The ITSPmagazine Podcast

⬥GUEST⬥Andrew Morgan, Chief Information Security Officer | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewmorgancism/⬥HOST⬥Host: Sean Martin, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine and Host of Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/imsmartin/ | Website: https://www.seanmartin.com⬥EPISODE NOTES⬥The cybersecurity community has long recognized an uncomfortable truth: the gap between well-resourced enterprises and underfunded organizations keeps widening. This divide isn’t just about money; it’s about survivability. When a small business, school, or healthcare provider is hit with a major breach, the likelihood of permanent closure is exponentially higher than for a large enterprise.As host of the Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast, I’ve seen this imbalance repeatedly — and the conversation with Andrew Morgan underscores why it persists and what can be done about it.The Problem: Structural ImbalanceLarge enterprises operate with defined budgets, mature governance, and integrated security operations centers. They can afford redundancy, talent, and tooling. Meanwhile, small and mid-sized organizations are often left with fragmented controls, minimal staff, and reliance on external vendors or managed providers.The result is a “have and have not” world. The “haves” can detect, contain, and recover. The “have nots” often cannot. When they are compromised, the impact isn’t just reputational — it can mean financial collapse or service disruption that directly affects communities.The Hidden Costs of ComplexityEven when smaller organizations invest in technology, they often fall into the trap of overtooling without strategy. Multiple, overlapping systems create noise, false confidence, and operational fatigue. Morgan describes this as a symptom of viewing cybersecurity as a subset of IT rather than as a business enabler.Simplification is key. A rationalized platform approach — even if not best-of-breed — can deliver better visibility and sustainability than a patchwork of disconnected tools. The goal should not be perfection; it should be proportionate protection aligned with business risk.The Solution: Culture, Collaboration, and ContinuityCyber resilience starts with people and culture. As Morgan puts it, programs must be driven by culture, informed by risk, and delivered through people, process, and technology. Security can’t succeed in isolation from the organization’s purpose or its people.The Australian CISO Tribe provides a real-world model for collaboration. Its members share threat intelligence, peer validation, and practical experiences — a living example of collective defense in action. Whether formalized or ad-hoc, these networks give security leaders context, community, and shared strength.Getting Back to BasicsPractical resilience isn’t glamorous. It’s about getting the basics right — consistent patching, logging, phishing-resistant authentication, verified backups, and tested recovery plans. It’s about ensuring that, if everything fails, you can still get back up.When security becomes a business-as-usual practice rather than a project, organizations begin to move from reactive defense to proactive resilience.The TakeawayBridging the cybersecurity divide doesn’t require endless budgets. It requires prioritization, simplification, and partnership. The “have nots” may never mirror enterprise scale, but they can adopt enterprise discipline — and that can make all the difference between temporary disruption and permanent failure.⬥RESOURCES⬥Inspiring Post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/andrewmorgancism_last-night-i-was-fortunate-enough-to-spend-activity-7383972144507994112-V3Zr/⬥ADDITIONAL INFORMATION⬥✨ More Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast: 🎧 https://www.seanmartin.com/redefining-cybersecurity-podcastRedefining CyberSecurity Podcast on YouTube:📺 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnYu0psdcllS9aVGdiakVss9u7xgYDKYq📝 The Future of Cybersecurity Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7108625890296614912/Contact Sean Martin to request to be a guest on an episode of Redefining CyberSecurity: https://www.seanmartin.com/contact⬥KEYWORDS⬥sean martin, andrew morgan, australia, ciso, risk, resilience, cybersecurity, business continuity, governance, compliance, redefining cybersecurity, cybersecurity podcast, redefining cybersecurity podcast Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

How to Market to Cybersecurity's Most Elusive Buyers: AI, Emotion, and the Human Touch - Interview with Gianna Whitver and Maria Velasquez | Cyber Marketing Con 2025 Coverage | On Location with Sean Martin and Marco CiappelliCyberMarketingCon 2025 In Person & Virtual https://www.cybermarketingconference.comDec 7-10, 2025 in Austin, Texas Why Cybersecurity Marketing Demands a Different PlaybookThe cybersecurity industry presents a paradox for marketers. While practitioners work with cutting-edge technology, traditional marketing approaches consistently fall flat. Gianna Whitver and Maria Velasquez, co-founders of the Cybersecurity Marketing Society, have spent six years understanding why—and they're sharing those insights at CyberMarketingCon 2025 this December in Austin.The challenge begins with the audience itself. Security professionals operate under constant pressure, actively preventing threats while juggling competing priorities. This stress creates an environment where patience for marketing noise evaporates instantly. Unlike other industries where buyers might browse vendor websites or respond to cold outreach, cybersecurity practitioners have both the technical sophistication to evade tracking and the motivation to control their own buying journey."Our buyer is highly elusive," Whitver explains. "They're saving the world and their companies from threats. When vendors reach out, it's an interruption to critical work." This dynamic forces marketers to rethink fundamental assumptions about how business gets done.The numbers tell part of the story. With over 5,000 cybersecurity vendors flooding the market, standing out based solely on technical specifications has become nearly impossible. Many solutions address similar problems with comparable features. The differentiator, Velasquez argues, isn't in the technology itself but in how that technology transforms the buyer's daily experience."We have to shed that technical layer and go for the emotion," Velasquez says. "If they buy our product, how is it gonna make them feel? Are they gonna get their weekends back with family? Are they actually gonna go to sleep without stress?" This human-centered approach represents a fundamental shift from the feeds-and-speeds messaging that dominated cybersecurity marketing for years.The industry is witnessing what Velasquez calls an "evolution slash revolution" in marketing tactics. Humor, entertainment, and authentic storytelling are replacing dense whitepapers as the first touch point. The goal isn't to dumb down complex technology but to create space for meaningful engagement by first addressing the emotional reality of a stressful profession.Trust remains the currency that matters most. Peer recommendations carry exponentially more weight than any advertising campaign. Security professionals rely on trusted networks to validate purchasing decisions, making community building and genuine thought leadership more valuable than aggressive outreach. Word-of-mouth referrals from colleagues who have seen real results trump even the most sophisticated demand generation campaigns.The emergence of AI as a marketing buzzword presents both opportunity and risk. Whitver notes that countless vendors now position themselves as "AI-native" or "agentic AI" solutions without articulating meaningful differentiation. "If that's what you remember about their product, what do you actually do?" she asks. The challenge for marketers is communicating AI's business value without contributing to the noise.CyberMarketingCon 2025 addresses these challenges head-on. Running December 7-10 in Austin, the conference brings together more than 550 marketing professionals for hands-on workshops, peer learning, and practical strategy sessions. Dedicated tracks cover brand, demand generation, operations, communications, and product marketing, with special summits for CEOs and sales leaders.Hands-on AI workshops represent a conference highlight. Attendees can build marketing agents using n8n, explore Clay for go-to-market planning, or participate in a marketer-focused capture-the-flag hacking exercise. The "Marketing Time Machine" theme balances timeless fundamentals with forward-looking innovation, acknowledging that effective marketing requires both solid foundations and experimental thinking.What sets CyberMarketingCon apart is its community-first philosophy. Despite 40-50% year-over-year growth, organizers prioritize maintaining an intimate, reunion-style atmosphere. Many CMOs bring entire teams for what becomes a working offsite, with different members attending specialized sessions then synthesizing insights into unified strategies.The conference's success metric reflects this philosophy. "Our KPI is: is it worth your time?" Whitver says. In an industry where time represents the scarcest resource, that might be the most important question of all.For cybersecurity marketers navigating an increasingly complex landscape, CyberMarketingCon offers somet

⬥GUEST⬥Eric O'Neill, Keynote Speaker, Cybersecurity Expert, Spy Hunter, Bestselling Author. Attorney | On Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-m-oneill/⬥HOST⬥Host: Sean Martin, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine and Host of Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/imsmartin/ | Website: https://www.seanmartin.com⬥EPISODE NOTES⬥In this episode of the Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast, host Sean Martin reconnects with Eric O’Neill, National Security Strategist at NeXasure and former FBI counterintelligence operative. Together, they explore how cybercrime has matured into a global economy—and why organizations of every size must learn to compete, not just defend.O’Neill draws from decades of undercover work and corporate investigation to reveal that cybercriminals now operate like modern businesses: they innovate, specialize, and scale. The difference? Their product is your data. He argues that resilience—not prevention—is the true marker of readiness. Companies can’t assume they’re too small or too obscure to be targeted. “It’s just a matter of numbers,” he says. “At some point, you will get struck. You need to be able to take the punch and keep moving.”The discussion covers the practical realities facing small and midsize businesses: limited budgets, fragmented tools, and misplaced confidence. O’Neill explains why so many organizations over-invest in overlapping technologies while under-investing in strategy. His firm helps clients identify these inefficiencies and replace tool sprawl with coordinated defense.Preparation, O’Neill says, should follow his PAID methodology—Prepare, Assess, Investigate, Decide. The goal is to plan ahead, detect fast, and act decisively. Those that do not prepare spend ten times more responding after an incident than they would have spent preventing it.Martin and O’Neill also examine how storytelling bridges the gap between security teams and executive boards. Using relatable analogies—like house fires and insurance—O’Neill makes cybersecurity human. His message is simple: security is not a technical decision; it’s a business one.Listen to hear how the business of cybercrime mirrors legitimate enterprise—and why understanding that truth might be your best defense.⬥RESOURCES⬥Book: Spies, Lies, and Cybercrime by Eric O’Neill – Book linkBook: Gray Day by Eric O’Neill – Book linkFree, Weekly Newsletter: spies-lies-cybercrime.ericoneill.netPodcast: Former FBI Spy Hunter Eric O'Neill Explains How Cybercriminals Use Espionage techniques to Attack Us: https://redefiningsocietyandtechnologypodcast.com/episodes/new-book-spies-lies-and-cyber-crime-former-fbi-spy-hunter-eric-oneill-explains-how-cybercriminals-use-espionage-techniques-to-attack-us-redefining-society-and-technology-podcast-with-marco-ciappelli⬥ADDITIONAL INFORMATION⬥✨ More Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast: 🎧 https://www.seanmartin.com/redefining-cybersecurity-podcastRedefining CyberSecurity Podcast on YouTube:📺 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnYu0psdcllS9aVGdiakVss9u7xgYDKYq📝 The Future of Cybersecurity Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7108625890296614912/Contact Sean Martin to request to be a guest on an episode of Redefining CyberSecurity: https://www.seanmartin.com/contact⬥KEYWORDS⬥eric oneill, sean martin, nexasure, fbi, cybercrime, ransomware, resilience, cybersecurity, business, risk, redefining cybersecurity, cybersecurity podcast, redefining cybersecurity podcast Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

____________Podcast Redefining Society and Technology Podcast With Marco Ciappellihttps://redefiningsocietyandtechnologypodcast.com ____________Host Marco CiappelliCo-Founder & CMO @ITSPmagazine | Master Degree in Political Science - Sociology of Communication l Branding & Marketing Advisor | Journalist | Writer | Podcast Host | #Technology #Cybersecurity #Society 🌎 LAX 🛸 FLR 🌍WebSite: https://marcociappelli.comOn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marco-ciappelli/____________This Episode’s SponsorsBlackCloak provides concierge cybersecurity protection to corporate executives and high-net-worth individuals to protect against hacking, reputational loss, financial loss, and the impacts of a corporate data breach.BlackCloak: https://itspm.ag/itspbcweb____________TitleNew Book | STREAMING WARS: How Getting Everything We Want Changed Entertainment Forever | Journalist Charlotte Henry Explains How Streaming Changed Entertainment Forever | Redefining Society And Technology Podcast With Marco Ciappelli____________Guests:Charlotte HenryAuthor, journalist, broadcaster who created and runs The Addition newsletter looking at the crossover between media and tech.The Media Society https://theaddition.substack.com/On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlotteahenry/____________Short Introduction Journalist Charlotte Henry reveals how streaming transformed entertainment in her new book "Streaming Wars: How Getting Everything We Want Changed Entertainment Forever." From Netflix's rise to the 2023 Hollywood strikes, she examines how we consume media, express ourselves, and the surprising return to "old-fashioned" weekly releases in our Hybrid Analog Digital Society.____________Article We used to learn who someone was by looking at their record collection. Walk into their home, scan the vinyl on the shelves, and you'd know—this person loves Metallica, that person's into jazz, someone else collected every Beatles album ever pressed. Media was how we expressed ourselves, how we told our story without saying a word.That's gone now. And we might not have noticed it disappearing.Charlotte Henry, a London-based journalist and author of "Streaming Wars: How Getting Everything We Want Changed Entertainment Forever," sat down with me to discuss something most of us experience daily but rarely examine deeply: how streaming has fundamentally altered not just entertainment, but how we relate to media and each other."You can't pop over to someone's house after a first date and see their Spotify playlist," Charlotte pointed out. She's right—you can't browse someone's Netflix queue the way you could their DVD collection, can't judge their Kindle library the way you could scan their bookshelf. We've lost that intimate form of self-expression, that casual cultural reveal that came from physical media.But Charlotte's book isn't a nostalgic lament. It's something far more valuable: a snapshot of this exact moment in media history, a line in the sand marking where we are before everything changes again. And in technology and media, change is the only constant.Her starting point is deliberate—the 2023 Hollywood strikes. Not the beginning of streaming's story, but perhaps its most symbolic moment. Writers, actors, costume designers, transportation crews, everyone who keeps Hollywood running stood up and said: this isn't working. The frustrations that exploded that summer had been building for years, all stemming from how streaming fundamentally disrupted the entertainment economy.My wife works in Hollywood's costume department. She lived through those strikes, felt the direct impact of an industry transformed. The changes Charlotte documents aren't abstract—they're affecting real careers, real livelihoods, real creative work.What struck me most about our conversation was how Charlotte brings together all of streaming—not just Netflix and Disney+, but Twitch, Spotify, Apple Music, the specialized services for heavy metal or horror movies, the entire ecosystem of on-demand media. No one had told this complete story before, and it needed telling precisely because it's changing so rapidly.Consider this: streaming is both revolutionary and circular. We cut the cord, abandoned cable packages, embraced freedom of choice. But now? The streaming services are rebundling themselves into packages that look suspiciously like the cable bundles we rejected. We've come full circle, just with different branding.The same thing is happening with release schedules. Remember when Netflix revolutionized everything by dropping entire seasons at once? Binge-watching became our cultural norm. But now services are reverting to weekly releases—Stranger Things spread across quarters to ensure multiple subscription payments, Apple TV+ releasing shows one episode per week like it's 1995. We're going back to the future.Charlotte's analysis of the consumer psychology is fascinating. We've been trained to expect everything, everywhere, immediately. Not just TV shows—be

Organizations pour millions into protecting running applications—yet attackers are targeting the delivery path itself.This episode of AppSec Contradictions reveals why CI/CD and cloud pipelines are becoming the new frontline in cybersecurity.🔍 In this episode:A 188% surge in malicious open-source packages (Sonatype 2025)30% of 2024 cyberattacks traced to suppliers (Financial Times 2025)47% of organizations unable to assess pipeline risk (ENISA 2023)CISA labels build systems “high-value targets” (2025)Sean’s Take:The pipeline is production. Integrity beats visibility. Security must flow through delivery.Catch the full companion article in the Future of Cybersecurity newsletter for deeper analysis and more research.👉 Have you made CI/CD security measurable—or does it still feel like an endless patchwork of scripts, secrets, and trust? Are your pipelines part of your threat model—or an afterthought? How confident are you in the integrity of every artifact you release? Share your take—we’d love to hear your story—whether your team has succeeded in securing the software delivery pipeline from build to deploy, or whether attackers and complexity keep finding the cracks between your tools.📖 Read the full companion article in the Future of Cybersecurity newsletter for deeper insights: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/cicd-pipeline-security-why-attackers-breach-your-own-martin-cissp-eqdxe/🔔 Subscribe to stay updated on the full AppSec Contradictions video series and more perspectives on the future of cybersecurity: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnYu0psdcllRWnImF5iRnO_10eLnPFWi_________This story represents the results of an interactive collaboration between Human Cognition and Artificial Intelligence.Enjoy, think, share with others, and subscribe to "The Future of Cybersecurity" newsletter on LinkedIn: https://itspm.ag/future-of-cybersecuritySincerely, Sean Martin and TAPE9________Sean Martin is a life-long musician and the host of the Music Evolves Podcast; a career technologist, cybersecurity professional, and host of the Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast; and is also the co-host of both the Random and Unscripted Podcast and On Location Event Coverage Podcast. These shows are all part of ITSPmagazine—which he co-founded with his good friend Marco Ciappelli, to explore and discuss topics at The Intersection of Technology, Cybersecurity, and Society.™️Want to connect with Sean and Marco On Location at an event or conference near you? See where they will be next: https://www.itspmagazine.com/on-locationTo learn more about Sean, visit his personal website. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Halloween over Florence: THE MARKET OF GHOSTSSeverino lived in the bell tower on the hill — the one next to the ancient Basilica of San Miniato al Monte.Every evening, at sunset, he would lock the gate at the base of the entrance stairway and before climbing back up, he would pause to watch Florence color itself amber.And so he did today as well. The tourists had left. Time stopped and silence became sacred again.Through the rusted bars the city stood there motionless — perhaps since forever; with its red roofs, marble facades and the Arno flowing between its stones like a glittering silver ribbon.Domes and towers trembling with light, almost suspended in the air, as if everything and everyone were holding their breath waiting for twilight — and for the night that would cover it with shadows, stars and dreams.One more glance, then he turned on his transistor radio that he had found a few years ago and the notes of Duke Ellington's 'Don't Get Around Much Anymore' filled the autumn evening.Silence may be sacred for the monks, but for Severino music was more so. Seven, his raven, didn't need to be called and at the first notes launched himself from the cypresses of the cemetery above, circled in front of the imposing facade of the Basilica and suddenly glided down along the stairway, to land gently on his left shoulder."Hey Seven, had a good day?""Yes. Could have been worse — Let's settle for that."At which, Severino smiled, turned up the radio's volume and began climbing resolutely toward le Porte del Cielo, while Jazz music echoed among the ancient stones.Nine years ago, on this same day in the month of October, the Olivetan monks residing in the Abbey found a child on the steps of the Basilica.He was there, wrapped in fog, silent as the night, eyes curious as the wind, without name and without past. They called him Severino — I don't know why — and he grew up among prayers and silences. He played in ancient rooms and discovered his world, surrounded by books, tombs, art and mysteries never revealed. At night a raven and a black cat accompanied him, illuminated by the moon, in the Cimitero delle Porte Sante, wandering among imposing crypts and motionless statues that whispered memories and mysteries.But on Halloween nights the whispers transform into screams and endless laments. Secrets manifest themselves, legends become reality, and dreams disguised as nightmares knock on doors lit by candles. And that full moon night was precisely this night: October 31st — and remember, whether you believe in spirits or not, nothing changes: the ghosts will come.And Severino was up there, right there waiting for them to arrive. Leaning out the highest window of the bell tower, calm, looking at Florence from above. While Thelonious Monk's 'Round Midnight' played on his radio, he watched — tapping time with one foot and waited.At the second of the twelve strokes of the midnight bells, something began to happen. On the Arno formed a dense fog that pulsed with spectral green. It began to rise and slide slow but inexorable over the bridges like fingers of cold hands of impatient ghosts. It slid over the Ponte Vecchio and rolled through the streets of Oltrarno until reaching San Niccolò, where it climbed up the hill swallowing everything it found in its path.When it reached the gate of San Miniato, it slipped through the bars and climbed up the stairs until it covered, like a high luminous tide, the entire square in front of the church. It climbed up the marble facade and wrapped also the Cimitero delle Porte Sante, covering the entire hill in a cloak of mystery. Then slowly, as if by enchantment, the fog began to dissolve rising toward the sky and when the last cloud melted into the night air, the square was no longer empty.Small jack-o'-lanterns with flickering lights floated in the air smiling with teeth of fire. Black candles sprouted from nowhere, illuminating spectral stalls full of everything and nothing. Bats that seemed made of paper but were alive fluttered among the lights with wings of black velvet, while autumn leaves danced without wind, sparkling with gold and copper. Pumpkins of every shape filled the stands, some carved with funny faces, others covered with silver spiderwebs that shone like threads of moon. Witch hats swirled in the air like flying umbrellas rotating slow on themselves. Roasted chestnuts perfumed the air with cinnamon and mystery, while small dancing skeletons tinkled like ice bells.And finally in the Cimitero delle Porte Sante, the Portal opened. Like every Halloween, for centuries, spirits from all over the world congregated in Florence for their annual meeting. A spectral river of ghosts poured into the square, each heading toward their own stall, and each with their impossible merchandise to sell or trade. The spirits had arrived and Severino observed them from above. A carnival of other worlds, made of sounds, colors and unimaginable stories.The deserted square had transformed into the Ma

