Live from InfoSec World 2025, this episode of Enterprise Security Weekly features six in-depth conversations with leading voices in cybersecurity, exploring the tools, strategies, and leadership approaches driving the future of enterprise defense. From configuration management and AI-generated threats to emerging frameworks and national standards, this special edition captures the most influential conversations from this year's conference.

In this episode:

-You Don't Need a Hacker When You Have Misconfigurations — Rob Allen, Chief Product Officer at ThreatLocker®, discusses how overlooked settings and weak controls continue to be one of the most common causes of breaches. He explains how Defense Against Configurations (DAC) helps organizations identify, map, and remediate configuration risks before attackers can exploit them.

-Security Challenges for Mid-Sized Companies — Perry Schumacher, Chief Strategy Officer & Partner at Ridge IT Cyber, explores the evolving security challenges facing mid-sized organizations. He discusses how AI is becoming a competitive advantage, how mobility and third-party reliance complicate defenses, and what steps these organizations can take to improve resilience and efficiency.

-The Rise of Security Control Management: Secure by Design, Not by Chance — Marene Allison, former CISO of Johnson & Johnson, introduces Security Control Management (SCM), a new software category that unifies control selection, mapping, validation, and enforcement. She explains how SCM transforms fragmented compliance programs into proactive, embedded defense.

-Engineered for Protection: The Rise of Security Control Management — Ryan Heritage, Advisor at Sicura, continues the discussion on SCM, explaining how organizations can operationalize this approach to move from reactive reporting to proactive, data-driven defense. He highlights how automation and integration enable security decisions to be made at "the speed of relevance."

-The AI Threat: Protecting Your Email from AI-Generated Attacks — Patricia Titus, Field CISO at Abnormal Security, explores how cybercriminals are weaponizing generative AI to create sophisticated phishing and social engineering attacks. She shares practical strategies for defending against AI-generated threats and emphasizes why AI-based protections are now essential for modern enterprises.

-Igniting Change: A Conversation with Dr. Ron Ross — Dr. Ron Ross, CEO at RONROSSECURE, LLC, shares insights from decades of pioneering work in cybersecurity, including the Risk Management Framework and Systems Security Engineering Guidelines. He discusses how leaders can apply these principles to strengthen resilience, foster innovation, and drive meaningful change across the cybersecurity landscape.

Segment Resources

• ThreatLocker® Defense Against Configurations (DAC): https://www.threatlocker.com/platform/defense-against-configurations

Book a demo to see DAC in action. Visit https://securityweekly.com/threatlockerisw to learn more!

This segment is sponsored by Ridge IT Cyber. Visit https://securityweekly.com/ridgeisw to learn more about them!

Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/esw for all the latest episodes!

Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/esw-435

Ravid will discuss why security and engineering misalignment is the biggest barrier to fast, effective remediation, using data from Seemplicity's 2025 Remediation Operations Report. This is costing some teams days of unnecessary exposure, which can lead to major security implications for organizations.

Segment Resources:

• https://seemplicity.io/papers/the-2025-remediation-operations-report/

• https://seemplicity.io/news/seemplicity-releases-2025-remediation-operations-report-91-of-organizations-experience-delays-in-vulnerability-remediation/

• https://seemplicity.io/blog/2025-remediation-operations-report-organizations-still-struggle/

Ex-SC Media journalist Derek Johnson did a great job writing this one up over at Cyberscoop: China's 'autonomous' AI-powered hacking campaign still required a ton of human work

There are a number of interesting questions that have been raised here. Some want more technical details and question the report's conclusions. How automated was it, really?

I found it odd that Anthropic's CEO was on 60 minutes the same week, talking about how dangerous AI is (which is his company's primary and only product).

I think one of the more interesting things to discuss is how Anthropic has based its identity and brand on AI safety. While so many other SaaS companies appear to be doing the bare minimum to stop attacks against their customers, Anthropic is putting significant resources into testing for future threats and discovering active attacks.

Finally, in the enterprise security news,

1. vendor layoffs have started again
2. the sins of security vendor research
3. the pillars of the Internet are burning
4. selling out to North Korea isn't worth what they're paying you
5. ransom payments, in 24 easy installments?
6. a breach handled the right way
7. we probably shouldn't be putting LLMs into kids toys
8. ordering coffee from the terminal

All that and more, on this episode of Enterprise Security Weekly.

Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/esw for all the latest episodes!

Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/esw-434

It's the Year of the (Clandestine) Linux Desktop!

As if EDR evasions weren't enough, attackers are now employing yet another method to hide their presence on enterprise systems: deploying tiny Linux VMs. Attackers are using Hyper-V and/or WSL to deploy tiny (120MB disk space and 256MB memory) Linux VMs to host a custom reverse shell and reverse proxy.

In this segment, we'll discuss strategies and mitigations to battle this novel technique with Rob Allen from Threatlocker.

Segment Resources:

• Pro-Russian Hackers Use Linux VMs to Hide in Windows
• Russian Hackers Abuse Hyper-V to Hide Malware in Linux VMs
• Qilin ransomware abuses WSL to run Linux encryptors in Windows

This segment is sponsored by ThreatLocker. Visit https://securityweekly.com/threatlocker to learn more about them!

We're entering the age of human-shaped robots, so it seems like a good time to talk about the fact that they ALREADY HAVE CVEs assigned to them. I guess this isn't a terrible thing - John Connor might have had an easier time if he could simply hack the terminators from a distance...

