CISO Series Podcast
Formerly named CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast. Discussions, tips, and debates from security practitioners and vendors on how to work better together to improve security for themselves and everyone else.

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/ah-heres-the-problem-youve-got-a-leaky-ceo/)

We're waking up the C-suite to the realization that they're the prime target for cyberattacks.

This episode was recorded in front of a live audience at Evanta's CISO Executive Summit in Los Angeles. It is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Gary Hayslip (@ghayslip), CISO, Softbank Investment Advisers.

CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast live at Evanta CISO Executive Summit in Los Angeles 12/11/19

CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast live at Evanta CISO Executive Summit in Los Angeles 12/11/19

PLUS, joining us live was Jewels Nation, the voice of the CISO Series. You hear her voice on all the bumpers on our podcasts.

Jewels Nation, the voice of the CISO Series podcasts, and David Spark, producer of CISO Series

Jewels Nation, the voice of the CISO Series podcasts, and David Spark, producer of CISO Series

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor Evanta.

Evanta CISO Executive Summit

Evanta, a Gartner Company, creates exclusive communities of C-level executives from the world’s leading organizations. These invaluable networks are built by and for C-level executives to share innovative ideas, validate strategies and solve critical leadership challenges through peer-to-peer collaboration. Evanta’s trusted communities serve CISOs and their C-suite peers around the world.

On this week's episode

Where does a CISO begin?

Gary recently brought up an excellent discussion pointing out that executives are the backdoor into your organization. Do they understand that they're critical cogs? Do they and are they willing to take on responsibility? What is the patching process?

Walk a mile in this CISO's shoes

Gary, talked a lot about the importance of work/life balance with cyber professionals. Robert Carey of RSA Security said your actions do most of the talking, "As a CISO, you're a model of work life balance. If you stay 14 hours a day, that's what is expected of employees. If you leave at 5pm they'll realize that's ok for them to do." How do our CISOs handle presenting to their staff what is and isn't OK, when they're in the office or when their employees are remote?

What's Worse?!

You've got a new hire. Which one do you choose?

Is this the best solution?

Does the email pitch still serve a function? On a recent CISO Series video chat, we talked about how CISOs get 50-80% of their information about products from other CISOs and that yeah maybe sometimes they read an email pitch. Is there still room for the email pitch or should it just die? And if it should die, what should it be replaced with?

Security Squares: Where CISOs Put Vendors in Their Place

A brand new game that asks CISOs how well do they know the vendor landscape? This one was a nail biter.

It’s time for the audience question speed round

Our audience has questions, and our CISOs will have answers.

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_Live_12-17-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 5:30am PDT

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/trust-me-were-using-advanced-ai/)

We're looking for a good reason to trust your AI on the latest CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This episode was recorded in front of a live audience at Evanta's CISO Executive Summit in San Francisco. It is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week, is Jimmy Sanders (@jfireluv), head of information security, Netflix DVD.

Mike Johnson, Jimmy Sanders, head of information security, Netflix DVD, and David Spark

Mike Johnson, Jimmy Sanders, head of information security, Netflix DVD, and David Spark

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsors: Trend Micro, SentinelOne, and FireMon. 

Firemon

FireMon provides persistent network security for hybrid environments through a powerful fusion of real-time asset visibility, continuous compliance and automation. Since creating the first-ever network security policy management solution, FireMon has delivered command and control over complex network security infrastructures for more than 1,700 customers.

Trend Micro

Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, helps to make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Our innovative solutions for consumers, businesses, and governments provide layered security for data centers, cloud environments, networks, and endpoints. For more information, visit www.trendmicro.com.

SentinelOne

Are you looking to leave legacy antivirus? Proactively protect every device in realtime with AI. Deploy SentinelOne for EPP, EDR, IoT, and container security today. Autonomous technology is the future. We deliver it now across your endpoints, servers, cloud workloads, and IoT devices.

What we’ve got here is failure to communicate

Is the privacy message getting out to the right people? I argue we need to go to the source and we're not. I was at Dreamforce, the Salesforce conference, and I got the sense I was the only person of the 100K people there that didn't want to be scanned. This crowd is obsessed with the collection of personal data given this conference is mostly about how do I create greater understanding from personal data. Are we as security people in a bubble in this privacy conversation? We need to go to the source of the people who are actually collecting the data and I'm getting the sense we're not getting through.

Are we making the situation better or worse?

We've talked a lot about AI on this show, and many vendors are selling intelligent solutions, but the factor that seems to hang up usage is trust. Cyber professionals don't think twice about trusting their AI-powered spam filter, but so many other tools are met with skepticism. What's missing from the vendor side and what trust barriers are practitioners putting up? What should the barometers be for trusting AI?

What's Worse?!

Two bad types of people wanting to do you harm. Which one is worse?

Is this the best solution?

Should you hire staff from companies that have fallen victim to cybercrime? According to a study by Symantec and Goldsmiths, University of London, as reported by ZDNet, more than half of respondents said they don't discuss breaches or attacks with peers. And more than a third said they fear that sharing breach information on their organization would negatively impact their future career prospects. I would think that asking a prospect, "Have you lived through a breach and how did you handle it?" would be very revealing. Mike?

Security Squares: Where CISOs Put Vendors in Their Place

A brand new game that asks CISOs how well do they know the vendor landscape?

It’s time for the audience question speed round

Our audience has questions, and our CISOs will have answers.

 

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_Live_12-10-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 5:17am PDT

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/isnt-that-adorable-our-little-ciso-has-an-opinion/)

We're spoon-feeding "respect" to the CISO on this week's CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our sponsored guest this week, thanks to Trend Micro, is Jim Shilts, founder, North American DevOps Group.

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor Trend Micro.

Trend Micro

Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, helps to make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Our innovative solutions for consumers, businesses, and governments provide layered security for data centers, cloud environments, networks, and endpoints. For more information, visit www.trendmicro.com.

On this week's episode

Why is everyone talking about this now?

Gary Hayslip, CISO, Softbank Investment Advisers and regular guest, posted an article about a growing trend of CISO frustration and why they don't last at an organization. This article addresses many issues around burnout, but I want to focus on this one stat from an ISC(2) study which states, "Sixty three percent of respondents said they wanted to work at an organization where their opinions on the existing security posture were taken seriously." Hard to keep any security staff in place if they're not respected. We talk a lot about being able to talk to the board, but the communications has to be two way. How clear are executives in understanding that respect and listening to their cyberstaff is in their best interest?

What annoys a security professional

Deidre Diamond of CyberSN, asks this very pointed question, "We are short 500k cyber professionals in the US and 89% of our current cyber professionals are open to new opportunities; why are jobs taking on average 4-9 months to fill?" That last stat is CyberSN's data estimates. She's arguing there is plenty of supply. Why is this taking so darn long? Nobody's happy.

What's Worse?!

We've got a question tailored for our DevOps guest this week.

Please, enough. No, more.

DevOps and security. This is a topic that has grown over time, evolved in branding, and Mike has spoken out about how much he don't like the term DevSecOps. As we regularly do in this segment, what have you heard enough of on the DevOps and security debate and what would you like to hear a lot more?

Cloud Security Tip sponsored by OpenVPN

Two factor authentication is a smart step towards more secure password management but what happens the moment after you have convinced the employees of your company to adopt 2FA, when you then say, “Oh yes, don’t forget your SIM PIN.”

2FA might stop hackers from using easily searchable information like someone’s mother’s maiden name, but these bad actors have already discovered the weak link in this particular chain. They call the phone provider, pretend to be that specific victim and ask to swap the victim’s SIM account information to a new SIM card – one that is in their possession. That way, everything the victim did with their phone – texting, banking, and receiving 2FA passcodes – all goes to this new phone.

More on CISO Series.

Check out lots more cloud security tips sponsored by OpenVPN, provider of next-gen secure and scalable communication software. OpenVPN Access Server keeps your company’s data safe with end-to-end encryption, secure remote access, and extension for your centralized UTM.

Hey, you're a CISO, what's your take on this?

Nigel Hedges, CISO, CPA Australia, asked, "Should security operations exist in infrastructure/operations teams?"

Nigel asked this questions to colleagues and got mixed results. One CISO said it was doomed to fail, others said its up to leadership and a CISO doesn't need to own secops.

"Other people were adamant that the focus required to manage secops, and streamlined incident response cant work within infra because the primary objectives of infra are towards service availability and infra projects," said Nigel who went on to ask, "Is this important prior to considering using a security vendor to provided managed security operations? Is it important to 'get the house in order' prior to using managed secops vendors? And is it easier to get the house in order when secops is not in infra?"

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_12-03-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 5:30am PDT

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/rest-assured-were-confident-our-security-sucks/)

We may not have the protection you want, but what we lack in adequate security we make up in confidence. Sleep better at night after you listen to this week's episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Billy Spears (@billyjspears), CISO, loanDepot.

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor, CyberInt.

CyberInt

The high ROI is what makes spear phishing campaigns so attractive to threat actors. Read our breakdown of TA505’s latest series of attacks. CyberInt has been tracking various activities surrounding this and other similar attacks where legit means were used to hack international companies in the retail & financial industries.

On this week’s episode

Why is everybody talking about this now?

Tip of the hat to Eduardo Ortiz for forwarding this discussion Stuart Mitchell of Stott and May initiated on LinkedIn asking if there should be a "golden bullet" clause in a CISO's contract. He was referring to the CISO of Capital One who had to step down and take on a consulting role after the breach. What are arguments for and against?

Ask a CISO

Nir Rothenberg, CISO, Rapyd asks, "If you were given control of company IT, what would be the first things you would do?"

What's Worse?!

Should a CISO be closing sales or securing the company?

Hey, you're a CISO, what's your take on this?

According to Nominet's Cyber Confidence Report, 71 percent of CISOs say their organization uses the company's security posture as a selling point, even though only 17% of CISOs are confident about their security posture. There are probably many factors that contribute to this disparity. Is it a gap that will ever close, or is this just the nature of security people vs. sales?

Cloud Security Tip sponsored by OpenVPN

Bluetooth is a convenient and easy method of sharing data between devices, which, of course, qualifies it as a prime target for exploitation. A trio of researchers has discovered a vulnerability that has the potential of attacking billions of Bluetooth-enabled devices, including phones, laptops, IoT and IIoT technologies.

In short, this Key Negotiation of Bluetooth vulnerability, which has been given the acronym KNOB, exploits the pairing encryption protocol within the Bluetooth Classic wireless technology standard, which supports encryption keys with entropy between 1 and 16 bytes/octets. It inserts between the pairing devices forcing both to agree to encryption with 1 byte or 8 bits of entropy, after which it simply brute-forces the encryption keys.

More on CISO Series.

Check out lots more cloud security tips sponsored by OpenVPN, provider of next-gen secure and scalable communication software. OpenVPN Access Server keeps your company’s data safe with end-to-end encryption, secure remote access, and extension for your centralized UTM.

What do you think of this pitch?

How targeted should your pitch have to be?

 

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_11-26-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 5:00am PDT

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/what-security-advice-will-your-family-ignore/)

This Thanksgiving we wish you lots of luck convincing your family members to use a password manager. Would getting them to switch political allegiances be easier?

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Jeff Hudesman, head of information security, DailyPay.

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor Tenable.

Tenable

Effective vulnerability prioritization helps you answer three questions: Where should we prioritize based on risk? Which vulnerabilities are likeliest to be exploited? What should we fix first? Tenable gives you the accurate and actionable data you need to answer these questions and better secure your business. Learn more: tenable.com/predictive-prioritization.

On this week’s episode

Why is everybody talking about this now?

Rich Malewicz, CIO, Livingston County, started a thread of common threats and scams we should warn family and friends about over the holidays. Lots of great advice. We discuss our favorites, whether we turn into family tech support, and if you had one cyber holiday wish for every family member, what would it be?

Hey, you're a CISO, what's your take on this?

When is the right time and WRONG time to start red teaming? (the process of letting ethical hackers loose on your business to test your defenses, your blue team.) What exactly is it you're testing? Are you testing your network's resiliency or your business' resiliency?

"What's Worse?!"

Three options in this "What's Worse?!" scenario.

The great CISO challenge

We have repeatedly touted on the podcast the benefits of multi-factor authentication or MFA. Our guest implemented an MFA solution at his company. We talk about the challenges, criteria, and roll out like? And did they see any visible evidence of security improvements?

Cloud Security Tip sponsored by OpenVPN

Casey from accounting is getting frustrated, waiting for client files being held up by the firewall. Jordan is trying to join a video conference that needs a plugin, but the firewall won’t let it through. So they call the IT manager who then disables it.

This happens a lot. Maybe not in large companies, but small law firms, medical clinics, or small businesses that might use an old-school administrator who will either turn off the firewall or opt out of using one altogether, believing in the power of a cheap antivirus product to keep things safe.

More on CISO Series.

Check out lots more cloud security tips sponsored by OpenVPN, provider of next-gen secure and scalable communication software. OpenVPN Access Server keeps your company’s data safe with end-to-end encryption, secure remote access, and extension for your centralized UTM.

What do you think of this pitch?

There is lots of disagreement over whether this pitch is any good.

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_11-19-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 5:30am PDT

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/dos-and-donts-of-trashing-your-competition/)

We want to malign our competitors, but just don't know how mean we should be. Miss Manners steps in on the latest episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and special guest co-host, Mark Eggleston (@meggleston), CISO, Health Partners Plans, and our guest is Anahi Santiago (@AnahiSantiago), CISO, ChristianaCare Health System.

We recorded in front of a live audience at Evanta's CISO Executive Summit in Philadelphia on November 5th, 2019.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is PhiladelphiaRoom.jpg

Recording CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast in front of a live audience at Evanta's CISO Executive Summit in Philadelphia (11-05-19)

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsors Trend Micro, Thinkst, and Secure Controls Framework.

Trend Micro

Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, helps to make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Our innovative solutions for consumers, businesses, and governments provide layered security for data centers, cloud environments, networks, and endpoints. For more information, visit www.trendmicro.com.

Secure Controls Framework

The Secure Controls Framework (SCF) is a meta-framework – a framework of frameworks. This free solution is available for companies to use to design, implement and manage their cybersecurity and privacy controls in an efficient and sustainable manner. Our approach provides a comprehensive solution to manage complex compliance needs.

Thinkst Canary

Most companies find out way too late that they’ve been breached. Thinkst Canary changes this. Find out why the Thinkst Canary is one of the most loved products in the business and why the smartest security teams in the world run Canary. Visit https://canary.tools.

On this week’s episode

Why is everyone talking about this now?

Greg van der Gaast, former guest who runs security at The University of Salford, initiated a popular LinkedIn discussion on the topic of human error. According to his colleague Matthew Trump of the University of Sussex, in critical industries, such as aerospace, oil & gas, and medical, “human error” is not an acceptable answer. You simply have to prevent the incident. If not, a mistake can be both a regulatory violation and lethal.

But people are a part of the security equation. It’s unavoidable.

We know zero erros is impossible, but can you accept “human error” as a fail point?

Hey, you’re a CISO, what’s your take on this?

Listener David said, “One thing I have experienced at my last two jobs is integrating with a ‘global’ security team whose security program is effectively and functionally inferior to our own. In these occasions, the global security team wanted us to remove current safeguards, processes/procedures and tooling that reduced the preparedness and effectiveness of our security program and introduced risk(s) that we have not been exposed to in years. All of these changes were always touted as a ‘one team’ initiative but never once was due diligence on security posture taken into account.

“What is the best way to go about a consolidation like this? Do you not mess with a good thing and ask the ‘better’ security program to report up incidents, conform to compliance check boxes etc. or as a CISO do you sign off on a risk acceptance knowing that the operating company is now in a worse state of security.”

“What’s Worse?!”

We’ve got two rounds of really bad scenarios.

What annoys a security professional

Geoff Belknap, former guest and CISO of LinkedIn, appreciates a vendor’s desire to “bring like minds” together around food or drink, but the invite is not welcome on a weekend. Belknap feels that the weekend intrudes into a CISO’s personal/family space. There was a lot of debate and disagreements on this, but there were some solutions. One mentioned a vendor invite that included round trip Lyft rides and childcare.

Oh, they did something stupid on social media again

Jason Hoenich, CEO of Habitu8 posted on LinkedIn that he didn’t appreciate Fortinet writing about security training for CSO Online, something for which Jason’s business does and for which he believes Fortinet does not have any expertise. It appears this was a sponsored article, but Jason didn’t point to the article nor did he isolate specifically what he felt was wrong with Fortinet’s advice.