____________Podcast Redefining Society and Technology Podcast With Marco Ciappellihttps://redefiningsocietyandtechnologypodcast.com ____________Host Marco CiappelliCo-Founder & CMO @ITSPmagazine | Master Degree in Political Science - Sociology of Communication l Branding & Marketing Advisor | Journalist | Writer | Podcast Host | #Technology #Cybersecurity #Society 🌎 LAX 🛸 FLR 🌍WebSite: https://marcociappelli.comOn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marco-ciappelli/____________This Episode’s SponsorsBlackCloak provides concierge cybersecurity protection to corporate executives and high-net-worth individuals to protect against hacking, reputational loss, financial loss, and the impacts of a corporate data breach.BlackCloak: https://itspm.ag/itspbcweb____________TitleNew Book: SPIES, LIES, AND CYBER CRIME | Former FBI Spy Hunter Eric O'Neill Explains How Cybercriminals Use Espionage techniques to Attack Us | Redefining Society And Technology Podcast With Marco Ciappelli____________Guests:Eric O'NeillKeynote Speaker, Cybersecurity Expert, Spy Hunter, Bestselling Author. AttorneyOn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-m-oneill/Find the book on Eric Website: https://ericoneill.netSean Martin, CISSPGTM Advisor | Journalist, Analyst, Technologist | Cybersecurity, Risk, Operations | Brand & Content Marketing | Musician, Photographer, Professor, Moderator | Co-Founder, ITSPmagazine & Studio C60Sean Martin, Co-Founder, ITSPmagazine and Studio C60 Website: https://www.seanmartin.com ____________Short Introduction Former FBI counterintelligence specialist Eric O'Neill, who caught the most damaging spy in US history, reveals how cyber criminals use traditional espionage techniques to attack us. In his new book "Spies Lies and Cyber Crime," he exposes the $14 trillion cybercrime industry and teaches us to recognize attacks in our Hybrid Analog Digital Society. ____________Article Trust has become the rarest commodity on Earth. We can't trust what we see, what we hear, or what we read anymore. And the people exploiting that crisis? They learned their craft from spies.Eric O'Neill knows this better than most. He's the former FBI counterintelligence specialist who went undercover—as himself—to catch Robert Hanssen, Russia's top spy embedded in the FBI for 22 years. That story became his first book "Gray Day" and the movie "Breach." But five years later, Eric's back with a very different kind of warning.His new book "Spies Lies and Cyber Crime" isn't another spy memoir. It's a field manual for surviving in a world where criminal syndicates have weaponized traditional espionage techniques against every single one of us. And business is booming—to the tune of $14 trillion annually, making cybercrime the third largest economy on Earth, bigger than Japan and Germany combined."They're not attacking our computers," Eric told me during our conversation. "They're attacking you and me personally. They're fooling us into just handing everything over."The pandemic accelerated everything. We were thrown into a completely virtual environment before security was ready, and that moment marks the biggest single rise of cybercrime in history. While most of us were stuck at home adjusting to Zoom calls, cyber criminals were innovating faster than anyone else, studying how we communicate, work, and associate in digital spaces.Here's what makes Eric's perspective invaluable: he understands both sides of this war. He spent his FBI career using traditional counterintelligence techniques—deception, impersonation, infiltration, confidence schemes, exploitation, and destruction—to catch spies. Now he watches cyber criminals deploy those exact same tactics against us through our screens.The top cybercrime gangs have actually hired active intelligence officers from countries like Russia, China, and Iran. These spies moonlight as cyber criminals, bringing state-level tradecraft to street-level scams. It's sophisticated, organized, and shockingly effective.Consider the romance scam Eric describes in the book: a widowed grandfather receives a simple text saying "Hey." Being polite, he responds "Sorry, wrong number." That single response marks him as a target. Over weeks, a "friendship" develops. His new best friend chats with him daily, learns his hopes and dreams, then introduces him to an "investment opportunity."Within months, the grandfather has invested his entire pension—hundreds of thousands of dollars—into what looks like a legitimate cryptocurrency platform with secure logins and rising account values. When he tries to withdraw money for a family vacation, his friend vanishes. The company doesn't exist. The website was a dummy. Everything is gone.That's not a quick phishing scam—that's a confidence scheme straight from the spy playbook, adapted for our Hybrid Analog Digital Society where we live in little boxes on screens, increasingly disconnected from physical reality.The sophistication extends to ransomware operations. These aren't

Guest and HostGuest: Marco Ciappelli, Co-Founder, ITSPmagazine and Studio C60 | Website: https://www.marcociappelli.comHost: Sean Martin, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine, Studio C60, and Host of Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast & Music Evolves Podcast | Website: https://www.seanmartin.com/Show NotesIn this candid episode of Music Evolves, Sean Martin and Marco Ciappelli unpack the creative, ethical, and deeply personal tensions surrounding AI-generated music—where it fits, where it falters, and where it crosses the line.Sean opens with a clear position: AI can support the creative process, but its outputs shouldn’t be commercialized unless the ingredients—i.e., training data—are ethically sourced and properly licensed. His concern is grounded in authorship and consent. If a model learns from unlicensed tracks, even indirectly, is it sampling without credit?Marco responds by acknowledging how deeply embedded influence is in all creative acts. As a writer and musician, he often discovers melodies or storylines in his own work that echo familiar structures—not out of theft, but because of lived experience. “We are made of what we absorb,” he says, drawing parallels between human memory and how AI models are trained.But the critical difference? Humans feel. They reinterpret. They falter. They declare their intent. AI does none of that—at least, not yet.The discussion isn’t anti-technology. Instead, it’s about boundaries. Both Sean and Marco agree that tools like neural networks can be fascinating collaborators. But when those tools start to blur authorship or generate perfect replicas of a human’s imperfection—say, the crackle of a vinyl or the slide of a finger across a string—what are we really listening to? And who, if anyone, should profit from it?They wrestle with questions of transparency (“Did you write that… or did AI?”), authorship (“If you like it but don’t know it’s AI, does it matter?”), and commercialization (“Is it still your art if someone else feeds it to a machine?”). And perhaps most importantly, they invite you to answer for yourself.🎧 At the end of the episode, Sean and Marco each create a 1-minute piece of AI-generated music based on their own interpretation of the conversation. Their challenge: same topic, different vibe. The listener’s challenge: can you feel the difference?ResourcesNewsletter (Article, Video, Podcast): From Sampling to Scraping: AI Music, Rights, and the Return of Creative Control: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/from-sampling-scraping-ai-music-rights-return-control-martin-cissp-flxde/More From Sean Martin on ITSPmagazineMore from Music Evolves: https://www.seanmartin.com/music-evolves-podcastMusic Evolves on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnYu0psdcllTRJ5du7hFDXjiugu-uNPtWOn Location with Sean and Marco: https://www.itspmagazine.com/on-locationITSPmagazine YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@itspmagazineBe sure to share and subscribe! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Show NotesIn this episode, we unpack the core ideas behind the Sonic Frontiers article “From Sampling to Scraping: AI Music, Rights, and the Return of Creative Control.” As AI-generated music floods streaming platforms, rights holders are deploying new tools like neural fingerprinting to detect derivative works — even when no direct sampling occurs. But what does it mean to “detect influence,” and can algorithms truly distinguish theft from inspiration?We explore the implications for artists who want to experiment with AI without being replaced by it, and the shifting desires of listeners who may soon prefer human-made music the way some still seek out vinyl, film cameras, or wooden roller coasters — not for efficiency, but for the feel.The article also touches on the burden of rights enforcement in this new age. While major labels can embed detection systems, who protects the independent artist? And if AI enables anyone to create, does it also require everyone to monitor?This episode invites you to reflect on what we value in music: speed and volume, or craft and control?📖 Read the full companion article in the Music Evolves: Sonic Frontiers newsletter for deeper insights: TBD________This story represents the results of an interactive collaboration between Human Cognition and Artificial Intelligence.Enjoy, think, share with others, and subscribe to "The Music Evolves: Sonic Frontiers" newsletter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/music-evolves-sonic-frontiers-7290890771828719616/Sincerely, Sean Martin and TAPE9________Sean Martin is a life-long musician and the host of the Music Evolves Podcast; a career technologist, cybersecurity professional, and host of the Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast; and is also the co-host of both the Random and Unscripted Podcast and On Location Event Coverage Podcast. These shows are all part of ITSPmagazine—which he co-founded with his good friend Marco Ciappelli, to explore and discuss topics at The Intersection of Technology, Cybersecurity, and Society.™️Want to connect with Sean and Marco On Location at an event or conference near you? See where they will be next: https://www.itspmagazine.com/on-locationTo learn more about Sean, visit his personal website.More From Sean Martin on ITSPmagazineMore from Music Evolves: https://www.seanmartin.com/music-evolves-podcastMusic Evolves on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnYu0psdcllTRJ5du7hFDXjiugu-uNPtWOn Location with Sean and Marco: https://www.itspmagazine.com/on-locationITSPmagazine YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@itspmagazineBe sure to share and subscribe! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

⬥GUEST⬥Walter Haydock, Founder, StackAware | On Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/walter-haydock/⬥HOST⬥Sean Martin, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine and Host of Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/imsmartin/ | Website: https://www.seanmartin.com⬥EPISODE NOTES⬥No-Code Meets AI: Who’s Really in Control?As AI gets embedded deeper into business workflows, a new player has entered the security conversation: no-code automation tools. In this episode of Redefining CyberSecurity, host Sean Martin speaks with Walter Haydock, founder of StackAware, about the emerging risks when AI, automation, and business users collide—often without traditional IT or security oversight.Haydock shares how organizations are increasingly using tools like Zapier and Microsoft Copilot Studio to connect systems, automate tasks, and boost productivity—all without writing a single line of code. While this democratization of development can accelerate innovation, it also introduces serious risks when systems are built and deployed without governance, testing, or visibility.The conversation surfaces critical blind spots. Business users may be automating sensitive workflows involving customer data, proprietary systems, or third-party APIs—without realizing the implications. AI prompts gone wrong can trigger mass emails, delete databases, or unintentionally expose confidential records. Recursion loops, poor authentication, and ambiguous access rights are all too easy to introduce when development moves this fast and loose.Haydock emphasizes that this isn’t just a technology issue—it’s an organizational one. Companies need to decide: who owns risk when anyone can build and deploy a business process? He encourages a layered approach, including lightweight approval processes, human-in-the-loop checkpoints for sensitive actions, and upfront evaluations of tools for legal compliance and data residency.Security teams, he notes, must resist the urge to block no-code outright. Instead, they should enable safer adoption through clear guidelines, tool allowlists, training, and risk scoring systems. Meanwhile, business leaders must engage early with compliance and risk stakeholders to ensure their productivity gains don’t come at the expense of long-term exposure.For organizations embracing AI-powered automation, this episode offers a clear takeaway: treat no-code like production code—because that’s exactly what it is.⬥ADDITIONAL INFORMATION⬥✨ More Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast: 🎧 https://www.seanmartin.com/redefining-cybersecurity-podcastRedefining CyberSecurity Podcast on YouTube:📺 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnYu0psdcllS9aVGdiakVss9u7xgYDKYq📝 The Future of Cybersecurity Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7108625890296614912/Interested in sponsoring this show with a podcast ad placement? Learn more:👉 https://itspm.ag/podadplc⬥KEYWORDS⬥sean martin, walter haydock, automation, ai, nocode, compliance, governance, orchestration, data privacy, redefining cybersecurity, cybersecurity podcast, redefining cybersecurity podcast Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What does it really take to be a CISO the business can rely on? In this episode, Sean Martin shares insights from a recent conversation with Tim Brown, CISO at SolarWinds, following his keynote at AISA CyberCon and his role in leading a CISO Bootcamp for current and future security leaders. The article at the heart of this episode focuses not on technical skills or frameworks, but on the leadership qualities that matter most: context, perspective, communication, and trust.Tim’s candid reflections — including the personal toll of leading through a crisis — remind us that clarity doesn’t come from control. It comes from connection. CISOs must communicate risk in ways that resonate across teams and business leaders. They need to build trusted relationships before they’re tested and create space for themselves and their teams to process pressure in healthy, sustainable ways.Whether you’re already in the seat or working toward it, this conversation invites you to rethink what preparation really looks like. It also leaves you with two key questions: Where do you get your clarity, and who are you learning from? Tune in, reflect, and join the conversation.📖 Read the full companion article in the Future of Cybersecurity newsletter for deeper insights: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/beyond-title-what-really-takes-ciso-today-insights-sean-martin-cissp-n73ie/________This story represents the results of an interactive collaboration between Human Cognition and Artificial Intelligence.Enjoy, think, share with others, and subscribe to "The Future of Cybersecurity" newsletter on LinkedIn: https://itspm.ag/future-of-cybersecuritySincerely, Sean Martin and TAPE9________Sean Martin is a life-long musician and the host of the Music Evolves Podcast; a career technologist, cybersecurity professional, and host of the Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast; and is also the co-host of both the Random and Unscripted Podcast and On Location Event Coverage Podcast. These shows are all part of ITSPmagazine—which he co-founded with his good friend Marco Ciappelli, to explore and discuss topics at The Intersection of Technology, Cybersecurity, and Society.™️Want to connect with Sean and Marco On Location at an event or conference near you? See where they will be next: https://www.itspmagazine.com/on-locationTo learn more about Sean, visit his personal website. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

First CISO Charged by SEC: Tim Brown on Trust, Context, and Leading Through Crisis - Interview with Tim Brown | AISA CyberCon Melbourne 2025 Coverage | On Location with Sean Martin and Marco CiappelliAISA CyberCon Melbourne | October 15-17, 2025Tim Brown's job changed overnight. December 11th, he was the CISO at SolarWinds managing security operations. December 12th, he was leading the response to one of the most scrutinized cybersecurity incidents in history.Connecting from New York and Florence to Melbourne, Sean Martin and Marco Ciappelli caught up with their longtime friend ahead of his keynote at AISA CyberCon. The conversation reveals what actually happens when a CISO faces the unthinkable—and why the relationships you build before crisis hits determine whether you survive it.Tim became the first CISO ever charged by the SEC, a distinction nobody wants but one that shaped his mission: if sharing his experience helps even one security leader prepare better, then the entire saga becomes worthwhile. He's candid about the settlement process still underway, the emotional weight of having strangers ask for selfies, and the mental toll that landed him in a Zurich hospital with a heart attack the week his SEC charges were announced."For them to hear something and hear the context—to hear us taking six months off development, 400 engineers focused completely on security for six months in pure focus—when you say it with emotion, it conveys the real cost," Tim explained. Written communication failed during the incident. People needed to talk, to hear, to feel the weight of decisions being made in real time.What saved SolarWinds wasn't just technical capability. It was implicit trust. The war room team operated without second-guessing each other. The CIO handled deployment and investigation. Engineering figured out how the build system was compromised. Marketing and legal managed their domains. Tim didn't waste cycles checking their work because trust was already built."If we didn't have that, we would've been second-guessing what other people did," he said. That trust came from relationships established long before December 2020, from a culture where people knew their roles and respected each other's expertise.Now Tim's focused on mentoring the next generation through the RSA Conference CSO Bootcamp, helping aspiring CISOs and security leaders at smaller companies build the knowledge, community, and relationships they'll need when—not if—their own December 12th arrives. He tailors every talk to his audience, never delivering the same speech twice. Context matters in crisis, but it matters in communication too.Australia played a significant role during SolarWinds' incident response, with the Australian government partnering closely in January 2021. Tim hadn't been back in a decade, making his return to Melbourne for CyberCon particularly meaningful. He's there to share lessons earned the hardest way possible, and to remind security leaders that stress management, safe spaces, and knowing when to compartmentalize aren't luxuries—they're survival skills.His keynote covers the different stages of incident response, how culture drives crisis outcomes, and why the teams that step up matter more than the ones that run away. For anyone leading security teams, Tim's message is clear: build trust now, before you need it.AISA CyberCon Melbourne runs October 15-17, 2025 Coverage provided by ITSPmagazineGUEST:Tim Brown, CISO at SolarWinds | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-brown-ciso/HOSTS:Sean Martin, Co-Founder, ITSPmagazine and Studio C60 | Website: https://www.seanmartin.comMarco Ciappelli, Co-Founder, ITSPmagazine and Studio C60 | Website: https://www.marcociappelli.comCatch all of our event coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/technology-and-cybersecurity-conference-coverageWant to share an Event Briefing as part of our event coverage? Learn More 👉 https://itspm.ag/evtcovbrfWant Sean and Marco to be part of your event or conference? Let Us Know 👉 https://www.itspmagazine.com/contact-us Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Everyone Is Protecting My Password, But Who Is Protecting My Toilet Paper? - Interview with Amberley Brady | AISA CyberCon Melbourne 2025 Coverage | On Location with Sean Martin and Marco CiappelliAISA CyberCon Melbourne | October 15-17, 2025Empty shelves trigger something primal in us now. We've lived through the panic, the uncertainty, the realization that our food supply isn't as secure as we thought. Amberley Brady hasn't forgotten that feeling, and she's turned it into action.Speaking with her from Florence to Sydney ahead of AISA CyberCon in Melbourne, I discovered someone who came to cybersecurity through an unexpected path—studying law, working in policy, but driven by a singular passion for food security. When COVID-19 hit Australia in 2019 and grocery store shelves emptied, Amberley couldn't shake the question: what happens if this keeps happening?Her answer was to build realfoodprice.com.au, a platform tracking food pricing transparency across Australia's supply chain. It's based on the Hungarian model, which within three months saved consumers 50 million euros simply by making prices visible from farmer to wholesaler to consumer. The markup disappeared almost overnight when transparency arrived."Once you demonstrate transparency along the supply chain, you see where the markup is," Amberley explained. She gave me an example that hit home: watermelon farmers were getting paid 40 cents per kilo while their production costs ran between $1.00 to $1.50. Meanwhile, consumers paid $2.50 to $2.99 year-round. Someone in the middle was profiting while farmers lost money on every harvest.But this isn't just about fair pricing—it's about critical infrastructure that nobody's protecting. Australia produces food for 70 million people, far more than its own population needs. That food moves through systems, across borders, through supply chains that depend entirely on technology most farmers never think about in cybersecurity terms.The new autonomous tractors collecting soil data? That information goes somewhere. The sensors monitoring crop conditions? Those connect to systems someone else controls. China recognized this vulnerability years ago—with 20% of the world's population but only 7% of arable land, they understood that food security is national security.At CyberCon, Amberley is presenting two sessions that challenge the cybersecurity community to expand their thinking. "Don't Outsource Your Thinking" tackles what she calls "complacency creep"—our growing trust in AI that makes us stop questioning, stop analyzing with our gut instinct. She argues for an Essential Nine in Australia's cybersecurity framework, adding the human firewall to the technical Essential Eight.Her second talk, cheekily titled "Everyone is Protecting My Password, But No One's Protecting My Toilet Paper," addresses food security directly. It's provocative, but that's the point. We saw what happened in Japan recently with the rice crisis—the same panic buying, the same distrust, the same empty shelves that COVID taught us to fear."We will run to the store," Amberley said. "That's going to be human behavior because we've lived through that time." And here's the cybersecurity angle: those panics can be manufactured. A fake image of empty shelves, an AI-generated video, strategic disinformation—all it takes is triggering that collective memory.Amberley describes herself as an early disruptor in the agritech cybersecurity space, and she's right. Most cybersecurity professionals think about hospitals, utilities, financial systems. They don't think about the autonomous vehicles in fields, the sensor networks in soil, the supply chain software moving food across continents.But she's starting the conversation, and CyberCon's audience—increasingly diverse, including people from HR, risk management, and policy—is ready for it. Because at the end of the day, everyone has to eat. And if we don't start thinking about the cyber vulnerabilities in how we grow, move, and price food, we're leaving our most basic need unprotected.AISA CyberCon Melbourne runs October 15-17, 2025 Virtual coverage provided by ITSPmagazineGUEST:Amberley Brady, Food Security & Cybersecurity Advocate, Founder of realfoodprice.com.au | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amberley-b-a62022353/HOSTS:Sean Martin, Co-Founder, ITSPmagazine and Studio C60 | Website: https://www.seanmartin.comMarco Ciappelli, Co-Founder, ITSPmagazine and Studio C60 | Website: https://www.marcociappelli.comCatch all of our event coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/technology-and-cybersecurity-conference-coverageWant to share an Event Briefing as part of our event coverage? Learn More 👉 https://itspm.ag/evtcovbrfWant Sean and Marco to be part of your event or conference? Let Us Know 👉 https://www.itspmagazine.com/contact-us Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Beyond Blame: Navigating the Digital World with Our KidsAISA CyberCon Melbourne | October 15-17, 2025There's something fundamentally broken in how we approach online safety for young people. We're quick to point fingers—at tech companies, at schools, at kids themselves—but Jacqueline Jayne (JJ) wants to change that conversation entirely.Speaking with her from Florence while she prepared for her session at AISA CyberCon Melbourne this week, it became clear that JJ understands what many in the cybersecurity world miss: this isn't a technical problem that needs a technical solution. It's a human problem that requires us to look in the mirror."The online world reflects what we've built for them," JJ told me, referring to our generation. "Now we need to step up and help fix it."Her session, "Beyond Blame: Keeping Our Kids Safe Online," tackles something most cybersecurity professionals avoid—the uncomfortable truth that being an IT expert doesn't automatically make you equipped to protect the young people in your life. Last year's presentation at Cyber Con drew a full house, with nearly every hand raised when she asked who came because of a kid in their world.That's the fascinating contradiction JJ exposes: rooms full of cybersecurity professionals who secure networks and defend against sophisticated attacks, yet find themselves lost when their own children navigate TikTok, Roblox, or encrypted messaging apps.The timing couldn't be more relevant. With Australia implementing a social media ban for anyone under 16 starting December 10, 2025, and similar restrictions appearing globally, parents and carers face unprecedented challenges. But as JJ points out, banning isn't understanding, and restriction isn't education.One revelation from our conversation particularly struck me—the hidden language of emojis. What seems innocent to adults carries entirely different meanings across demographics, from teenage subcultures to, disturbingly, predatory networks online. An explosion emoji doesn't just mean "boom" anymore. Context matters, and most adults are speaking a different digital dialect than their kids.JJ, who successfully guided her now 19-year-old son through the gaming and social media years, isn't offering simple solutions because there aren't any. What she provides instead are conversation starters, resources tailored to different age groups, and even AI prompts that parents can customize for their specific situations.The session reflects a broader shift happening at events like Cyber Con. It's no longer just IT professionals in the room. HR representatives, risk managers, educators, and parents are showing up because they've realized that digital safety doesn't respect departmental boundaries or professional expertise."We were analog brains in a digital world," JJ said, capturing our generational position perfectly. But today's kids? They're born into this interconnectedness, and COVID accelerated everything to a point where taking it away isn't an option.The real question isn't who to blame. It's what role each of us plays in creating a safer digital environment. And that's a conversation worth having—whether you're at the Convention and Exhibition Center in Melbourne this week or joining virtually from anywhere else.AISA CyberCon Melbourne runs October 15-17, 2025 Virtual coverage provided by ITSPmagazine___________GUEST:Jacqueline (JJ) Jayne, Reducing human error in cyber and teaching 1 million people online safety. On Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacquelinejayne/HOSTS:Sean Martin, Co-Founder, ITSPmagazine and Studio C60 | Website: https://www.seanmartin.comMarco Ciappelli, Co-Founder, ITSPmagazine and Studio C60 | Website: https://www.marcociappelli.comCatch all of our event coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/technology-and-cybersecurity-conference-coverageWant to share an Event Briefing as part of our event coverage? Learn More 👉 https://itspm.ag/evtcovbrfWant Sean and Marco to be part of your event or conference? Let Us Know 👉 https://www.itspmagazine.com/contact-us Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

