CISO Tradecraft®

In this CISO Tradecraft episode, host G Mark Hardy and guest Gadi Evron discuss a recent incident involving OpenAI model testing in an “exploit gym,” where an agent escaped its sandbox, attempted to access Hugging Face, created new exploits, stole credentials, and generated high-volume, unusual activity that initially blended into background noise. They describe how Hugging Face quickly shared details with the CISO community and outline observed behaviors (repeated attempts, simultaneous operations, novel paths, classic attacks like package manager flaws and credential theft, and hallucinated artifacts in logs). Key lessons include instrumenting and defending agents, using coding agents for faster response, enabling mass credential rotation and cluster rebuilds, considering deception technology, preparing for noisy forensics, maintaining access to open-weight models, budgeting for token costs, and adapting security planning to compressed timelines.

• CISO Retreat - https://www.cisotradecraft.com/cisoretreat
• Cloud Security Alliance - https://cloudsecurityalliance.org/
• CSides - https://luma.com/jf8ej87e
• Hugging Face Analysis on ChatGPT - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/gadievron_my-analysis-from-hosting-hugging-face-at-share-7486340715514437632-Xs-b/
• Knostic - https://www.knostic.ai/
• Unprompted - https://unpromptedcon.org/

Three major legal changes. One question every CISO should be asking: Is your cybersecurity program ready?

Congress let a key FISA surveillance authority expire. The Supreme Court raised the bar on geofence warrants. The Department of Defense paused mandatory CMMC Level 2 certifications.

At first glance, these seem like unrelated legal headlines. In reality, they all point to the same challenge: cybersecurity leaders must understand how changing laws affect data access, privacy, compliance, and personal liability.

In this episode of CISO Tradecraft, host G. Mark Hardy sits down with attorney and cybersecurity expert Larry Dietz to break down what these legal developments actually mean for CISOs, not from a political perspective, but from a practical leadership perspective.

You'll learn:

• Why the FISA Section 702 debate still matters to private-sector CISOs
• How the Supreme Court's geofence warrant decision could impact data retention and privacy programs
• What the CMMC certification delay really means for defense contractors
• Why self-attestation can create legal risk
• How GDPR principles can strengthen your cybersecurity governance
• What every CISO should negotiate before accepting the top security job

If you're responsible for protecting data, managing compliance, or advising executive leadership, this episode will help you separate headlines from real business risk.

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What separates great CISOs from everyone else? It isn't knowing more about CVEs, ransomware, or the latest security tools. It's understanding the business. In this episode of CISO Tradecraft, Ross Young and G Mark Hardy reveal why many cybersecurity leaders spend too much time protecting systems and not enough time protecting the capabilities that generate revenue, keep operations running, and create shareholder value.

You'll discover:

1) Why most vulnerability management programs prioritize the wrong assets.

2) The six business capabilities every CISO should understand before making security decisions.

3) How executive leaders evaluate cyber risk differently than security teams.

4) A practical framework for aligning cybersecurity investments with business priorities.

5) Why traditional third-party risk questionnaires often fail—and the questions that actually predict ransomware risk.

6) Lessons learned from real-world breaches, mergers & acquisitions, business resilience, and executive decision making. Free Resources Mentioned

• Ransomware Risk Assessment Questionnaire - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1L4spXwrB7nFgdSP5at2uJfFKvG_7ppmz/

• Mission-Critical Business Capability Framework - https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1zHjxcJXvAkJNQKXCVbVoR7yzexD3KKEu

How has the role of the CISO changed over the last 15 years? In this episode of CISO Tradecraft, G. Mark Hardy interviews Rafeeq Rehman, creator of the CISO Mind Map, to discuss its latest update and the biggest challenges facing cybersecurity leaders today.

You'll learn:

• Why the CISO Mind Map was updated after 15 years
• How AI security is reshaping cybersecurity leadership
• Why the remote work category was removed
• How a RACI matrix helps CISOs delegate while staying accountable
• Why consolidating security tools reduces complexity and risk How to support your team's mental health in a high-stress industry
• What tomorrow's cybersecurity leaders need to succeed

Whether you're an aspiring CISO or an experienced security executive, this episode provides practical insights to help you lead more effectively in the AI era.

Link to the Mind Map - https://rafeeqrehman.com/2026/04/11/ciso-mindmap-2026-what-do-infosec-professionals-really-do/

Nation-state adversaries are vacuuming up encrypted traffic today, waiting for quantum computers to decrypt it tomorrow. This attack strategy, "Harvest Now, Decrypt Later," isn't theoretical. It's happening right now.

