didn't realize before?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series. There are millions of cybersecurity jobs open. Over time, that number has just been growing. What we're doing now does not seem to be working. So what's it going to take to fill all these jobs quickly? Check out this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Steve Zalewski. Our guest is Rich Gautier, former CISO for the U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Brinqa Understand your cyber assets, prioritize vulnerabilities, automate remediation, and continuously monitor cyber hygiene across the entire attack surface — infrastructure, applications and cloud — with Brinqa. See how at brinqa.com. In this episode: There are millions of cybersecurity jobs open. What's it going to take to fill all these jobs quickly? Are job description requirements partially to blame for holding back the industry from tapping into greater diversity of expertise? Is it better off if you hire, train, culturally integrate, and reward that person? Does burn out and a steep learning curve keep adding to the problem?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series. How do you create a positive security culture? It's rarely the first concept anyone wants to embrace, yet it's important everyone understands their responsibility. So what do you do, and how do you overcome inevitable roadblocks? Check out this post and this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Geoff Belknap (@geoffbelknap), CISO, LinkedIn. We welcome our sponsored guest, Jadee Hanson, CISO/CIO for Code42. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Code42 Code42 is focused on delivering solutions built with the modern-day collaborative culture in mind. Code42 Incydr tracks activity across computers, USB, email, file link sharing, Airdrop, the cloud and more, our SaaS-based solution surfaces and prioritizes file exposure and data exfiltration events. Learn more at Code42.com. In this episode: How do you create a positive security culture? Where do we run into struggles when trying to create a positive security culture? Given its importance, why is it rarely the first concept anyone wants to embrace? What do you do, and how do you overcome inevitable roadblocks?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series. All experienced security professionals were at one time very green. Entry level status means risk to your organization. That's if you give them too much access. What can you trust an entry level security professional to do that won't impose unnecessary risk? And how can those green professionals build trust to allow them to do more? Check out this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Steve Zalewski. Our guest is Kemas Ohale, vp, global information security, Lippert. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Normalyze Normalyze is a cloud data security platform that continuously discovers sensitive data and their access paths across your cloud environments. Normalyze provides the ability to analyze, prioritize and respond to data threats to prevent damaging data breaches. Discover, visualize, and secure your cloud data in minutes with Normalyze Freemium. In this episode: What can you trust an entry level security professional to do that won't impose unnecessary risk? How can those green professionals build trust to allow them to do more? What can they do with zero experience? How can they graduate upwards?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series. What do we need to do to fix our processes to truly reduce risk and vulnerabilities? Check out this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Steve Zalewski. Our sponsored guest is Amad Fida (@brinqa), CEO, Brinqa. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Brinqa Understand your cyber assets, prioritize vulnerabilities, automate remediation, and continuously monitor cyber hygiene across the entire attack surface — infrastructure, applications and cloud — with Brinqa. See how at brinqa.com. In this episode: What do we need to do to fix our processes to truly reduce risk and vulnerabilities? How to work with all departments to improve process, communication, and motivation? Why does security need to be treated as a function of the enterprise risk program? What are the elements that make a great solution?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series. Security professionals talk a lot about the reputational damage from breaches. And it seems logical, but major companies still do get breached and their reputation seems spared. What's the reality of what breaches can do to a company's reputation? Check out this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Geoff Belknap (@geoffbelknap), CISO, LinkedIn. We welcome our guest Cecil Pineda, CISO, R1. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Brinqa Understand your cyber assets, prioritize vulnerabilities, automate remediation, and continuously monitor cyber hygiene across the entire attack surface — infrastructure, applications and cloud — with Brinqa. See how at brinqa.com. In this episode: Security professionals talk a lot about the reputational damage from breaches, so why do companies still get breached? What's the reality of what breaches can do to a company's reputation? Does a breach really result in lasting reputation damage? Are we more accepting of breaches now?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series. Do RFPs or request for proposals work as intended? It seems they're loaded with flaws yet for some organizations who must follow processes, they become necessary evils for both buyers and sellers. What can we do to improve the process? Check out this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Geoff Belknap (@geoffbelknap), CISO, LinkedIn. We welcome our guest Keith McCartney (@kmflgator), vp, security and IT, DNAnexus. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, TrustCloud TrustCloud is the all-in-one platform to accelerate sales and security reviews, automate compliance efforts, and map contractual liability across your business. Connect with us to learn how you can transform security from a cost center into a profit driver with TrustCloud's programmatic risk and compliance verification tools. In this episode: Do RFPs or request for proposals work as intended? Does it seem they're loaded with flaws? Have they become necessary evils for both buyers and sellers? What can we do to improve the process?