CISO Series Podcast

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All Aboard the 5G Paranoia Train Apr 09, 2019

Show notes

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'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?

Do You Know the Secret Cybersecurity Handshake? Apr 02, 2019

Show notes

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

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?

If At First You Don't Succeed, There's Always Blackmail Mar 26, 2019

Show notes

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 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?

When Abusing Our Privacy, Does Size Matter? Mar 18, 2019

Show notes

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 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.

We're Releasing Security Studies of Made Up Numbers Mar 12, 2019

Show notes

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 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.

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.

A Pesticide-Free Podcast Made with 'All Natural' Intelligence Mar 03, 2019

Show notes

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

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?

You Get a Private Network! You Get a Private Network! Feb 26, 2019

Show notes

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.

Thanks to this week's sponsor, 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?

Productivity Tip! Get More Done By Refusing To Do Anything Feb 19, 2019

Show notes

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.

We're 99% Sure Our Malware Protection Will Fail 1% of the Time Feb 12, 2019

Show notes

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 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.

We're Selling Your Data at Unbeatable Prices Feb 05, 2019

Show notes

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.

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.

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