In this episode:

• How a virus-infected Prince of Persia floppy disk on a Commodore 64 sparked a lifelong obsession with cybersecurity (03:03 - 06:45)
• From NYU to Yale cryptography PhD to Goldman Sachs to Gilt Groupe, and the near-miss that changed everything (03:03 - 06:45)
• What SecurityScorecard actually does and why the pen and paper questionnaire era had to end (06:55 - 08:18)
• What it looked like in the early days, including an IKEA furniture test for business partnerships (08:26 - 12:01)
• Why SecurityScorecard now scores every company in the world, not just twelve million organizations (12:01 - 12:29)
• The Gilt Groupe credit card near-miss, what the first 24 hours looked like, and why fear was the first reaction (12:50 - 17:30)
• What it takes to create an entire market category from scratch and why the job to be done never changes (17:48 - 20:20)
• The difference between the CISO version and CEO version of Alex, and what Satya Nadella said about zooming out (20:49 - 22:36)
• Which version of Alex people would rather have a beer with and why any job besides CEO is more fun (22:43 - 23:45)
• How North Korea used a fake hedge fund to try to recruit SecurityScorecard developers (24:06 - 25:47)
• Why the world is not becoming safer and the critical difference between robustness and resilience (25:59 - 26:42)
• The True Confessions keynote: why openly admitting breaches makes the whole ecosystem stronger (27:13 - 29:22)
• The Jaguar Land Rover breach and what it took to double a UK company's security budget overnight (27:13 - 29:22)
• The single most dangerous thing a board member has ever said in a meeting about cybersecurity (29:45 - 31:09)
• What one thing a non-technical CEO could do this week to make their CISO's life better (31:25 - 32:12)
• The Lifestyle Polygraph: restaurant health scores, PowerPoint ban, The Inner Game of Tennis, chess, false advertising, and podcast advice (33:07 - 41:32)

Timestamp Highlights:

• (03:03) Prince of Persia, a floppy disk, and the origin of a cybersecurity career
• (06:07) The realization that changed everything: you can do everything right and still lose
• (08:26) The IKEA furniture test for business partnerships
• (12:50) The Gilt Groupe near-miss and what the first 24 hours looked like
• (17:48) What it takes to create a market category from scratch
• (20:49) CISO vs CEO: zooming in vs zooming out
• (22:43) Which version of Alex would you rather have a beer with?
• (24:06) North Korea's fake hedge fund operation
• (25:59) Robustness vs resilience: why the mindset has to change
• (29:45) The most dangerous thing a board member has ever said
• (31:25) One thing every non-technical CEO should do this week
• (36:48) The Inner Game of Tennis and the infinite game
• (40:00) Chess, false advertising, and meeting his future wife

Resources & Links:

• SecurityScorecard — securityscorecard.com
• The Perfect Scorecard by Aleksandr Yampolskiy
• ThreatLocker — Presenting sponsor of No Password Required
• DerScanner — Episode sponsor
• Cyber Florida — The Mother Ship

No Password Required: Next Gen - Ep. 3 - Kieran Human

How Lead Cybersecurity Engineers Actually Think

In this episode of No Password Required: Next Gen, Yazzel interviews Kieran Human, Lead Cybersecurity Engineer at ThreatLocker. From research to working directly with ThreatLocker's CEO on new security initiatives, Kieran gives an inside look at what it's really like to work on the front lines of cybersecurity.

Kieran stands out as a cybersecurity professional by hares why curiosity, strong communication, and understanding the bigger picture are just as valuable as technical skills. He also reflects on one of his proudest career moments, writing a compliance white paper that earned praise from ThreatLocker's CEO Danny Jenkins, and explains how that experience reinforced the importance of research, writing, and always looking for ways to improve.

Kieran also explains why Zero Trust security is becoming essential, teaches viewers a few cybersecurity terms that are guaranteed to impress at dinner, and even reveals why the Terminator would be his ultimate cybersecurity teammate!

Whether you're exploring a career in cyber or looking for practical advice from someone working in the field every day, this episode is packed with insights for the next generation of cybersecurity professionals.