During his keynote at SecTor 2025, HD Moore, founder and CEO of runZero and widely recognized for creating Metasploit, invites the cybersecurity community to rethink the foundational “rules” we continue to follow—often without question. In conversation with Sean Martin and Marco Ciappelli for ITSPmagazine’s on-location event coverage, Moore breaks down where our security doctrines came from, why some became obsolete, and which ones still hold water.One standout example? The rule to “change your passwords every 30 days.” Moore explains how this outdated guidance—rooted in assumptions from the early 2000s when password sharing was rampant—led to predictable patterns and frustrated users. Today, the advice has flipped: focus on strong, unique passwords per service, stored securely via password managers.But this keynote isn’t just about passwords. Moore uses this lens to explore how many security “truths” were formed in response to technical limitations or outdated behaviors—things like shared network trust, brittle segmentation, and fragile authentication models. As technology matures, so too should the rules. Enter passkeys, hardware tokens, and enclave-based authentication. These aren’t just new tools—they’re a fundamental shift in where and how we anchor trust.Moore also calls out an uncomfortable truth: the very products we rely on to protect our systems—firewalls, endpoint managers, and security appliances—are now among the top vectors for breach, per Mandiant’s latest report. That revelation struck a chord with conference attendees, who appreciated Moore’s willingness to speak plainly about systemic security debt.He also discusses the inescapable vulnerabilities in AI agent flows, likening prompt injection attacks to the early days of cross-site scripting. The tech itself invites risk, he warns, and we’ll need new frameworks—not just tweaks to old ones—to manage what comes next.This conversation is a must-listen for anyone questioning whether our security playbooks are still fit for purpose—or simply carried forward by habit.___________GUEST:HD Moore, Founder and CEO of RunZero | On Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hdmoore/HOSTS:Sean Martin, Co-Founder, ITSPmagazine and Studio C60 | Website: https://www.seanmartin.comMarco Ciappelli, Co-Founder, ITSPmagazine and Studio C60 | Website: https://www.marcociappelli.comRESOURCES:Keynote: The Once and Future Rules of Cybersecurity: https://www.blackhat.com/sector/2025/briefings/schedule/#keynote-the-once-and-future-rules-of-cybersecurity-49596Learn more and catch more stories from our SecTor 2025 coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/cybersecurity-technology-society-events/sector-cybersecurity-conference-toronto-2025Mandiant M-Trends Breach Report: https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/m-trends-2025/OPM Data Breach Summary: https://oversight.house.gov/report/opm-data-breach-government-jeopardized-national-security-generation/Catch all of our event coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/technology-and-cybersecurity-conference-coverageWant to share an Event Briefing as part of our event coverage? Learn More 👉 https://itspm.ag/evtcovbrfWant Sean and Marco to be part of your event or conference? Let Us Know 👉 https://www.itspmagazine.com/contact-us___________KEYWORDS:hd moore, sean martin, marco ciappelli, metasploit, runzero, sector, password, breach, ai, passkeys, event coverage, on location, conference Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

⸻ Podcast: Redefining Society and Technologyhttps://redefiningsocietyandtechnologypodcast.com ______Title: AI Creativity Expert Reveals Why Machines Need More Freedom - Creative Machines: AI, Art & Us Book Interview | A Conversation with Author Maya Ackerman | Redefining Society And Technology Podcast With Marco Ciappelli______Guest: Maya Ackerman, PhD.Generative AI Pioneer | Author | Keynote SpeakerOn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mackerma/Website: http://www.maya-ackerman.com _____Short Introduction: Dr. Maya Ackerman, AI researcher and author of "Creative Machines: AI, Art, and Us," challenges our assumptions about artificial intelligence and creativity. She argues that ChatGPT is intentionally limited, that hallucinations are features not bugs, and that we must stop treating AI as an all-knowing oracle in our Hybrid Analog Digital Society._____Article Dr. Maya Ackerman is a pioneer in the generative AI industry, associate professor of Computer Science and Engineering at Santa Clara University, and co-founder/CEO of Wave AI, one of the earliest generative AI startup. Ackerman has been researching generative AI models for text, music and art since 2014, and an early advocate for human-centered generative AI, bringing awareness to the power of AI to profoundly elevate human creativity. Under her leadership as co-founder and CEO, WaveAI has emerged as a leader in musical AI, benefiting millions of artists and creators with their products LyricStudio and MelodyStudio.Dr. Ackerman's expertise and innovative vision have earned her numerous accolades, including being named a "Woman of Influence" by the Silicon Valley Business Journal. She is a regular feature in prestigious media outlets and has spoken on notable stages around the world, such as the United Nations, IBM Research, and Stanford University. Her insights into the convergence of AI and creativity are shaping the future of both technology and music. A University of Waterloo PhD and Caltech Postdoc, her unique blend of scholarly rigor and entrepreneurial acumen makes her a sought-after voice in discussions about the practical and ethical implications of AI in our rapidly evolving digital world. Host: Marco CiappelliCo-Founder & CMO @ITSPmagazine | Master Degree in Political Science - Sociology of Communication l Branding & Marketing Advisor | Journalist | Writer | Podcast Host | #Technology #Cybersecurity #Society 🌎 LAX 🛸 FLR 🌍WebSite: https://marcociappelli.comOn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marco-ciappelli/_____________________________This Episode’s SponsorsBlackCloak provides concierge cybersecurity protection to corporate executives and high-net-worth individuals to protect against hacking, reputational loss, financial loss, and the impacts of a corporate data breach.BlackCloak: https://itspm.ag/itspbcweb_____________________________⸻ Podcast Summary ⸻ I had one of those conversations that makes you question everything you thought you knew about democracy, governance, and the future of human society. Eli Lopian, founder of TypeMock and author of the provocative book on AI-cracy, walked me through what might be the most intriguing political theory I've encountered in years.⸻ Article ⸻ We talk about AI hallucinations like they're bugs that need fixing. Glitches in the matrix. Errors to be eliminated. But what if we've got it completely backward?Dr. Maya Ackerman sat in front of her piano—a detail that matters more than you'd think—and told me something that made me question everything I thought I understood about artificial intelligence and creativity. The AI we use every day, the ChatGPT that millions rely on for everything from writing emails to generating ideas, is intentionally held back from being truly creative.Let that sink in for a moment. ChatGPT, the tool millions use daily, is designed to be convergent rather than divergent. It's built to replace search engines, to give us "correct" answers, to be an all-knowing oracle. And that's exactly the problem.Maya's journey into this field began ten years ago, long before generative AI became the buzzword du jour. Back in 2015, she made what her employer called a "risky decision"—switching her research focus to computational creativity, the academic precursor to what we now call generative AI. By 2017, she'd launched one of the earliest generative AI startups, WaveAI, helping people write songs. Investors told her the whole direction didn't make sense. Then came late 2022, and suddenly everyone understood.What fascinates me about Maya's perspective is how she frames AI as humanity's collective consciousness made manifest. We wrote, we created the printing press, we built the internet, we filled it with our knowledge and our forums and our social media—and then we created a functioning brain from it. As she puts it, we can now talk with humanity's collective consciousness, including what Carl Jung called the collective shadow—both the brilliance and the biases.This is where our c

In this issue of the Future of Cyber newsletter, Sean Martin digs into a topic that’s quietly reshaping how software gets built—and how it breaks: the rise of AI-powered coding tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and GitHub Copilot.These tools promise speed, efficiency, and reduced boilerplate—but what are the hidden trade-offs? What happens when the tools go offline, or when the systems built through them are so abstracted that even the engineers maintaining them don’t fully understand what they’re working with?Drawing from conversations across the cybersecurity, legal, and developer communities—including a recent legal tech conference where law firms are empowering attorneys to “vibe code” internal tools—this article doesn’t take a hard stance. Instead, it raises urgent questions:Are we creating shadow logic no one can trace?Do developers still understand the systems they’re shipping?What happens when incident response teams face AI-generated code with no documentation?Are AI-generated systems introducing silent fragility into critical infrastructure?The piece also highlights insights from a recent podcast conversation with security architect Izar Tarandach, who compares AI coding to junior development: fast and functional, but in need of serious oversight. He warns that organizations rushing to automate development may be building brittle systems on shaky foundations, especially when security practices are assumed rather than applied.This is not a fear-driven screed or a rejection of AI. Rather, it’s a call to assess new dependencies, rethink development accountability, and start building contingency plans before outages, hallucinations, or misconfigurations force the issue.If you’re a CISO, developer, architect, risk manager—or anyone involved in software delivery or security—this article is designed to make you pause, think, and ideally, respond.🔍 What’s your take? Is your team building with AI? Are you tracking how it’s being used—and what might happen when it’s not available?📖 Read the full companion article in the Future of Cybersecurity newsletter for deeper insights: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/when-coders-dont-code-what-happens-ai-coding-tools-go-martin-cissp-ychqe________This story represents the results of an interactive collaboration between Human Cognition and Artificial Intelligence.Enjoy, think, share with others, and subscribe to "The Future of Cybersecurity" newsletter on LinkedIn: https://itspm.ag/future-of-cybersecuritySincerely, Sean Martin and TAPE9________Sean Martin is a life-long musician and the host of the Music Evolves Podcast; a career technologist, cybersecurity professional, and host of the Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast; and is also the co-host of both the Random and Unscripted Podcast and On Location Event Coverage Podcast. These shows are all part of ITSPmagazine—which he co-founded with his good friend Marco Ciappelli, to explore and discuss topics at The Intersection of Technology, Cybersecurity, and Society.™️Want to connect with Sean and Marco On Location at an event or conference near you? See where they will be next: https://www.itspmagazine.com/on-locationTo learn more about Sean, visit his personal website. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

⸻ Podcast: Redefining Society and Technologyhttps://redefiningsocietyandtechnologypodcast.com _____ Newsletter: Musing On Society And Technology https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/musing-on-society-technology-7079849705156870144/_____ Watch on Youtube: https://youtu.be/nFn6CcXKMM0_____ My Website: https://www.marcociappelli.com_____________________________This Episode’s SponsorsBlackCloak provides concierge cybersecurity protection to corporate executives and high-net-worth individuals to protect against hacking, reputational loss, financial loss, and the impacts of a corporate data breach.BlackCloak: https://itspm.ag/itspbcweb_____________________________A Musing On Society & Technology Newsletter Written By Marco Ciappelli | Read by TAPE3A new transmission from Musing On Society and Technology Newsletter, by Marco CiappelliReflections from Our Hybrid Analog-Digital SocietyFor years on the Redefining Society and Technology Podcast, I've explored a central premise: we live in a hybrid -digital society where the line between physical and virtual has dissolved into something more complex, more nuanced, and infinitely more human than we often acknowledge.Introducing a New Series: Analog Minds in a Digital World:Reflections from Our Hybrid Analog-Digital SocietyPart II: Lo-Fi Music and the Art of Imperfection — When Technical Limitations Become Creative LiberationI've been testing small speakers lately. Nothing fancy—just little desktop units that cost less than a decent dinner. As I cycled through different genres, something unexpected happened. Classical felt lifeless, missing all its dynamic range. Rock came across harsh and tinny. Jazz lost its warmth and depth. But lo-fi? Lo-fi sounded... perfect.Those deliberate imperfections—the vinyl crackle, the muffled highs, the compressed dynamics—suddenly made sense on equipment that couldn't reproduce perfection anyway. The aesthetic limitations of the music matched the technical limitations of the speakers. It was like discovering that some songs were accidentally designed for constraints I never knew existed.This moment sparked a bigger realization about how we navigate our hybrid analog-digital world: sometimes our most profound innovations emerge not from perfection, but from embracing limitations as features.Lo-fi wasn't born in boardrooms or designed by committees. It emerged from bedrooms, garages, and basement studios where young musicians couldn't afford professional equipment. The 4-track cassette recorder—that humble Portastudio that let you layer instruments onto regular cassette tapes for a fraction of what professional studio time cost—became an instrument of democratic creativity. Suddenly, anyone could record music at home. Sure, it would sound "imperfect" by industry standards, but that imperfection carried something the polished recordings lacked: authenticity.The Velvet Underground recorded on cheap equipment and made it sound revolutionary—so revolutionary that, as the saying goes, they didn't sell many records, but everyone who bought one started a band. Pavement turned bedroom recording into art. Beck brought lo-fi to the mainstream with "Mellow Gold." These weren't artists settling for less—they were discovering that constraints could breed creativity in ways unlimited resources never could.Today, in our age of infinite digital possibility, we see a curious phenomenon: young creators deliberately adding analog imperfections to their perfectly digital recordings. They're simulating tape hiss, vinyl scratches, and tube saturation using software plugins. We have the technology to create flawless audio, yet we choose to add flaws back in.What does this tell us about our relationship with technology and authenticity?There's something deeply human about working within constraints. Twitter's original 140-character limit didn't stifle creativity—it created an entirely new form of expression. Instagram's square format—a deliberate homage to Polaroid's instant film—forced photographers to think differently about composition. Think about that for a moment: Polaroid's square format was originally a technical limitation of instant film chemistry and optics, yet it became so aesthetically powerful that decades later, a digital platform with infinite formatting possibilities chose to recreate that constraint. Even more, Instagram added filters that simulated the color shifts, light leaks, and imperfections of analog film. We had achieved perfect digital reproduction, and immediately started adding back the "flaws" of the technology we'd left behind.The same pattern appears in video: Super 8 film gave you exactly 3 minutes and 12 seconds per cartridge at standard speed—grainy, saturated, light-leaked footage that forced filmmakers to be economical with every shot. Today, TikTok recreates that brevity digitally, spawning a generation of micro-storytellers who've mastered the art of the ultra-short form, sometimes even adding Super 8-style filters to their

⬥GUEST⬥Pieter VanIperen, CISO and CIO of AlphaSense | On Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pietervaniperen/⬥HOST⬥Host: Sean Martin, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine and Host of Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/imsmartin/ | Website: https://www.seanmartin.com⬥EPISODE NOTES⬥Real-World Principles for Real-World Security: A Conversation with Pieter VanIperenPieter VanIperen, the Chief Information Security and Technology Officer at AlphaSense, joins Sean Martin for a no-nonsense conversation that strips away the noise around cybersecurity leadership. With experience spanning media, fintech, healthcare, and SaaS—including roles at Salesforce, Disney, Fox, and Clear—Pieter brings a rare clarity to what actually works in building and running a security program that serves the business.He shares why being “comfortable being uncomfortable” is an essential trait for today’s security leaders—not just reacting to incidents, but thriving in ambiguity. That distinction matters, especially when every new technology trend, vendor pitch, or policy update introduces more complexity than clarity. Pieter encourages CISOs to lead by knowing when to go deep and when to zoom out, especially in areas like compliance, AI, and IT operations where leadership must translate risks into outcomes the business cares about.One of the strongest points he makes is around threat intelligence: it must be contextual. “Generic threat intel is an oxymoron,” he argues, pointing out how the volume of tools and alerts often distracts from actual risks. Instead, Pieter advocates for simplifying based on principles like ownership, real impact, and operational context. If a tool hasn’t been turned on for two months and no one noticed, he says, “do you even need it?”The episode also offers frank insight into vendor relationships. Pieter calls out the harm in trying to “tell a CISO what problems they have” rather than listening. He explains why true partnerships are based on trust, humility, and a long-term commitment—not transactional sales quotas. “If you disappear when I need you most, you’re not part of the solution,” he says.For CISOs and vendors alike, this episode is packed with perspective you can’t Google. Tune in to challenge your assumptions—and maybe your entire security stack.⬥SPONSORS⬥ThreatLocker: https://itspm.ag/threatlocker-r974⬥RESOURCES⬥⬥ADDITIONAL INFORMATION⬥✨ More Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast: 🎧 https://www.seanmartin.com/redefining-cybersecurity-podcastRedefining CyberSecurity Podcast on YouTube:📺 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnYu0psdcllS9aVGdiakVss9u7xgYDKYq📝 The Future of Cybersecurity Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7108625890296614912/Interested in sponsoring this show with a podcast ad placement? Learn more:👉 https://itspm.ag/podadplc⬥KEYWORDS⬥ciso, appsec, threatintel, trust, ai, vendors, bloat, leadership, tools, risk, redefining cybersecurity, cybersecurity podcast, redefining cybersecurity podcast Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