Here at the CISO Series, we like Jason and Habitu8. They’ve been strong contributors to the community. But complaining and not pointing to any concrete evidence is not the best way to convince an audience. Earlier this year we saw something similar with the CEO of Crowdstrike going after the CEO of Cybereason claiming an underhanded sales tactic that was not specified nor anyone at Cybereason knew what he was talking about.

Is it OK to go after your competition in a public forum? If so, what’s the most professional and respectful way to handle it?

It’s time for the audience question speed round

Our Philadelphia audience has questions and our CISOs had some answers. We rattle off a quick series of questions and answers to close the show.

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_11-12-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 5:30am PDT

All links and images for this post can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/get-out-the-fud-is-coming-from-the-inside/)

On this week's CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast, we're pointing fingers at practitioners, not vendors, for promoting the FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) scare-a-thon.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Eddie Contreras (@CISOEdwardC), CISO, Frost Bank.

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor Trend Micro.

Trend Micro

Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, helps to make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Our innovative solutions for consumers, businesses, and governments provide layered security for data centers, cloud environments, networks, and endpoints. For more information, visit www.trendmicro.com.

On this week's episode

Why is everyone talking about this now?

On LinkedIn, Ron C. of CoreSolutions Software said, "Cybersecurity is no longer just a technical problem. It’s now more of a people problem! So why aren’t businesses prioritizing security awareness training for their staff?" There was a massive response and mixed agreement. Regardless, are we falling short on security awareness training? Is it not effective? Is it too complicated to pull off? Is the cost not justified? More importantly, has security awareness training had any impact?

Hey, you're a CISO, what's your take on this?

accidentalciso on our reddit channel, r/cisoseries, asks, How does a security professional know if "CISO truly is the right career goal for them? I don’t think the reality of the role is consistent with what one might think early on in their career." What was it about the CISO role that makes a security professional want to pursue it and how does that previous perception of what a CISO did counter or align with what was really experienced?

It's time to play, "What's Worse?!"

Is there a worst type of attack?

Ask a CISO

James Dobra, Bromium, asks, "Are security organizations guilty of using FUD internally, e.g. with the board and with users, while complaining that vendors use it too much?" Does FUD happen internally? Do security teams do it to get the money they want and/or shame users into submission?

Cloud Security Tip sponsored by OpenVPN

On August 30, 2019, white hat hacker Tavis Ormandy discovered a vulnerability in a LastPass browser extension. This was a vulnerability, not a breach and was very quickly remedied without damage. But it still causes chills when the last bastion of password security reveals its Achilles heel. It’s like seeing your family doctor contract a terminal disease.

But for CISOs, this might be a good thing. Password complacency and sloppy security hygiene are the scourge of security specialists everywhere. A SaaS-based password manager that uses hashes and salts to remove the existence of physical passwords in their own vaults, is still a highly proactive solution.

More found on CISO Series.

Check out lots more cloud security tips sponsored by OpenVPN, provider of next-gen secure and scalable communication software. OpenVPN Access Server keeps your company’s data safe with end-to-end encryption, secure remote access, and extension for your centralized UTM.

First 90 Days of a CISO

Both Mike and our guest, Ed, are second time CISOs in their first 90 days at the role. We review what mistakes they made the first time as a CISO that they're actively avoiding this time. Are there any hurdles that are simply unavoidable and they're just going to have to face it like any new CISO would.

 

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_11-05-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 5:30am PDT

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/say-it-loud-i-didnt-read-the-privacy-policy-and-im-proud/)

If we don't understand the purpose of a privacy policy, why should we bother reading it? We're claiming the cyber ignorance defense on the latest episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Roger Hale (@haleroger), CISO in residence, YL Ventures.

Mike Johnson, co-host, CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast, Roger Hale, CISO in residence, YL Ventures, David Spark, producer, CISO Series

Mike Johnson, co-host, CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast, Roger Hale, CISO in residence, YL Ventures, David Spark, producer, CISO Series.

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor Zix.

Zix

Zix simplifies administration and reporting with a single management interface. Configuring, deploying, and monitoring email security and unified archiving services has never been easier – or faster. ZixSuite combines a cloud-based email threat protection, email encryption, and unified business communications archiving, all backed by Zix’s gold standard 24/7/365 support.

On this week's episode

How CISOs are digesting the latest security news

We're blowing it with general cybersecurity education. According to a study by the Pew Internet Research Center, most Americans don't understand or can't identify basic cybersecurity concepts such as two-factor authentication, private browsing, or the purpose of a privacy policy. We talk a lot about the important of education and it appears we're not doing a good job. What are some creative ways we can dramatically improve these numbers?

Hey, you're a CISO, what's your take on this?

Cai Thomas, Tessian, has an article on TechRadar on the dangers of sending corporate work via personal email accounts. He outlines the issues. As per the previous story, chances are very high people are completely unaware of the risk their placing the company in by forwarding corporate email to personal accounts. No amount of education is going to solve this problem. What are the systems that companies can and should setup to give people a better alternative than sending emails to personal accounts?

What's Worse?!

How damaging can not having a seat on the board be?

Ask a CISO

Nick Sorensen, Whistic, asks, "What do you see the most proactive vendors doing to prepare for vendor security reviews from their customers?"

Cloud Security Tip sponsored by OpenVPN

“Your bank account has been frozen.” That’s now an old chestnut in the scamming world, but it thrives through increasingly sophisticated spoofing activities that include a banks’ real phone number and real-looking pop-up websites for password refresh requests. Even IT experts can get caught by these things occasionally, as some have even confessed on this very podcast series.

This level of relentless innovation is worth keeping front of mind when considering the amounts of data that Internet of Things devices are creating but that organizations have no plan or space for. IBM, Forrester, and others have suggested that maybe 1 percent of data generated from IoT connectivity is being used, mostly for immediate learning or predictive activities.

More available on CISO Series.

Check out lots more cloud security tips sponsored by OpenVPN, provider of next-gen secure and scalable communication software. OpenVPN Access Server keeps your company’s data safe with end-to-end encryption, secure remote access, and extension for your centralized UTM.

First 90 days of a CISO

Today is Roger's first official day as a CISO in residence at YL Ventures. What the heck does that mean, and how does that differ from being an operational CISO?

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_10-29-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 5:30am PDT

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/ill-see-your-gated-whitepaper-and-raise-you-one-fake-email-address/)

We're all in with not wanting "follow up email marketing" on the latest episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Ian Amit (@iiamit), CSO, Cimpress.

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor Trend Micro.

Trend Micro

Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, helps to make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Our innovative solutions for consumers, businesses, and governments provide layered security for data centers, cloud environments, networks, and endpoints. For more information, visit www.trendmicro.com.

On this week's episode

Why is everyone talking about this now?

To gate or not to gate. Mike posted on LinkedIn about how much he appreciated vendors who don't gate their content behind a registration wall. The post blew up on LinkedIn. The overwhelming response got some vendors willing to change their tune.

Hey, you're a CISO, what's your take on this?

Kevin Kieda of RSA Security asks, "For an initial meeting what are the things you want the sales person to know about your business that many of them don't." Kevin says he gets frustrated that he gets the sense a prospect wants them to know what tools they're using even though he knows he often can't find out that information. What is the must know, nice to know, and boy I'm impressed you know that?

Mike Johnson recommends BuiltWith.com for basic OSINT on a company site.

What's Worse?!

Whose mistakes are worse? Your own or the vendor's?

The great CISO challenge

Factor Analysis of Information Risk (FAIR) is a risk framework (often laid ontop of others) that simplifies the understanding of risk by identifying the blocks that contribute to risk and their relationship to each other and then quantifying that in terms of money. Ian, can you give me an example of how you actually do this?

Cloud Security Tip sponsored by OpenVPN

Since its inception back in 2010, Zero Trust Architecture has been gaining traction. Much of the interest stems from the nature of work and data today – people working from anywhere on any device, and data racing around networks and to and from the cloud means there is no single fortress where everything can exist safely. Operating on a belief that everything inside the perimeter is safe because it’s inside the perimeter is no match to today’s hacking, penetration and inside sabotage.

The establishment of new perimeter protections, including microtunnels and MFA is best applied to new cloud deployments but must still somehow be factored into a legacy architecture without becoming more inconvenient and vulnerable than what it is trying to replace.

More on CISO Series.

Check out lots more cloud security tips sponsored by OpenVPN, provider of next-gen secure and scalable communication software. OpenVPN Access Server keeps your company’s data safe with end-to-end encryption, secure remote access, and extension for your centralized UTM.

Why is this a bad pitch?

What's the polite way to hande the way too generic vendor request. We offer two examples of non-specific pitches that are obviously just begging for a CISO's time.

Is there a polite way to refute the request and let them know without talking down to them and letting them know that this isn't a tactic they should pursue?

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_10-22-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 5:30am PDT

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/rated-1-in-irresponsible-security-journalism/)

No security alert is too small for us to completely misrepresent its severity. The sky is falling on the latest episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor, Zix.

Zix

Zix simplifies administration and reporting with a single management interface. Configuring, deploying, and monitoring email security and unified archiving services has never been easier – or faster. ZixSuite combines a cloud-based email threat protection, email encryption, and unified business communications archiving, all backed by Zix’s gold standard 24/7/365 support.

On this week's episode

Why is everybody talking about this now?

Two recent stories showed some fallibility in multi-factor authentication or MFA. We repeatedly recommended MFA on this show. But, the FBI announced some technical and social engineering techniques that are being used to break multi-factor authentication. In addition, Twitter admitted that email addresses and phone numbers used to set up MFA might have been sent to third party advertisers. The FBI says its news shouldn't change our trust in MFA. William Gregorian, CISO, Addepar, posted on LinkedIn that the press is claiming that MFA is broken and that's irresponsible journalism.

Let's dig a little deeper

Security professionals thrive on hearing about and learning about the latest threats. It feeds the latest security headlines and conferences. While it's often fascinating and keeps everyone interested, to what level are security concerns based on well-known years old threats vs. the latest threats?

"What's Worse?!"

Whose mistakes are worse? Yours or the vendors'?

Please, enough. No, more.

We've talked a lot about machine learning on this show and the definition of it is broad. What's ML's value in threat protection. We discuss what we've heard enough about with regard to machine learning being used for threat protection And what would we like to hear a lot more.

Cloud Security Tips sponsored by OpenVPN

When companies in retail or enterprise remind their online visitors to change their passwords, are they doing them a favor or causing them grief? Password managers exist, of course, as do newer forms of passwordless authentication, multifactor authentication and behavioral and biometric data.

But ultimately, whose responsibility is this? Should a merchant website place the onus of personal security back on the customer? And if so, how would this protect the merchant’s own property? If this jeopardizes a sale or transaction, the cost of proactive security, at least for the short term appears too great. And it’s obvious, from the avalanche of data breaches of recent years that stored data of any sort becomes a permanent liability.

More available on CISO Series.

Check out lots more cloud security tips sponsored by OpenVPN, provider of next-gen secure and scalable communication software. OpenVPN Access Server keeps your company’s data safe with end-to-end encryption, secure remote access, and extension for your centralized UTM.

Ask a CISO

Gina Yacone, a consultant with Agio, asks, "If you’re performing a table top exercise. Who are the only three people you would want to have a seat at that table?"

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_10-15-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 5:30am PDT

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/cybercrimes-solved-in-an-hour-or-your-next-ones-free/)

In the real world, cybercrimes just don't get solved as fast as they do on CSI. So we're offering a guarantee. If we don't catch the cyber-perpetrator in an hour (including commercial breaks) we'll make sure you're attacked again.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our sponsored guest this week is Jason Hill (@chillisec), lead researcher at CyberInt Research Lab.

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor, Cyberint.

Cyberint

The high ROI is what makes spear phishing campaigns so attractive to threat actors. Read our breakdown of TA505’s latest series of attacks. CyberInt has been tracking various activities surrounding this and other similar attacks where legit means were used to hack international companies in the retail & financial industries.

On this week's episode

What annoys a security professional

Question on Quora asks, "What does everybody get wrong about working in the field of forensics?" There were a handful of answers from looking to TV and film dramas to that it's only a post mortem analysis. What are the biggest misconception of digital forensics?

Why is everybody talking about this now?

Tip of the hat to Stu Hirst of Just Eat who posted this Dilbert cartoon that got a flurry of response. Read for yourself, but in essence, it's a boss that thought technology would solve all his problems. Not realizing that people and process are also part of the equation.

All too familiar. The "I've been hearing a lot about __________" phenomenon. What causes this behavior and how do you manage it?

"What's Worse?!"

How much flexibility to you require in your security team and the business?

Please, Enough. No, More.

How far can AI go? Where does the human element need to exist? What are the claims of the far reaching capabilities of AI? We discuss what we'd like to hear regarding the realistic capabilities and limitations of AI.

Cloud Security Tip sponsored by OpenVPN

Every year, the Fall season sees billions of dollars being spent on home-based IoT devices. The back-to-school sales are the starting point, Cyber Monday is the clubhouse turn and the year-end holiday season is the finish line.

As usual, these devices – printers, DVRs, IP cameras, smart home assistants, are relatively inexpensive and provide plug and play convenience, to satisfy an impatient customer base.

For the rest of the cloud tip, head to CISO Series.

Check out lots more cloud security tips sponsored by OpenVPN, provider of next-gen secure and scalable communication software. OpenVPN Access Server keeps your company’s data safe with end-to-end encryption, secure remote access, and extension for your centralized UTM.

We don't have much time. What's your decision?

What are the best models for crowdsourcing security? There are entire businesses, such as bug bounty firms, that are dedicated to creating crowdsourced security environments. Our guest this week is passionate about investigative work. We asked him and Mike what elements they've found that inspire and simplify the community to participate in a crowdsourced security effort.

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_10-08-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 5:30am PDT

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/mapping-unsolvable-problems-to-unattainable-solutions/)

We're busting out the Cyber Defense Matrix to see what our security program we'll never be able to achieve.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week Sounil Yu (@sounilyu), former chief security scientist for Bank of America and creator of the Cyber Defense Matrix.

David Spark, producer, CISO Series, Sounil Yu, creator, Cyber Defense Matrix, Mike Johnson, co-host, CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast

David Spark, producer, CISO Series, Sounil Yu, creator, Cyber Defense Matrix, Mike Johnson, co-host, CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor, Zix.

Zix

Zix simplifies administration and reporting with a single management interface. Configuring, deploying, and monitoring email security and unified archiving services has never been easier – or faster. ZixSuite combines a cloud-based email threat protection, email encryption, and unified business communications archiving, all backed by Zix’s gold standard 24/7/365 support.

On this week's episode

Why is everybody talking about this now?

Mike asked the LinkedIn community, "What's bad security advice that needs to die?" We had an entire episode of Defense in Depth on this very topic called "Bad Best Practices." The post got nearly 300 responses, so it's obviously something many people are passionate about. Is there a general theme to bad security advice?

The great CISO challenge

Sounil Yu is the creator of a very simple problem-to-solution chart for security professionals called the Cyber Defense Matrix. This simple chart allows a cyber professional to see how their tools, processes, and people are mapped to all different levels of security protection. We discuss the purpose of the matrix and all the real world applications.

"What's Worse?!"

We have a real world "What's Worse?!" scenario and Mike and Sounil compete to see if they answered the way the real world scenario actually played out.

Hey, you're a CISO, what's your take on this?

Last week on Defense in Depth we talked about a discussion initiated by Christophe Foulon of ConQuest Federal on cyber resiliency. Some people argued that it should be a security professional's primary focus because its action is in line with the interests of the business. Should a cyber professional shift their focus to resiliency over security? Would that facilitate better alignment with the business?

Cloud Security Tip sponsored by OpenVPN

Exploitable weaknesses measured in decades. Not a comforting thought. But this is a reality that exists in at least two major IT ecosystems. The first is Microsoft and the second is firmware. Teams belonging to Google’s Project Zero have found exploitable security flaws affecting all versions of Windows going back to Windows XP – which presents a logistical nightmare for admins the world over.

Sarah Zatko, Chief Scientist at the Cyber Independent Testing Lab spoke recently at Red Hat and DEF CON in Las Vegas about deficiencies in the security of firmware, including those from companies that manufacture the world’s best-known routers.

More available at CISO Series.

Check out lots more cloud security tips sponsored by OpenVPN, provider of next-gen secure and scalable communication software. OpenVPN Access Server keeps your company’s data safe with end-to-end encryption, secure remote access, and extension for your centralized UTM.

Ask a CISO

Thanks to Chris Castaldo, CISO at Dataminr, for this post on new research from the firm Marsh and Microsoft. According to the study, half of the respondents didn't consider cyber risk when adopting new tech. A full 11 percent did no due diligence to actually evaluate the risk a new technology may introduce.