Presented by ThreatLocker

Supported by DerScanner

Follow Kieran on Linked in here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kieran-human-5495ab170/

Chapter List:

00:00 Introduction to Cybersecurity and Career Path

02:54 Key Skills and Qualities for Success in Cybersecurity

06:07 Impact of AI and Zero Trust in Cybersecurity

06:56 Fun Insights and Closing Thoughts

Philipp Leo — Swiss cyber expert, diplomat, and military officer, always two steps ahead of the storm

No Password Required Season 7: Episode 7 - Philipp Leo

Philipp Leo co-founded Leo & Muhly Cyber Advisory, a strategic advisory firm specializing in cyber risk, resilience, and geopolitics. Now consulting with governments and private firms in Switzerland and abroad, Philipp has served as a UN observer on the Korean DMZ, trained the next generation of Swiss Armed Forces cyber specialists, and taught at the University of Glasgow. He is also part of Europol's network of experts in data protection and cybercrime and has published stateside in MIT Sloan Management Review.

In this episode, Philipp shares his journey from a Swiss bank he couldn't wait to leave to the Korean border, and eventually to the boardrooms of executives who still think cyber risk is someone else's problem. He breaks down the three most dangerous misconceptions executives have about cyber risk, why the CISO is too often a poster child rather than a decision-maker, and the challenges to cyber insurance in Europe.

Cyber attorney Jack Clabby and co-host Kayley Jerrell talk with Philipp about his live crisis simulation that nobody can win, how to train cyber warriors, and how nation-state cyber conflict is looking more and more like the age of Caribbean pirates.

In the Lifestyle Polygraph, Philipp reveals his favorite book, his eye-opening, go-to celebratory drink, and the weight of his luxury umbrella. He also shares his favorite escape when the complexity of modern life gets to be too much and introduces us to a Zurich commuting tradition that involves swimming home through a river.

In this episode:

• Philipp's journey from a Swiss bank he couldn't wait to leave to the Korean DMZ and eventually the boardrooms of Fortune 500 executives (00:27 - 02:22)
• The three most dangerous misconceptions executives have about cyber risk and why cyber risk is a corporate problem, not a technology problem (04:19 - 05:30)
• How Philipp's live crisis simulation works, why nobody can win it, and why that's exactly the point (05:49 - 08:47)
• Why cyber crisis teams have improved dramatically but leadership boards remain the weakest link (06:30 - 08:47)
• The CISO poster child problem: why most CISOs have the accountability without the authority (09:54 - 11:00)
• Why cyber insurance in Europe has largely failed to deliver and what happens when attackers find your policy before you do (11:17 - 13:44)
• The OFAC twist: what happens mid-exercise when a Swiss bank decides to pay and then learns the attackers are on the sanctions list (18:38 - 19:31)
• Training Swiss Armed Forces cyber specialists and why the first lesson is that the other side plays by no rules (19:47 - 21:37)
• Whether nation states can ever beat the cyber threat and why the east side of Vienna tells you everything you need to know (21:54 - 23:25)
• Why nation-state cyber conflict has become remarkably similar to the age of Caribbean pirates (23:46 - 24:23)
• The Lifestyle Polygraph: Endurance, Campari Red Bull, a three-ounce umbrella, a cabin in the Alps, and swimming home through a Zurich river (00:04 - 12:03)

Timestamp Highlights:

• (00:27) From Swiss banker to UN observer on the Korean DMZ
• (04:19) The three misconceptions executives have about cyber risk
• (05:49) The crisis simulation nobody can win and why that's the whole point
• (09:54) Why the CISO is too often a poster child without real power
• (11:17) Why cyber insurance in Europe has largely failed
• (18:38) The OFAC twist that stopped a Swiss bank mid-exercise
• (19:47) Training Swiss cyber warriors to understand the other side plays by no rules
• (21:54) Nation states vs. cyber threats: are defenders always outpaced?
• (23:46) How nation-state cyber conflict mirrors the age of Caribbean pirates
• (07:25) Always prepared: the three-ounce umbrella that nobody sees

Resources & Links:

• Leo & Muhly Cyber Advisory
• Philipp Leo on LinkedIn
• ThreatLocker — Presenting sponsor
• DerScanner — Supporter of this podcast
• Cyber Florida — The Mother Ship