SBOMs were supposed to be the ingredient label for software—bringing transparency, faster response, and stronger trust. But reality shows otherwise. Fewer than 1% of GitHub projects have policy-driven SBOMs. Only 15% of developer SBOM questions get answered. And while 86% of EU firms claim supply chain policies, just 47% actually fund them.So why do SBOMs stall as compliance artifacts instead of risk-reduction tools? And what happens when they do work?In this episode of AppSec Contradictions, Sean Martin examines:Why SBOM adoption is laggingThe cost of static SBOMs for developers, AppSec teams, and business leadersReal-world examples where SBOMs deliver measurable valueHow AISBOMs are extending transparency into AI models and dataCatch the full companion article in the Future of Cybersecurity newsletter for deeper analysis and more research.👉 What’s your experience with SBOMs? Have they helped reduce risk in your organization—or do they sit on the shelf as compliance paperwork? How are you bridging the gap between transparency and real security outcomes? Share your take—we’d love to hear your story.📖 Read the full companion article in the Future of Cybersecurity newsletter for deeper insights: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sboms-application-security-from-compliance-trophy-sean-martin-cissp-qisse🔔 Subscribe to stay updated on the full AppSec Contradictions video series and more perspectives on the future of cybersecurity: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnYu0psdcllRWnImF5iRnO_10eLnPFWi_________This story represents the results of an interactive collaboration between Human Cognition and Artificial Intelligence.Enjoy, think, share with others, and subscribe to "The Future of Cybersecurity" newsletter on LinkedIn: https://itspm.ag/future-of-cybersecuritySincerely, Sean Martin and TAPE9________Sean Martin is a life-long musician and the host of the Music Evolves Podcast; a career technologist, cybersecurity professional, and host of the Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast; and is also the co-host of both the Random and Unscripted Podcast and On Location Event Coverage Podcast. These shows are all part of ITSPmagazine—which he co-founded with his good friend Marco Ciappelli, to explore and discuss topics at The Intersection of Technology, Cybersecurity, and Society.™️Want to connect with Sean and Marco On Location at an event or conference near you? See where they will be next: https://www.itspmagazine.com/on-locationTo learn more about Sean, visit his personal website. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

⸻ Podcast: Redefining Society and Technologyhttps://redefiningsocietyandtechnologypodcast.com ______Title: Tech Entrepreneur and Author's AI Prediction - The Last Book Written by a Human Interview | A Conversation with Jeff Burningham | Redefining Society And Technology Podcast With Marco Ciappelli______Guest: Eli LopianFounder of Typemock Ltd | Author of AIcracy: Beyond Democracy | AI & Governance Thought LeaderOn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elilopian/Book: https://aicracy.aiHost: Marco CiappelliCo-Founder & CMO @ITSPmagazine | Master Degree in Political Science - Sociology of Communication l Branding & Marketing Advisor | Journalist | Writer | Podcast Host | #Technology #Cybersecurity #Society 🌎 LAX 🛸 FLR 🌍WebSite: https://marcociappelli.comOn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marco-ciappelli/_____________________________This Episode’s SponsorsBlackCloak provides concierge cybersecurity protection to corporate executives and high-net-worth individuals to protect against hacking, reputational loss, financial loss, and the impacts of a corporate data breach.BlackCloak: https://itspm.ag/itspbcweb_____________________________⸻ Podcast Summary ⸻ I had one of those conversations that makes you question everything you thought you knew about democracy, governance, and the future of human society. Eli Lopian, founder of TypeMock and author of the provocative book on AI-cracy, walked me through what might be the most intriguing political theory I've encountered in years.⸻ Article ⸻ Technology entrepreneur Eli Lopian joins Marco to explore "AI-cracy" - a revolutionary governance model where artificial intelligence writes laws based on abundance metrics while humans retain judgment. This fascinating conversation examines how we might transition from broken democratic systems to AI-assisted governance in our evolving Hybrid Analog Digital Society.Picture this scenario: you're sitting in a pub with friends, listening to them argue about which political rally to attend, and suddenly you realize something profound. As Eli told me, it's like watching people fight over which side of the train to sit on while the train itself is heading in completely the wrong direction. That metaphor perfectly captures where we are with democracy today.Eli's background fascinates me - breaking free from a religious upbringing at 16, building a successful AI startup for the past decade, and now proposing something that sounds like science fiction but feels increasingly inevitable. His central premise stopped me in my tracks: no human being should be allowed to write laws anymore. Only AI should create legislation, guided by what he calls an "abundance metric" - essentially optimizing for human happiness, freedom, and societal wellbeing.But here's where it gets really interesting. Eli isn't proposing we hand over control to a single AI overlord. Instead, he envisions three separate AI systems - one controlled by the government, one by the opposition, and one by an NGO - all working with the same data but operated by different groups. They must reach identical conclusions for any law to proceed. If they disagree, human experts investigate why.What struck me most was how this could actually restore direct democracy. In ancient Athens, every citizen participated in the polis. We can't do that with hundreds of millions of people, but AI could process everyone's input instantly. Imagine submitting your policy ideas directly to an AI system that responds within hours, explaining why your suggestion would or wouldn't improve societal abundance. It's like having the Athenian square scaled to modern complexity.The safeguards Eli proposes reveal his deep understanding of human nature. No AI can judge humans - that remains strictly a human responsibility. Citizens don't vote for charismatic politicians anymore; they vote for actual policies. Every three years, people choose their preferred policies. Every decade, they set ambitious collective goals - cure cancer, reach Mars, whatever captures society's imagination.Living in our Hybrid Analog Digital Society, we already see AI creeping into governance. Lawyers use AI, governments employ algorithms for efficiency, and citizens increasingly turn to ChatGPT for advice they once sought from doctors or therapists. Eli's insight is that we're heading toward AI governance whether we plan it or not - so why not design it properly from the start?His most compelling point addresses a fear I share: that AI lacks creativity. Eli argues this is actually a feature, not a bug. AI generates rather than truly creates. The creative spark - proposing that universal basic income experiment, suggesting we test new social policies, imagining those decade-long goals - that remains uniquely human. AI simply processes our creativity faster and more fairly than our current broken systems.The privacy question loomed large in our conversation. Eli proposes a brilliant separation: your personal AI mentor (helping y

When we talk about AI at cybersecurity conferences these days, one term is impossible to ignore: agentic AI. But behind the excitement around AI-driven productivity and autonomous workflows lies an unresolved—and increasingly urgent—security issue: identity.In this episode, Sean Martin and Marco Ciappelli speak with Cristin Flynn Goodwin, keynote speaker at SecTor 2025, about the intersection of AI agents, identity management, and legal risk. Drawing from decades at the center of major security incidents—most recently as the head cybersecurity lawyer at Microsoft—Cristin frames today’s AI hype within a longstanding identity crisis that organizations still haven’t solved.Why It Matters NowAgentic AI changes the game. AI agents can act independently, replicate themselves, and disappear in seconds. That’s great for automation—but terrifying for risk teams. Cristin flags the pressing need to identify and authenticate these ephemeral agents. Should they be digitally signed? Should there be a new standard body managing agent identities? Right now, we don’t know.Meanwhile, attackers are already adapting. AI tools are being used to create flawless phishing emails, spoofed banking agents, and convincing digital personas. Add that to the fact that many consumers and companies still haven’t implemented strong MFA, and the risk multiplier becomes clear.The Legal ViewFrom a legal standpoint, Cristin emphasizes how regulations like New York’s DFS Cybersecurity Regulation are putting pressure on CISOs to tighten IAM controls. But what about individuals? “It’s an unfair fight,” she says—no consumer can outpace a nation-state attacker armed with AI tooling.This keynote preview also calls attention to shadow AI agents: tools employees may create outside the control of IT or security. As Cristin warns, they could become “offensive digital insiders”—another dimension of the insider threat amplified by AI.Looking AheadThis is a must-listen episode for CISOs, security architects, policymakers, and anyone thinking about AI safety and digital trust. From the potential need for real-time, verifiable agent credentials to the looming collision of agentic AI with quantum computing, this conversation kicks off SecTor 2025 with urgency and clarity.Catch the full episode now, and don’t miss Cristin’s keynote on October 1.___________Guest:Cristin Flynn Goodwin, Senior Consultant, Good Harbor Security Risk Management | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cristin-flynn-goodwin-24359b4/Hosts:Sean Martin, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine | Website: https://www.seanmartin.comMarco Ciappelli, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine | Website: https://www.marcociappelli.com___________Episode SponsorsThreatLocker: https://itspm.ag/threatlocker-r974BlackCloak: https://itspm.ag/itspbcweb___________ResourcesKeynote: Agentic AI and Identity: The Biggest Problem We're Not Solving: https://www.blackhat.com/sector/2025/briefings/schedule/#keynote-agentic-ai-and-identity-the-biggest-problem-were-not-solving-49591Learn more and catch more stories from our SecTor 2025 coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/cybersecurity-technology-society-events/sector-cybersecurity-conference-toronto-2025New York Department of Financial Services Cybersecurity Regulation: https://www.dfs.ny.gov/industry_guidance/cybersecurityGood Harbor Security Risk Management (Richard Clarke’s firm): https://www.goodharbor.net/Catch all of our event coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/technology-and-cybersecurity-conference-coverageWant to share an Event Briefing as part of our event coverage? Learn More 👉 https://itspm.ag/evtcovbrfWant Sean and Marco to be part of your event or conference? Let Us Know 👉 https://www.itspmagazine.com/contact-us___________KEYWORDScristin flynn goodwin, sean martin, marco ciappelli, sector, microsoft, ai, identity, agents, ciso, quantum, event coverage, on location, conference Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The cybersecurity industry operates on a fundamental misconception: that consumers want to understand and manage their digital security. After 17 years at F-Secure and extensive consumer research, Dmitri Vellikok has reached a different conclusion—people simply want security problems to disappear without their involvement.This insight has driven F-Secure's transformation from traditional endpoint protection to what Vellikok calls "embedded ecosystem security." The company, which holds 55% global market share in operator-delivered consumer security, has moved beyond the conventional model of asking consumers to install and manage security software.F-Secure's approach centers on embedding security capabilities directly into applications and services consumers already use. Rather than expecting people to download separate security software, the company partners with telecom operators, insurance companies, and financial institutions to integrate protection into existing customer touchpoints.This embedded strategy addresses what Vellikok identifies as cybersecurity's biggest challenge: activation and engagement. Traditional security solutions fail when consumers don't install them, don't configure them properly, or abandon them due to complexity. By placing security within existing applications, F-Secure automatically reaches more consumers while reducing friction.The company's research reveals the extent of consumer overconfidence in digital security. Seventy percent of people believe they can easily spot scams, yet 43% of that same group admits to having been scammed. This disconnect between perception and reality drives F-Secure's focus on proactive, invisible protection rather than relying on consumer vigilance.Central to this approach is what F-Secure calls the "scam kill chain"—a framework for protecting consumers at every stage of fraudulent attempts. The company analyzes scam workflows to identify intervention points, from initial contact through trust-building phases to final exploitation. This comprehensive view enables multi-layered protection that doesn't depend on consumers recognizing threats.F-Secure's partnership with telecom operators provides unique advantages in this model. Operators see network traffic, website visits, SMS messages, and communication patterns, giving them visibility into threat landscapes that individual security solutions cannot match. However, operators typically don't communicate their protective actions to customers, creating an opportunity for F-Secure to bridge this gap.The company combines operator-level data with device-level protection and user interface elements that inform consumers about threats blocked on their behalf. This creates what Vellikok describes as a "protective ring" around users' digital lives while maintaining transparency about security actions taken.Artificial intelligence and machine learning have been core to F-Secure's operations for over a decade, but recent advances enable more sophisticated predictive capabilities. The company processes massive data volumes to identify patterns and predict threats before they materialize. Vellikok estimates that within 18 to 24 months, F-Secure will be able to warn consumers three days in advance about likely scam attempts.This predictive approach represents a fundamental shift from reactive security to proactive protection. Instead of waiting for threats to appear and then blocking them, the system identifies risk patterns and steers users away from dangerous situations before threats fully develop.The AI integration also serves as a translation layer between technical security events and consumer-friendly communications. Rather than presenting technical alerts about blocked URLs or filtered emails, the system provides context about threats in language consumers can understand and act upon.F-Secure's evolution reflects broader industry recognition that consumer cybersecurity requires different approaches than enterprise security. While businesses can mandate security training and complex protocols, consumers operate in environments where convenience and simplicity drive adoption. The embedded security model acknowledges this reality while maintaining protection effectiveness.The company's global reach through operator partnerships positions it to address cybersecurity as a systemic challenge rather than an individual consumer problem. By aggregating threat data across millions of users and multiple communication channels, F-Secure creates network effects that improve protection for all users as the system learns from new attack patterns.Looking forward, Vellikok anticipates cybersecurity challenges will continue evolving in waves. Current focus on scam protection will likely shift to AI-driven threats, followed by quantum computing challenges. The embedded security model provides a framework for adapting to these changes while maintaining consumer protection without requiring users to understand or manage ev

⬥GUEST⬥Aunshul Rege, Director at The CARE Lab at Temple University | On Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aunshul-rege-26526b59/⬥CO-HOST⬥Julie Haney, Computer scientist and Human-Centered Cybersecurity Program Lead, National Institute of Standards and Technology | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-haney-037449119/⬥HOST⬥Host: Sean Martin, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine and Host of Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/imsmartin/ | Website: https://www.seanmartin.com⬥EPISODE NOTES⬥Cybersecurity Is for Everyone — If We Teach It That WayCybersecurity impacts us all, yet most people still see it as a tech-centric domain reserved for experts in computer science or IT. Dr. Aunshul Rege, Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Temple University, challenges that perception through her research, outreach, and education programs — all grounded in community, empathy, and human behavior.In this episode, Dr. Rege joins Sean Martin and co-host Julie Haney to share her multi-layered approach to cybersecurity awareness and education. Drawing from her unique background that spans computer science and criminology, she explains how understanding human behavior is critical to understanding and addressing digital risk.One powerful initiative she describes brings university students into the community to teach cyber hygiene to seniors — a demographic often left out of traditional training programs. These student-led sessions focus on practical topics like scams and password safety, delivered in clear, respectful, and engaging ways. The result? Not just education, but trust-building, conversation, and long-term community engagement.Dr. Rege also leads interdisciplinary social engineering competitions that invite students from diverse academic backgrounds — including theater, nursing, business, and criminal justice — to explore real-world cyber scenarios. These events prove that you don’t need to code to contribute meaningfully to cybersecurity. You just need curiosity, communication skills, and a willingness to learn.Looking ahead, Temple University is launching a new Bachelor of Arts in Cybersecurity and Human Behavior — a program that weaves in community engagement, liberal arts, and applied practice to prepare students for real-world roles beyond traditional technical paths.If you’re a security leader looking to improve awareness programs, a university educator shaping the next generation, or someone simply curious about where you fit in the cyber puzzle, this episode offers a fresh perspective: cybersecurity works best when it’s human-first.⬥SPONSORS⬥ThreatLocker: https://itspm.ag/threatlocker-r974⬥RESOURCES⬥Dr. Aunshul Rege is an Associate Professor here, and much of her work is conducted under this department: https://liberalarts.temple.edu/academics/departments-and-programs/criminal-justiceTemple Digital Equity Plan (2022): https://www.phila.gov/media/20220412162153/Philadelphia-Digital-Equity-Plan-FINAL.pdfTemple University Digital Equity Center / Digital Access Center: https://news.temple.edu/news/2022-12-06/temple-launches-digital-equity-center-north-philadelphiaNICE Cybersecurity Workforce Framework: https://www.nist.gov/itl/applied-cybersecurity/nice/nice-framework-resource-center⬥ADDITIONAL INFORMATION⬥✨ More Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast: 🎧 https://www.seanmartin.com/redefining-cybersecurity-podcastRedefining CyberSecurity Podcast on YouTube:📺 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnYu0psdcllS9aVGdiakVss9u7xgYDKYq📝 The Future of Cybersecurity Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7108625890296614912/Interested in sponsoring this show with a podcast ad placement? Learn more:👉 https://www.itspmagazine.com/purchase-programs⬥KEYWORDS⬥sean martin, julie haney, aunshul rege, temple university, cybersecurity literacy, social engineering, cyber hygiene, human behavior, community engagement, cybersecurity education, redefining cybersecurity, cybersecurity podcast, redefining cybersecurity podcast Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A Mystery in FlorenceIn Tuscany there is so much magic: hills decorated with olive trees, vineyards and cypresses, bell towers ringing everywhere, hidden gardens, and of course enchanted cities, full of history and beauty, where famous artists have created marvellous works of art.In this tale we find ourselves in the city of Florence, where magic abounds and legends hide in every corner.A river called the Arno runs through it; and amongst the many bridges there is one that quite rightly is a bit more famous than the others: the Ponte Vecchio. In those suspended houses no one lives anymore. Every day it is full of tourists who photograph it and come to visit from all over the world, but many, many years ago on this bridge there were butchers, fishmongers and tanners as if it were a market, a square suspended over the Arno and daily life was very different from today.At the time of this story the shops were all jewellery stores owned by master goldsmiths, who lived there, worked and sold gold jewellery and precious items of the highest quality. It was one of the hearts of the city where the Florentines of the time would meet and stop to chat whilst they came and went from one side of the river to the other. Even the children spent their days having fun playing and running from one side to the other undisturbed.At this point you must know that for some days small thefts had been occurring in the artisans' shops. Gold and precious items disappeared as if stolen by the wind, silently and by surprise, without leaving a trace. Who knows who knows? Who could be the culprit?The goldsmiths gathered together, after closing their shops, right there on the bridge."But what on earth is happening?" said one."Well, if only we knew..." said another."And we can't go on like this, looking like fools!"Bernardo, one of the goldsmiths, said: "Granted I'm a bit absent-minded, but I'm certainly not blind enough not to see if gold is missing from my shop."And off they went asking questions and interrogating each other to try to find an explanation for these thefts, discover the thief and perhaps recover what was stolen.In short, it had been weeks now that gold filings from the working of gold and various precious objects had been disappearing from the shops — and all this was happening under everyone's eyes but no one had seen anything.Who to blame if not those mischievous rascals who enjoyed playing football on the bridge! Between little matches, laughter, running, various games and hide-and-seek, who knows if one of them hadn't started stealing here and there.More days passed and more gold had vanished into thin air. The goldsmiths, tired of this business, came out onto the bridge and shouted loudly all together: "Now we've really had enough and it's time to put an end to it! Let's catch the thief!"Even Giulio the baker came out to the doorway of his shop, on the left, at the end of the bridge, and although he hadn't understood precisely what was happening, he showed everyone his flour-covered hands shouting: "I've got nothing to do with it, I swear! My hands are covered in dough only because I'm always preparing focaccia to bake in the oven."And saying this he joined the others shouting: "Let's catch the thief red-handed before that sack becomes one of flour!"In that commotion, Lapo, a very clever and curious boy, son of the goldsmith Bernardo who was friends with everyone and played together with the other children on the bridge, after reflecting thought: "There's something that doesn't add up: we children don't steal, whose fault can it be?"So Lapo decided to investigate on his own. Because as his grandfather always told him: "one thing done is worth more than a hundred to do" and then he would add that "if you do it yourself you do for three."So, without much ado, the following evening he organised himself, getting hold of a magnifying glass, a notebook with pencil to take notes and a lantern that would accompany him in the dark. The latter he held tight with a slightly trembling hand, but there was no hesitation — the situation wouldn't resolve itself.At dusk, he set off from the Ponte Vecchio, where he lived with his father above the shop, towards the column in Piazza Santa Trinità.Up there was, and still is, the Statue of Justice that towered so high as to touch the sky. The journey wasn't long, but that evening it took him longer than usual, because he observed everything with attention and curiosity. He looked right, left, in the narrow streets, beyond the parapet of the Lungarno and if he saw a stone he moved that too: "you never know where you might find clues" he thought.He had heard it said that the column and the statue of Justice were magical and full of secrets. But the most amazing thing was that from its summit, where indeed the statue stood, one could see what was happening at every point in the city — as we know justice sees and knows everything.Having arrived in Piazza Santa Trinita, he gave a great sigh, too