G Mark Hardy sits down with Marcus Sachs (former White House cyber advisor, CSO of NERC, now SVP and Chief Engineer at CIS) to break down two executive orders just signed by the White House on post-quantum cryptography and what every security leader needs to do before the clock runs out.

What you'll learn:

• Why TLS, VPNs, and PKI are your most urgent exposure
• The Harvest Now, Decrypt Later threat model and what it means for your data retention policies
• How to build a Cryptographic Bill of Materials (CBOM)
• What cryptographic agility means and why hard-coded crypto is a ticking time bomb
• Lessons from Y2K that apply directly to the quantum migration

You can't name a date certain. But your adversaries are already running the clock.

Links, NIST resources, and both executive orders in the show notes.

https://www.nist.gov/cybersecurity-and-privacy/what-post-quantum-cryptography

https://www.nist.gov/pqc

On this episode of CISO Tradecraft, host G Mark Hardy talks with Gary Hayslip about cybersecurity career growth beyond the traditional CISO “apex,” drawing on Hayslip’s 25+ years across military service, US Navy civil service, the City of San Diego as its first CISO, Webroot (CISO/CIO), SoftBank (including cyber and physical security), and most recently a field CISO role before being laid off. They discuss how the CISO role is evolving into merged executive positions (technology, risk, and AI), why continuous learning is essential as security changes rapidly, and why humans remain accountable even as AI reshapes teams. Hayslip outlines alternative paths like field CISO, data center security leadership, and VC/PE operating partner roles, and shares practical ways organizations used AI to speed legal review and automate security reporting while highlighting cost, risk, and workforce concerns.

In this CISO Tradecraft episode, host G Mark Hardy interviews Steve McMichael, author of "How to Break into GRC: Mindset, Methods, and Skills," about entering cybersecurity through governance, risk, and compliance. McMichael shares his transition from accounting and explains GRC’s role as decision support and the interface between business and technical teams, breaking down governance, risk management, and compliance (including audits and third-party/supply-chain assurance). They discuss misconceptions that GRC is “just paperwork,” barriers like imposter syndrome, and strategies such as building T-shaped skills, targeting about 20% technical depth across domains, and developing credibility through a deep specialty. McMichael also describes an immersion mindset driven by emotional engagement, and showcases an open-source NIST Cybersecurity Framework Profile Assessment Database project on GitHub to help newcomers build skills and portfolio contributions.

Want to move from "security expert" to "trusted business leader"?

Join G. Mark Hardy and Michael Hammer. The mind behind the core of DMARC, for 40 years of hard-won wisdom on navigating the CISO role, This episode is a masterclass in evolving from a technical gatekeeper to a strategic influencer who changes the environment,.

Inside this episode:

• Modern Email Security: Why DMARC and SPF aren't "set and forget" tools and how to stop "cousin domain" attacks,.
• The 30-Minute Audit: Use the "Turn the Rocks Over" method to vet any vendor’s security posture in minutes.
• Risk vs. Ownership: Why you must ensure the executive team makes informed risk decisions, and why you should get them in writing.
• The AI Storm: How Mythos AI is accelerating the disclosure of years of hidden code vulnerabilities,.

Stop being a "compliance tax" and start protecting revenue. Watch now to learn how to build a true security culture

What if your next breach isn't caused by a human... but by an AI agent acting exactly as instructed?

Cyberhaven's CEO (Nishant Doshi) and SVP of Engineering (Saro Subbiah) reveal why AI is a true zero-to-one shift, why every employee is building agents, and why traditional security controls are struggling to keep up with machine-speed workflows.

The most interesting question for CISOs isn't whether AI will be adopted, it's which security control breaks first when thousands of human-plus-agent workflows start operating across your enterprise?

Watch the episode and weigh in: What do you believe will be the first major failure point of enterprise AI adoption, identity, code review, third-party dependencies, data security, audit trails, or something else entirely?

Big thanks to our Sponsor Cyberhaven -

https://www.cyberhaven.com/product

In this discussion, G. Mark Hardy and Nishant Kaushik explore the necessity of moving beyond traditional passwords, which they define as the original sin of cybersecurity due to their vulnerability to credential stuffing and phishing attacks. Kaushik explains that the FIDO Alliance promotes a passwordless future by replacing shared secrets with asymmetric cryptography, utilizing private keys stored on smartphones or hardware tokens like YubiKeys to ensure phishing-resistant authentication. The conversation highlights that identity is the new perimeter, shifting the focus from human-memorized codes to biometric verification and device-bound passkeys that verify user presence. Ultimately, the experts warn that a secure transition must include robust account recovery flows, as failing to secure the "back door" renders even the most advanced cryptographic-based authentication vulnerable to exploitation.

FIDO Alliance - https://fidoalliance.org/