Does it take that much effort to understand the basic risks of introducing a new technology? What are some first level research efforts that should be done with any new tech consideration or adoption?

 

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_10-01-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 5:30am PDT

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/wait-what-good-news-in-cybersecurity/)

On this episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast, cybercrime fails and we brag about it.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Geoff Belknap (@geoffbelknap), CISO, LinkedIn.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Mike-Geoff-David_LinkedInRecording-09-12-19-3.jpg

Mike Johnson, co-host, CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast, Geoff Belknap, CISO, LinkedIn, and David Spark, producer, CISO Series.

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor Trend Micro.

Trend Micro

On this week's episode

How CISOs are digesting the latest security news

We simply don't hear enough good news cybersecurity stories that make those involved proud. What are the cybersecurity stories that aren't being told publicly that should be?

First 90 Days of a CISO

Michael Farnum, Set Solutions, said, "If you come into the job and aren’t willing to critically review existing projects AND put a stop to the ones that are questionable, then you are going to cause yourself problems later. It might seem like an unwise political move when new to the company, but you have to be willing to swing the axe (or at least push the pause button) on anything that doesn’t make sense." Not so easy, but where's the line where you can actually push and say, "We're changing course"?

It's time to play, "What's Worse?!"

We've got a split decision!

Hey, you're a CISO, what's your take on this?

On a previous episode of Defense in Depth, we talked about employee hacking or getting the staff on the same page as the CISO and the security program. I quoted instructor Sarah Mancinho who said, "I am a firm believer that CISOs/CIOs should have their own dedicated IT strategic communications person(s) that report to them, and not any other office. Most comms roles I've seen...had to report to HR/PR/General Comms....none of whom really knew anything about technology/technical comms/infosec....and had little to no interaction with the IT/security team."

My co-host, Allan Alford, loved this idea, never had it, but would love to have it. What value could a dedicated PR person bring to the security team?

The devious new Android malware called Cerberus steals credentials by using a downloaded fake Adobe Flash player. That is not really innovative in itself, but what’s interesting is the way it seeks to avoid detection by using the phone’s accelerometer to confirm that the infected target is a real device and not on the screen of a security analyst. According to ESET researcher Lukas Stefanko, quoted in Forbes, the app actually counts a number of physical footsteps taken by the phone’s owner, and deploys once the required number has been reached. 

Cloud Security Tip sponsored by OpenVPN

For more, check out the full tip on CISO Series.

Check out lots more cloud security tips sponsored by OpenVPN, provider of next-gen secure and scalable communication software. OpenVPN Access Server keeps your company’s data safe with end-to-end encryption, secure remote access, and extension for your centralized UTM.

Why is everybody talking about this now?

What's behind the cybersecurity skills shortage? In an article on the Forbes Council, Mark Aiello, president of cybersecurity recruiting firm CyberSN, pointed out some ugly truths as to why it's so difficult to hire cybersecurity talent. He pointed to low pay, the desire to find unicorns, poor job descriptions, training and growth. Is the core issue that the cybersecurity industry just does a very poor job welcoming new entrants?

Today, what does a cybersecurity professional need walking in the door? And what are CISOs willing to accept no knowledge of, yet willing to train?

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_09-24-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 5:30am PDT

All images and links for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/serious-hackers-wear-two-black-hoodies/)

We're doubling down and embracing the absolute worst of hacker tropes. Put on your black hoodie and then a second one. Boot up your Matrix screensaver and listen to the latest episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our sponsored guest this week is Bruce Potter (@gdead), CISO, Expel.

Here are the links to the items Bruce mentioned on the show:

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor Expel

Expel

Expel is flipping today’s managed security model on its head (Ouch!) for on-prem and cloud, taking a technology-driven approach that lets analysts focus on what humans do best: exercise judgment and manage relationships. The company offers 24x7 monitoring through its security operations center-as-a-service, using the security tools customers already have.

On this week's episode

We’ve got listeners, and they’ve got questions

A listener, who wishes to remain anonymous asks, "I am a one person security organization, and I get frustrated reading industry news and even listening to the CISO Series (love the show). My frustration is that so very often articles, blogs and podcasts assume that you/your organization has a security TEAM... How do you thrive and not just survive as a security shop of one?" What can a one-person shop expect to do, and not do?

Let's dig a little deeper

Bruce is also the founder of the Shmoo Group and his wife is the organizer for the annual ShmooCon which is a hacker conference held in DC every year. I'm stunned that his 2200-person event sells out in less than 20 seconds. There is obviously huge demand to attend and speak at your event. This year's event he had 168 submitted talks and 41 were accepted. Bruce tells us what makes a great ShmooCon submission and what were the most memorable talks from ShmooCon.

"What's Worse?!"

Today's game probably speaks to the number one problem with every company's security program.

Hey, you're a CISO, what's your take on this?

An issue that comes up in security all the time is "how do you do more with less." Are there ways to advance your security program when you don't have more budget or more people to do so?

Cloud Security Tip sponsored by OpenVPN

Study after study shows a top priority for cloud users is having visibility into application and data traffic. But most are not getting it. Nine out of ten respondents believe that access to packet data is needed for effective monitoring. So even though the cloud providers maintain the fortress, the enterprise still needs to see what’s going on. They’re ultimately responsible, after all.

Cloud needs its own approach to monitoring, more closely based on how cloud customers interact with their data. It needs its own tools and greater level of communication between them and their providers.

More on CISO Series.

Check out lots more cloud security tips sponsored by OpenVPN, provider of next-gen secure and scalable communication software. OpenVPN Access Server keeps your company’s data safe with end-to-end encryption, secure remote access, and extension for your centralized UTM.

Why is everybody talking about this now?

We have talked in the past about the tired and negative image of the hacker in the black hoodie. It's pretty much all you see in stock photos. And since that's all any media outlet uses, that image just keeps getting reinforced. Poking fun and I think truly trying to find a better hacker image meme, Casey Ellis, founder of Bugcrowd, challenged others on LinkedIn to find a better "hacker stock photo" than the one he posted of hands coming out of a screen and typing on your keyboard with a cat looking on. We debate the truly worst hacker images we've seen and we propose a possible new stock image of the hacker.

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_09-17-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 5:30am PDT

Links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/ciso-confessions-its-not-you-its-me-/)

Vendors are trying to understand why CISOs are ghosting them and sometimes, it really isn't their fault. CISOs accept the blame on the latest episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and joining me is special guest co-host Betsy Bevilacqua (@HEALTHeSECURITY), CISO, Butterfly Network. Our guest will be Matt Southworth (@bronx), CISO of Priceline.

CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Series Recorded at WeWork in Times Square 9/5/19

This episode was recorded live in WeWork's Times Square location on September 5th, 2019. Here are all the photos.

Enormous thanks to WeWork for hosting this event. They're hiring! Contact JJ Agha, vp of information security at WeWork.

Also, huge thanks to David Raviv and the NY Information Security Meetup group for partnering with us on this event.

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor Tehama, Tenable, and Devo.

Tehama

Tehama provides secure and compliant virtual desktops on the cloud, and all the IT infrastructure needed for enterprises to connect and grow global and remote teams. Tehama's built-in SOC 2 Type II controls reduce the risk of malware intrusion from endpoint devices, data breaches, and other vulnerabilities.  Learn more at tehama.io.

Tenable

Effective vulnerability prioritization helps you answer three questions: Where should we prioritize based on risk? Which vulnerabilities are likeliest to be exploited? What should we fix first? Tenable gives you the accurate and actionable data you need to answer these questions and better secure your business. Learn more: tenable.com/predictive-prioritization.

Devo SIEM

SOC teams have been struggling with many of the same issues for years – lack of visibility, too much noise – all while the threat landscape grows more complex. Devo Security Operations is a next-gen cloud SIEM that enables you to gain complete visibility, reduce noise, and focus on the threats that matter most to the business.

On this week's episode

How are CISOs digesting the latest security news?

An article on Bloomberg and an ensuing discussion on LinkedIn pointed out that costs after a breach go beyond fines and lost reputation. It also includes the cost to keep top cybersecurity talent. Salaries for a CISO post-breach can range from $2.5-$6.5 million, that includes stock. What could a security professional show and demonstrate in this time of crisis that they are the one to hire to garner such a salary?

Hey, you're a CISO, what's your take on this?

Michael Mortensen of Risk Based Security asks a question about when there's considerable dialogue with a prospect, and they go cold. Michael wants to know what causes this? He has theories on sales people being impatient or wrong set of expectations, but he's interested in the CISO's viewpoint. Assuming you have had conversations with a vendor, have you gone cold on their outreach? If so, what was the reason?

It's time to play, "What's Worse?!"

Two rounds lots of agreement, but plenty of struggle.

Why is everybody talking about this now?

Cryptography firm Crown Sterling has sued Black Hat for breaching its sponsorship agreement and also suing 10 individuals for orchestrating a disruption of the company's sponsored talk at the conference in which the CEO presented a finding on discovering prime numbers which are key to public-key encryption. The crowd didn't like it and they booed him. You can see a video of one individual yelling, "Get off the stage, you shouldn't be here." Crown Sterling argued that Black Hat was in violation of their sponsorship agreement because they didn't do enough to stop it.

At Black Hat and related parties I saw many printed signs about codes of conduct. It doesn't appear anyone had a plan to enforce those rules.
What has happened in the security community that some security professionals feel they have the right to shout down a speaker like this?
If one of these 10 disruptors was your employee, how would you respond?

What's a CISO to do?

So much of a job of a CISO is to change behavior. How do CISOs change behavior to a more secure posture? Where should a CISO start? What's the low hanging fruit?

It’s time for the audience question speed round

Our audience has questions, and our CISOs tried to come up with as many answers as possible. Our closing question put my guest co-host in the hot seat.

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_09-10-19_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 4:00am PDT

Links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/getting-over-our-security-%e2%89%a0-compliance-obsession/)

We repeat "Security ≠ Compliance" so often it's become our mantra. Does anyone pay attention to it anymore? We're unpacking our compulsion to keep saying it on the latest episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Chris Hymes (@secwrks), head of information security, enterprise IT, and data protection officer, Riot Games, makers of League of Legends.

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor Expel

Expel

Expel is flipping today’s managed security model on its head (Ouch!) for on-prem and cloud, taking a technology-driven approach that lets analysts focus on what humans do best: exercise judgment and manage relationships. The company offers 24x7 monitoring through its security operations center-as-a-service, using the security tools customers already have.

On this week's episode

Why is everyone talking about this now?

On LinkedIn, Omar Khawaja, CISO, Highmark Health, argued that every time a security person repeats the "Security does not equal compliance" trope, it translates to a belief that compliance is useless. This caused a flurry of discussion. Is compliance useless? If not, Omar asks what should "Security does not equal compliance" be replaced with? Essentially, how should compliance be viewed in an overall security program?

Ask a CISO

Scott Holt, sales engineer, cmd, asked our CISOs how they're balancing keeping their information and infrastructure private while at the same time working with vendors to fill security needs?

"What's Worse?!"

We've got a question based on the build vs. buy debate.

Hey, You're a CISO, what's your take on this?

Paul Makowski, Polyswarm, asks a question that's very relevant to their business. He said, "Enterprises often subscribe to multiple feeds [of threat intelligence]. They learn their strengths and weaknesses and develop weighting algorithms to divine highest quality intelligence in the context of what's being analyzed. How can the industry close the feedback loop with threat intelligence providers, providing them with an opportunity to improve coverage and efficacy (false positive / false negative rates)?"

Cloud Security Tip sponsored by OpenVPN

The Shared Responsibility Model for cloud is, as Amazon and others describe it, the difference between the “security OF the cloud” and “security IN the cloud,” with cloud service providers taking care of the OF, and clients taking care of the IN. “In the cloud” means the data, the access – especially guest access, and the usage.

More on CISO Series.

Check out lots more cloud security tips sponsored by OpenVPN, provider of next-gen secure and scalable communication software. OpenVPN Access Server keeps your company’s data safe with end-to-end encryption, secure remote access, and extension for your centralized UTM.

Close your eyes. Breathe in. It’s time for a little security philosophy.

Steven Trippier, Group CISO, Anglian Water Services, asked, "What are the right metrics to use to illustrate the success / performance of the security team?" We've asked this question before and one of the most popular answers was "mean time to identify and remediate." But here's the philosophical question that Steven asks, "How does this change in an environment where breaches/malware outbreaks are uncommon and stats such as mean time to identify and mean time to contain are not relevant?"

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_09-03-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 5:30am PDT

All images and links for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/open-this-email-for-an-exclusive-look-at-our-clickable-web-links/)

You'll be dazzled by the clickability of our web links on this week's episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week Aanchal Gupta (@nchlgpt), head of security for Calibra, Facebook.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is AanchalGupta_MikeJohnson_DavidSpark2.jpg

Aanchal Gupta, Head of Security for Calibra, Facebook, Mike Johnson, Co-Host, CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast, David Spark, Producer, CISO Series

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor Expel.

Expel

Expel is flipping today’s managed security model on its head (Ouch!) for on-prem and cloud, taking a technology-driven approach that lets analysts focus on what humans do best: exercise judgment and manage relationships. The company offers 24x7 monitoring through its security operations center-as-a-service, using the security tools customers already have.

On this week's episode

Hey, You're a CISO, what's your take on this?

Last month, Brian Krebs reported a breach from the 6th-largest cloud solutions provider PCM Inc. which let intruders rifle through Office365 email/documents for a number of customers.

In response, listener Alexander Rabke, Unbound Tech, asked, "Would CISOs continue to do business with ‘security’ companies that are breached?" What's your recommendation for sales people who are at such an organization? How should they manage news like this?

Ask a CISO

We know there are plenty of pros and cons of telecommuting. I'm eager to hear from both of you how security leaders value telecommuting. What are the challenges to a CISO of managing a virtual staff?

What's Worse?!

We've got two extreme scenarios you'd never see in the real world.

Why is everybody talking about this now?

Mike, on LinkedIn you ranted about the term DevSecOps that it was a distraction and that "It's really no different (at a high level) than building security into an Agile development process, or a Waterfall process." I agree but I would argue that when DevOps was introduced it was about getting two groups working in tandem. At the time it was a mistake to omit security.

Last year at Black Hat I produced a video where I asked attendees, "Should security and DevOps be in couples counseling together?" Everyone universally said, "Yes", but I was taken aback that many of the security people responded, "that they should just listen to me." Which, if you've ever been in couples counseling knows that the technique doesn't work.

I argue that the term DevSecOps was brought about to say, "Hey everybody, you have to include us as well."

Mike recommends Kelly Shortridge and Nicole Forsgren presentation at Black Hat 2019, "The Inevitable Marriage of DevOps and Security".

Cloud Security Tip sponsored by OpenVPN

Companies continue to take advantage of the economies of scale offered by multi-tenant cloud services, but complacency is dangerous. Multi-tenant cloud is often described as being like a big apartment building, but the big difference is that the walls that separate tenants from each other are not solid, but software. Software is built by humans which closes the circle: unpredictable humans in an unpredictable world.

I’m not just talking about hacking here. What about compliance? GDPR’s austere and perhaps old-world view that data on a German citizen must stay in Germany, is nonetheless the law, and carries substantial fines for transgression. This requires data centers to be run from multiple countries, but so long as they’re connected by a cable no data is ever truly isolated. Future regulations affecting health records or patents or blockchain transactions might find themselves in limbo when it comes to coming to rest in a certain section of a certain cloud.

For the moment, companies are focusing mostly on the cost-efficiencies of shacking up with other tenants in the same building, but very soon, this too might not be enough.

Check out lots more cloud security tips sponsored by OpenVPN, provider of next-gen secure and scalable communication software. OpenVPN Access Server keeps your company’s data safe with end-to-end encryption, secure remote access, and extension for your centralized UTM.

The great CISO challenge

Lauren Zink of Amtrust posted an article from Infosec Institute asking, "What are you to do with repeat offenders in social engineering exercises?" The article offers some helpful suggestions. In the discussion, there was some pointing fingers at security training designed to purposefully trick employees. Have either of you had to deal with repeat offenders? What did you do? What's your advice for other security leaders... and HR?

 

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_08-27-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 6:00am PDT

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/like-fine-wine-our-vendor-bs-meter-gets-better-with-age/) 

The bouquet of this particular vendor BS is a mixture of FUD, unnecessary urgency, and a hint of pecan. Look to your left and grab the spittoon because we don't expect everyone to swallow what you're about to hear on this week's episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Olivia Rose, CISO for MailChimp.