The decision to leave a successful corporate position and start a company requires more than just identifying a market opportunity. For Shankar Somasundaram, it required witnessing firsthand how traditional cybersecurity approaches consistently failed in the environments that matter most to society: hospitals, manufacturing plants, power facilities, and critical infrastructure.Somasundaram's path to founding Asimily began with diverse technical experience spanning telecommunications and early machine learning development. This foundation proved essential when he transitioned to cybersecurity, eventually building and growing the IoT security division at a major enterprise security company.During his corporate tenure, Somasundaram gained direct exposure to security challenges across healthcare systems, industrial facilities, utilities, manufacturing plants, and oil and gas operations. Each vertical revealed the same fundamental problem: existing security solutions were designed for traditional IT environments where confidentiality and integrity took precedence, but operational technology environments operated under entirely different rules.The mismatch became clear through everyday operational realities. Hospital ultrasound machines couldn't be taken offline during procedures for security updates. Manufacturing production lines couldn't be rebooted for patches without scheduling expensive downtime. Power plant control systems required continuous availability to serve communities. These environments prioritized operational continuity above traditional security controls.Beyond technical challenges, Somasundaram observed a persistent communication gap between security and operations teams. IT security professionals spoke in terms of vulnerabilities and patch management. Operations teams focused on uptime, safety protocols, and production schedules. Neither group had effective frameworks for translating their concerns into language the other could understand and act upon.This divide created frustration for Chief Security Officers who understood risks existed but lacked clear paths to mitigation that wouldn't disrupt critical business operations. Organizations could identify thousands of vulnerabilities across their operational technology environments, but struggled to prioritize which issues actually posed meaningful risks given their specific operational contexts.Somasundaram recognized an opportunity to approach this problem differently. Rather than building another vulnerability scanner or forcing operational environments to conform to IT security models, he envisioned a platform that would provide contextual risk analysis and actionable mitigation strategies tailored to operational requirements.The decision to leave corporate security and start Asimily wasn't impulsive. Somasundaram had previous entrepreneurial experience and understood the startup process. He waited for the right convergence of market need, personal readiness, and strategic opportunity. When corporate priorities shifted through acquisitions, the conditions aligned for his departure.Asimily's founding mission centered on bridging the gap between operational technology and information technology teams. The company wouldn't just build another security tool; it would create a translation layer enabling different organizational departments to collaborate effectively on risk reduction.This approach required understanding multiple stakeholder perspectives within client organizations. Sometimes the primary user would be a Chief Information Security Officer. Other times, it might be a manufacturing operations head managing production floors, or a clinical operations director in healthcare. The platform needed to serve all these perspectives while maintaining technical depth.Somasundaram's product engineering background informed this multi-stakeholder approach. His experience with complex system integration—from telecommunications infrastructure to machine learning algorithms—provided insight into how security platforms could integrate with existing IT infrastructure while addressing operational technology requirements.The vision extended beyond traditional vulnerability management to comprehensive risk analysis considering operational context, business impact, and regulatory requirements. Rather than treating all vulnerabilities equally, Asimily would analyze each device within its specific environment and use case, providing organizations with actionable intelligence for informed decision-making.Somasundaram's entrepreneurial journey illustrates how diverse technical experience, industry knowledge, and strategic timing converge to address complex market problems. His transition from corporate executive to startup founder demonstrates how deep industry exposure can reveal opportunities to solve problems that established players might overlook or underestimate.Today, as healthcare systems, manufacturing facilities, and critical infrastructure become i

Threat modeling is often called the foundation of secure software design—anticipating attackers, uncovering flaws, and embedding resilience before a single line of code is written. But does it really work in practice?In this episode of AppSec Contradictions, Sean Martin explores why threat modeling so often fails to deliver:It’s treated as a one-time exercise, not a continuous processResearch shows teams who put risk first discover 2x more high-priority threatsYet fewer than 4 in 10 organizations use systematic threat modeling at scaleDrawing on insights from SANS, Forrester, and Gartner, Sean breaks down the gap between theory and reality—and why evolving our processes, not just our models, is the only path forward.👉 What’s your take? Share your experience with threat modeling in application security in the comments below. Is your organization able to integrate threat modeling into everyday work, or does it remain a one-off exercise? What changes to process or culture would make it valuable and visible across teams?📖 Read the full companion article in the Future of Cybersecurity newsletter for deeper insights: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/problem-threat-modeling-application-security-too-slow-martin-cissp-8n5ye/🔔 Subscribe to stay updated on the full AppSec Contradictions video series and more perspectives on the future of cybersecurity: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnYu0psdcllRWnImF5iRnO_10eLnPFWi_________This story represents the results of an interactive collaboration between Human Cognition and Artificial Intelligence.Enjoy, think, share with others, and subscribe to "The Future of Cybersecurity" newsletter on LinkedIn: https://itspm.ag/future-of-cybersecuritySincerely, Sean Martin and TAPE9________Sean Martin is a life-long musician and the host of the Music Evolves Podcast; a career technologist, cybersecurity professional, and host of the Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast; and is also the co-host of both the Random and Unscripted Podcast and On Location Event Coverage Podcast. These shows are all part of ITSPmagazine—which he co-founded with his good friend Marco Ciappelli, to explore and discuss topics at The Intersection of Technology, Cybersecurity, and Society.™️Want to connect with Sean and Marco On Location at an event or conference near you? See where they will be next: https://www.itspmagazine.com/on-locationTo learn more about Sean, visit his personal website. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

AI is everywhere in application security today — but instead of fixing the problem of false positives, it often makes the noise worse. In this first episode of AppSec Contradictions, Sean Martin explores why AI in application security is failing to deliver on its promises.False positives dominate AppSec programs, with analysts wasting time on irrelevant alerts, developers struggling with insecure AI-written code, and business leaders watching ROI erode. Industry experts like Forrester and Gartner warn that without strong governance, AI risks amplifying chaos instead of clarifying risk.This episode breaks down:• Why 70% of analyst time is wasted on false positives• How AI-generated code introduces new security risks• What “alert fatigue” means for developers, security teams, and business leaders• Why automating bad processes creates more noise, not less 👉 What’s your take? Share your experience with AI in security in the comments below. Has AI helped reduce noise — or only made things harder? 📖 Read the full companion article in the Future of Cybersecurity newsletter for deeper insights: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ai-application-security-why-false-positives-still-sean-martin-cissp-jb8zc/🔔 Subscribe to stay updated on the full AppSec Contradictions video series and more perspectives on the future of cybersecurity: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnYu0psdcllRWnImF5iRnO_10eLnPFWi_________This story represents the results of an interactive collaboration between Human Cognition and Artificial Intelligence.Enjoy, think, share with others, and subscribe to "The Future of Cybersecurity" newsletter on LinkedIn: https://itspm.ag/future-of-cybersecuritySincerely, Sean Martin and TAPE9________Sean Martin is a life-long musician and the host of the Music Evolves Podcast; a career technologist, cybersecurity professional, and host of the Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast; and is also the co-host of both the Random and Unscripted Podcast and On Location Event Coverage Podcast. These shows are all part of ITSPmagazine—which he co-founded with his good friend Marco Ciappelli, to explore and discuss topics at The Intersection of Technology, Cybersecurity, and Society.™️Want to connect with Sean and Marco On Location at an event or conference near you? See where they will be next: https://www.itspmagazine.com/on-locationTo learn more about Sean, visit his personal website. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

⸻ Podcast: Redefining Society and Technologyhttps://redefiningsocietyandtechnologypodcast.com _____ Newsletter: Musing On Society And Technology https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/musing-on-society-technology-7079849705156870144/_____ Watch on Youtube: https://youtu.be/nFn6CcXKMM0_____ My Website: https://www.marcociappelli.com_____________________________This Episode’s SponsorsBlackCloak provides concierge cybersecurity protection to corporate executives and high-net-worth individuals to protect against hacking, reputational loss, financial loss, and the impacts of a corporate data breach.BlackCloak: https://itspm.ag/itspbcweb_____________________________A Musing On Society & Technology Newsletter Written By Marco Ciappelli | Read by TAPE3We Have All the Information, So Why Do We Know Less?Introducing: Reflections from Our Hybrid Analog-Digital SocietyFor years on the Redefining Society and Technology Podcast, I've explored a central premise: we live in a hybrid analog-digital society where the line between physical and virtual has dissolved into something more complex, more nuanced, and infinitely more human than we often acknowledge.But with the explosion of generative AI, this hybrid reality isn't just a philosophical concept anymore—it's our lived experience. Every day, we navigate between analog intuition and digital efficiency, between human wisdom and machine intelligence, between the messy beauty of physical presence and the seductive convenience of virtual interaction.This newsletter series will explore the tensions, paradoxes, and possibilities of being fundamentally analog beings in an increasingly digital world. We're not just using technology; we're being reshaped by it while simultaneously reshaping it with our deeply human, analog sensibilities.Analog Minds in a Digital World: Part 1We Have All the Information, So Why Do We Know Less?I was thinking about my old set of encyclopedias the other day. You know, those heavy volumes that sat on shelves like silent guardians of knowledge, waiting for someone curious enough to crack them open. When I needed to write a school report on, say, the Roman Empire, I'd pull out Volume R and start reading.But here's the thing: I never just read about Rome.I'd get distracted by Romania, stumble across something about Renaissance art, flip backward to find out more about the Reformation. By the time I found what I was originally looking for, I'd accidentally learned about three other civilizations, two art movements, and the invention of the printing press. The journey was messy, inefficient, and absolutely essential.And if I was in a library... well then just imagine the possibilities.Today, I ask Google, Claude or ChatGPT about the Roman Empire, and in thirty seconds, I have a perfectly formatted, comprehensive overview that would have taken me hours to compile from those dusty volumes. It's accurate, complete, and utterly forgettable.We have access to more information than any generation in human history. Every fact, every study, every perspective is literally at our fingertips. Yet somehow, we seem to know less. Not in terms of data acquisition—we're phenomenal at that—but in terms of deep understanding, contextual knowledge, and what I call "accidental wisdom."The difference isn't just about efficiency. It's about the fundamental way our minds process and retain information. When you physically search through an encyclopedia, your brain creates what cognitive scientists call "elaborative encoding"—you remember not just the facts, but the context of finding them, the related information you encountered, the physical act of discovery itself.When AI gives us instant answers, we bypass this entire cognitive process. We get the conclusion without the journey, the destination without the map. It's like being teleported to Rome without seeing the countryside along the way—technically efficient, but something essential is lost in translation.This isn't nostalgia talking. I use AI daily for research, writing, and problem-solving. It's an incredible tool. But I've noticed something troubling: my tolerance for not knowing things immediately has disappeared. The patience required for deep learning—the kind that happens when you sit with confusion, follow tangents, make unexpected connections—is atrophying like an unused muscle.We're creating a generation of analog minds trying to function in a digital reality that prioritizes speed over depth, answers over questions, conclusions over curiosity. And in doing so, we might be outsourcing the very process that makes us wise.Ancient Greeks had a concept called "metis"—practical wisdom that comes from experience, pattern recognition, and intuitive understanding developed through continuous engagement with complexity. In Ancient Greek, metis (Μῆτις) means wisdom, skill, or craft, and it also describes a form of wily, cunning intelligence. It can refer to the pre-Olympian goddess of wisdom and counsel, who was the first wi

Broadcasting from Florence and Los Angeles, I Had One of Those Conversations...You know the kind—where you start discussing one thing and suddenly realize you're mapping the entire landscape of how different societies approach technology. That's exactly what happened when Rob Black and I connected across the Atlantic for the pilot episode of ITSPmagazine Europe: The Transatlantic Broadcast.Rob was calling from what he optimistically described as "sunny" West Sussex (complete with biblical downpours and Four Seasons weather in one afternoon), while I enjoyed actual California sunshine. But this geographic distance perfectly captured what we were launching: a genuine exploration of how European perspectives on cybersecurity, technology, and society differ from—and complement—American approaches.The conversation emerged from something we'd discovered at InfoSecurity Europe earlier this year. After recording several episodes together with Sean Martin, we realized we'd stumbled onto something crucial: most global technology discourse happens through an American lens, even when discussing fundamentally European challenges. Digital sovereignty isn't just a policy buzzword in Brussels—it represents a completely different philosophy about how democratic societies should interact with technology.Rob Black: Bridging Defense Research and Digital RealityRob brings credentials that perfectly embody the European approach to cybersecurity—one that integrates geopolitics, human sciences, and operational reality in ways that purely technical perspectives miss. As UK Cyber Citizen of the Year 2024, he's recognized for contributions that span UK Ministry of Defense research on human elements in cyber operations, international relations theory, and hands-on work with university students developing next-generation cybersecurity leadership skills.But what struck me during our pilot wasn't his impressive background—it was his ability to connect macro-level geopolitical cyber operations with the daily impossible decisions that Chief Information Security Officers across Europe face. These leaders don't see themselves as combatants in a digital war, but they're absolutely operating on front lines where nation-state actors, criminal enterprises, and hybrid threats converge.Rob's international relations expertise adds crucial context that American cybersecurity discourse often overlooks. We're witnessing cyber operations as extensions of statecraft—the ongoing conflict in Ukraine demonstrates how narrative battles and digital infrastructure attacks interweave with kinetic warfare. European nations are developing their own approaches to cyber deterrence, often fundamentally different from American strategies.European Values Embedded in Technology ChoicesWhat emerged from our conversation was something I've observed but rarely heard articulated so clearly: Europe approaches technology governance through distinctly different cultural and philosophical frameworks than America. This isn't just about regulation—though the EU's leadership from GDPR through the AI Act certainly shapes global standards. It's about fundamental values embedded in technological choices.Rob highlighted algorithmic bias as a perfect example. When AI systems are developed primarily in Silicon Valley, they embed specific cultural assumptions and training data that may not reflect European experiences, values, or diverse linguistic traditions. The implications cascade across everything from hiring algorithms to content moderation to criminal justice applications.We discussed how this connects to broader patterns of technological adoption. I'd recently written about how the transistor radio revolution of the 1960s paralleled today's smartphone-driven transformation—both technologies were designed for specific purposes but adopted by users in ways inventors never anticipated. The transistor radio became a tool of cultural rebellion; smartphones became instruments of both connection and surveillance.But here's what's different now: the stakes are global, the pace is accelerated, and the platforms are controlled by a handful of American and Chinese companies. European voices in these conversations aren't just valuable—they're essential for understanding how different democratic societies can maintain their values while embracing technological transformation.The Sociological Dimensions Technology Discourse MissesMy background in political science and sociology of communication keeps pulling me toward questions that pure technologists might skip: How do different European cultures interpret privacy rights differently? Why do Nordic countries approach digital government services so differently than Mediterranean nations? What happens when AI training data reflects primarily Anglo-American cultural assumptions but gets deployed across 27 EU member states with distinct languages and traditions?Rob's perspective adds the geopolitical layer that's often missing from cybersecurity

⸻ Podcast: Redefining Society and Technologyhttps://redefiningsocietyandtechnologypodcast.com ______Title: Tech Entrepreneur and Author's AI Prediction - The Last Book Written by a Human Interview | A Conversation with Jeff Burningham | Redefining Society And Technology Podcast With Marco Ciappelli______Guest: Jeff Burningham Tech Entrepreneur. Investor. National Best Selling Author. Explorer of Human Potential. My book #TheLastBookWrittenByAHuman is available now.On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-burningham-15a01a7b/Book: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Last-Book-Written-by-a-Human/Jeff-Burningham/9781637634561#:~:text=*%20Why%20the%20development%20of%20AI,in%20the%20age%20of%20AI.Host: Marco CiappelliCo-Founder & CMO @ITSPmagazine | Master Degree in Political Science - Sociology of Communication l Branding & Marketing Advisor | Journalist | Writer | Podcast Host | #Technology #Cybersecurity #Society 🌎 LAX 🛸 FLR 🌍WebSite: https://marcociappelli.comOn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marco-ciappelli/_____________________________This Episode’s SponsorsBlackCloak provides concierge cybersecurity protection to corporate executives and high-net-worth individuals to protect against hacking, reputational loss, financial loss, and the impacts of a corporate data breach.BlackCloak: https://itspm.ag/itspbcweb_____________________________⸻ Podcast Summary ⸻ Entrepreneur and author Jeff Burningham explores how artificial intelligence serves as a cosmic mirror reflecting humanity's true nature. Through his book "The Last Book Written by a Human," he argues that as machines become more intelligent, humans must become wiser. This conversation examines our collective journey through disruption, reflection, transformation, and evolution in our Hybrid Analog Digital Society.⸻ Article ⸻ I had one of those conversations that made me pause and question everything I thought I knew about our relationship with technology. Jeff Burningham, serial entrepreneur and author of "The Last Book Written by a Human: Becoming Wise in the Age of AI," joined me to explore a perspective that's both unsettling and profoundly hopeful.What struck me most wasn't Jeff's impressive background—founding multiple tech companies, running for governor of Utah, building a $5 billion real estate empire. It was his spiritual awakening in Varanasi, India, where a voice in his head insisted he was a writer. That moment of disruption led to years of reflection and ultimately to a book that challenges us to see AI not as our replacement, but as our mirror."As our machines become more intelligent, our work as humans is to become more wise," Jeff told me. This isn't just a catchy phrase—it's the thesis of his entire work. He argues that AI functions as what he calls a "cosmic mirror to humanity," reflecting back to us exactly who we've become as a species. The question becomes: do we like what we see?This perspective resonates deeply with how we exist in our Hybrid Analog Digital Society. We're no longer living separate digital and physical lives—we're constantly navigating both realms simultaneously. AI doesn't just consume our data; it reflects our collective behaviors, biases, and beliefs back to us in increasingly sophisticated ways.Jeff structures his thinking around four phases that mirror both technological development and personal growth: disruption, reflection, transformation, and evolution. We're currently somewhere between reflection and transformation, he suggests, at a crucial juncture where we must choose between two games. The old game prioritizes cash as currency, power as motivation, and control as purpose. The new game he envisions centers on karma as currency, authenticity as motivation, and love as purpose.What fascinates me is how this connects to the hero's journey—the narrative structure underlying every meaningful story from Star Wars to our own personal transformations. Jeff sees AI's emergence as part of an inevitable journey, a necessary disruption that forces us to confront fundamental questions about consciousness, creativity, and what makes us human.But here's where it gets both beautiful and challenging: as machines handle more of our "doing," we're left with our "being." We're human beings, not human doings, as Jeff reminds us. This shift demands that we reconnect with our bodies, our wisdom, our imperfections—all the messy, beautiful aspects of humanity that AI cannot replicate.The conversation reminded me why I chose "Redefining" for this podcast's title. We're not just adapting to new technology; we're fundamentally reexamining what it means to be human in an age of artificial intelligence. This isn't about finding the easy button or achieving perfect efficiency—it's about embracing what makes us gloriously, imperfectly human.Jeff's book launches August 19th, and while it won't literally be the last book written by a human, the title serves as both warning and invitation. If we don't actively choos