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series. What are the moves we should be making in cloud to improve our security? What constitutes a good cloud security posture? Check out this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Andy Ellis, operating partner, YL Ventures. We welcome our sponsored guest Yoav Alon, CTO, Orca Security. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Orca Security Orca Security is the pioneer of agentless cloud security that is trusted by hundreds of enterprises globally. With continuous first-to-market innovations and expertise, the Orca Platform ensures security teams quickly identify and remediate risks to keep their businesses secure. Connect your first account in minutes by visiting www.orca.security. In this episode: What does successful cloud security look like? What are the moves we should be making in the cloud to improve our security? What constitutes a good cloud security posture? What should we be measuring when it comes to cloud security?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series. One CISO has had enough of the security vendor marketing emails and cold sales calls. He's blocking them all. But it's not a call to avoid all salespeople. He just doesn't have the time to be a target anymore. So how should vendors engage with such a CISO? And does CISO represent most CISOs today? Check out this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Geoff Belknap (@geoffbelknap), CISO, LinkedIn. We welcome our sponsored guest Joy Forsythe, VP, Security, Thrive Global. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Code42 Code42 is focused on delivering solutions built with the modern-day collaborative culture in mind. Code42 Incydr tracks activity across computers, USB, email, file link sharing, Airdrop, the cloud and more, our SaaS-based solution surfaces and prioritizes file exposure and data exfiltration events. Learn more at Code42.com. In this episode: How should vendors engage with CISOs who are tired of being targeted? How can vendors reach CISOs who have had enough of the security vendor marketing emails and cold sales calls? Does CISO represent most CISOs today? Is the sales "system" essentially broken?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series. Do we really need more categories of security products? Every new Gartner magic quadrant complicates the marketplace but at the same time helps us understand the other vectors we need to protect. Do new categories of security products help or hurt the industry? Check out this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Steve Zalewski. Our guest is Corey Elinburg (@celinburg), CISO, CommonSpirit Health. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Egress In this episode: Do we really need more categories of security products? Does it seem like every new Gartner magic quadrant complicates the marketplace but at the same time helps us understand the other vectors we need to protect? Do new categories of security products help or hurt the industry? Does this make it hard to keep up to date on all new products?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series. How can security leaders and how do they go about matching business case to every security action you want to take? Is this the right way to sell security to the board? Check out this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Steve Zalewski. Our sponsored guest is Sravish Sridhar (@sravish), founder and CEO, TrustCloud. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, TrustCloud TrustCloud is the all-in-one platform to accelerate sales and security reviews, automate compliance efforts, and map contractual liability across your business. Connect with us to learn how you can transform security from a cost center into a profit driver with TrustCloud's programmatic risk and compliance verification tools. In this episode: How can security leaders best make a case for security? How do you go about matching business cases to every security action you want to take? Is this the right way to sell security to the board? How do you show that security can be aligned to business objectives?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series. Security tools are supposed to do a job. Either they need to alert you, protect you, or remediate an issue. But they don't always work and that's why we have breaches. Who's at fault, the tool or the administrators who configured the tool? Check out this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Geoff Belknap (@geoffbelknap), CISO, LinkedIn. We welcome our guest Kenneth Foster (@Kennethrfoster1), vp of IT governance, risk and compliance at FLEETCOR. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, AppOmni Do you know which 3rd party apps are connected to your SaaS platforms? After all, one compromised 3rd party app could put your entire SaaS ecosystem at risk. Get visibility to all 3rd party apps — and their level of data access — with AppOmni. Visit AppOmni.com to request a free risk assessment. In this episode: Why do security tools fail? Who's at fault, the tool or the administrators who configured the tool? Is it usually because the control is ineffective or was the control misconfigured / ignored? Do InfoSec produts have an efficacy issue or an implementation issue?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series. We talk a lot on this show about what makes cybersecurity such a hard job, yet there are so many people who are in it and love it. What draws people to this profession and why do they love it so much? Check out this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Geoff Belknap (@geoffbelknap), CISO, LinkedIn. We welcome our guest David Cross (@MrDBCross), CISO, Oracle SaaS Cloud. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Orca Security Orca Security is the pioneer of agentless cloud security that is trusted by hundreds of enterprises globally. With continuous first-to-market innovations and expertise, the Orca Platform ensures security teams quickly identify and remediate risks to keep their businesses secure. Connect your first account in minutes by visiting www.orca.security. In this episode: We talk a lot on this show about what makes cybersecurity such a hard job, yet there are so many people who are in it and love it. What draws people to this profession and why do they love it so much? Do you love the ability to influence the organization and leadership? Do you love making an impact by helping people and businesses with safer behaviors and activities?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series. We expect our users to be perfect security responders even when the adversaries are doing everything in their power to trick them. These scams are designed to make humans respond to them. Why aren't we building our security programs to account for this exact behavior that is simply not going to go away? Check out this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Steve Zalewski. Our guest is Ken Athanasiou, CISO, VF Corporation. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Code42 In this episode: Why do we expect our users to be perfect security responders even when the adversaries are doing everything in their power to trick them? Aren't these scams designed to make humans respond to them? Why aren't we building our security programs to account for this exact behavior that is simply not going to go away? Why do so many security practitioners treat our users as children to be managed instead of adults to be educated and assigned a level of accountability?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series. How do you make the argument that your company needs a CISO, and that YOU should be that leader? What do you need to demonstrate to prove you can be that person? Check out this post and this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Geoff Belknap (@geoffbelknap), CISO, LinkedIn. We welcome our sponsored guest Radley Meyers (@radleymeyers), Partner, SPMB Executive Search. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, SPMB SPMB connects top executive talent to the world's best and fastest growing innovators across the country. A key area we bring extensive knowledge and expertise to is our dedicated Security Practice, leading both functional searches (CISO and VP's defining security strategy) and building out executive teams at top security software companies. In this episode: How do you make the argument that your company needs a CISO, and that YOU should be that leader? What do you need to demonstrate to prove you can be that person? Do you have a sound understanding of the WHY behind the organization's existence and how value is added or taken away? How do you lay out a plan to win in whatever industry you are in because of security NOT despite it?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series. How do you become a CISO? It doesn't follow a linear pattern as many other professions. There are many different paths and there are many different entry points. Check out this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Steve Zalewski. Our guest is Yabing Wang, CISO, Justworks. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, SPMB SPMB connects top executive talent to the world's best and fastest growing innovators across the country. A key area we bring extensive knowledge and expertise to is our dedicated Security Practice, leading both functional searches (CISO and VP's defining security strategy) and building out executive teams at top security software companies. In this episode: How do you become a CISO? Why doesn't it follow a linear pattern as many other professions? Why are there so many different paths and entry points? Why is it valuable to know how others did it and how you can glean that knowledge and apply it to your situation?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series. What would it take to build your entire security program on open source software, tools, and intelligence? Check out this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Geoff Belknap (@geoffbelknap), CISO, LinkedIn. We welcome guest DJ Schleen (@djschleen), distinguished security architect, Yahoo Paranoids. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, SPMB SPMB connects top executive talent to the world's best and fastest growing innovators across the country. A key area we bring extensive knowledge and expertise to is our dedicated Security Practice, leading both functional searches (CISO and VP's defining security strategy) and building out executive teams at top security software companies. In this episode: What would it take to build your entire security program on open source software, tools, and intelligence? Is it possible/feasible/practical to run a security program entirely based upon free and open source software, open source tools, and open source intelligence? Is it true that the more open source you use the more people you need? Do commercial software systems, tools, and intelligence have value above what can be found in open source?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series. Businesses grow based on trust, but they have to operate in a world of risk. Even cybersecurity operates this way, but when it comes to third party analysis, what if we leaned on trust more than trying to calculate risk? Check out this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and our guest co-host is Yaron Levi (@0xL3v1), CISO, Dolby. Yaron and I welcome Dan Walsh, CISO, VillageMD. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, TrustCloud TrustCloud is the all-in-one platform to accelerate sales and security reviews, automate compliance efforts, and map contractual liability across your business. Connect with us to learn how you can transform security from a cost center into a profit driver with TrustCloud's programmatic risk and compliance verification tools. In this episode: When it comes to third party analysis, what if we leaned on trust more than trying to calculate risk? Should we have a "glass half empty" or a "glass half full" attitude towards third party risk? Wouldn't it be better to measure the level of how much we can TRUST the 3rd party? Is it vitally important to assess how resilient the organization is to failure caused by each third party?