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor Remediant

Remediant

Eighty one percent of cyberattacks utilize stolen administrative credentials. Yet, legacy enterprise password vaults solve only a fraction of the problem and are difficult to rollout. Remediant’s SecureONE takes a new approach to privileged access management: offering agent-less, vault-less, continuous detection and just-in-time-administration. Learn what Remediant can do in a half-day POC deployment.

On this week's episode

Why is everyone talking about this now?

One of the reasons we hate hearing security buzzwords is because it doesn't help us understand what it is a vendor is trying to sell. When a vendor says we have a "zero trust" product, what does that mean?

We delve into some of the tell-tale signs that a vendor or consultant is trying to BS you.

According to Olivia Rose, if you're going to pitch a CISO, make sure you can answer the following simply and succinctly:

What does our product/service do?
What specific security problem does it solve?
How will it affect the typical strategic/business drivers for a company?

It's time for "Ask a CISO"

Fernando Montenegro, analyst for 451 Research, asked, "How can the CISO be a change agent for the security team so it can better align with the business?"

What's Worse?!

For this week's game I picked a question very apropos for our guest's current situation.

Um… maybe you shouldn't have done that

Unconscious bias towards women in professional settings is not always overt nor intentional, but it happens. We discuss some examples of unconscious bias for both women and men. And we discuss how too much of it can really push women out of the security industry.

A distributed denial of service attack is the scourge of IT security. According to Verisign, one-third of all downtime incidents are attributed to DDoS attacks, and thousands happen every day. Are they created by sophisticated black hatted evil doers from an underground lair? Of course not. Welcome to the world of cybercrime-as-a-service.

You too can silence a competitor or cause havoc for pretty much anyone for as low as $23.99 a month. Just have your credit card or Bitcoin ready.

For more, go to CISOSeries.com.

Check out lots more cloud security tips sponsored by OpenVPN, provider of next-gen secure and scalable communication software. OpenVPN Access Server keeps your company’s data safe with end-to-end encryption, secure remote access, and extension for your centralized UTM.

First 90 days of a CISO

Being just six weeks in, our guest, Olivia Rose is living the first 90 days of a CISO. We asked her and Mike what it's like those first few weeks. And to no one's surprise, it's beyond overwhelming.

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_08-20-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 6:00am PDT

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/if-capital-one-listened-to-our-podcast-they-still-would-have-been-breached/) 

We guarantee listening to our show would have done absolutely nothing to prevent the Capital One breach. We've consulted our lawyers and we feel confident about making that claim. It's all coming up on this week's episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This episode was recorded in the ExtraHop booth during Black Hat 2019. It is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our sponsored guest this week is Tom Stitt (@BlinkerBilly), sr. director, product marketing - security, ExtraHop.

Tom Stitt, ExtraHop, David Spark and Mike Johnson, CISO Series

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor ExtraHop

ExtraHop

Unlike security solutions that focus on signature- and rule-based detection, ExtraHop Reveal(x) helps you rise above the noise of alerts with complete east-west visibility and machine learning for real-time detection of known and unknown threats, plus guided investigations for rapid response. Find and address real threats faster with ExtraHop.

On this week's episode

Why is everyone talking about this now?

I have noticed an either disturbing or coincidental trend. Every year, just before either RSA or Black Hat conferences, there is some massive breach. This year it was Capital One. In the past we've had Ashley Madison, Target, Marriott - all within a few months of the shows. I know I know I know that CISOs absolutely hate being sold on FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt), but all conferences are affected by industry relevant news. You simply can't avoid it. Capital One was brought up multiple times during the Black Hat conference. We discuss the do's and don'ts of bringing up the most recent breach at a huge trade show.

We don't have much time. What's your decision?

On LinkedIn, you asked "When your risk and threat models all agree that this feature/product/decision is of low concern but your gut tells you otherwise, what do you do?" It appears most people said go with your gut to which Richard Seiersen of Soluble pointed out that guts are models too. What happens when you're faced with such a scenario and what causes the tools and threat models to be so off your gut?

"What's Worse?!"

We've got a split decision and a really fun scenario.

Please, Enough. No, More.

Today's topic is "network behavior analysis." In the world of anomaly detection, what have Mike and Tom heard enough about and what would you like to hear a lot more?

Cloud Security Tip sponsored by OpenVPN

It’s been two weeks. Time to change your password again. How many times have we all bumped up against this wall – intended to help keep us secure, but extremely annoying when you have things do do? The battle for password security has been a long and arduous one, moving and evolving, sometimes ahead of, but more often lagging behind the activities of the hackers and bad guys, whose limitless resources seek out every possible weakness.

Challenge questions and strings of letters, numbers and characters might soon be coming to the end of their functional life, as security companies start to roll out biometric and behavioral security protocols in their place. Paired with increased access to data and artificial intelligence, it will become easier for organizations to contemplate a switch from basic strings of words to something more esoteric – a retinal scan paired with an extensive ergonomic behavior database for every individual.

These things are not new to the consumer marketplace of course. Apple iPhones are one of many devices that can be unlocked by a fingerprint, and credit card companies and web applications routinely call out unusual login behaviors.

But the new secret sauce in all of this is the availability of huge amounts of data in real time, which can be used to analyze a much larger set of behavioral activity, not simply an unusually timed login. This can then be managed by an Identity-as-a-service (IDaaS) company that would take over the administration, upkeep and security of its clients using the as-a-service model.

A retinal scan paired with a secure knowledge of which hand you carry your coffee in and where you bought it might very soon replace the old chestnut challenge of your mother’s maiden name. That one should stay safe with Mom.

Check out lots more cloud security tips sponsored by OpenVPN, provider of next-gen secure and scalable communication software. OpenVPN Access Server keeps your company’s data safe with end-to-end encryption, secure remote access, and extension for your centralized UTM.

And now, a listener drops some serious knowledge

On LinkedIn, Ian Murphy of LMNTRIX put together an incredibly funny presentation with great graphics entitled the BS Cybersecurity Awards which included such impressive glass statuettes like the "It'll Never Happen to Us" Award and the "Cash Burner" Award. In general, they were awards for all the bad repeated behavior we see from vendors and users in cybersecurity. What are the awards that are not given out that we'd actually like to see?

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_08-13-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 6:00am PDT

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/improve-security-by-hiring-people-who-know-everything/)

If you're having a hard time securing your infrastructure, then maybe you need to step up the requirements for expertise. Why not ask for everything? We're offering unreasonable advice on this week's episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This episode was recorded in front of a live audience at ADAPT's CISO Edge conference in Sydney, Australia. This special episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Liam Connolly, CISO of Seek. Our guest is Matt Boon (@mattjboon), director of strategic research for ADAPT. Plus, we have a special sponsored guest appearance from John Karabin, vp, cybersecurity, Dimension Data.

Thanks to this episode's sponsors Dimension Data/NTT and ADAPT

Dimension Data/NTT

By 1 October 2019, all 28 NTT companies, including Dimension Data, will be branded as NTT. Together we enable the connected future. Visit NTT at hello.global.ntt.

ADAPT

ADAPT’s mission is to equip IT executives with the knowledge, relationships, inspiration and tools needed to gain competitive advantage. ADAPT’s membership platform provides business leaders with fact-based insights, actionable patterns of success and the collective experience of 3,000 peers to improve strategic IT, security, and business decisions. Visit ADAPT for more.

On this week's episode

Why is everyone talking about this now?

Independent security consultant Simon Goldsmith sent this post from Stu Hirst, a security engineer at JUST EAT who posted a job listing that requested subject matter expertise on 12 different aspects of security. This highly demanding request resulted in well over 200 responses from the community. Is it laziness on the part of the company posting? Is it an attempt to just capture job seekers' search queries? Or is it simply an editorial mistake that they shouldn't have requested subject matter expertise but rather basic knowledge across 12 different aspects of security?

Ask a CISO

Mitch Renshaw, Fortinet, describes a problem that many vendors are having. He says:

"Fortinet’s broad portfolio makes it hard to give a concise yet effective overview of our value. As a result I’m worried my emails are going long.
Customers know us for our firewalls – and a full firewall refresh is hard to come by as a sales rep. So if I get more targeted in my demand generation techniques, I’m met with an 'I’m all set, I’ve got Palo/checkpoint/juniper/etc.'"

Mitch has got a conundrum. He's looking for the happy medium on how to sell a company with a wide variety of products, some of which are highly commoditized in the industry. How should he reach out to security professionals?

"What's Worse?!"

We play two rounds and the audience gets to play along as well.

Hey, you're a CISO, what's your take on this?'

My American co-host, Mike Johnson, asked this question of the LinkedIn community, and I ask you this as well. "Why do sites still **** out the password field on a login page?" It's designed to stop shoulder surfing. Is this really the main problem? What else is it helping or hurting, like password reuse? Passwords are a broken system that are easily hacked. We have solutions that add layers on top of it, like multi-factor authentication. What solutions do we have for the password process itself?

OK, what's the risk?

Ross Young of Capital One, asks this question about what risk should you be willing to take on? "What should cyber professionals do when they can’t contract or outsource services like pen testing however they struggle to acquire the talent they need. If they train folks they find them poached sooner and if they don’t they are stuck without the talent they need to survive."

Why is this a bad pitch?

We've got a pitch sent in to us from Eduardo Ortiz. It's not his pitch, but one he received. You may need to strap in when you hear this.

It’s time for the audience question speed round

Yep, it's just like it sounds. I ask the panel to ask some questions submitted from our audience.

 

 

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_08-06-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 6:00am PDT

Find all images and links for this episode on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/just-click-accept-as-we-explain-informed-consent/)

Even if you do give "informed" consent, do you really understand what we're doing with your data? Heck, we don't know what we're going to do with it yet, but we sure know we want a lot of it. It's all coming up on this week's episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Francesco Cipollone (@FrankSEC42), head of security architecture and strategy, HSBC Global Banking and Markets.

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor ExtraHop

ExtraHop

Unlike security solutions that focus on signature- and rule-based detection, ExtraHop Reveal(x) helps you rise above the noise of alerts with complete east-west visibility and machine learning for real-time detection of known and unknown threats, plus guided investigations for rapid response. Find and address real threats faster with ExtraHop.

On this week's episode

Should you ignore this security advice?

This is advice you should not ignore. It comes from an article by Jonathan Jaffe, director of information security at People.ai where he offered up a great recipe for startup security. We discussed standout tips and were there any disagreements or omissions?

Close your eyes. Breathe in. It's time for a little security philosophy.

Phil Huggins, GoCardless, said, "If we don't know what value is in our data until it has been enriched and analysed can we give informed consent as to its use?"

What's Worse?!

We're concerned with the state of data in this game.

Ask a CISO

Mike Baier, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, asks, "When faced with the scenario of the vendor providing a recent SOC 2 Type 2 report, and then tells you that their internal policies/procedures are considered 'highly confidential' and cannot be shared, what tips would you provide for language that could help cause the vendor to provide the required documentation?"

OpenVPN

The 1979 movie When a Stranger Calls gave us that unforgettable horror moment when the police informed Jill that the calls from the stalker were coming from inside the house. Nineteen years earlier, Hitchcock’s Psycho did a similar type of thing with the shower scene. We humans have a real problem when danger pops up in the place we feel safest – our homes. A similar problem happens in corporate IT security. We place a great deal of attention on watching for external hackers, as well as those that seek to dupe our overstressed employees into clicking that spearfishing link. What was it that Edward Hermann’s character, the vampire, said in the Lost Boys? “You have to invite us in.”

But what about internal bad actors? There are those who see great opportunity in accessing, stealing and selling company resources – data – like social security numbers, credit card numbers and medical files.

More on CISO Series.

Check out lots more cloud security tips sponsored by OpenVPN, provider of next-gen secure and scalable communication software. OpenVPN Access Server keeps your company’s data safe with end-to-end encryption, secure remote access, and extension for your centralized UTM.

OK, what's the risk?

A question from Robert Samuel, CISO, Government of Nova Scotia that I edited somewhat. It's commonly said that the business has the authority for risk-trade off decisions and that security is there just to provide information about the risk and measurement of the risk. I'm going to push this a little. Is this always the case? Do you sometimes disagree with the business or is it your attitude of "I communicated the risk, it's time for me to tap out."

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_07-30-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 5:30am PDT

All images and links for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/who-are-the-perfect-targets-for-ransomware/)

If you've got lots of critical data, a massive insurance policy, and poor security infrastructure, you might be a perfect candidate to be hit with ransomware. This week and this week only, it's an extortion-free episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Sean Walls (@sean_walls2000), vp, cybersecurity, Eurofins.

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor Core Security

Core Security

Assigning and managing entitlements rapidly to get employees the access they need is critical, but it can come at the cost of accuracy and security. Core Security’s identity governance and administration (IGA) solutions provide the intelligent, visual context needed to efficiently manage identity related security risks across any enterprise.

On this week's episode

How CISOs are digesting the latest security news

An article in the NYTimes points to a new trend in ransomware that is specifically attacking small governments with weak computer protections and strong insurance policies. Payments from $400-$600K. Lake City, Florida, population 12K paid $460K to extortionists. They got some of their information back but they have been set back years of what will require rescanning of paper documents. Mike, I know your standard philosophy is to not pay the ransom, but after a ransomware attack against the city of Atlanta, the mayor refused to pay $51,000 in extortion demands, and so far it's cost the city $7.2 million. Probably more. These payments by the small cities must be incentivizing more attacks. Does this information change the way you're willing to approach ransomware. What can a small city with zero cybersecurity staff do to create a program to reduce their risk to such a ransomware attack?

Ask a CISO

Bindu Sundaresan, AT&T Consulting Solutions, asks a very simple question, "How is each security initiative supporting the right business outcome?" Do you find yourself selling security into the business this way? If not, would you be more successful selling security to the business if you did do this?

What's Worse?!

We've got a split decision on what information we prefer after a breach.

Listen up, it’s security awareness training time

Jon Sanders, Elevate Security, said, "Security awareness involves A LOT of selling… there’s no cookie cutter approach in security awareness or sales!" Is the reason security training is so tough because so many security people are not born salespeople? I've interviewed many and there's a lot of "just listen to me attitude," which really doesn't work in sales.

Cloud Security Tip, sponsored by OpenVPN

We talk a lot about penetration testing here, given that it remains a staple of proactive IT security. But not everyone feels it’s all it’s cracked up to be. Or should that be, all it’s hacked up to be?” More than one cybersecurity organization points out there are a few flaws in the pen testing concept that make it worth a second look.

Pen testing often consists of a small collection of attacks performed within a set time period against a small sample of situations. Some experts doubt the efficacy of testing against a limited field of known vulnerabilities, without knowing what other weaknesses exist in plain sight, or merely invisible to jaded eyes.

More on CISO Series...

What do you think of this pitch?

We have a pitch from Technium in which our CISOs question what exactly are they selling?

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_07-23-19_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 6:00am PDT

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/passwords-so-good-you-cant-help-but-reuse-them/)

We've just fallen in love with our passwords we just want to use them again and again and again. Unfortunately, some companies more interested in security aren't letting us do that. We discuss on the latest episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is William Gregorian (@WillGregorian), CISO, Addepar.

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor Cyberint

Cyberint

The high ROI is what makes spear phishing campaigns so attractive to threat actors. Read our breakdown of TA505's latest series of attacks. CyberInt has been tracking various activities surrounding this and other similar attacks where legit means were used to hack international companies in the retail & financial industries.

How CISOs are digesting the latest security news

Chris Castaldo of 2U and a former guest on the show posted this great story of TripAdvisor invalidating user credentials if a member's email and password were found in publicly leaked data breach databases. Is this a great or bad move by TripAdvisor?

Ask a CISO

On LinkedIn, Chad Loder, CEO, Habitu8 posted an issue about the easy deployment and ubiquity of cloud applications. He argues it's no longer Shadow IT. It's just IT. And securing these cloud tools you don't manage nor know about requires a lot of education. Is Shadow IT inevitable. Should we lose the name? And is education the primary means of securing these services?

It's time to play, "What's Worse?!"

One of the toughest rounds of "What's Worse?!" we've ever had.

Close your eyes. Breathe in. It's time for a little security philosophy.

Mike posed a "What's Worse?!" scenario to the LinkedIn community and got a flurry of response. The question was "Would you rather have amazing, quality cybersecurity incident response in 24 hours or spotty, unreliable response in one hour?" I wanted to know what was Mike's initial response and did anyone say anything in the comments to make him change his mind?