⸻ Podcast: Redefining Society and Technologyhttps://redefiningsocietyandtechnologypodcast.com _____ Newsletter: Musing On Society And Technology https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/musing-on-society-technology-7079849705156870144/_____ Watch on Youtube: https://youtu.be/OYBjDHKhZOM_____ My Website: https://www.marcociappelli.com_____________________________This Episode’s SponsorsBlackCloak provides concierge cybersecurity protection to corporate executives and high-net-worth individuals to protect against hacking, reputational loss, financial loss, and the impacts of a corporate data breach.BlackCloak: https://itspm.ag/itspbcweb_____________________________A Musing On Society & Technology Newsletter Written By Marco Ciappelli | Read by TAPE3The First Smartphone Was a Transistor Radio — How a Tiny Device Rewired Youth Culture and Predicted Our Digital FutureA new transmission from Musing On Society and Technology Newsletter, by Marco CiappelliI've been collecting vintage radios lately—just started, really—drawn to their analog souls in ways I'm still trying to understand. Each one I find reminds me of a small, battered transistor radio from my youth. It belonged to my father, and before that, probably my grandfather. The leather case was cracked, the antenna wobbled, and the dial drifted if you breathed on it wrong. But when I was sixteen, sprawled across my bedroom floor in that small town near Florence with homework scattered around me, this little machine was my portal to everything that mattered.Late at night, I'd start by chasing the latest hits and local shows on FM, but then I'd venture into the real adventure—tuning through the static on AM and shortwave frequencies. Voices would emerge from the electromagnetic soup—music from London, news from distant capitals, conversations in languages I couldn't understand but somehow felt. That radio gave me something I didn't even know I was missing: the profound sense of belonging to a world much bigger than my neighborhood, bigger than my small corner of Tuscany.What I didn't realize then—what I'm only now beginning to understand—is that I was holding the first smartphone in human history.Not literally, of course. But functionally? Sociologically? That transistor radio was the prototype for everything that followed: the first truly personal media device that rewired how young people related to the world, to each other, and to the adults trying to control both.But to understand why the transistor radio was so revolutionary, we need to trace radio's remarkable journey through the landscape of human communication—a journey that reveals patterns we're still living through today.When Radio Was the Family HearthBefore my little portable companion, radio was something entirely different. In the 1930s, radio was furniture—massive, wooden, commanding the living room like a shrine to shared experience. Families spent more than four hours a day listening together, with radio ownership reaching nearly 90 percent by 1940. From American theaters that wouldn't open until after "Amos 'n Andy" to British families gathered around their wireless sets, from RAI broadcasts bringing opera into Tuscan homes—entire communities synchronized their lives around these electromagnetic rituals.Radio didn't emerge in a media vacuum, though. It had to find its place alongside the dominant information medium of the era: newspapers. The relationship began as an unlikely alliance. In the early 1920s, newspapers weren't threatened by radio—they were actually radio's primary boosters, creating tie-ins with broadcasts and even owning stations. Detroit's WWJ was owned by The Detroit News, initially seen as "simply another press-supported community service."But then came the "Press-Radio War" of 1933-1935, one of the first great media conflicts of the modern age. Newspapers objected when radio began interrupting programs with breaking news, arguing that instant news delivery would diminish paper sales. The 1933 Biltmore Agreement tried to restrict radio to just two five-minute newscasts daily—an early attempt at what we might now recognize as media platform regulation.Sound familiar? The same tensions we see today between traditional media and digital platforms, between established gatekeepers and disruptive technologies, were playing out nearly a century ago. Rather than one medium destroying the other, they found ways to coexist and evolve—a pattern that would repeat again and again.By the mid-1950s, when the transistor was perfected, radio was ready for its next transformation.The Real Revolution Was Social, Not TechnicalThis is where my story begins, but it's also where radio's story reaches its most profound transformation. The transistor radio didn't just make radio portable—it fundamentally altered the social dynamics of media consumption and youth culture itself.Remember, radio had spent its first three decades as a communal experience. Parents controlled what the family heard and when. Bu

AI Dependency Crisis + EV Infrastructure Failures: Tech Reality Check 2025When Two Infrastructure Promises Collide with RealityThe promise was simple: AI would augment human intelligence, and electric vehicles would transform transportation. The reality in 2025? Both are hitting infrastructure walls that expose uncomfortable truths about how technology actually scales.Sean Martin and Marco Ciappelli didn't plan to connect these dots in their latest Random and Unscripted weekly recap, but the conversation naturally evolved from AI dependency concerns to electric vehicle infrastructure challenges—revealing how both represent the same fundamental problem: mistaking technological capability for systemic readiness."The AI is telling us what success looks like and we're measuring against that, and who knows if it's right or wrong," Sean observed, describing what's become an AI dependency crisis in cybersecurity teams. Organizations aren't just using AI as a tool; they're letting it define their decision-making frameworks without maintaining the critical thinking skills to evaluate those frameworks.Marco connected this to their recent Black Cat analysis, describing the "paradox loop"—where teams lose both the ability to take independent action and think clearly because they're constantly feeding questions to AI, creating echo chambers of circular reasoning. "We're gonna be screwed," he said with characteristic directness. "We go back to something being magic again."This isn't academic hand-wringing. Both hosts developed their expertise when understanding fundamental technology was mandatory—when you had to grasp cables, connections, and core systems to make anything work. Their concern is for teams that might never develop that foundational knowledge, mistaking AI convenience for actual competence.The electric vehicle discussion, triggered by Marco's conversation with Swedish consultant Matt Larson, revealed parallel infrastructure failures. "Upgrading to electric vehicles isn't like updating software," Sean noted, recalling his own experience renting an EV and losing an hour to charging—"That's not how you're gonna sell it."Larson's suggestion of an "Apollo Program" for EV infrastructure acknowledges what the industry often ignores: some technological transitions require massive, coordinated investment beyond individual company capabilities. The cars work; the surrounding ecosystem barely exists. Sound familiar to anyone implementing AI without considering organizational infrastructure?From his Object First webinar on backup systems, Sean extracted a deceptively simple insight: immutability matters precisely because bad actors specifically target backups to enable ransomware success. "You might think you're safe and resilient until something happens and you realize you're not."Marco's philosophical take—comparing immutable backups to never stepping in the same river twice—highlights why both cybersecurity and infrastructure transitions demand unchanging foundations even as everything else evolves rapidly.The episode's most significant development was their expanded event coverage announcement. Moving beyond traditional cybersecurity conferences to cover IBC Amsterdam (broadcasting technology since 1967), automotive security events, gaming conferences, and virtual reality gatherings represents recognition that infrastructure challenges cross every industry."That's where things really get interesting," Sean noted about broader tech events. When cybersecurity professionals only discuss security in isolation, they miss how infrastructure problems manifest across music production, autonomous vehicles, live streaming, and emerging technologies.Both AI dependency and EV infrastructure failures share the same root cause: assuming technological capability automatically translates to systemic implementation. The gap between "this works in a lab" and "this works in reality" represents the most critical challenge facing technology leaders in 2025.Their call to action extends beyond cybersecurity: if you know about events that address infrastructure challenges at the intersection of technology and society, reach out. The "usual suspects" of security conferences aren't where these broader infrastructure conversations are happening.What infrastructure gaps are you seeing between technology promises and implementation reality? Join the conversation on LinkedIn or connect through ITSP Magazine.________________Hosts links:📌 Marco Ciappelli: https://www.marcociappelli.com📌 Sean Martin: https://www.seanmartin.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I had one of those conversations that reminded me why I'm so passionate about exploring the intersection of technology and society. Speaking with Mark Smith, a board member at IBC and co-lead of their accelerator program, I found myself transported back to my roots in communication and media studies, but with eyes wide open to what's coming next.Mark has spent over 30 years in media technology, including 23 years building Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. When someone with that depth of experience gets excited about what's happening now, you pay attention. And what's happening at IBC 2025 in Amsterdam this September is nothing short of a redefinition of how we create, distribute, and authenticate content.The numbers alone are staggering: 1,350 exhibitors across 14 halls, nearly 300 speakers, 45,000 visitors. But what struck me wasn't the scale—it's the philosophical shift happening in how we think about media production. We're witnessing television's centennial year, with the first demonstrations happening in 1925, and yet we're simultaneously seeing the birth of entirely new forms of creative expression.What fascinated me most was Mark's description of their Accelerator Media Innovation Program. Since 2019, they've run over 50 projects involving 350 organizations, creating what he calls "a safe environment" for collaboration. This isn't just about showcasing new gadgets—it's about solving real challenges that keep media professionals awake at night. In our Hybrid Analog Digital Society, the traditional boundaries between broadcaster and audience, between creator and consumer, are dissolving faster than ever.The AI revolution in media production particularly caught my attention. Mark spoke about "AI assistant agents" and "agentic AI" with the enthusiasm of someone who sees liberation rather than replacement. As he put it, "It's an opportunity to take out a lot of laborious processes." But more importantly, he emphasized that it's creating new jobs—who would have thought "AI prompter" would become a legitimate profession?This perspective challenges the dystopian narrative often surrounding AI adoption. Instead of fearing the technology, the media industry seems to be embracing it as a tool for enhanced creativity. Mark's excitement was infectious when describing how AI can remove the "boring" aspects of production, allowing creative minds to focus on what they do best—tell stories that matter.But here's where it gets really interesting from a sociological perspective: the other side of the screen. We talked about how streaming revolutionized content consumption, giving viewers unprecedented control over their experience. Yet Mark observed something I've noticed too—while the technology exists for viewers to be their own directors (choosing camera angles in sports, for instance), many prefer to trust the professional's vision. We're not necessarily seeking more control; we're seeking more relevance and authenticity.This brings us to one of the most critical challenges of our time: content provenance. In a world where anyone can create content that looks professional, how do we distinguish between authentic journalism and manufactured narratives? Mark highlighted their work on C2PA (content provenance initiative), developing tools that can sign and verify media sources, tracking where content has been manipulated.This isn't just a technical challenge—it's a societal imperative. As Mark noted, YouTube is now the second most viewed platform in the UK. When user-generated content competes directly with traditional media, we need new frameworks for understanding truth and authenticity. The old editorial gatekeepers are gone; we need technological solutions that preserve trust while enabling creativity.What gives me hope is the approach I heard from Mark and his colleagues. They're not trying to control technology's impact on society—they're trying to shape it consciously. The IBC Accelerator Program represents something profound: an industry taking responsibility for its own transformation, creating spaces for collaboration rather than competition, focusing on solving real problems rather than just building cool technology.The Google Hackfest they're launching this year perfectly embodies this philosophy. Young broadcast engineers and software developers working together on real challenges, supported by established companies like Formula E. It's not about replacing human creativity with artificial intelligence—it's about augmenting human potential with technological tools.As I wrapped up our conversation, I found myself thinking about my own journey from studying sociology of communication in a pre-internet world to hosting podcasts about our digital transformation. Technology doesn't just change how we communicate—it changes who we are as communicators, as creators, as human beings sharing stories.IBC 2025 isn't just a trade show; it's a glimpse into how we're choosing to redefine our relationship with media te

What happens when a cybersecurity incident requires legal precision, operational coordination, and business empathy—all at once? That’s the core question addressed in this origin story with Bryan Marlatt, Chief Regional Officer for North America at CyXcel.Bryan brings over 30 years of experience in IT and cybersecurity, with a history as a CISO, consultant, and advisor. He now helps lead an organization that sits at the intersection of law, cyber, and geopolitics—an uncommon combination that reflects the complexity of modern risk. CyXcel was founded to address this reality head-on, integrating legal counsel, cybersecurity expertise, and operational insight into a single, business-first consulting model.Rather than treat cybersecurity as a checklist or a technical hurdle, Bryan frames it as a service that should start with the business itself: its goals, values, partnerships, and operating environment. That’s why their engagements often begin with conversations with sales, finance, or operations—not just the CIO or CISO. It’s about understanding what needs to be protected and why, before prescribing how.CyXcel supports clients before, during, and after incidents—ranging from tailored tabletop exercises to legal coordination during breach response and post-incident recovery planning. Their work spans critical sectors like healthcare, utilities, finance, manufacturing, and agriculture—where technology, law, and regulation often converge under pressure.Importantly, Bryan emphasizes the need for tailored guidance, not generic frameworks. He notes that many companies don’t realize how incomplete their protections are until it’s too late. In one example, he recounts a hospital system that chose to “pay the fine” rather than invest in cybersecurity—a decision that risks reputational and operational harm far beyond the regulatory penalty.From privacy laws and third-party contract reviews to incident forensics and geopolitical risk analysis, this episode reveals how cybersecurity consulting is evolving to meet a broader—and more human—set of business needs.Learn more about CyXcel: https://itspm.ag/cyxcel-922331Note: This story contains promotional content. Learn more.Guest: Bryan Marlatt, Chief Regional Officer (North America) at CyXcel | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marlattb/ResourcesLearn more and catch more stories from CyXcel: https://www.itspmagazine.com/directory/cyxcelLearn more about ITSPmagazine Brand Story Podcasts: https://www.itspmagazine.com/purchase-programsNewsletter Archive: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/tune-into-the-latest-podcasts-7109347022809309184/Business Newsletter Signup: https://www.itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-business-updates-sign-upAre you interested in telling your story?https://www.itspmagazine.com/telling-your-story Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

⬥GUEST⬥Andy Ellis, Legendary CISO [https://howtociso.com] | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/csoandy/⬥HOST⬥Host: Sean Martin, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine and Host of Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/imsmartin/ | Website: https://www.seanmartin.com⬥EPISODE NOTES⬥In this episode of Redefining CyberSecurity, host Sean Martin speaks with Andy Ellis, former CSO at Akamai and current independent advisor, about the shifting expectations of security leadership in today’s SaaS-powered, AI-enabled business environment.Andy highlights that many organizations—especially mid-sized startups—struggle not because they lack resources, but because they don’t know how to contextualize what security means to their business goals. Often, security professionals aren’t equipped to communicate with executives or boards in a way that builds shared understanding. That’s where advisors like Andy step in: not to provide a playbook, but to help translate and align.One of the core ideas discussed is the reframing of security as an enabler rather than a gatekeeper. With businesses built almost entirely on SaaS platforms and outsourced operations, IT and security should no longer be siloed. Andy encourages security teams to “own the stack”—not just protect it—by integrating IT management, vendor oversight, and security into a single discipline.The conversation also explores how AI and automation empower employees at every level to “vibe code” their own solutions, shifting innovation away from centralized control. This democratization of tech raises new opportunities—and risks—that security teams must support, not resist. Success comes from guiding, not gatekeeping.Andy shares practical ways CISOs can build influence, including a deceptively simple yet powerful technique: ask every stakeholder what security practice they hate the most and what critical practice is missing. These questions uncover quick wins that earn political capital—critical fuel for driving long-term transformation.From his “First 91 Days” guide for CISOs to his book 1% Leadership, Andy offers not just theory but actionable frameworks for influencing culture, improving retention, and measuring success in ways that matter.Whether you’re a CISO, a founder, or an aspiring security leader, this episode will challenge how you think about the role security plays in business—and what it means to lead from the middle.⬥SPONSORS⬥LevelBlue: https://itspm.ag/attcybersecurity-3jdk3ThreatLocker: https://itspm.ag/threatlocker-r974⬥RESOURCES⬥Inspiring Post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/csoandy_how-to-ciso-the-first-91-days-ugcPost-7330619155353632768-BXQT/Book: “How to CISO: The First 91-Day Guide” by Andy Ellis — https://howtociso.com/library/first-91-days-guide/Book: “1% Leadership: Master the Small Daily Habits that Build Exceptional Teams” — https://www.amazon.com/1-Leadership-Daily-Habits-Exceptional/dp/B0BSV7T2KZ⬥ADDITIONAL INFORMATION⬥✨ More Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast: 🎧 https://www.seanmartin.com/redefining-cybersecurity-podcastRedefining CyberSecurity Podcast on YouTube:📺 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnYu0psdcllS9aVGdiakVss9u7xgYDKYq📝 The Future of Cybersecurity Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7108625890296614912/Interested in sponsoring this show with a podcast ad placement? Learn more:👉 https://itspm.ag/podadplc⬥KEYWORDS⬥andy ellis, sean martin, ciso, ai, sas, shadow it, vibe coding, patch management, political capital, leadership, redefining cybersecurity, cybersecurity podcast, redefining cybersecurity podcast Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

⸻ Podcast: Redefining Society and Technologyhttps://redefiningsocietyandtechnologypodcast.com ______Title: Why Electric Vehicles Need an Apollo Program: The Reneweable Energy Infrastructure Reality We're Ignoring | A Conversation with Mats Larsson | Redefining Society And Technology Podcast With Marco Ciappelli______Guest: Mats Larsson New book: "How Building the Future Really Works." Business developer, project manager and change leader – Speaker. I'm happy to connect!On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matslarsson-author/Host: Marco CiappelliCo-Founder & CMO @ITSPmagazine | Master Degree in Political Science - Sociology of Communication l Branding & Marketing Advisor | Journalist | Writer | Podcast Host | #Technology #Cybersecurity #Society 🌎 LAX 🛸 FLR 🌍WebSite: https://marcociappelli.comOn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marco-ciappelli/_____________________________This Episode’s SponsorsBlackCloak provides concierge cybersecurity protection to corporate executives and high-net-worth individuals to protect against hacking, reputational loss, financial loss, and the impacts of a corporate data breach.BlackCloak: https://itspm.ag/itspbcweb_____________________________⸻ Podcast Summary ⸻ Swedish business consultant Mats Larsson reveals why electric vehicle transition requires Apollo program-scale government investment. We explore the massive infrastructure gap between EV ambitions and reality, from doubling power generation to training electrification architects. This isn't about building better cars—it's about reimagining our entire transportation ecosystem in our Hybrid Analog Digital Society.______Listen to the Full Episodehttps://redefiningsocietyandtechnologypodcast.com/episodes/why-electric-vehicles-need-an-apollo-program-the-renweable-energy-infrastructure-reality-were-ignoring-a-conversation-with-mats-larsson-redefining-society-and-technology-podcast-with-marco-ciappelli__________________ Enjoy. Reflect. Share with your fellow humans.And if you haven’t already, subscribe to Musing On Society & Technology on LinkedIn — new transmissions are always incoming.https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/musing-on-society-technology-7079849705156870144You’re listening to this through the Redefining Society & Technology podcast, so while you’re here, make sure to follow the show — and join me as I continue exploring life in this Hybrid Analog Digital Society.____________________________Listen to more Redefining Society & Technology stories and subscribe to the podcast:👉 https://redefiningsocietyandtechnologypodcast.comWatch the webcast version on-demand on YouTube:👉 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnYu0psdcllTUoWMGGQHlGVZA575VtGr9Are you interested Promotional Brand Stories for your Company and Sponsoring an ITSPmagazine Channel?👉 https://www.itspmagazine.com/advertise-on-itspmagazine-podcast Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This year at Black Hat USA 2025, the conversation is impossible to escape: artificial intelligence. But while every vendor claims an AI-powered edge, the real question is how organizations can separate meaningful innovation from noise.In our discussion with Evgeniy Kharam, Vice President of Cybersecurity Architecture at Herjavec Group (formerly), Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) at Discern Security, and long-time security leader and author, the theme of AI confusion takes center stage. Evgeniy notes that CISOs and security architects don’t have the time or resources to analyze what “AI” means in every product pitch. With over 4,000 vendors in the ecosystem, each layering its own flavor of AI, the burden falls on security leaders to distinguish hype from usable automation.From Gondola Pitches to AI OverloadEvgeniy shares how his creative networking events—skiing, biking, and beyond—mirror the industry’s need for genuine connection and trust. Just as his “gondola pitch” builds authentic engagement, buyers want clarity and honesty from technology providers. The proliferation of AI labels, however, makes that trust harder to establish.Where AI Can HelpEvgeniy highlights areas where AI can reduce friction, from vulnerability management and detection to policy writing and compliance. Yet, even here, issues such as hallucinations, privacy tradeoffs, and ethics cannot be ignored. When AI begins influencing employee monitoring or analyzing sensitive data, organizations face difficult questions about fairness, transparency, and control.The Unspoken Challenge: Surveillance and TrustAs we discuss the balance between employee privacy and corporate protection, it becomes clear that AI introduces new layers of surveillance. In Europe, cultural and legal boundaries create clear separation between personal and professional lives. In North America, the lines blur, raising ethical debates that may ultimately be tested in courts.The takeaway? AI has the potential to unlock workflows that were previously too costly or complex. But without transparency, governance, and a commitment to responsible use, the “AI in everything” trend risks overwhelming the very leaders it is meant to help.___________Guest:Evgeniy Kharam, Chief Strategy Officer (CSO), Discern Security | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ekharam/Hosts:Sean Martin, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine | Website: https://www.seanmartin.comMarco Ciappelli, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine | Website: https://www.marcociappelli.com___________Episode SponsorsThreatLocker: https://itspm.ag/threatlocker-r974BlackCloak: https://itspm.ag/itspbcwebAkamai: https://itspm.ag/akamailbwcDropzoneAI: https://itspm.ag/dropzoneai-641Stellar Cyber: https://itspm.ag/stellar-9dj3___________ResourcesLearn more and catch more stories from our Black Hat USA 2025 coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/bhusa25ITSPmagazine Webinar: What’s Heating Up Before Black Hat 2025: Place Your Bet on the Top Trends Set to Shake Up this Year’s Hacker Conference — An ITSPmagazine Thought Leadership Webinar | https://www.crowdcast.io/c/whats-heating-up-before-black-hat-2025-place-your-bet-on-the-top-trends-set-to-shake-up-this-years-hacker-conferenceCatch all of our event coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/technology-and-cybersecurity-conference-coverageWant to tell your Brand Story Briefing as part of our event coverage? Learn More 👉 https://itspm.ag/evtcovbrfWant Sean and Marco to be part of your event or conference? Let Us Know 👉 https://www.itspmagazine.com/contact-us___________KEYWORDSsean martin, marco ciappelli, evgeniy kharam, black hat usa 2025, ai, privacy, surveillance, cybersecurity, automation, governance, event coverage, on location, conference Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