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series The cybersecurity sales process is so terribly inefficient. And everyone, the targets and cybersecurity leaders, are losing valuable time because of that inefficiency. Where can we start making improvements? Check out this post for the discussion that's the basis for this podcast episode. This week's Defense in Depth is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer, CISO Series. Our guest co-host is John Overbaugh, CISO, ASG. John and I welcome our guest, Jerich Beason (@blanketsec), commercial CISO, Capital One. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Compyl GRC solutions often cause process roadblocks within organizations. They are either antiquated and lack the functionality needed or so stripped down they can't fix the problems you set to solve. That's why the team over at Compyl created the all-in-one security and compliance automation platform. Compyl quickly integrates with the tools you use, and automates 85% of the day-to-day tasks, all while providing complete transparency and comprehensive reporting along the way. Start your free trial with Compyl today and see all the efficiency gains you can expect from a leading solution. Learn about Compyl today at www.compyl.com/getstarted. In this episode: Why is the cybersecurity sales process so terribly inefficient? Where can we start making improvements? What could be done to improve the efficiency? What is the solution to removing wasted effort and time?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series. When you think about building a plan (and budget!) for your security program, do you lead with risk, maturity, or something else? Check out this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Steve Zalewski. Our guest is Ngozi Eze, CISO, Levi Strauss. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, runZero runZero is the cyber asset management solution that helps you find and identify every managed and unmanaged asset connected to your network and in the cloud. Get the data and context needed to effectively manage and secure your environment. Try runZero for free at runzero.com. In this episode: When you think about building a plan (and budget!) for your security program, do you lead with risk, maturity, or something else? What's the overall theme you lead with when you're building a security program? Why is it an important question to answer before you build your program? How greatly can it vary?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series Why do strongly supported security frameworks have such severe limitations when building a security program? Check out this post for the discussions that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Geoff Belknap (@geoffbelknap), CISO, LinkedIn. We welcome our sponsored guest Stas Bojoukha, CEO, Compyl. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Compyl GRC solutions often cause process roadblocks within organizations. They are either antiquated and lack the functionality needed or so stripped down they can't fix the problems you set to solve. That's why the team over at Compyl created the all-in-one security and compliance automation platform. Compyl quickly integrates with the tools you use, and automates 85% of the day-to-day tasks, all while providing complete transparency and comprehensive reporting along the way. Start your free trial with Compyl today and see all the efficiency gains you can expect from a leading solution. Learn about Compyl today at www.compyl.com/getstarted. In this episode: Why do strongly supported security frameworks have such severe limitations when building a security program? Is it because the product security landscape updates with such speed and ferocity that these frameworks can't keep up? Are most regulatory and third-party compliance "programs" simply non-prescriptive? Is the intention to achieve compliance with every single control?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series. Why is there a cybersecurity skills gap? Practically everyone is looking to hire, and there are ton of people getting training and trying to get into the industry, but we still have this problem. Why? Check out this post for the discussions that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Geoff Belknap (@geoffbelknap), CISO, LinkedIn. We welcome Edwin Covert (@ebcovert3), head of cyber risk engineering, Bowhead Specialty. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Orca Security In this episode: Why is there a cybersecurity skills gap? Practically everyone is looking to hire, and there are tons of people getting training and trying to get into the industry, but we still have this problem. Why? Is there a problem with the system of hiring junior people, training, and preventing burnout? Is the problem gatekeepers who don't do anything to mentor or groom the next wave?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series. Given that your company's security is dependent on the security of your partners and others, what can we do to get more organizations above the security poverty line? Check out this post for the discussions that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Geoff Belknap (@geoffbelknap), CISO, LinkedIn. We welcome our sponsored guest, Jason Kikta (@kikta), CISO, Automox. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Automox Are you ready to ditch manual patching? With Automox, you can automatically patch your third-party applications, Windows, macOs, and Linux devices with one easy-to-use, cloud-native platform. Try for yourself with our free 15-day trial and have all your endpoints safe and secure in just 15 minutes. In this episode: Given that your company's security is dependent on the security of your partners and others, what can we do to get more organizations above the security poverty line? How can we give them guidance towards working on priorities in cybersecurity? How are the Vendors handling this? Can we create an "Adopt a Highway" program for cybersecurity?