Cloud Security Tip - Sponsored by OpenVPN

For quite a while, IT security experts have been touting the value of two factor authentication (2FA) as a better way to keep data safe than simply using passwords alone. We have even spoken about it here. In its most popular form, 2FA sends a confirmation code to your phone, which you must then enter into the appropriate log-in confirmation window within a short amount of time. This is like having a second key to the safe, like many bank vaults used to have. (more on the site)

It’s time to measure the risk

Chelsea Musante of Akamai asks, "What would you say to someone who thinks their risk for credential abuse / account takeover has decreased because they've implemented MFA (multi-factor authentication)?"

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_07-14-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 6:00am PDT

All links and images for this episode can be found at CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/please-dont-investigate-our-impeccable-risk-predictions/)

It's easy to calculate risk if no one ever checks the accuracy of those predictions after the fact. It's all coming up on CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our sponsored guest this week is Bob Huber (@bonesrh), CSO, Tenable.

Tenable

Effective vulnerability prioritization helps you answer three questions: Where should we prioritize based on risk? Which vulnerabilities are likeliest to be exploited? What should we fix first? Tenable gives you the accurate and actionable data you need to answer these questions and better secure your business. Learn more: tenable.com/predictive-prioritization.

On this week's episode

What's the ROI?

Do we analyze how good we are at predicting risk?

Phil Huggins, GoCardless said, "We conduct detailed rigorous risk assessments to support security transformation business cases and identify a series of mitigation actions and then declare success if those actions are completed on time and on budget... We never revisit our risk assessments a year later and see how good we were at predicting risk occurrence. I worry that the avoidance of feedback contributes to the underperformance of security."

Are we looking back and seeing how good we are at analyzing risk?

Close your eyes. Breathe in. It's time for a little security philosophy.

We have evolved from an unchecked "Cloud first" model to a more thoughtful "cloud smart" strategy. Are these just PR slogans apparently implemented by the last two administrations, or is there something to them? Looking ten years ago vs. today, have we really become smarter about implementing cloud technologies? In what way have we made the greatest strides? How are we falling short and where would you like us to be smarter?

What's Worse?!

What would you sacrifice to get all the training you could get?

Please, Enough. No, More.

Our topic is DevSecOps. It's a big one. Mike, what have you heard enough of on the topic of DevSecOps, what would you like to hear a lot more?

What do you think of this pitch?

Shazeb Jiwani of Dialpad forwarded me this pitch from Spanning Cloud Apps. He asks, "how they feel about vendors using an availability issue from a partner (not even a competitor) as a sales pitch."

Cloud Security Tip - Sponsored by OpenVPN

Parkinson’s Law states that “work expands to fill the time available,” and any IT specialist knows this applies equally to data and can be stated as “Data expands to fill the storage available.” 

As cloud service providers – and the cloud itself both continue to expand, the opportunity to transport and store all of your data seems to be a great convenience. But data management requires oversight, control and governance. The more data – and daily data flow –one has, the greater the potential for misuse, redundancy, errors, and costly maintenance. 

More at https://openvpn.net/latest/security-tips/

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_06-24-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 7:34am PDT

Links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/defense-in-depth-ciso-series-one-year-review/) 

The CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast is now more than a year old. On this episode, the hosts of both podcasts, reflect on the series and we respond to listeners critiques, raves, and opinions.

Check out this post and this post for the basis of our conversation on this week’s episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the creator of CISO Series and Allan Alford (@AllanAlfordinTX). Our guest for this episode is the co-host of the CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast, Mike Johnson.

Thanks to this week’s podcast sponsor, Trend Micro

Trend Micro

On this episode of Defense in Depth, you'll learn:

  • We provide the definitive story of how the CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast started and how David, Allan, and Mike all connected.
  • We've been challenging many of the sales techniques that have essentially irked CISOs. The podcast has become a validation tool for sales people to show to their management and say, "We need to change direction."
  • One of the critiques we've heard is the desire to understand more of the sales process. We are actually very much in the dark as to the different levels of incentives are for sales staff. A security sale is often a long and involved process and we know the incentives are more involved than just a sales commission.
  • We've actually done webinars that take a look behind the scenes of sales and we plan to do more.
  • Those who feel isolated with their company enjoy hearing the different viewpoints.
  • There is actually a real return on investment to listening to our show. Sales people say that they've changed their strategy based on advice on the show and it has proved to be fruitful.

Direct download: Defense_in_Depth_CISO_Vendor_1_year_review_FINAL-CISO-Vendor_Intro.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 3:29pm PDT

Images and links for this episode can be found at CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/worst-question-award-goes-to-how-secure-are-we/)

We've got better ways to determine the overall quality of your security posture than asking this unanswerable question. It's all coming up on CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Helen Patton (@osucisohelen), CISO, Ohio State University.

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor Trend Micro.

Trend Micro

On this week's episode

Why is everyone talking about this now?

Jamil Fashchi, CISO, Equifax, "In speaking with a CEO the other day, I was asked, 'As someone who isn’t technical, what questions should I ask to determine if my security team is effective?'" This caused a flurry of discussion. What's your advice, and do you agree it's a lot better question than "How secure are we?"

Hey, you're a CISO, what's your take on this?

One issue that comes up a lot in cybersecurity is the lack of diversity. We have discussed the value of diversity, in that it avoids "one think" and brings in the critical need of different viewpoints. The problem is we're often attracted to people like us, and we ask for referrals which if you hired people like you is probably going to deliver more people like you. We focus this discussion on actionable tips that CISOs can take to bring in a diverse workforce.

What's Worse?!

What's it like to work with the business and their acceptance or lack of acceptance of risk?

First 90 days of a CISO

Steve Luczynski, just became CISO of T-Rex Corporation. In the past the CIO has handled both IT and security at the company.

"Now with a CISO onboard, the struggle is figuring out who does what with the expected reluctance by the CIO to let go of certain things and trust me, the new CISO to maintain the same standards. For example, I wanted to change our password policy when I first showed up to match the new NIST guidance of not changing based on a set time period. There was disagreement and it did not change even when I showed the NIST verbiage," said Luczynski.

How should Steve deal with such disagreements?

Ask a CISO

For a while, FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) worked on the average person, to get them to install basic security measures, like an anti-virus. But it appears that's all changed. The cause could be apathy. When there's so many breaches happening the average person feels powerless. Are we marketing cyber-awareness wrong to non-security people? What would get them to be true advocates?

Cloud Security Tip by Steve Prentice, Sponsored by OpenVPN

The Pre-nup. It’s a difficult thing for most people to talk about in their personal lives, but it’s something that should always be considered when setting up a relationship with a cloud service provider. Not all business relationships last, and if your organization needs to move its data to another provider, it’s not like packing up your furniture and saying goodbye to your half of the dog. 

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_06-12-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 3:35pm PDT

The images and links for this episode can be found at CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/youre-not-going-anywhere-until-you-clean-up-that-cyber-mess/)

Our CISOs and Miss Manners have some rules you should follow when leaving your security program to someone else. It's all coming up on CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is newly free agent CISO, Gary Hayslip (@ghayslip).

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor Trend Micro

Trend Micro

On this week's episode

Why is everyone talking about this now?

Mike, you asked a question to the LinkedIn community about what department owns data privacy. You asserted it was a function of the security team, minus the legal aspects. The community exploded with opinions. What responses most opened your eyes to the data privacy management and responsibility issue you didn't really consider?

Hey, you're a CISO, what's your take on this?'

Someone who is writing a scene for a novel, asks this question on Quora, "How does a hacker know he or she has been caught?" Lots of good suggestions. What's your favorite scenario? And, do you want to let a hacker know he or she has been caught, or do you want to hide it? What circumstances would be appropriate for either?

What's Worse?!

Mike decides What's Worse?! and also what's good for business.

First 90 days of a CISO

Paul Hugenberg of InfoGPS Networks asks, "What fundamentals should the CISO leave for the next, as transitions are fast and frequent and many CISOs approach their role differently. Conversely, what fundamentals should the new CISO (or offered CISO) request evidence of existence before saying YES?" Mike, this is a perfect question for you. You exited and you will eventually re-enter I assume as a CISO. What did you leave and what do you expect?

Ask a CISO

Fernando Montenegro of 451 Research asks, "How do you better align security outcomes with incentives?" Should you incentivize security? Have you done it before? What works, what doesn't?

Cloud Security Tip sponsored by OpenVPN

Imagine how hard it would be to live in a house that is constantly under attack from burglars, vandals, fire ants, drones, wall-piercing radar and virulent bacteria. Most of us are used to putting a lock on the door, cleaning the various surfaces and keeping a can of Raid on hand for anything that moves in the corner. But could you imagine keeping a staff of specialists around 24/7 to do nothing but attack your house in order to find and exploit every weakness?

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_06-10-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 5:17pm PDT

All pictures and links for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/we-take-privacy-not-our-ciso-seriously/)

We're looking for the one company brave enough to say they don't care about privacy on the latest episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This episode was recorded live on June 6th at The B.O.B. in Grand Rapids, Michigan at the 2019 West Michigan IT Summit, hosted by C3 Technology Advisors. This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Allan Alford (@allanalfordinTX), principal consultant at Side Channel Security. Our guest for this special live recording is the former CISO/CSO/CTO of the state of Michigan, Dan Lohrmann (@govcso).

David Spark and Allan Alford, co-hosts of Defense in Depth on the CISO Series network, and Dan Lohrmann, former CISO/CSO/CTO for the State of Michigan.

David Spark and Allan Alford, co-hosts of Defense in Depth on the CISO Series network, and Dan Lohrmann, former CISO/CSO/CTO for the State of Michigan.

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsors C3 Technology Advisors, Fuze, and Assured Data Protection.

C3 Technology Advisors

C3 Technology Advisors is a technology consulting firm that helps midsize to enterprise organizations make better technology buying decisions. With technology quickly changing, let C3 help you shift through all the disruption, noise, and sales pitches to allow you to make better technology buying decisions for your organization.

Fuze

Fuze is the #1 cloud communications and collaboration platform for the enterprise, combining calling, meeting, chatting, and sharing into a single, easy-to-use application. Designed for the way people work, Fuze allows the modern, mobile workforce to seamlessly communicate anytime, anywhere, across any device.

Assured Data Protection

Assured Data Protection provides backup and disaster recovery solutions utilizing Rubrik ‘as a Service’. They offer 24/7 global support, with expertise that truly sets them apart from other back up and DR service providers.

On this week's episode

Should you ignore this security advice?

Yaron Levi, CISO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City posed an interesting question, "Many people in security follow best practice without questioning them but in fact there are many BAD security best practices." Levi asks the LinkedIn community and I also ask our guests, "What do you consider a 'Bad Best Practice?'"

How to become a CISO

Aaron Weinberg, Kirlin Group, asks, "What would a CIO need to do to switch career tracks to being a CISO?" I'll add why would you want to do that?

What's Worse?!

We've got two rounds of questions and conflict on at least one of them.

I tell ya, CISOs get no respect

Brian Krebs of Krebs Security asked, "Why aren't CISOs often not listed on the executive page of a company website?" Krebs looked at the top 100 global companies and only found 5 that had a CISO listed. Of the NASDAQ 50, there were only three listed with a security title. But plenty had chief of human resources or chief marketing officers listed. One argument for the lack of front page visibility for CISOs is that companies value revenue centers over cost centers. Another argument is the reporting structure. That CISOs often report to CIOs. Is that why it's happening, or is it something else?

Close your eyes. Breathe in. It’s time for a little security philosophy.

A question on Quora asks you to participate in this little thought exercise, "If you knew all computers would be erased tomorrow by a worldwide virus, what steps would you take to protect yourself?" It's a little more involved than just unpluging your computer from the Internet.

Why is this a bad pitch?

I read a cringeworthy bad pitch and our CISOs respond. Listen to the end as I reveal something surprising about this very bad pitch.

And now this…

I burn through a stack of questions from the audience as we go into a cybersecurity speed round.

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_06-06-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 6:35pm PDT

Full episode with images and links available at CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/do-these-jeans-make-my-vulnerabilities-look-too-big/)

We're starting to get a little self-conscious that our vulnerabilities are starting to show. People we don't even know are telling us we have them on the latest episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Fredrick Lee (AKA "Flee") (@fredrickl), CSO of Gusto.

Tenable

Effective vulnerability prioritization helps you answer three questions: Where should we prioritize based on risk? Which vulnerabilities are likeliest to be exploited? What should we fix first? Tenable gives you the accurate and actionable data you need to answer these questions and better secure your business. Learn more: tenable.com/predictive-prioritization.

What's a CISO to do?

Chris Romeo, CEO of Security Journey, wrote a post where he asked, "What if I had to develop an application security program with a budget of zero dollars?" What he presented was a means to lean on the OWASP open source community and tools to build an application security program.

You're a CISO, what's your take on this?

I was chatting with a pentester, Benjamin McEwan, from Scotland, who reaches out to CISOs trying to responsibly disclose, not expose, a credible security vulnerability. It's his effort to get recognized. He's frustrated though in his ability to find permanent work because those hiring only see him as an independent researcher. Is his exercise the right approach? What can a talented security person in his position do to make himself more attractive to CISOs?

What's Worse?!

We've got a couple of scenarios that shocked our guest at the sheer InfoSec horror.

Breathe In, It's Time for a Little Security Philosophy

On Quora, a question right out of the Matthew Broderick movie WarGames asks, "If a student hacked into university computers and changed his grade in cyber security to an A, does he actually deserve the A?" Except for one person, everyone said, "No," but for different reasons. Mike, are you saying no, and if so, what reason?

What do you think of this pitch?

We've got two pitches from vendors this week. One came directly to me.

Cloud Security Tip, Sponsored by OpenVPN

Cloud Security Tip, by Steve Prentice - Sponsored by OpenVPN.

The idea behind an Advanced Persistent Threat is both intriguing and a little distracting. It sounds like the title of a Tom Clancy novel – maybe a sequel to Clear and Present Danger.

Designed to penetrate a network, operate while hidden for a long time, all the while receiving commands from an outside agent, an APT is more sophisticated than everyday malware and tends to be deployed against large targets.

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_05-27-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 9:41am PDT

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/great-demo-lets-schedule-a-time-to-ignore-your-follow-up/)

We're playing hard to get on the latest episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Al Ghous, head of cloud security at GE Digital.

Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor Carbon Black

Carbon Black

Carbon Black (NASDAQ: CBLK) is a leader in endpoint security dedicated to keeping the world safe from cyberattacks. The company’s big data and analytics platform, the CB Predictive Security Cloud (PSC), consolidates endpoint security and IT operations into an extensible cloud platform that prevents advanced threats, provides actionable insight and enables businesses of all sizes to simplify operations.

On this week's episode

Why is everybody talking about this now?

On LinkedIn, Marcus Capone, Partner at Onyx, a physical and cybersecurity firm said, "I laugh when clients balk at prices. They expect champagne but want to pay for Coors Light…" This caused a flurry of discussion of price/value in security. There was an attitude across the board that we're the absolute best and we should be paid that. But as Allan Alford said on Defense in Depth, there's a market for a slightly worse, but way cheaper version of Splunk. Do CISOs want beer-level security solutions?

It’s time to measure the risk

How can startups and large companies get along better? Enterprises are jealous of startup's agility, and startups are eager to get at an enterprises' assets. But startups can be a security nightmare and it's a non-starter if they can't pass the third-party risk management process. With all this frustration, is there any middle ground?

What's Worse?!

We have a common real-world scenario in this week's game.

You're a CISO, what's your take on this?

We have talked in the past about how the term "AI" can mean a lot of things. It can be a simple script or it can be an algorithm that actually learns by itself. Both will do something for you automatically, but the expectations are vastly different. When security vendors tout AI, what would CISOs like to hear so your expectations can be set appropriately?

Understanding security sales

The frustration of the vendor follow up process after a demo. An anonymous listener asks, "We are usually told some sort of next step or asked to follow up in a few weeks." The challenge is they're often left chasing the potential client getting no response. This can go on for months. "Is there a way to make this more productive for all involved?" Should the prospect be blamed? What can be done to improve the process?

Cloud Security Tip sponsored by OpenVPN

Application Programming Interfaces (API’s) are wonderful for customizing and enhancing the cloud experience, but as a common front door, they pose a significant security risk. Regardless how secure a cloud service provider is, their primary role as an interface means APIs will always pose a weakness that can be exploited by hackers.

 

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_05-24-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 9:20pm PDT

Find all images and links for this episode on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/we-unleash-our-military-grade-infosec-bs-detector/)

We're trying to clean up vendor pitches of unnecessary and outrageous claims so they can sail through to a CISO's inbox. It's our service to cybersecurity community on this week's episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This show was recorded live in front of an audience of CISOs and security vendors at the San Francisco CISO Executive Summit, hosted by Evanta. This episode is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Aaron Peck, CISO, Shutterfly.