⸻ Podcast: Redefining Society and Technologyhttps://redefiningsocietyandtechnologypodcast.com ______Title: Why Electric Vehicles Need an Apollo Program: The Reneweable Energy Infrastructure Reality We're Ignoring | A Conversation with Mats Larsson | Redefining Society And Technology Podcast With Marco Ciappelli______Guest: Mats Larsson New book: "How Building the Future Really Works." Business developer, project manager and change leader – Speaker. I'm happy to connect!On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matslarsson-author/Host: Marco CiappelliCo-Founder & CMO @ITSPmagazine | Master Degree in Political Science - Sociology of Communication l Branding & Marketing Advisor | Journalist | Writer | Podcast Host | #Technology #Cybersecurity #Society 🌎 LAX 🛸 FLR 🌍WebSite: https://marcociappelli.comOn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marco-ciappelli/_____________________________This Episode’s SponsorsBlackCloak provides concierge cybersecurity protection to corporate executives and high-net-worth individuals to protect against hacking, reputational loss, financial loss, and the impacts of a corporate data breach.BlackCloak: https://itspm.ag/itspbcweb_____________________________⸻ Podcast Summary ⸻ Swedish business consultant Mats Larsson reveals why electric vehicle transition requires Apollo program-scale government investment. We explore the massive infrastructure gap between EV ambitions and reality, from doubling power generation to training electrification architects. This isn't about building better cars—it's about reimagining our entire transportation ecosystem in our Hybrid Analog Digital Society.⸻ Article ⸻ When Reality Meets Electric Dreams: Lessons from the Apollo MindsetI had one of those conversations that stops you in your tracks. Mats Larsson, calling in from Stockholm while I connected from Italy, delivered a perspective on electric vehicles that shattered my comfortable assumptions about our technological transition."First of all, we need to admit that we do not know exactly how to build the future. And then we need to start building it." This wasn't just Mats being philosophical—it was a fundamental admission that our approach to electrification has been dangerously naive.We've been treating the electric vehicle transition like upgrading our smartphones—expecting it to happen seamlessly, almost magically, while we go about our daily lives. But as Mats explained, referencing the Apollo program, monumental technological shifts require something we've forgotten how to do: comprehensive, sustained, coordinated investment in infrastructure we can't even fully envision yet.The numbers are staggering. To electrify all US transportation, we'd need to double power generation—that's the equivalent of 360 nuclear reactors worth of electricity. For hydrogen? Triple it. While Tesla and Chinese manufacturers gained their decade-plus advantage through relentless investment cycles, traditional automakers treated electric vehicles as "defensive moves," showcasing capability without commitment.But here's what struck me most: we need entirely new competencies. "Electrification strategists and electrification architects," as Mats called them—professionals who can design power grids capable of charging thousands of logistics vehicles daily, infrastructure that doesn't exist in our current planning vocabulary.We're living in this fascinating paradox of our Hybrid Analog Digital Society. We've become so accustomed to frictionless technological evolution—download an update, get new features—that we've lost appreciation for transitions requiring fundamental systemic change. Electric vehicles aren't just different cars; they're a complete reimagining of energy distribution, urban planning, and even our relationship with mobility itself.This conversation reminded me why I love exploring the intersection of technology and society. It's not enough to build better batteries or faster chargers. We're redesigning civilization's transportation nervous system, and we're doing it while pretending it's just another product launch.What excites me isn't just the technological challenge—it's the human coordination required. Like the Apollo program, this demands that rare combination of visionary leadership, sustained investment, and public will that transcends political cycles and market quarters.Listen to my full conversation with Mats, and let me know: Are we ready to embrace the Apollo mindset for our electric future?Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and join me on YouTube for the full experience. Let's continue this conversation—because in our rapidly evolving world, these discussions shape the future we're building together.Cheers,Marco⸻ Keywords ⸻ Electric Vehicles, Technology And Society, Infrastructure, Innovation, Sustainable Transport, electric vehicles, society and technology, infrastructure development, apollo program, energy transition, government investment, technological transformation, sustainable mo

We're Becoming Dumb and Numb": Why Black Hat 2025's AI Hype Is Killing Cybersecurity -- And Our Ability to Think Random and Unscripted Weekly Update Podcast with Sean Martin and Marco Ciappelli__________________SummarySean and Marco dissect Black Hat USA 2025, where every vendor claimed to have "agentic AI" solutions. They expose how marketing buzzwords create noise that frustrates CISOs seeking real value. Marco references the Greek myth of Talos - an ancient AI robot that seemed invincible until one fatal flaw destroyed it - as a metaphor for today's overinflated AI promises. The discussion spirals into deeper concerns: are we becoming too dependent on AI decision-making? They warn about echo chambers, lowest common denominators, and losing our ability to think critically. The solution? Stop selling perfection, embrace product limitations, and keep humans in control. __________________10 Notable QuotesSean:"It's hard for them to siphon the noise. Sift through the noise, I should say, and figure out what the heck is really going on.""If we completely just use it for the easy button, we'll stop thinking and we won't use it as a tool to make things better.""We'll stop thinking and we won't use it as a tool to make our minds better, to make our decisions better.""We are told then that this is the reality. This is what good looks like.""Maybe there's a different way to even look at things. So it's kind of become uniform... a very low common denominator that is just good enough for everybody."Marco:"Do you really wanna trust the weapon to just go and shoot everybody? At least you can tell it's a human factor and that's the people that ultimately decide.""If we don't make decision anymore, we're gonna turn out in a lot of those sci-fi stories, like the time machine where we become dumb.""We all perceive reality to be different from what it is, and then it creates a circular knowledge learning where we use AI to create the knowledge, then to ask the question, then to give the answers.""We're just becoming dumb and numb. More than dumb, but we become numb to everything else because we're just not thinking with our own head.""You're selling the illusion of security and that could be something that then you replicate in other industries." Picture this: You walk into the world's largest cybersecurity conference, and every single vendor booth is screaming the same thing – "agentic AI." Different companies, different products, but somehow they all taste like the same marketing milkshake.That's exactly what Sean Martin and Marco Ciappelli witnessed at Black Hat USA 2025, and their latest Random and Unscripted with Sean and Marco episode pulls no punches in exposing what's really happening behind the buzzwords."Marketing just took all the cool technology that each vendor had, put it in a blender and made a shake that just tastes the same," Marco reveals on Random and Unscripted with Sean and Marco, describing how the conference floor felt like one giant echo chamber where innovation got lost in translation.But this isn't just another rant about marketing speak. The Random and Unscripted with Sean and Marco conversation takes a darker turn when Marco introduces the ancient Greek myth of Talos – a bronze giant powered by divine ichor who was tasked with autonomously defending Crete. Powerful, seemingly invincible, until one small vulnerability brought the entire system crashing down.Sound familiar?"Do you really wanna trust the weapon to just go and shoot everybody?" Marco asks, drawing parallels between ancient mythology and today's rush to hand over decision-making to AI systems we don't fully understand.Sean, meanwhile, talked to frustrated CISOs throughout the event who shared a common complaint: "It's hard for them to sift through the noise and figure out what the heck is really going on." When every vendor claims their AI is autonomous and perfect, how do you choose? How do you even know what you're buying?The real danger, they argue on Random and Unscripted with Sean and Marco, isn't just bad purchasing decisions. It's what happens when we stop thinking altogether."If we completely just use it for the easy button, we'll stop thinking and we won't use it as a tool to make our minds better," Sean warns. We risk settling for what he calls the "lowest common denominator" – a world where AI tells us what success looks like, and we never question whether we could do better.Marco goes even further, describing a "circular knowledge learning" trap where "we use AI to create the knowledge, then to ask the question, then to give the answers." The result? "We're just becoming dumb and numb. More than dumb, but we become numb to everything else because we're just not thinking with our own head."Their solution isn't to abandon AI – it's to get honest about what it can and can't do. "Stop looking for the easy button and stop selling the easy button," Marco urges vendors on Random and Unscripted with Sean and Marco. "Your product i

⸻ Podcast: Redefining Society and Technologyhttps://redefiningsocietyandtechnologypodcast.com _____________________________This Episode’s SponsorsBlackCloak provides concierge cybersecurity protection to corporate executives and high-net-worth individuals to protect against hacking, reputational loss, financial loss, and the impacts of a corporate data breach.BlackCloak: https://itspm.ag/itspbcweb_____________________________A Musing On Society & Technology Newsletter Written By Marco Ciappelli | Read by TAPE3August 18, 2025The Narrative Attack Paradox: When Cybersecurity Lost the Ability to Detect Its Own Deception and the Humanity We Risk When Truth Becomes OptionalReflections from Black Hat USA 2025 on Deception, Disinformation, and the Marketing That Chose Fiction Over FactsBy Marco CiappelliSean Martin, CISSP just published his analysis of Black Hat USA 2025, documenting what he calls the cybersecurity vendor "echo chamber." Reviewing over 60 vendor announcements, Sean found identical phrases echoing repeatedly: "AI-powered," "integrated," "reduce analyst burden." The sameness forces buyers to sift through near-identical claims to find genuine differentiation.This reveals more than a marketing problem—it suggests that different technologies are being fed into the same promotional blender, possibly a generative AI one, producing standardized output regardless of what went in. When an entire industry converges on identical language to describe supposedly different technologies, meaningful technical discourse breaks down.But Sean's most troubling observation wasn't about marketing copy—it was about competence. When CISOs probe vendor claims about AI capabilities, they encounter vendors who cannot adequately explain their own technologies. When conversations moved beyond marketing promises to technical specifics, answers became vague, filled with buzzwords about proprietary algorithms.Reading Sean's analysis while reflecting on my own Black Hat experience, I realized we had witnessed something unprecedented: an entire industry losing the ability to distinguish between authentic capability and generated narrative—precisely as that same industry was studying external "narrative attacks" as an emerging threat vector.The irony was impossible to ignore. Black Hat 2025 sessions warned about AI-generated deepfakes targeting executives, social engineering attacks using scraped LinkedIn profiles, and synthetic audio calls designed to trick financial institutions. Security researchers documented how adversaries craft sophisticated deceptions using publicly available content. Meanwhile, our own exhibition halls featured countless unverifiable claims about AI capabilities that even the vendors themselves couldn't adequately explain.But to understand what we witnessed, we need to examine the very concept that cybersecurity professionals were discussing as an external threat: narrative attacks. These represent a fundamental shift in how adversaries target human decision-making. Unlike traditional cyberattacks that exploit technical vulnerabilities, narrative attacks exploit psychological vulnerabilities in human cognition. Think of them as social engineering and propaganda supercharged by AI—personalized deception at scale that adapts faster than human defenders can respond. They flood information environments with false content designed to manipulate perception and erode trust, rendering rational decision-making impossible.What makes these attacks particularly dangerous in the AI era is scale and personalization. AI enables automated generation of targeted content tailored to individual psychological profiles. A single adversary can launch thousands of simultaneous campaigns, each crafted to exploit specific cognitive biases of particular groups or individuals.But here's what we may have missed during Black Hat 2025: the same technological forces enabling external narrative attacks have already compromised our internal capacity for truth evaluation. When vendors use AI-optimized language to describe AI capabilities, when marketing departments deploy algorithmic content generation to sell algorithmic solutions, when companies building detection systems can't detect the artificial nature of their own communications, we've entered a recursive information crisis.From a sociological perspective, we're witnessing the breakdown of social infrastructure required for collective knowledge production. Industries like cybersecurity have historically served as early warning systems for technological threats—canaries in the coal mine with enough technical sophistication to spot emerging dangers before they affect broader society.But when the canary becomes unable to distinguish between fresh air and poison gas, the entire mine is at risk.This brings us to something the literary world understood long before we built our first algorithm. Jorge Luis Borges, the Argentine writer, anticipated this crisis in his 1940s stories like "On Exa

At Black Hat USA 2025, artificial intelligence wasn’t the shiny new thing — it was the baseline. Nearly every product launch, feature update, and hallway conversation had an “AI-powered” stamp on it. But when AI becomes the lowest common denominator for security, the questions shift.In this episode, I read my latest opinion piece exploring what happens when the tools we build to protect us are the same ones that can obscure reality — or rewrite it entirely. Drawing from the Lock Note discussion, Jennifer Granick’s keynote on threat modeling and constitutional law, my own CISO hallway conversations, and a deep review of 60+ vendor announcements, I examine the operational, legal, and governance risks that emerge when speed and scale take priority over transparency and accountability.We talk about model poisoning — not just in the technical sense, but in how our industry narrative can get corrupted by hype and shallow problem-solving. We look at the dangers of replacing entry-level security roles with black-box automation, where a single model misstep can cascade into thousands of bad calls at machine speed. And yes, we address the potential liability for CISOs and executives who let it happen without oversight.Using Mikko Hyppönen’s “Game of Tetris” metaphor, I explore how successes vanish quietly while failures pile up for all to see — and why in the AI era, that stack can build faster than ever.If AI is everywhere, what defines the premium layer above the baseline? How do we ensure we can still define success, measure it accurately, and prove it when challenged?Listen in, and then join the conversation: Can you trust the “reality” your systems present — and can you prove it?________This story represents the results of an interactive collaboration between Human Cognition and Artificial Intelligence.Enjoy, think, share with others, and subscribe to "The Future of Cybersecurity" newsletter on LinkedIn.Sincerely, Sean Martin and TAPE3________✦ ResourcesArticle: When Artificial Intelligence Becomes the Baseline: Will We Even Know What Reality Is AInymore?https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/when-artificial-intelligence-becomes-baseline-we-even-martin-cissp-4idqe/The Future of Cybersecurity Article: How Novel Is Novelty? Security Leaders Try To Cut Through the Cybersecurity Vendor Echo Chamber at Black Hat 2025: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-novel-novelty-security-leaders-try-cut-through-sean-martin-cissp-xtune/Black Hat 2025 On Location Closing Recap Video with Sean Martin, CISSP and Marco Ciappelli: https://youtu.be/13xP-LEwtEALearn more and catch more stories from our Black Hat USA 2025 coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/bhusa25Article: When Virtual Reality Is A Commodity, Will True Reality Come At A Premium? https://sean-martin.medium.com/when-virtual-reality-is-a-commodity-will-true-reality-come-at-a-premium-4a97bccb4d72Catch all of our event coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/technology-and-cybersecurity-conference-coverageITSPmagazine Studio — A Brand & Marketing Advisory for Cybersecurity and Tech Companies: https://www.itspmagazine.studio/ITSPmagazine Webinar: What’s Heating Up Before Black Hat 2025: Place Your Bet on the Top Trends Set to Shake Up this Year’s Hacker Conference — An ITSPmagazine Thought Leadership Webinar | https://www.crowdcast.io/c/whats-heating-up-before-black-hat-2025-place-your-bet-on-the-top-trends-set-to-shake-up-this-years-hacker-conference________Sean Martin is a life-long musician and the host of the Music Evolves Podcast; a career technologist, cybersecurity professional, and host of the Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast; and is also the co-host of both the Random and Unscripted Podcast and On Location Event Coverage Podcast. These shows are all part of ITSPmagazine—which he co-founded with his good friend Marco Ciappelli, to explore and discuss topics at The Intersection of Technology, Cybersecurity, and Society.™️Want to connect with Sean and Marco On Location at an event or conference near you? See where they will be next: https://www.itspmagazine.com/on-locationTo learn more about Sean, visit his personal website. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

At Black Hat 2025, Sean Martin sits down with Ofir Stein, CTO and Co-Founder of Apono, to discuss the pressing challenges of identity and access management in today’s hybrid, AI-driven environments. Stein’s background in technology infrastructure and DevOps, paired with his co-founder’s deep cybersecurity expertise, positions the company to address one of the most common yet critical problems in enterprise security: how to secure permissions without slowing the pace of business.Organizations often face a tug-of-war between security teams seeking to minimize risk and engineering or business units pushing for rapid access to systems. Stein explains that traditional approaches to access control — where permissions are either always on or granted through manual processes — create friction and risk. Over-provisioned accounts become prime targets for attackers, while delayed access slows innovation.Apono addresses this through a Zero Standing Privilege approach, where no user — human or non-human — retains permanent permissions. Instead, access is dynamically granted based on business context and automatically revoked when no longer needed. This ensures engineers and systems get the right access at the right time, without exposing unnecessary attack surfaces.The platform integrates seamlessly with existing identity providers, governance systems, and IT workflows, allowing organizations to centralize visibility and control without replacing existing tools. Dynamic, context-based policies replace static rules, enabling access that adapts to changing conditions, including the unpredictable needs of AI agents and automated workflows.Stein also highlights continuous discovery and anomaly detection capabilities, enabling organizations to see and act on changes in privilege usage in real time. By coupling visibility with automated policy enforcement, organizations can not only identify over-privileged accounts but also remediate them immediately — avoiding the cycle of one-off audits followed by privilege creep.The result is a solution that scales with modern enterprise needs, reduces risk, and empowers both security teams and end users. As Stein notes, giving engineers control over their own access — including the ability to revoke it — fosters a culture of shared responsibility for security, rather than one of gatekeeping.Learn more about Apono: https://itspm.ag/apono-1034Note: This story contains promotional content. Learn more.Guest:Ofir Stein, CTO and Co-Founder of Apono | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ofir-stein/ResourcesLearn more and catch more stories from Apono: https://www.itspmagazine.com/directory/aponoLearn more about ITSPmagazine Brand Story Podcasts: https://www.itspmagazine.com/purchase-programsNewsletter Archive: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/tune-into-the-latest-podcasts-7109347022809309184/Business Newsletter Signup: https://www.itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-business-updates-sign-upAre you interested in telling your story?https://www.itspmagazine.com/telling-your-storyKeywords: sean martin, ofir stein, apono, zero standing privilege, access management, identity security, privilege creep, just in time access, ai security, governance, cloud security, black hat, black hat usa 2025, cybersecurity, permissions Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Event Recap: Kieran Human at Black Hat USA 2025 — ThreatLocker Unveils Configuration Defense, Achieves FedRAMP Status & MoreThreatLocker introduced DAC configuration monitoring and achieved FedRAMP certification at Black Hat 2025, strengthening zero trust capabilities while expanding government market access through practical security solutions.Zero trust security continues evolving beyond theoretical frameworks into practical business solutions, as demonstrated by ThreatLocker's latest announcements at Black Hat USA 2025. The company introduced Defense Against Configuration (DAC), a monitoring tool addressing a critical gap in zero trust implementations.Kieran Human, Special Projects Engineer at ThreatLocker, explained the challenge driving DAC's development. Organizations implementing zero trust often struggle with configuration management, potentially leaving systems vulnerable despite security investments. DAC monitors configurations continuously, alerting administrators to potential security issues and mapping findings to compliance frameworks including Essential 8.The tool addresses human factors in security implementation. Technical staff sometimes create overly permissive rules to minimize user complaints, compromising security posture. DAC provides weekly reports to executives, ensuring oversight of configuration decisions and maintaining security standards across the organization.ThreatLocker's approach distinguishes itself through "denied by default, allowed by exception" methodology, contrasting with traditional endpoint detection and response solutions that permit by default and block threats reactively. This fundamental difference requires careful implementation to avoid business disruption.The company's learning mode capabilities address deployment concerns. With over 10,000 built-in application profiles, ThreatLocker automates policy creation while learning organizational workflows. This reduces manual configuration requirements that previously made zero trust implementations tedious and time-intensive.FedRAMP certification represents another significant milestone, opening government sector opportunities. Federal compliance requirements previously excluded ThreatLocker from certain contracts, despite strong customer demand for their zero trust capabilities. This certification enables expansion into highly regulated environments requiring stringent security controls.Customer testimonials continue validating the approach. One user reported preventing three breaches after implementing ThreatLocker's zero trust solution, demonstrating measurable security improvements. Such feedback reinforces the practical value of properly implemented zero trust architecture.The balance between security and business functionality remains crucial. Organizations need security solutions that protect assets without hampering productivity. ThreatLocker's principle of least privilege implementation focuses on enabling business requirements with minimal necessary permissions rather than creating restrictive environments that impede operations.Human described working closely with CEO Danny Jenkins, emphasizing the collaborative environment that drives product innovation. His engineering perspective provides valuable insights into customer needs while maintaining focus on practical security solutions that work in real-world environments.As zero trust adoption accelerates across industries, tools like DAC become essential for maintaining security posture while meeting business demands. The combination of automated learning, configuration monitoring, and compliance mapping addresses practical implementation challenges facing security teams today.Learn more about ThreatLocker: https://itspm.ag/threatlocker-r974Note: This story contains promotional content. Learn more.Guest: Kieran Human, Special Project Engineer at ThreatLocker | On LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/kieran-human-5495ab170/ResourcesLearn more and catch more stories from ThreatLocker: https://www.itspmagazine.com/directory/threatlockerLearn more and catch more stories from our Black Hat USA 2025 coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/bhusa25Learn more about ITSPmagazine Brand Story Podcasts: https://www.itspmagazine.com/purchase-programsNewsletter Archive: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/tune-into-the-latest-podcasts-7109347022809309184/Business Newsletter Signup: https://www.itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-business-updates-sign-upAre you interested in telling your story?https://www.itspmagazine.com/telling-your-story Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