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series. "When the asset discovery market launched, every single company that offered a solution used the line, "You can't protect what you don't know." Everyone agreed with that. Problem is, "what you don't know" has grown… a lot." Check out this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Steve Zalewski. Our sponsored guest is Huxley Barbee (@huxley_barbee), security evangelist, runZero. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, runZero runZero is the cyber asset management solution that helps you find and identify every managed and unmanaged asset connected to your network and in the cloud. Get the data and context needed to effectively manage and secure your environment. Try runZero for free at runzero.com. In this episode: Everyone agrees that, "You can't protect what you don't know", but what do you do when, "what you don't know" has grown…a lot? With all our efforts to know our assets, are we doing any better understanding? How do we decide what we should really be measuring? How do we determine what's most important in terms of asset management?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series A good high profile security threat seems like a good time to alert potential customers about how your product could help or even prevent a breach. Seems like a solid sales tactic for any industry that is not cybersecurity. Check out this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Geoff Belknap (@geoffbelknap), CISO, LinkedIn. We welcome our guest Angela Williams, CISO, UL. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Automox Are you ready to ditch manual patching? With Automox, you can automatically patch your third-party applications, Windows, macOs, and Linux devices with one easy-to-use, cloud-native platform. Try for yourself with our free 15-day trial and have all your endpoints safe and secure in just 15 minutes. In this episode: Is tying your product to a high profile event a good sales tactic for vendors? How can vendors best help cybersecurity professionals during emergency situations? Is there a correct way for vendors to capitalize on a high profile event?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series Why do CISOs seem more stressed out than other C-level executives? Check out this post for the discussions that are the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Geoff Belknap (@geoffbelknap), CISO, LinkedIn. We welcome our guest Jared Mendenhall, Head of information security, Impossible Foods. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Compyl GRC solutions often cause process roadblocks within organizations. They are either antiquated and lack the functionality needed or so stripped down they can't fix the problems you set to solve. That's why the team over at Compyl created the all-in-one security and compliance automation platform. Compyl quickly integrates with the tools you use, and automates 85% of the day-to-day tasks, all while providing complete transparency and comprehensive reporting along the way. Start your free trial with Compyl today and see all the efficiency gains you can expect from a leading solution. Learn about Compyl today at www.compyl.com/getstarted. In this episode: Do CISOs undergo more stress than other C-Suite jobs? Why do CISOs seem more stressed out than other C-level executives? Is it because the role is not fully formed and that CISOs don't get enough resources? Do the blurred lines of the CISO job increase the stress? Even more so that the CEO?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series How detailed do we get in our conversation with business leaders? Do we dumb it down? Or is that a recipe for trouble? Check out this post for the discussions that are the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Geoff Belknap (@geoffbelknap), CISO, LinkedIn. We welcome our guest Lee Parrish (@leeparrish), CISO, Newell Brands. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Qualys Qualys is a pioneer and leading provider of cloud-based security and compliance solutions. In this episode: How detailed do we get in our conversation with business leaders? Do we dumb it down? Or is that a recipe for trouble? To what level does the C-Suite need to be cyber savvy? How essential is it for senior leaders to know more?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series Why are there so many vCISOs who have never been a CISO? Isn't it difficult to advise on a role you've never done? Do organizations feel comfortable hiring an inexperienced vCISO as their CISO? Check out this post for the discussions that are the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Geoff Belknap (@geoffbelknap), CISO, LinkedIn. We welcome our guest Steve Tran, CSO, DNC. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, runZero runZero is the cyber asset management solution that helps you find and identify every managed and unmanaged asset connected to your network and in the cloud. Get the data and context needed to effectively manage and secure your environment. Try runZero for free at runzero.com. In this episode: Why are there so many vCISOs who have never been a CISO? Isn't it difficult to advise on a role you've never done? Do organizations feel comfortable hiring an inexperienced vCISO as their CISO? If the person has the requisite background, why does it matter what the title they had before is?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series As an outside observer, how can you tell if a company is staying cyber healthy? While there is no financial statement equivalency to let you know the strength of a company's security profile, there are signals that'll give you a pretty good idea. Check out this post for the discussions that are the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Geoff Belknap (@geoffbelknap), CISO, LinkedIn. We welcome our guest Matt Honea, CISO, SmartNews. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Automox Are you ready to ditch manual patching? With Automox, you can automatically patch your third-party applications, Windows, macOs, and Linux devices with one easy-to-use, cloud-native platform. Try for yourself with our free 15-day trial and have all your endpoints safe and secure in just 15 minutes. In this episode: As an outside observer, how can you tell if a company is staying cyber healthy? What are the signals to let you know the strength of a company's security profile? How do we go about trying to determine a company's cyber health? Why is it important to know about another company's cyber health?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series The cyber attack surface just keeps growing to the point that it seems endless. Protecting it all is impossible. Is there anything that can be done to reduce that attack surface and limit your exposure? Check out this post for the discussion that are the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Steve Zalewski. Our sponsored guest is Jonathan Trull (@jonathantrull), CISO, Qualys. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Qualys Qualys is a pioneer and leading provider of cloud-based security and compliance solutions. In this episode: Is there anything that can be done to reduce that attack surface and limit your exposure? Is attack surface reduction a new security development philosophy or is it just a rebranding of vulnerability management? And what value does it have in comparison to other popular theories such as zero trust and defense in depth? Is everything just another form of exposure management?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series Those reports on security procedures for the business are falling short. No one is reading them. What good are security controls if your staff doesn't know about them or adhere to them? Is it time to hire a marketing manager for the security team? Check out this post for the discussion that are the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Steve Zalewski. Our guest is Laura Deaner (@b3dwin), CISO, Northwestern Mutual. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, IANS Research CISOs, how does your compensation compare with your peers? Download IANS + Artico Search's 2022 CISO Compensation Benchmark Report. Find objective insights and comprehensive compensation data from over 500 CISOs across the U.S. and Canada. In this episode: What good are security controls if your staff doesn't know about them or adhere to them? Is it time to hire a marketing manager for the security team? Why does it make sense to think of who the stakeholder is and what's happening in their world? How to best build policies that don't get ignored?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series Cybersecurity budgets are increasing, by a lot. What's fueling the increase and where are those budgets being spent? Check out this post for the discussions that are the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Geoff Belknap (@geoffbelknap), CISO, LinkedIn. We welcome our sponsored guest sponsored guest Nick Kakolowski, senior director of research at IANS Research. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, IANS Research CISOs, how does your compensation compare with your peers? Download IANS + Artico Search's 2022 CISO Compensation Benchmark Report. Find objective insights and comprehensive compensation data from over 500 CISOs across the U.S. and Canada. In this episode: What's fueling the increase in cybersecurity budgets and where are those budgets being spent? Do we understand where the money is being spent? Is it on new hires? More tooling? Does training new hires provide a good ROI for an increased budget? Should we equate the success of a security program with the size of the budget? Or not?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series What's the difference between a head of security, a vp of security, and a CISO? Do job responsibilities change whether you're a security analyst or a threat engineer? Roles are confusing and so is the pay and responsibilities attached to them. Check out this post and this post for the basis of today's discussion. this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Hadas Cassorla, CISO, M1. Our guest is Renee Guttman, former CISO of Coca-Cola, Time Warner, Campbells. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, IANS Research CISOs, how does your compensation compare with your peers? Download IANS + Artico Search's 2022 CISO Compensation Benchmark Report. Find objective insights and comprehensive compensation data from over 500 CISOs across the U.S. and Canada. In this episode: What's the difference between a head of security, a vp of security, and a CISO? Do job responsibilities change whether you're a security analyst or a threat engineer? Why are cyber security roles so confusing? And why is there such a variance of pay and responsibilities attached to them?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series Instead of complaining about the security hiring process, walk a mile in a recruiter's shoes and have a little compassion to what they're going through, and how you might be able to help, at any level. Check out this post for the discussions that are the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Geoff Belknap (@geoffbelknap) with our guest Caleb Sima (@csima), CSO, Robinhood. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Safe Security If your CFO or Board was to ask: 'How much could we lose to a cyber attack?' Would you know? Introducing SAFE - the industry's most complete Cyber Risk Quantification solution to help you answer those crucial questions in real-time: Visualize and measure cyber risk across your entire estate Discover your $ risk exposure per attack vector Gain personalized, actionable insights to tackle your most critical risks Communicate your real-time cyber risk posture to your Board Learn more at www.safe.security In this episode: Instead of complaining about the security hiring process, CISOs should walk a mile in a recruiter's shoes and have a little compassion to what they're going through. Have we thought about the process we're creating for candidates? Are we being responsible and thinking about the candidate's journey vs. being opportunistic?