Thanks to our podcast sponsors ExtraHop and Tenable

ExtraHop

Unlike security solutions that focus on signature- and rule-based detection, ExtraHop Reveal(x) helps you rise above the noise of alerts with complete east-west visibility and machine learning for real-time detection of known and unknown threats, plus guided investigations for rapid response. Find and address real threats faster with ExtraHop.

Tenable

Effective vulnerability prioritization helps you answer three questions: Where should we prioritize based on risk? Which vulnerabilities are likeliest to be exploited? What should we fix first? Tenable gives you the accurate and actionable data you need to answer these questions and better secure your business. Learn more: tenable.com/predictive-prioritization.

On this week's episode

Why is everybody talking about this now?

Last week I was about to install a popular and approved app in the Google Play store that asked if the app could read, copy, download, and DELETE my contacts. Also last week during Google I/O, Sundar Pichai, Google’s chief executive touted their focus on privacy. This is not the first time we've heard this from Google or Facebook who is going to be facing the largest privacy violation in FTC history. Getting access to our behaviors is how Facebook and Google make their money. What would we like to see, not hear, from either Google or Facebook that convinces us that yes, they are doing something significant and proactive about privacy. Maybe they've already done it.

Why is this a bad pitch?

A Twitter thread asked, "What do vendors say that immediately undermines their credibility?"

There were a lot listed, but the ones I saw repeated multiple times were military grade, next-gen, bank-level encryption, full visibility, 100% effective, and single pane of glass.

We have brought up many of these on our show. And while we understand companies are trying to find a short pithy way to describe their technology, using terms like these can turn a great pitch into an effort to dig out of a hole.

What's Worse?!

We squeeze in two rounds of this game and our guest tries to dodge the question, but I don't let him.

You're a CISO, what's your take on this?

Brian Fricke, CISO at BBVA Compass is eager to hear how to successfully reconcile the cloud-driven CapEx to OpEx budget shift. CFOs don't get any depreciation benefit from OpEx, and Brian believes they'd prefer to see CapEx even if it's double the cost. He's struggling. Our CISOs offer up some advice.

How to become a CISO

Jason Clark, CISO of Netskope, wrote an article on Forbes about security mentorship. Mentors are needed to create more security leaders, CISOs, increase interest in security, and teach the ability to talk to the business. All of it centered around one theme of motivating others. What are ways to teach motivation across all these areas?

 

 

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_05-15-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 10:31pm PDT

See all links and images for this episode on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/whats-worse-culture-of-no-or-no-culture/)

We want to put an end to InfoSec negativity, but not at the sacrifice of the soul of the company. We're weighing our options on this week's episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This show, like all the previous ones is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Sean Catlett, CISO of Reddit.

Sean Catlett, CISO, Reddit and Mike Johnson, co-host, CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast

Thanks to this week's sponsor, Perimeter 81

Perimeter 81 is a Zero Trust Network as a Service designed to simplify secure network, cloud and application access for the modern and mobile workforce. We allow cybersecurity professionals to easily build, manage and secure their organization’s networks in one unified, multi-tenant, cloud-native platform. Learn more at www.perimeter81.com.

On this week's episode

Why is everybody talking about this now?

Helen Patton, CISO at Ohio State University, asked the security community, "What cultural/behavioral influences on Security would you like to see changed?"

First 90 Days of a CISO

Matt McManus who works in InfoSec at WeWord asks, "What's the ideal information security team make-up and structure?" Sean, you came into Reddit recently as a new CISO. How did you go about determining what you needed for a team?

What's Worse?!

What needs to be protected? The endpoints or the network?

You're a CISO, what's your take on this?

Last year I was chatting with a CEO, and he mentioned one common frustration with a scenario that keeps repeating itself. He will have a truly fantastic meeting with a potential buyer. Absolutely everything goes right, but the moment he asks to engage in a PoC, Proof of Concept, the conversation does an about face and everything falls apart. And vendors have unrealistic expectations of the time it will take a potential buyer to conduct a PoC.

Ask a CISO

With the recent release of the Verizon Data Breach Investigation Report, or DBIR, we brought up a question from Kip Boyle, author of Fire Doesn't Innovate. He asks, "What role do vendors and the media play in determining and prioritizing your cyber risks?"

Cloud Security Tip by Steve Prentice, sponsored by OpenVPN

Whether your data is in transit or at rest, it’s vital to remember that neither state is secure. Data must be protected in both states, and encryption plays a major role in this. In addition to encryption standards for in-transit data such as TLS for email, HTTPS and SSL for websites and the use of a VPN when connecting from public Wi-Fi hotspots (even those that say they are secure), there is symmetric and asymmetric encryption, part of the Advanced Encryption Standard. Symmetric encryption happens when the sender and receiver of a message use a single shared key to encrypt and decrypt the message, which is something most internet traffic uses. Asymmetric encryption uses more CPU power and is harder to encrypt, and is used for secure online exchanges via the Secure Sockets Layer.

But encryption isn’t the end of the story. There must be network security controls to help protect data in transit as well as securing the transmission networks themselves. Proactivity is key here, which means identifying at-risk data, establishing user prompting regulations and automatic encryption for things like files attached to an email message, and taking stock of, and categorizing all types of data to ensure the right level of security is applied to each.

On a human level, Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) ensures different levels of security and permissions, multi factor authentication helps make data a more difficult target, and of course, each company should take ownership of this challenge and not rely on their cloud supplier to do it for them.

 

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_05-07-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 7:20am PDT

Check out all links and images for this episode on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/our-what-not-to-do-security-selling-secret/)

We're not always clear on what vendors should do when selling security products, but when we get a really bad email pitch, we're very clear on what they should not do. We're bedazzled with bad pitch disbelief on this episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

Thanks to this week's sponsor, Women in Security and Privacy (WISP)

Women in Security and Privacy (WISP)

Women in Security and Privacy works to advance women in security and privacy. We accomplish this through practical and technical workshops, TANDEM mentorship programs, leadership training, job board postings, Equal Respect speakers bureau, and conference and training scholarships.

On this week's episode

Why is everybody talking about this now?

Facebook is expected to pay somewhere between $3 to $5 billion in FTC fines for violating the 2011 consent decree. They violated user's privacy without giving clear notice or getting clear consent. But, all this financial and reputational damage doesn't seem to do a darn thing to dissuade individuals or investors from Facebook. The site has 2.38 billion active users. It's growing 8% year over year. And after their earnings announcement which mentioned the multi-billion dollar fine, their stock jumped 7%. This doesn't appear to get people to care about security and privacy, So what will?

Hey, you're a CISO, what's your take on this?'

The NSA has announced that no zero day attacks were used in any high profile breach in the last 24 months. Most of the attacks were simple intrusion where they went after users through techniques like phishing or water holing. We talk endlessly on this show about good cyber hygiene, but we have an event coming up, Black Hat, that thrives on showing security professionals the latest attack techniques, which I know are not zero days. But how can security professionals NOT gravitate towards the newest and coolest?

What's Worse?!

Who needs to control the problem? Security or the business unit?

How to become a CISO

Gary Hayslip, CISO of Webroot, and a former guest on Defense in Depth. He wrote an article to his younger self of what he wish he had known when he started in cybersecurity and then becoming a CISO. I'll ask the two of you to do the same exercise. What is something that you now know that there's no way you would have known starting out but would have made your life a lot easier as you took the climb to become a CISO.

Why is this a bad pitch?

We've got a one-two punch on a bad pitch email that uses self-deprecating humor plus an assumption of business relationship. Ouch.

Cloud Security Tip, sponsored by OpenVPN

The importance of developing consistent data protection policies across multiple cloud services
Many IT departments manage multiple clouds to ensure redundancy and avoid vendor lock-in. But diversifying brings along a new set of risks that demand a consistent and constantly reviewed data governance solution.

In general, cloud vendors do not take responsibility for the security of your data. So, your policy must take full responsibility for endpoints, networks and cloud environments. Just a few of the must-haves on this list include limiting user’s permissions to only what they absolutely need, strong security practices including multi-factor authentication and password management, enforcing a uniform set of data loss prevention policies, and building a dynamic inventory of applications by the types of data stored, compliance requirements, and potential threats. Policies should be assigned to groups or roles rather than individual people.

In-house IT people are already busy. Their attention and energies might be best served by working with senior management to establish and maintain Multicloud and data loss prevention policies, while leaving the heavy lifting and day-to-day proactive maintenance to a completely reputable as-a-service cloud security vendor. 

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_05-04-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 9:18am PDT

Find all the links and images on CISO Series (https://cisoseries.com/were-gonna-run-these-pen-test-exercises-until-you-turn-purple/)

We learn to iterate our security stamina faster by bringing the attackers and defenders in the room together. We're seeing purple on this episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This show, like all the previous ones is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Matt Southworth (@bronx), CISO of Priceline, who was brought to us by our sponsor, Praetorian.

Thanks to this week's sponsor, Praetorian

Praetorian

As a professional services company, Praetorian helps enterprise customers solve complex cybersecurity problems. We are the security experts.

Why is everybody talking about this now?

Senator Elizabeth Warren's proposed bill, the Corporate Executive Accountability Act, would pave the way for criminal charges of executive wrongdoing that leads to some public harm, like a public data breach. Note, there needs to be proof of wrongdoing. This isn't designed to blame victims. Regardless, the cybercommunity lit up on this topic. Warren said that too many executives were walking away free with no penalty while the community were left to suffer. Is this the bill that's needed to put a check on breaches?

Hey, you're a CISO, what's your take on this?'

Priceline has been conducting purple team exercises with our sponsor Praetorian. We discuss the value in purple team efforts over all the other alternatives, like pen testing, red team/blue team exercises, and threat hunting reports. Plus, we discuss the cultural benefits of purple team exercises.

What's Worse?!

We get a consensus on a question about asset and risk management.

How to become a CISO

Question from the director of information security at a Fortune 100 company wants to know how to make the leap from his position to CISO.

Pay attention, it’s security awareness training time

Dan Lohrmann, CSO of Security Mentor and an upcoming guest on our live podcast we're going to be recording on June 6th in Grand Rapids, Michigan had a very interesting article on Peerlyst about avoiding the punishment angle of security training. He said his number one struggle in education is explaining how important security is at an individual level and that individuals understand the impact of their actions. At Priceline, Matt Southworth created a Security Champs program to extend the reach of his security team by training interested non-security coworkers about security. We discuss what this has done to improve culture, security, and help people understand the impact of their actions.

http://openvpn.net/

Two-factor authentication, also called 2FA, is vital, and should be considered the default in online security, not a fancy option.

In short, 2FA means that two separate identifiers are required to gain access to an account. These identifiers should come from: 1.) something only you know, like a complex password, and 2.) something physically separate that belongs to you like a phone that can receive SMS messages, a physical token, a time or location limited message, or something biometric, like a retinal scan or fingerprint.

Currently the SMS message is the most popular “second factor,” but security analysts say this is still the weakest option. A better option is to use an approved app, or to partner with a cybersecurity company who can build one for you.

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_04-24-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 7:08pm PDT

This is a special episode of Defense in Depth being shared on this feed. Find the full post with links and images on the CISO Series site here (https://cisoseries.com/defense-in-depth-vulnerability-management/)

So many breaches happen through ports of known vulnerabilities. What is the organizational vulnerability in vulnerability management?

Check out this post and discussion and this one for the basis of our conversation on this week’s episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the creator of CISO Series and Allan Alford (@AllanAlfordinTX), CISO at Mitel. Our guest is Justin Berman (@justinmberman), CISO for Zenefits.

Vulcan Cyber

Vulcan’s vulnerability response automation platform allows enterprises to automate their TVM programs. Vulcan integrates to existing IT DevOps and security tools to fuse enterprise data with propriety intelligence which allows to accurately and subjectively priorities and remediate vulnerabilities - either using a patch workaround or compensating control.

On this episode of Defense in Depth, you'll learn:

  • As the CIS 20 concurs, vulnerability management is the first security measure you should take right after asset inventory.
  • Vulnerability management needs to be everyone's issue and managed by all departments.
  • Lots of discussion around vulnerability management being driven by culture which is a very hard concept to define. To get a "vulnerability management culture" look to a combination of awareness and risk management.
  • Vulnerabilities don't get patched and managed without someone taking on ownership. Without that, people are just talking and not doing.
  • Increased visibility across the life cycle of a vulnerability will allow all departments to see the associated risk.
  • Who are the risk owners? Once you can answer that questions you'll be able to assign accountability and responsibility.

Direct download: Defense_in_Depth_VM_with_intro_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 8:51pm PDT

Find the full episode of this podcast (with links and images) on the CISO Series site right here: (https://cisoseries.com/im-humbled-to-tell-you-about-my-prestigious-award/)

I'm not exactly sure what "humbling" means, but I'm going to use it to hopefully soften my braggadocio announcement.

We discuss semantics and when it's OK to boast your accomplishments on this week's episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This show, like all the previous ones is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Will Lin (@WilliamLin), partner and co-founder, ForgePoint Capital.

Thanks to this week's sponsor, Praetorian

Praetorian

As a professional services company, Praetorian helps enterprise customers solve complex cybersecurity problems. We are the security experts.

On this week's episode

How CISOs are digesting the latest security news

In many industries we see VC investments following trends. This is hot and new, let's go and invest in it. A recent story on Forbes spotlights five trends in cybersecurity which comes off as catnip for VCs or at least those in those spaces looking for investments. Is trend hopping a lucrative way to succeed with cybersecurity investments?

Why is everybody talking about this now?

Peter Cohen, director at Countercept remarked on the hypocrisy of posting a photo of yourself on stage and referring to it as "humbling". People say this with zero idea of the definition. The use of humbled or humbling as a verb means that at one time you thought you were superior and now you realize you are not because essentially someone defeated you and put you in your place. I don't get the sense that's what people mean when they refer to an experience as "humbling." But do a search for the term on LinkedIn and you will see people use it ALL THE TIME. Some of the most popular posts on LinkedIn are achievement announcements. Where's the line between saying you're proud of something and would you honor it with me and coming off like a jackass?

What's Worse?!

We have two scenarios this week in honor of our VC guest.

Hey, you're a CISO, what's your take on this?

In a special VC edition of "Hey, you're a CISO, what's your take on this?"

Much of what we talk about on this show is what we like and don't like about how security companies market themselves. In the news, the only role we hear VCs playing is financial. But given that VCs are seeing the inner workings of a startup, they can probably see firsthand why a company succeeds or fails. Given what VCs are privvy to that others of us are not, how can VCs help shape the way vendors market themselves?

Ask a CISO

Fernando Montenegro of 451 Research brought to my attention this tweet from Soldier of Fortran that caused a flurry of discussion. The tweet pointed out that many sites say they offer pricing, but when you go to the page it's just a lot of verbiage with a link to request a quote. Haroon Meer of Thinkst, producers of Canary deception devices and a former guest on this show, said they have pricing on their site even when experienced salesmen told them not to do it. Kyle Hanslovan of Huntress Labs, asked how he could provide transparent pricing when half of his clients are direct and the other half are distributors. Is there a happy medium here or is obfuscation the way to succeed with security selling?

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_4-16-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 9:20pm PDT

Episode available on CISO Series blog (https://cisoseries.com/no-shirt-no-security-no-merger/)

Sure, we'd like to merge with your company but geez, have you looked at your security posture lately? Uggh. I don't know if I could be seen in public with your kind let alone acquire your type.

We're wary as to who wants to enter our digital home on this week's episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This show, like all the previous ones is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Mark Eggleston (@meggleston), vp, chief information security and privacy officer, Health Partners Plans.

Thanks to this week's sponsor, Praetorian

Praetorian

As a professional services company, Praetorian helps enterprise customers solve complex cybersecurity problems. We are the security experts.

On this week's episode

How CISOs are digesting the latest security news

Good cybersecurity hygiene is critical not just to mitigate breaches but also the valuation of a company, especially during a merger or acquisition. Itzik Kotler, co-founder and CTO of Safe Breach, notes that back in 2016 the Verizon acquisition price of Yahoo was lowered nearly $350 million after Yahoo disclosed data breaches that had happened up to two years earlier. Kotler said, "The problem is cybersecurity risk from mergers and acquisitions perspective should not be about what has happened, but about what vulnerabilities are being introduced and what could happen as a result."

Why is everybody talking about this now?

An interesting question on Quora asked, "Do you regret working in cybersecurity?" Do our CISOs ever regret? Why do people regret?

"What's Worse?!"

We have a challenge that pits securing old and new technology.