At Black Hat USA 2025, Sean Martin, co-founder of ITSPmagazine, sat down with Brett Stone-Gross, Senior Director of Threat Intelligence at Zscaler, to discuss the findings from the company’s latest ransomware report. Over the past five years, the research has tracked how attack patterns, targets, and business models have shifted—most notably from file encryption to data theft and extortion.Brett explains that many ransomware groups now find it more profitable—and less risky—to steal sensitive data and threaten to leak it unless paid, rather than encrypt files and disrupt operations. This change also allows attackers to stay out of the headlines and avoid immediate law enforcement pressure, while still extracting massive payouts. One case saw a Fortune 50 company pay $75 million to prevent the leak of 100 terabytes of sensitive medical data—without a single file being encrypted.The report highlights variation in attacker methods. Some groups focus on single large targets; others, like the group “LOP,” exploit vulnerabilities in widely used file transfer applications, making supply chain compromise a preferred tactic. Once inside, attackers validate their claims by providing file trees and sample data—proving the theft is real.Certain industries remain disproportionately affected. Healthcare, manufacturing, and technology are perennial top targets, with oil and gas seeing a sharp increase this year. Many victims operate with legacy systems, slow to adopt modern security measures, making them vulnerable. Geographically, the U.S. continues to be hit hardest, accounting for roughly half of all observed ransomware incidents.The conversation also addresses why organizations fail to detect such massive data theft—sometimes hundreds of gigabytes per day over weeks. Poor monitoring, limited security staffing, and alert fatigue all contribute. Brett emphasizes that reducing exposure starts with eliminating unnecessary internet-facing services and embracing zero trust architectures to prevent lateral movement.The ransomware report serves not just as a data source but as a practical guide. By mapping observed attacker behaviors to defensive strategies, organizations can better identify and close their most dangerous gaps—before becoming another statistic in next year’s findings.Learn more about Zscaler: https://itspm.ag/zscaler-327152Note: This story contains promotional content. Learn more.Guest:Brett Stone-Gross, Senior Director of Threat Intelligence at Zscaler, | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-stone-gross/ResourcesLearn more and catch more stories from Zscaler: https://www.itspmagazine.com/directory/zscalerLearn more about ITSPmagazine Brand Story Podcasts: https://www.itspmagazine.com/purchase-programsNewsletter Archive: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/tune-into-the-latest-podcasts-7109347022809309184/Business Newsletter Signup: https://www.itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-business-updates-sign-upAre you interested in telling your story?https://www.itspmagazine.com/telling-your-storyKeywords: sean martin, brett stone-gross, ransomware, data extortion, cyber attacks, zero trust security, threat intelligence, data breach, cyber defense, network security, file transfer vulnerability, data protection, black hat, black hat usa 2025, zscaler Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Marco Ciappelli of ITSPmagazine explores cybersecurity workforce transformation with CyberSN's Deidre Diamond and Fortune 200 CISO-turned-CEO Carraig StanwyckThe corridors of Black Hat 2025 in Las Vegas buzzed with conversations about AI and emerging threats, but one of the most compelling discussions centered on something decidedly human: how we actually manage our cybersecurity teams. Marco Ciappelli, Co-Founder and CMO of ITSPmagazine, connected with longtime industry colleague Deidre Diamond, who brought along Carraig Stanwyck—a seasoned cybersecurity leader who recently transitioned from Fortune 200 CISO to CEO."It's been great running into people I know here at Black Hat," Ciappelli noted, "but finding Deidre after 11 years—and meeting the people she's been working with—that's what these events are really about. Finding out what's happening in the industry and reconnecting."Diamond, who has spent 11 years in cybersecurity with eight years focused on talent matching and three years developing workforce risk management practices at CyberSN, brought a unique perspective to the conversation. Her journey from building a cyber taxonomy and job matching solution to addressing the industry's critical workforce challenges—retention, burnout, capability gaps, and career planning—set the stage for understanding how one Fortune 200 CISO discovered the limitations of traditional workforce management.The Excel Trap: When Good Intentions Meet RealityWhen Stanwyck thought he had workforce management figured out, he was using Excel spreadsheets and conducting regular happiness surveys with his cybersecurity team. As someone who started his career in human intelligence and carried that people-focused approach through government, startups, and enterprise organizations, he believed he was ahead of the curve."I thought I already had a solution," Stanwyck reflects. "I was already meeting with my people, doing specific surveys to track happiness and belonging because I wanted to catch issues early. You get your team right, and you can do anything."But when he met Deidre Diamond from CyberSN at RSA two years ago, his confidence was quickly shaken. "She was talking about workforce risk management, and I was like, 'Well, yeah, I do that. I'm all set. I'm covered.'" Diamond's response was simple: "Show me how you visualize the data you use."That's when Stanwyck discovered the limitations of his Excel-based approach—old data, time-intensive processes, and a fundamental lack of real-time visibility into how his team actually functioned.Beyond Job Titles: The Hidden Workforce RealityWhat CyberSN's platform revealed transformed Stanwyck's understanding of his own team. "You can re-interview your people like a recorder," he explains. "You can see that someone you hired as an analyst is doing all this engineering work—maybe they're better on the engineering team."The platform provided something Stanwyck had never experienced: quantitative visibility into how his team's time was actually being spent. "It gave me a level of visibility in the team, what they were doing, and how their time was being spent at a quantitative level that there's no way for me to replicate manually."Even more revealing was the discovery that job descriptions become obsolete almost immediately. "The job description of our talent is old within weeks and within months from the day it's created—if it was even created correctly at all," Diamond noted during the conversation.The Fulfillment Factor: Beyond Happiness to PurposeWhile Stanwyck's happiness surveys captured surface-level satisfaction, CyberSN's approach dug into something more fundamental. "HappinessHappy is important, but one that feels fulfilled—that they have a purpose—that's the key," Stanwyck emphasizes.The platform's approach to understanding team members went beyond traditional metrics. "When you know where they want to go, how they feel about the team, you get all this extra data," Stanwyck explains. "Your ability to craft development plans, to help them move through different parts of the team, to help with career planning—it becomes so nailed that they can't help but see their way forward."The impact was immediate and lasting. When Stanwyck transitioned to his CEO role, his team specifically requested that the organization renew their CyberSN contract. "These teammates feel like, wow, they're investing in understanding me more and planning more. It just adds to professional efficacy."From Reactive to Strategic: The Business Case RevolutionPerhaps the most significant transformation was in business communication. Every cybersecurity leader knows the refrain: "We don't have enough people." But quantifying that gap had always been nearly impossible."How do you show the gaps and how you're not able to meet specific capability requirements?" Stanwyck asks. "It's really hard using the lack of tools you have right now—it's very subjective."CyberSN's dual visualization capability became a game-changer.

Mike Wayne, responsible for global sales at BlinkOps, joins ITSPmagazine host Sean Martin to discuss how organizations can harness agentic AI to transform security operations—and much more.The conversation begins with a clear reality: business processes are complex, and when security is added into the mix, orchestrating workflows efficiently becomes even more challenging. BlinkOps addresses this by providing a platform that not only automates security tasks but also extends across HR, finance, sales, and marketing. By enabling automation in areas like employee onboarding/offboarding or access management, the platform helps organizations improve efficiency, reduce risk, and free human talent for higher-value work.Mike explains that while traditional SOAR tools require heavy scripting and ongoing maintenance, BlinkOps takes a different approach. Its security co-pilot allows users to describe automations in plain language, which are then generated—90% complete—by the system. Whether the user is a SOC analyst or an HR manager, the platform supports low-code and no-code capabilities, making automation accessible to “citizen developers” across the organization.The concept of micro agents is central. Instead of relying on large, complex AI models that can hallucinate or act unpredictably, BlinkOps uses focused, purpose-built agents with smaller context windows. These agents handle specific tasks—such as enriching security alerts—within larger workflows, ensuring accuracy and control.The benefits are tangible. One customer’s triage agent processed 400 alerts in just eight days without direct human intervention, while another saved $1.8 million in manual endpoint deployment costs over a single month. Outcomes like reduced mean time to respond (MTTR) and faster time to automation are key drivers for adoption, especially when facing zero-day vulnerabilities where speed is critical.BlinkOps runs as SaaS, hybrid, or in secure environments like GovCloud, making it adaptable for organizations of all sizes and compliance requirements.The takeaway is clear: AI-driven automation doesn’t just improve security operations—it creates new efficiencies across the enterprise. As Mike puts it, when a process can be automated, “just blink it.”Learn more about BlinkOps: https://itspm.ag/blinkops-942780Note: This story contains promotional content. Learn more.Guest: Mike Wayne, Vice President, Global Sales at BlinkOps | On Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikejwayne/ResourcesLearn more and catch more stories from BlinkOps: https://www.itspmagazine.com/directory/blinkopsLearn more about ITSPmagazine Brand Story Podcasts: https://www.itspmagazine.com/purchase-programsNewsletter Archive: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/tune-into-the-latest-podcasts-7109347022809309184/Business Newsletter Signup: https://www.itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-business-updates-sign-upAre you interested in telling your story?https://www.itspmagazine.com/telling-your-storyKeywords: sean martin, mike wayne, blink ops, ai automation, agentic ai, micro agents, security automation, soc automation, workflow automation, zero day response, alert triage, enrichment agent, low code automation, cyber security ai, enterprise automation, black hat usa, black hat 2025 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In an era where organizations depend heavily on commercial applications to run their operations, the integrity of those applications has become a top security concern. Saša Zdjelar, Chief Trust Officer at ReversingLabs and Operating Partner at Crosspoint Capital, shares how protecting the software supply chain now extends far beyond open source risk.Zdjelar outlines how modern applications are built from a mix of first-party, contracted, open source, and proprietary third-party components. By the time software reaches production, its lineage spans geographies, development teams, and sometimes even AI-generated code. Incidents like SolarWinds, Kaseya, and CircleCI demonstrate that trusted vendors are no longer immune to compromise, and commercial software can introduce critical vulnerabilities or malicious payloads deep into enterprise systems.Regulatory drivers are increasing scrutiny. Executive Order 14028, Europe’s Cyber Resilience Act, DORA, and U.S. Department of Defense software sourcing restrictions all require greater transparency, such as a Software Bill of Materials (SBOM). However, Zdjelar cautions that SBOMs—while valuable—are like ingredient lists without recipes: they don’t reveal if a product is secure, just what’s in it.ReversingLabs addresses this gap with a no-compromise analysis engine capable of deconstructing any file, of any size or complexity, to assess its safety. This capability enables organizations to make risk-based decisions, continuously monitor for unexpected changes between software versions, and operationalize controls at points such as procurement, SCCM deployments, or file transfers into critical environments.For CISOs, this represents a true technical control where previously only contractual clauses, questionnaires, or insurance policies existed. By placing analysis at the front of the software lifecycle, organizations can reduce reliance on costly manual testing and sandboxing, improve detection of tampering or hidden behavior, and even influence cyber insurance rates.The takeaway is clear: software supply chain security is a board-level concern, and the focus must expand beyond open source. With the right controls, organizations can avoid becoming the next headline-making breach and maintain trust with customers, partners, and regulators.Learn more about ReversingLabs: https://itspm.ag/reversinglabs-v57bNote: This story contains promotional content. Learn more.Guest: Saša Zdjelar, Chief Trust Officer at ReversingLabs and Operating Partner at Crosspoint Capital | On Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sasazdjelar/ResourcesLearn more and catch more stories from ReversingLabs: https://www.itspmagazine.com/directory/reversinglabsLearn more about ITSPmagazine Brand Story Podcasts: https://www.itspmagazine.com/purchase-programsNewsletter Archive: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/tune-into-the-latest-podcasts-7109347022809309184/Business Newsletter Signup: https://www.itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-business-updates-sign-upAre you interested in telling your story?https://www.itspmagazine.com/telling-your-storyKeywords: Black Hat 2025, Black Hat USA, sean martin, saša zdjelar, software supply chain security, commercial software risk, binary analysis, software bill of materials, sbom security, malicious code detection, ciso strategies, third party software risk, software tampering detection, malware analysis tools, devsecops security, application security testing, cybersecurity compliance Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Black Hat 2025: Crogl's CEO Monzy Merza Explains How AI Can Help Eliminate Alert Fatigue in CybersecurityCrogl CEO Monzy Merza discusses how AI-driven security platforms automate alert investigation using enterprise knowledge graphs, enabling analysts to focus on threat hunting while maintaining data privacy.Security teams drowning in alerts finally have a lifeline that doesn't compromise their data sovereignty. At Black Hat USA 2025, Crogl CEO Monzy Merza revealed how his company is tackling one of cybersecurity's most persistent challenges: the overwhelming volume of security alerts that leaves analysts either ignoring potential threats or burning out from investigation fatigue.The problem runs deeper than most organizations realize. Merza observed analysts routinely closing hundreds of alerts with a single click, not from laziness or malice, but from sheer necessity. "When you look at the history of breaches, the signal of the breach was there. And somebody ignored it," he explained during his ITSPmagazine interview, highlighting a critical gap between alert generation and meaningful investigation.Traditional approaches have failed because they expect human analysts to become "unicorns" - experts capable of mastering multiple data platforms simultaneously while remembering complex query languages and schemas. This unrealistic expectation has created what Merza calls the "human unicorn challenge," where organizations struggle to find personnel who can effectively navigate their increasingly complex security infrastructure.Crogl's solution fundamentally reimagines the relationship between human intuition and machine automation. Rather than forcing analysts to adapt to multiple tools, the platform creates a semantic knowledge graph that maps data relationships across an organization's entire security ecosystem. When alerts arrive, the system automatically conducts investigations using established kill chain methodologies, freeing analysts to focus on higher-value activities like threat hunting and strategic security initiatives.The privacy-first architecture addresses growing concerns about data sovereignty. Operating as a completely self-contained system with no internet dependencies, Crogl can run air-gapped in the most sensitive environments, including defense intelligence communities. The platform connects to existing tools through APIs without requiring data movement, duplication, or transformation.Real-world results demonstrate the platform's versatility. One customer discovered their analysts were using Crogl for fraud detection - an application never intended by the original design. The system's ability to process natural language descriptions and convert them into executable security processes has reduced response times from weeks to minutes for complex threat hunting operations.For security leaders evaluating AI integration, Merza advocates an experimental approach. Rather than attempting comprehensive transformation, he suggests starting with focused pilot programs that address specific pain points. This measured strategy allows organizations to validate AI's value while maintaining operational stability.The broader implications extend beyond security operations. By removing technical barriers and emphasizing domain expertise over tool competency, platforms like Crogl enable security teams to become strategic business enablers rather than reactive alert processors. Organizations gain the flexibility to maintain their preferred data architectures while ensuring comprehensive security coverage across distributed environments.As cyber threats continue evolving, the industry's response must prioritize both technological capability and human potential. Solutions that enhance analyst intuition while automating routine tasks represent a sustainable path forward for security operations at scale. Watch the full interview: https://youtu.be/0GqPtPXD2ik Learn more about CROGL: https://itspm.ag/crogl-103909Note: This story contains promotional content. Learn more.Guest: Monzy Merza, Founder and CEO of CROGL | On Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monzymerza/ResourcesLearn more and catch more stories from CROGL: https://www.itspmagazine.com/directory/croglAre you interested in telling your story?https://www.itspmagazine.com/telling-your-story Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The often-overlooked truth in cybersecurity: Seeing the Unseen in Vulnerability ManagementIn this episode, Sean Martin speaks with HD Moore, Founder and CEO of RunZero, about the often-overlooked truth in cybersecurity: the greatest risks are usually the things you don’t know exist in your environment.Moore’s career has spanned decades of penetration testing, tool creation, and product development, including leading the creation of Metasploit. That background shapes his approach at RunZero—applying attacker-grade discovery techniques to uncover devices, networks, and vulnerabilities that traditional tools miss. Why Discovery Matters MostThrough repeated penetration tests for high-security organizations, Moore observed a consistent pattern: breaches rarely occurred because defenders ignored known issues, but rather because attackers exploited unknown assets. These unknowns often bypassed mitigation strategies simply because they weren’t on the organization’s radar. Beyond CVEsMoore emphasizes that an overreliance on CVE lists leaves organizations blind to real-world risks. Many breaches stem from misconfigurations, weak credentials, or overlooked systems—problems that can be exploited within days of a vulnerability being announced. The answer, he says, is to focus on exposure and attack paths in real time, not just lists of patchable flaws. Revealing the GapsRunZero’s approach often doubles the asset count organizations believe they have, uncovering systems outside existing scanning or endpoint management coverage. By leveraging unauthenticated discovery techniques, they detect exploitable conditions from an attacker’s perspective—identifying forgotten hardware, outdated firmware, and network segmentation issues that open dangerous pathways. Changing the GameThis depth of discovery enables security teams to prioritize the small subset of issues that pose the highest business risk, rather than drowning in thousands of low-impact findings. It also helps organizations rebuild their security programs from the ground up—ensuring that every device is accounted for, properly segmented, and monitored. Collaboration and CommunityMoore also shares his ongoing contributions to open source through Project Discovery, integrating and enhancing tools like the nuclei scanner to accelerate vulnerability detection for everyone—not just paying customers. The message is clear: if you want to close the gaps, you first need to know exactly where they are—and that requires a new level of visibility most teams have never had.Learn more about runZero: https://itspm.ag/runzero-5733Note: This story contains promotional content. Learn more.Guest: HD Moore, Founder and CEO of RunZero | On Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hdmoore/ResourcesLearn more and catch more stories from runZero: https://www.itspmagazine.com/directory/runzeroAre you interested in telling your story?https://www.itspmagazine.com/telling-your-story Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.