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series Are security programs drifting from a prevention to a resilience strategy? If so, are you truly operating in a resilient environment? Or are you still acting in a prevention stance but you know you should be resilient? Check out this post for the discussions that are the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Geoff Belknap (@geoffbelknap), CISO, LinkedIn. We welcome our sponsored guest David Ratner (@davidhratner), CEO, HYAS. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, HYAS "Better production environment security starts with visibility. After all, how can you protect your most valuable asset if you don't know A: what's expected and B: when something's happening that isn't expected? This is why HYAS Confront monitors traffic to alert you to anomalies, letting you address risks, threats, and changes, while blocking infiltrations before they become successful attacks. Don't just react, take your security back with HYAS. Visit HYAS.com" In this episode: Are security programs drifting from a prevention to a resilience strategy? If so, are you truly operating in a resilient environment? Or are you still acting in a prevention stance but you know you should be resilient? What does a resilience strategy look like? How does your security stack change when you choose resilience?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series How do you talk to non-technical business leaders about cybersecurity? It's a concern, it's a risk, they want to know so they can make logical business decisions. How do you help? Check out this post for the discussions that are the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Geoff Belknap (@geoffbelknap). Our guest is Sara Hall, deputy CISO, MassMutual. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, HYAS "Better production environment security starts with visibility. After all, how can you protect your most valuable asset if you don't know A: what's expected and B: when something's happening that isn't expected? This is why HYAS Confront monitors traffic to alert you to anomalies, letting you address risks, threats, and changes, while blocking infiltrations before they become successful attacks. Don't just react, take your security back with HYAS. Visit HYAS.com" In this episode: How do you talk to non-technical business leaders about cybersecurity? It's a concern, it's a risk, they want to know so they can make logical business decisions. How do you help? Does storytelling and/or other strategies work? How do you have a risk discussion while also avoiding FUD - fear, uncertainty, and doubt?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series Why are cybersecurity professionals burning out? What's the dynamic of the job, the pressures being put on them, that causes the best to leave? And this industry can't afford to lose its best talent. Check out this post for the discussions that are the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and special guest co-host Shawn Bowen (@SMbowen), CISO, World Fuel Services. Our guest is Bozidar Spirovski (@spirovskib), CISO, Blue dot. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, HYAS Better production environment security starts with visibility. After all, how can you protect your most valuable asset if you don't know A: what's expected and B: when something's happening that isn't expected? This is why HYAS Confront monitors traffic to alert you to anomalies, letting you address risks, threats, and changes, while blocking infiltrations before they become successful attacks. Don't just react, take your security back with HYAS. Visit HYAS.com In this episode: Why are cybersecurity professionals burning out? What's the dynamic of the job, the pressures being put on them, that causes the best to leave? Are certain areas of cyber are more prone to burnout than others? Do we have a training and communication crisis in the field?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series You're starting a security program from scratch and you're trying to figure out where to start, what to prioritize, and how to architect it so it grows naturally and not a series of random patches over time. Check out this post for the discussions that are the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Geoff Belknap (@geoffbelknap), CISO. Our guest is Mark Bruns, CISO, First Bank. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Keyavi Myth: Data can't protect itself. Fact: Now it does! You control where your data goes in the world, who can access it and when. On any device. Anytime. Anywhere. FOREVER. Learn more at Keyavi.com. In this episode: Have you ever had a purely greenfield situation? When starting a security program from scratch, how do you figure out where to start and what to prioritize? What are the top five actions if you were going to implement a brand new/greenfield security program? How do you architect a security program so that it grows naturally and not a series of random patches over time?

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series Files are still the core of how people do business. How are you dealing with the onslaught of files coming into your network? People are sharing files across a multitude of platforms, and many for which you may not even know about. What checks and balances do you put in place to make sure you've got file integrity no matter the source? Check out this post for the discussion that are the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Steve Zalewski. Our sponsored guest is Aviv Grafi, founder and CTO, Votiro. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Votiro Can you trust that your content and data is free of malware and ransomware? With Votiro you can. Votiro removes evasive and unknown malware from content in milliseconds, without impacting file fidelity or usability. It even works on password-protected and zipped files. Plus, it's an API, so it integrates with everything – including Microsoft 365. Learn more at Votiro.com. That's v-o-t-i-r-o.com In this episode: How are you dealing with the onslaught of files coming into your network? What checks and balances do you put in place to make sure you've got file integrity no matter the source? Who has the authority to decide whether a file should be protected or deleted?