Ask a CISO

Eric Rindo just graduated with his MS in Cybersecurity. He has a certification, but zero experience. He's looking for his first InfoSec opportunity. For a CISO, what's attractive about a candidate like Eric?

What do you think of this pitch?

What happens when you pitch something CISOs already have?

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_04-14-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 5:48pm PDT

Full post for this episode (https://cisoseries.com/defense-in-depth-machine-learning-failures/)

NOTE: You're seeing this special episode of Defense in Depth, because we think our CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast listeners should hear it. 

Is garbage in, garbage out the reason for machine learning failures? Or is there more to the equation?

Check out this post and discussion for the basis of our conversation on this week’s episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the creator of CISO Series and Allan Alford (@AllanAlfordinTX), CISO at Mitel. Our guest for this episode is Davi Ottenheimer (@daviottenheimer), product security for MongoDB.

Thanks to this week’s podcast sponsor, Remediant

Remediant - Privileged Access Management (PAM)

81% of cyberattacks utilize stolen administrative credentials. Yet, legacy enterprise password vaults solve only a fraction of the problem and are difficult to rollout. Remediant's SecureONE takes a new approach to privileged access management: offering agent-less, vault-less, continuous detection and just-in-time-administration. Learn what Remediant can do in a half-day POC deployment.

On this episode of Defense in Depth, you'll learn:

  • Don't fall victim to believing that success and failure of machine learning is isolated to just garbage in/garbage out. It's far more nuanced than that. Some human actually has to determine what is considered garbage in and what is not.
  • It only takes a very small amount of data to completely corrupt and ruin machine learning data.
  • This knowledge of small infection can spread and corrupt all of the data and can have political and economic motivations to do just that.
  • We have failures in human intervention. Machine learning can just magnify that at rapid rates.
  • While there are many warning signs that machine learning can fail, and we have the examples to back it up, many argue that competitive environments don't allow us to ignore it. We're in a use it or lose it scenario. Even when you're aware of the pitfalls, you may have no choice but to utilize machine learning to accelerate development and/or innovation.
Direct download: Defense_in_Depth_ML_Failures_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 3:59pm PDT

The direct link to this episode (https://cisoseries.com/all-aboard-the-5g-paranoia-train/)

We're getting excited and stressed out about the impending 5G network that appears will control our lives and all our cities. Will it be as exciting, productive, and lacking of security protocols as we expect? We discuss that and more on this week's episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This show, like all the previous ones is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Bruce Schneier (@schneiersblog), book author, lecturer at Harvard Kennedy School, and prolific blogger at Schneider on Security.

Thanks to this week's sponsor, Chronicle, makers of Backstory

Chronicle Backstory

Chronicle’s Backstory is a global security telemetry platform for investigation and threat hunting within your enterprise network. Backstory makes security analytics instant, easy, and cost-effective. Backstory is a specialized, cloud-native security analytics system, built on the core infrastructure that powers Google itself.

On this week's episode

How CISOs are digesting the latest security news

Marsh, an insurance broker, is working with other cyber insurers to identify products and services that will reduce your cyber risk. With their Cyber Catalyst program, they're offering what appears to be some type of Better Business Bureau stamp of approval on solutions that meet their cyber risk standards. What gets us excited and what sets off red flags when we see such an offering?

Why is everybody talking about this now?

Are you scared of 5G yet? You should be. Well, according to our government, we need to be wary of China and Huawei with their rollout of 5G because owning the next-gen network will conceivably own all of commerce, transportation, and heck anything else. In Schneier's new book, Click Here to Kill Everybody, he speaks to how to survive with all our hyper-connected devices. How aggressively is 5G going to exacerbate the issue of cyber-survival?

What's Worse!?

We have a split decision on a scenario that involves a time limit.

Hey, you're a CISO, what's your take on this?

On Schneier's blog, he shared a study that examined whether freelance programmers hired online would write secure code, whether prompted to do it or not. The coders were paid a small pittance and it was unclear if they knew anything about security and surprise. In the end they didn't write secure code. While there are questions about the validity of this study, this does bring up an interesting question: Using a marketplace like Upwork or Freelance.com, how does one go about hiring a freelance coder that can write secure code?

Ask a CISO

Mark Toney of CrowdStrike asked, after the purchase and use of a security tool, does a CISO or CTO do a post-mortem to see if they got what they paid for? Mark wants to know are you looking at what was improved, where it was improved, and by how much it was improved?

 

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_04-02-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 9:20pm PDT

Direct link for episode on blog (https://cisoseries.com/do-you-know-the-secret-cybersecurity-handshake/)

We get the feeling that as we're adding more solutions and requiring more certificates, we're just making the problem of security harder and harder. Has the problem of not enough talent become an issue that we created? We discuss that and more on this week's episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This show, like all the previous ones is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Taylor Lehmann (@BostonCyberGuy), CISO, Wellforce.

Thanks to this week's sponsor, Chronicle, makers of Backstory

Chronicle, makers of Backstory

Chronicle’s Backstory is a global security telemetry platform for investigation and threat hunting within your enterprise network. Backstory makes security analytics instant, easy, and cost-effective. Backstory is a specialized, cloud-native security analytics system, built on the core infrastructure that powers Google itself.

On this week's episode

How CISOs are digesting the latest security news

The Hill reports, "A Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee introduced a bill on Wednesday that would require publicly traded companies to disclose to investors whether any members of their board of directors have cybersecurity expertise."

The Cybersecurity Disclosure Act of 2019, would require the SEC to issue a new set of rules requiring U.S. companies to tell their investors whether they have someone who has cyber expertise on their board. If they don't, they must explain to their investors why this is the case."

Will such a measure pass and if not, what is the best action here to insure some level of cybersecurity confidence?

Why is everybody talking about this now?

On a recent episode of the podcast we talked about swapping out the word "security" for "safety." Chris Roberts of Attivo Networks brought this topic up and he says if we change the conversation more people will care. How does the viewpoint of security change when you're talking about safety? How does behavior change?

What's Worse?!

I can't believe it's taken me this long to ask this question.

Hey, you're a CISO, what's your take on this?

Once you connect a device to the Internet and trade information, you're now a potential attack vector. And if your device is critical for maintaining life, like automobiles and medical devices, vulnerabilities no longer become a case of losing data, but of losing lives. Medical device manufacturers are rarely experts at software development, let alone cybersecurity. Vulnerabilities happen all the time. What is and isn't working with the reporting, alerting, and fixing of device vulnerabilities?

Ask a CISO

Could the talent gap be a self-fulfilling prophecy or at the very least an avoidable consequence of security’s red hot growth," asked Sam Curry, CSO at Cybereason, on Forbes. "What started as an esoteric field is becoming even more arcane as we grow." Curry offered some suggestions on where to improve situations to improve the complexity of security. Are fixing these issues harder than fixing security?

 

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_3-27-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 6:00pm PDT

Direct link for episode on blog (https://cisoseries.com/if-at-first-you-dont-succeed-theres-always-blackmail/)

We note that blackmail has become an option even in cybersecurity sales. It appears some vendors have become so desperate that they've resorted to borderline criminal activity.

This show, like all the previous ones is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Branden Newman, CISO for Adidas.

Thanks to this week's sponsor, Logicgate

Logicgate

LogicGate is an agile GRC process automation platform that combines powerful functionality with an intuitive design to enhance enterprise governance, risk, and compliance programs. With our prebuilt process templates, organizations quickly and efficiently operationalize their GRC activities without requiring support from consultants or corporate IT.

On this week's episode

How CISOs are digesting the latest security news

CNBC published a piece about security vendors being so desperate for meetings with CISOs that they've resorted to blackmail. They see a breach, even if it's not holding any critical or personal data, and they threaten to take it to the press if the CISO doesn't meet with them and/or let them fix it. Has this happened to our CISOs and if so, what did they do?

Why is everybody talking about this now?

We talk about the basics a lot on this show, but I'm getting the sense that the industry is finally taking it seriously. We saw evidence at RSA with 60% of the content being focused on fundamentals. And CISOs at major companies not touting the latest threats, but getting back to basics. We've talked a lot about this issue on the show. How else can the industry turn the focus about getting back to basics?

What's Worse?!

I challenge the CISOs once again on what is probably the shortest What's Worse?! question.

Hey, you're a CISO, what's your take on this?'

The horror of the badge scanner. Chad Loder, CEO of Habitu8, posted that he never uses badge scanners because "There's nothing worse than talking to someone only to have them ask, 'Mind if I scan you?' - it reinforces the idea that the goal of this human interaction is to ensure you're added to a list." The goals of attendees (learning and valuable conversations) are not coinciding with the goals of vendors (more scans for follow up cold calls and marketing). What is the ideal booth experience for a security professional?

BTW, I wrote a book on how to engage at a trade show entitled Three Feet from Seven Figures: One-on-One Engagement Techniques to Qualify More Leads at Trade Shows. Check it out at http://threefeetbook.com

Ask a CISO

Jeremiah Grossman, CEO of Bit Discovery, and a former guest, asked this question on Twiter which caused a flurry of discussion: "In InfoSec we often hear, 'Why don’t organizations just do or fix … X?' As a thought exercise, ask the opposite. 'Why should businesses do or fix… X?,' and do so in dollars and cents terms.It’s often surprisingly difficult." Is it possible to calculate this formula?

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_03-24-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 8:08pm PDT

Do the biggest tech companies abuse our privacy because they have no competitive incentive to protect it? That debate and more on the latest episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This show, like all the previous ones is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Emilio Escobar (@eaescob), head of information security for Hulu.

Endgame

Endgame makes military-grade protection as easy as anti-virus. Their converged endpoint security platform is transforming security programs – their people, processes and technology – with the most powerful endpoint protection and simplest user experience, ensuring analysts of any skill level can stop targeted attacks before damage and loss. To learn more visit www.endgame.com.

On this episode

Why is everybody talking about this now?

Why can't security vendors get CRM right? One week after RSA I have received cold phone calls and emails from companies for which I"m already engaging with multiple people at said company, some I've actually interviewed their CEOs, actually worked for the company, and/or they've sponsored this very podcast. Other industries use their CRM. Why does it appear en masse the cybersecurity industry is failing at basic CRM?

How CISOs are digesting the latest security news

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote an opinion piece on Medium saying that if elected President her administration would seek to breakup Amazon, Facebook, and Google. She cited them as monopolies squashing innovation and competition and damaging our privacy for their profit. She said, "With fewer competitors entering the market, the big tech companies do not have to compete as aggressively in key areas like protecting our privacy."

What's Worse!?

What's the best kind of CISO to have?

What's a CISO to do?

Last year at Black Hat I produced a video where I asked attendees, "Should DevOps and security be in couples counseling?" Everyone said yes. Are security leaders taking on the role of couples counselor as they try to get security and DevOps working together?

What do you think of this pitch?

We've got two pitches for the show and the second one has a response that veers into insulting.

 

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_03-17-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 4:58pm PDT

Since no one ever checks a research study's methodology, why not just make up all the numbers? You're in the risk analysis business, right? Chances are very good they'll never check and research studies are a great way to get free press.

This show, like all the previous ones is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our guest this week is Melody Hildebrandt (@mhil1), CISO of FOX.

Thanks to this week's sponsors, Axonius and New Context.

New Context

New Context helps fortune 500s build secure and compliant data platforms. New Context created “Lean Security”, a set of best practices designed to help enterprises manage and secure data for critical infrastructure, and offers professional services and a software solution, LS/IQ, to help enterprises build a secure and compliant data platforms for their business.

Axonius

Huge congrats to Axonius for their two big wins at RSA this year. They were named Rookie Security Company of the Year by SC Media and they also won top prize at RSA’s Innovation Sandbox. They’ve been touted as the company trying to solve the least sexy part of cybersecurity, asset management. Go to Axonius’ site to learn more.

On this episode

Ask a CISO

It’s been reported many times, that the average life of a CISO is 18 months and Mike Johnson lasted 18 months at Lyft. At the time of Mike’s departure so many people were forwarding me articles regarding the stress level of CISOs, most notably around Nominet’s study that claimed that about 1 in 5 CISOs turn to alcohol or self-medicating. With two CISOs on the panel we discuss if this was the most high-pressured job they had and would you be eager and willing to jump back into the CISO role again.

Why is everybody talking about this now?

Couple weeks ago I wrote an article entitled “30 Security Behaviors that Set Off a CISO’s BS Detector.” There was quite a response from the community to this. Now that we’ve just finished RSA, did our CISOs see or hear anything that set off their BS detectors.

What’s Worse?!

We play two rounds of “What’s Worse?!” Both rounds are cases of employees putting security in very compromising positions.

What’s a CISO to do?

When we talk about security we’re often talking about protecting customer and employee data. While all companies have intellectual property they need to protect, at FOX, Melody Hildebrandt is having to deal with some very high profile individual assets that are of interest to many hackers. What are the factors a CISO must consider, that most security people probably aren’t thinking about, when you’re trying to secure a single media asset that’s worth hundreds of millions of dollars?

What do you think of this pitch?

After you hear this pitch, every security professional may be out of a job. Tip of the hat to Christopher Stealey of Barclays for providing this pitch he received.

You’re a CISO, what’s your take on this?

Ameer Shihadeh of Varonis asks a question of trying to overcome the objection from a security professional that they don’t have any security initiatives or projects.

And now this…

We field questions from our audience for the CISOs.

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_Live_03-06-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 8:37pm PDT

We eschew those cybersecurity firms touting claims of artificial intelligence for our organic conversation-based approach to podcasting.

This show, like all the previous ones is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our sponsored guest this week is Mike Wiacek (@Mikewiacek), co-founder and CSO for Chronicle.

Thanks to this week's sponsor, Chronicle

Chronicle - Backstory

Chronicle’s Backstory is a global security telemetry platform for investigation and threat hunting within your enterprise network. Backstory makes security analytics instant, easy, and cost-effective. Backstory is a specialized, cloud-native security analytics system, built on the core infrastructure that powers Google itself.

On this episode

What's a CISO to do?

As we brace for RSA this week, we expect most companies on the floor will be touting some form of artificial intelligence or machine learning. CISOs are no longer even slightly moved by those terms. What should vendors be saying? And what should a savvy security shopper demand to know about a company's AI or ML?

Why is everybody talking about this now?

Allan Alford, CISO of Mitel, and my co-host on the other CISO Series podcast, Defense in Depth, created a very funny "Cybersecurity Startup Name & Mission Generator!" chart that got a lot of response. We've seen a lot of these name generators, but this one seemed creepily too real. We discuss InfoSec company names and how not to let your eyes glaze over as you walk the trade show floor.

What's Worse?!

How do you feel when big security companies acquire smaller security companies?

Please, enough. No, more.

This week's topic is "threat hunting." We talk about what we've heard enough of on "threat hunting," and what we'd like to hear a lot more.

What's a CISO to do?

A great challenge question from an anonymous source: "My users learned security from the evening news. Now I can't see their traffic due to their VPN tunnel and they are using programs that delete evidence to be more secure." What's a CISO to do?

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_03-01-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 8:26am PDT

CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast and series is available at CISOSeries.com.

We're giving away private networks to everybody. Even if you think you don't need one, you want one. It's all on this week's episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This show, like all the previous ones is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson. Our sponsored guest this week is Francis Dinha, CEO of OpenVPN.

Francis Dinha, CEO, OpenVPN

Thanks to this week's sponsor, OpenVPN

OpenVPN

Create an economical and secure private network for your company with OpenVPN. Used by Fortune 500 companies and IT, Access Server keeps your internal data safe with end-to-end encryption, secure remote access, and extension for your centralized unified threat management. Go to openvpn.net/ciso-series to test drive Access Server for free.

On this episode

What's a CISO to do?

A few years back I interviewed Francis Dinha about hiring talent. Dinha had the fortune to be able to mine his own community of people of open source volunteers. It's become a great resource for hiring talent. Finding those passionate communities are key for finding talent. We discuss other possible resources and why it's critical or maybe not critical to hire people who've contributed to the open source community.

Why is everybody talking about this now?

Given the number of default passwords being used and connected devices with little to no security, does achieving "zero trust" have to be the InfoSec equivalent of climbing Mt. Everest? We discuss simplifying security architecture so achieving "zero trust" isn't a badge of honor but rather something everybody can easily do.

"What's Worse?!"

Another round where we debate an open source conundrum.

Please, enough. No, more.

What have we heard enough with VPNs and what would we like to hear a lot more?

Let's dig a little deeper

John Prokap, CISO of HarperCollins, said on our live NYC recording, "If you patch your systems, you will have less threats that will hurt you." I posted John's basic security advice as a meme, and it got a flurry of response. My favorite came from Greg Van Der Gaast of CMCG who said, "The fact that this is quote/post-worthy in 2019 boggles my mind." The issue of "why aren't you doing this" came up and people discussed integration issues, hard to keep up, and the fact that patches can often break applications. Is this a cycle that's impossible to break?

 

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_2-22-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 4:33pm PDT

CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast and Series is available at CISOSeries.com.

We tip our hat to the much maligned "Department of No" for having the foresight to see that refusing service is probably the most efficient and secure response.

This show, like all the previous ones is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson, CISO of Lyft. Our guest this week is April Wright (@AprilWright), CEO, ArchitectSecurity.org.

Thanks to our sponsor, Endgame

Endgame makes nation-state grade protection as easy as anti-virus. Their converged endpoint security platform is transforming security programs – their people, processes and technology – with the most powerful endpoint protection and simplest user experience, ensuring analysts of any skill level can stop targeted attacks before damage and loss. To learn more visit www.endgame.com. Endgame will be at RSA this year in booth 1827 in the south hall.

On this episode

How CISOs are digesting the latest security news

In an effort to improve security before the 2020 Olympic games, the government of Japan will try to hack its own citizens by using default passwords on webcams, routers, and other Internet connected devices. If they break through they will alert the people that their devices are susceptible to attacks. How good or bad is this idea? Will this give way to easy phishing scams?

Why is everybody talking about this now?

Online, Mike brought up the subject of security rockstar culture and specifically pointed this comes from the security staff playing offense vs. the ones playing defense who really need a team behind them to be effective. We look at the difference between a healthy leading voice in security vs. “a look at me” security rockstar.

It’s time to play, “What’s Worse?!”

Two rounds and the first one Mike spends a lot of time debating.

Ask a CISO

Brad Green of ObserveIT asks, “Do CISOs pay attention to competitive market conditions of different vendors?”

Are you aware of what’s going on and what impact do analysts have?

What do you think of this pitch?

Two pitches to critique. Lots of insight.

 

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_02-17-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 6:55pm PDT

CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast and Series is available at CISOSeries.com.

Do you want a security vendor that’s good at protecting you from malware or a vendor that’s honest with you about their failure rates? Whatever happens you’ll take it on the latest episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast recorded live in NYC for the NY Information Security Meetup (@NYInfoSecurity). Thanks for hosting our recording!

This super-sized special episode features drop-in co-host, John Prokap (@JProkap), CISO of HarperCollins Publishers, and our guest Johna Till Johnson (@JohnaTillJohnso), CEO of Nemertes Research.

Check out all the awesome photos from the event.

Context Information Security

Context Information Security is a leading technical cyber security consultancy, with over 20 years of experience and offices worldwide. Through advanced adversary simulation and penetration testing, we help you answer the question – how effective is my current cyber security strategy against real world attacks?

On this episode

How CISOs are digesting the latest security news

To Facebook, our data in aggregate is very valuable. But to each individual, they view it as essentially worthless as they're happy to give it away to Facebook for $20/month. I don't see this ever changing. Does an employees carelessness with their own privacy affect your corporation's privacy?

Why is everybody talking about this now?

Rich Mason, former CISO at Honeywell posted about the need to change the way we grade malware. He noted that touting 99 percent blocking of malware that allows for one percent failure and network infection is actually a 100 percent failure. It's the classic lying with statistics model. How should we be measuring the effectiveness of malware?

What's Worse?!

We play two rounds trying to determine the worst of bad security behavior.

What's a CISO to do?

A CISO can determine their budget by:

1: Meeting compliance issues or minimum security requirements
2: Being reactionary
3: Reducing business risk
4: Enabling the business

Far too often, vendors have preyed on reactionary and compliance buyers. But the growing trend from most CISOs is the reduction of business risk. How does this change a CISO's budgeting?

Let's dig a little deeper

We bring up "do the basics" repeatedly on this show because it is often the basics, not the APTs, that are the cause of a breach or security failure. Why are the basics so darn hard and why are people failing at them?

What do you think of this pitch?

We've got two pitches for my co-host and guest to critique.

And now this...

We wrap up our live show with lots of questions from the audience.

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_02-05-19_Live_NYC_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 9:32pm PDT

CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast and Series is available at CISOSeries.com.

We've got so much data we've got to liquidate. Whatever private information you want - location, purchase history, private messages - we've got it! Call us now before our users realize what we're doing.

Your privacy, unleashed, on the latest episode of CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

OpenVPN

Create an economical and secure private network for your company with OpenVPN. Used by Fortune 500 companies and IT, Access Server keeps your internal data safe with end-to-end encryption, secure remote access, and extension for your centralized unified threat management. Go to openvpn.net/ciso-series to test drive Access Server for free.  

 

On this episode

Why is everybody talking about this now?

Oh Facebook, not again. Appears they were paying teenagers for the right to snoop on their phone. The most telling part of this story is that this app was activated by clicking a button that said, "Trust." How does Facebook's untrustworthy behavior affect a CISO's ability to maintain trust with their audience?

How are CISOs digesting the latest security news?

From the UK, the Cyber Skills Impact Fund will receive a nice boost of £500,000 to attract more people to cybersecurity, but specifically a diverse workforce. We have talked at great length about the need to have a diverse security staff, and Mike has said on a previous show that not having diversity actually makes you less secure because you fall into "one think." How does a diverse staff change the thinking dynamic of your security team?

It's time to play "What's Worse?!"

We play two rounds of the game. One round is far more challenging than the other.

Ask a CISO

Tip of the hat to Schaefer Marks of ProtectWise for his suggestion about RSA pitching. I'm starting to get RSA meeting requests. They all follow the same format: assuming we're getting ready, and asking if we would like a meeting with a VP, CEO, some expert. We discuss what pre-event pitching we like and don't like.

What do you think of this pitch?

We have two pitches, one that's pretty good, and one that's disastrous.

 

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_02-03-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 6:16pm PDT

CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast and Series is available at CISOSeries.com.

We're comparing ourselves to media you already know in hopes you'll better understand our product and listen to our show. It's our first self-produced live recording of the CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast from San Francisco and it came out awesome.

This show, like all the previous ones is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson, CISO of Lyft. Our guest for this live show is Andy Steingruebl (@asteingruebl), CSO of Pinterest.

Check out all the awesome photos from our first self-produced live recording.

Thanks to our sponsors

The Synack Crowdsourced Security platform delivers effective penetration testing at scale. Synack uses the world’s top security researchers and AI-enabled technology to find what scanners and regular testing do not. It’s used by US Dept of Defense and leading enterprises for better security. To learn more, go to synack.com.

New Context helps fortune 500s build secure and compliant data platforms. New Context created “Lean Security”, a set of best practices designed to help enterprises manage and secure data for critical infrastructure, and offers professional services and a software solution, LS/IQ, to help enterprises build a secure and compliant data platforms for their business.

 Create an economical and secure private network for your company with OpenVPN. Used by Fortune 500 companies and IT, Access Server keeps your internal data safe with end-to-end encryption, secure remote access, and extension for your centralized unified threat management. Go to openvpn.net/ciso-series to test drive Access Server for free.  

Why is everybody talking about this now?

Chris Roberts with Attivo Networks caused a flurry of discussion when he argued that using the term "security" is meaningless. He said, "There is no such thing as security. There is just a measurement of risk." He went on to say we shouldn't be talking about security risk, but only business risk. Would it be a good idea to change the terminology?

How are CISOs are digesting the latest security news?

France’s data protection regulator, CNIL, issued Google a $57 million fine for failing to comply with its GDPR obligations. Not the first GDPR fine, but it's first big tech giant. And it's not nearly as much as it could have been. But it's the biggest fine so far. Are GDPR fines starting to get real? Will this embolden even more fines?

Hey, you're a CISO, what's your take on this?

On LinkedIn Mike Johnson brought up the discussion of security vendors marketing what they're not. He claimed that this tactic is doomed to fail, and should just stop. Why is it a failed tactic?

It's time to play, "What's Worse?!"

We get a little philosophical in this round of "What's Worse?!"

Um...What do they do?

I read the copy from a vendor's website and the two CISOs try to figure out, "What do they do?"

Ask a CISO

A listener asks, "What are the signs that tell you that a vendor is serious about improving the security of their product?"

How are CISOs are digesting the latest security news?

A caustic attendee to DerbyCon brings down the entire event because the organizers didn't know how to handle his behavior. How can event producers in the security space avoid this happening in the future?

And now this...

We take questions from our audience.

 

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_Live-0-23-19_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 12:45pm PDT

Our new podcast, Defense in Depth, is part of the CISO Series network which can be found at CISOSeries.com.

This is a special episode introducing this new podcast. To get more of Defense in Depth, subscribe to the podcast.

What are the most important metrics to measure when building out your security program? One thing we learned on this episode is those metrics change, as your security program matures.

This episode of Defense in Depth is co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the creator of CISO Seriesand Allan Alford (@AllanAlfordinTX), CISO at Mitel. Our guest is my co-host of the other show, Mike Johnson, CISO of Lyft.

Fluency's correlation and risk scoring technology combined with their approach of using pseudonyms in place of certain PII data greatly facilitates your organization's path towards compliance. Over time, machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms detect anomalies at an impressive level of scalability. Run Fluency as a standalone or integrate it into your existing SIEM. Learn more by visiting us at booth #4529 at the RSA® Conference 2019.

On this episode of Defense in Depth, you'll learn:

  • There is no golden set of security metrics.
  • Metrics you use to measure your security program this year won't necessarily be the same ones you use next year.
  • Use the NIST model to determine your security program maturity.
  • Unlike B2C, B2B companies can use metrics to build a closer tie between security and the business.
  • Regulations and certifications is one easy way to align security with the business.
Direct download: Defense_in_Depth_first_episode_for_CISO-Vendor_Feed_mixdown.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 11:13am PDT

CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast and Series is available at CISOSeries.com.

We don't have to make our software any simpler to use. You just need to get smart enough to use it. We're all attitude on the latest episode of the CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast.

This show, like all the previous ones is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson, CISO of Lyft. Our sponsored guest this week is Mike Nichols (@hmikenichols), VP of product at Endgame.

Endgame makes nation-state grade protection as easy as anti-virus. Their converged endpoint security platform is transforming security programs - their people, processes and technology - with the most powerful endpoint protection and simplest user experience, ensuring analysts of any skill level can stop targeted attacks before damage and loss. To learn more visit www.endgame.com. Endgame will be at RSA this year in booth 1827 in the south hall.

On this episode

How CISOs are digesting the latest security news

Is this yet ANOTHER security breach? A massive document of usernames and passwords. These are all available in text files, pretty much for anyone to see. We're not sure, but this may be a collection of usernames and passwords from historical hacks, but it's not clear. Most of us have potentially more than a hundred usernames and passwords. How are we supposed to go through all our accounts and change them all? Can we slap 2FA on top of everything? What should be the best reaction to this kind of news?

Hey, you're a CISO, what's your take on this?'

In the area of user experience, B2B software seems neglected. All the wonderful usability goes to consumer apps, because everybody needs to be able to use them. But B2B software can cut corners and add extra layers for usability because heck, these people are experts, they're hired to do this job. They should know what they're doing. But that type of thinking is hurting the industry as a whole.

What's Worse?!

We've got a scenario of two CISOs with two different companies. Which one has the worst security posture?

Please, Enough. No, More.

Our topic is endpoint protection. We talk about we've heard enough about on endpoint protection, and what we'd like to hear a lot more. Endgame's machine learning engine, Ember, is open source.

What's a CISO to do?

Why is it so difficult to hire InfoSec professionals? Is there not enough skills, not enough people interested, tough to hire diversity, way too competitive environment, or is it the nature of the recruiting industry itself?

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_01-20-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 5:45pm PDT

CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast and Series is available at CISOSeries.com.

Be afraid. Be very afraid of the latest episode of the CISO/Security Vendor Relationship Podcast where it's possible that 90 percent of your security breaches are coming from within your own company.

This show, like all the previous ones is hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), founder of Spark Media Solutions and Mike Johnson, CISO of Lyft. Our guest this week is Leon Ravenna, CISO, KAR Auction Services.

Synack provides crowdsourced security testing that provides more than older style penetration testing. Instead of using a few researchers who output a final report, Synack uses a globally-sourced crowd of researchers backed by a purpose-built hacking platform. This gives organizations access to security talent that is not available from any one company, and data and insights into the testing process. All Synack security testing is recorded, measured, and analyzed to not only output results like new vulnerabilities and compliance checks, but displays attack patterns and quantities in real-time. By using bug bounties as incentives, researchers are rewarded for the great finds that Synack verifies and shares with its customers. To find out more about the Hacker-Powered Security used by the Internal Revenue Service and many other organizations, go to synack.com.

On this episode

How CISOs are digesting the latest security news

According to a new report from Kroll, "Human Error, Not Hackers, to Blame for Vast Majority of Data Breaches." They report that 2,124 incidents could be attributed to human error, compared to just 292 that were deliberate cyber incidents, They say that's a 75% increase over the past two years but that could be because reporting breaches wasn't mandatory before GDPR. One user commented, these numbers seem to conflict with what the Verizon Breach report says. According to this data it appears a security leader should be spending close to 90 percent of their budget and effort trying to prevent inside data leakage. How would your security plan change if that was your charge?

Hey, you're a CISO, what's your take on this?'

An article and video published last week on this site written and featuring Elliot Lewis, CEO of Encryptics, talks about the need to get cozy with your legal team because when a breach occurs, you're going to need to have possession, custody, and control of your data. If you can't answer those questions you're putting your legal team in a bind. Mike and our guest talk about being able to answer these questions and building relations with the legal team.

It's time to play, "Um... What Do They Do?"

It's a brand new game where I read copy from a vendor's website, and Mike and our guest try to guess, "What do they do?"

What's a CISO to do?

Kip Boyle, past guest, friend of the show, and author of a new book, "Fire Doesn't Innovate," which comes out today asks this question, "Could good cyber risk management be the basis for a competitive differentiator for your business? How?"

Kip's book is available at firedoesntinnovate.com and for the first week it's out it's only $.99 via Kindle.

Ask a CISO

Thomas Torgerson of Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Alabama asks, "How do CISO's feel about presenting webinars or speaking at other events regarding products that they use in their environment?" Are there incentives promoting a vendor solution? Or is it too risky to let threat actors know your security toolsets? 

 

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_01-13-19_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 6:45pm PDT

No matter how much money we shove into security, it never seems to fill up. That's good for vendors. Not so good for buyers of security who don't have a bottomless pit of money to fill the bottomless pit of security.

 

This week's episode is sponsored by Red Canary. Red Canary is a security operations ally to organizations of all sizes. They arm customers with outcome-focused solutions that can be deployed in minutes to quickly identify and shut down adversaries. Follow their blog for access to educational tools and other resources that can help you improve your security program.

Got feedback? Join the conversation on LinkedIn

On this episode

How CISOs are digesting the latest security news

Wayne Rash of eWEEK wrote a piece on what to expect in cybersecurity in 2019. Most of the stuff is more of the same, such as nation state attacks, ransomware, phishing, and assume you're going to get attacked. But, he did bring up some issues that don't get nearly as much discussion. One was cryptomining which is hijacking your cloud instances, encrypting ALL data, moving away from usernames/passwords, and getting a third-party audit. So what's on CISOs' radar in 2019

Why is everybody talking about this now?

Dutch Schwartz of Forcepoint brought up the issue of collaboration. This is not a new topic and we all know that if we don't share information the attackers who do share information will always have leverage. There are obvious privacy and competitive reasons why companies don't share information, but I proposed that if the industry believes collaboration is so important, then it should be a requirement (think GDPR) or we should build incentives (think energy incentives) with a time limit. Is this the right approach? Is the collaboration we're doing already enough?

What's Worse?!

We play yet another round on an issue that really annoys my co-host.

What's a CISO to do?

Thom Langford, CISO of Publicis Groupe, said that cybersecurity should be seen as a long term campaign. And if you keep at it, you will see results. Think anti-smoking or seat belt campaigns. Yet we see more and more companies treating security as a one-off project and not looking at dealing with it in the long term. Could this be more a problem of how we view security in the media?

Ask a CISO

Brijesh Singh, Inspector General of Police, Cyber at Government of Maharashtra said, "A young student asked me a very basic question, isn’t Cybersecurity just a branch of IT? Why should it be treated separately?" It's an awesome question that resulted in a flurry of responses. Is there a difference?

Got feedback? Join the conversation on LinkedIn

 

Direct download: CISO_Vendor_01-06-2019_FINAL.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 4:49pm PDT