Resources

• https://www.unitree.com/H2 (watch the video!)
• China's humanoid robots get factory jobs as UBTech's model scores US$112 million in orders
• The big reveal: Xpeng founder unzips humanoid robot to prove it's not human
• Exploit Allows for Takeover of Fleets of Unitree Robots - Security researchers find a wormable vulnerability
• 100-page Paper: The Cybersecurity of a Humanoid Robot
• 5-page Paper: Cybersecurity AI: Humanoid Robots as Attack Vectors
• Amazingly, $300 smart vacuums have some of the same exact vulnerabilities and backdoors built into them as the $16,000 humanoid robots! The Day My Smart Vacuum Turned Against Me

Finally, in the enterprise security news,

1. A $435M venture round
2. A $75M seed round
3. a few acquisitions
4. the producer of the movie Half Baked bought a spyware company
5. AI isn't going well, or is it?
6. maybe we just need to adopt it more slowly and deliberately?
7. ad-blockers are enterprise best practices
8. firewalls and VPNs are security risks, according to insurance claims
9. could you power an entire house with disposable vapes?

All that and more, on this episode of Enterprise Security Weekly.

Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/esw for all the latest episodes!

Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/esw-433

OT/ICS/SCADA systems are often off limits to cybersecurity folks, and exempt from many controls. Attackers don't care how fragile these systems are, however. For attackers aiming to disrupt operations, fragile but critical systems fit criminals' plans nicely.

In this interview, we discuss the challenge of securing OT systems with Todd Peterson and Joshua Hay from Junto Security.

This segment is sponsored by Junto Security. Visit https://securityweekly.com/junto to learn more!

This week's topic segment is all about tuning your 'spidey sense' to spot myths and misconceptions online so we can avoid amplifying AI slop, scams, and other forms of Internet bunk. It was inspired by this LinkedIn post, but we've got a cybersecurity story in the news that we could have easily used for this as well (the report from MIT).

Finally, in the enterprise security news,

1. Some interesting fundings
2. Some more interesting acquisitions
3. a new AI-related term has been coined: cyberslop
4. the latest insights from cyber insurance claims
5. The AI security market isn't nearly as big as it might seem
6. cybercriminals are targeting trucking and logistics to steal goods
7. Sorry dads, science says the smarts come from mom

All that and more, on this episode of Enterprise Security Weekly.

Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/esw for all the latest episodes!

Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/esw-432

Frontline workers can't afford to be slowed down by manual, repetitive logins, especially in mission-critical industries where both security and productivity are crucial. This segment will explore how inefficient login methods erode productivity, while workarounds like shared credentials increase risk, highlighting why passwordless authentication is emerging as a game-changer for frontline access to shared devices. Joel Burleson-Davis, Chief Technology Officer of Imprivata, will share how organizations can adopt frictionless and secure access management to improve both security and frontline efficiency at scale.

Segment Resources:

• Putting Complex Passwords to Work For You

This segment is sponsored by Imprivata. Visit https://securityweekly.com/imprivata to learn more about them!

Vendors are finding, after integrating agents into their processes, that agentic AI can get expensive very quickly. Of course, this isn't surprising when your goal is "review all my third party contracts and fill out questionnaires for me" and the pricing is X DOLLARS for 1M TOKENS blah blah context window, max model thinking model blah blah. No one knows what the conversion is from "review my contracts" to millions of tokens, so everyone is left to just test it out and see what the bill is at the end of the month.

As we saw with Cloud when adoption started increasing in the early 2010s, we are naturally entering the era of AI cost optimization. In this segment, we'll discuss what that means, how it affects the market, and how it affects the use of AI in cybersecurity.

Jackie mentions this story from Wired in the segment: https://www.wired.com/story/ai-bubble-will-burst/

Finally, in the enterprise security news,

1. we've got funding and acquisitions
2. 7 red flags you're doing cloud wrong
3. security standards for open source projects
4. post mortems of attacks on open source supply chain
5. some analysis on current and historic AWS outages
6. a deep dive
7. some dumpster fires
8. and how much would you pay for a robot that puts away the dishes?

All that and more, on this episode of Enterprise Security Weekly.

Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/esw for all the latest episodes!

Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/esw-431

In this week's sponsored interview, we dive into the evolving security landscape around AI agents, where we stand with AI agent adoption. We also touch on topics such as securing credentials in browser workflows and why identity is foundational to AI agent security.

• 1Password Addresses a Critical AI Browser Agent Security Gap
• 1Password Now Available in Comet - the AI Browser by Perplexity

This segment is sponsored by 1Password. Visit https://securityweekly.com/1password to learn more!

In this week's enterprise security news,

1. one big acquisition, two small fundings
2. not all AI is bad
3. deepfakes are getting crazy good
4. make sure you log what your AI agents do
5. Copilot prompt injection
6. NordVPN tries to pull a jedi mind trick on us
7. failure rate in AI adoption is a feature not a bug?
8. using facial recognition to find Tinder profiles
9. a predictable squirrel story

All that and more, on this episode of Enterprise Security Weekly.

Interview with Connor Mulherin of TechSoup

The cybersecurity landscape in the nonprofit sector is evolving quickly, with organizations facing unique challenges due to limited resources, sensitive mission-driven work, and developing policies and training programs. Connor Mulherin, Director and GM of Validation Services at TechSoup, will discuss the industry's need for accessible and collaborative solutions to provide affordable technology leadership and security guidance. It will highlight how nonprofit organizations can build long-term digital resilience and combat these growing challenges.

Segment Resources:

• www.techsoup.org
• Tech Impact Launch CTO Program For Small NPOs
• Virtual Chief Technology Officer Program for the Nonprofit Sector

Interview with Mike Poole, Director of Cyber Security at Werner Enterprises

In today's digital landscape, cybersecurity is not just a technical issue—it's a business imperative. Organizations that prioritize cybersecurity culture see fewer incidents and stronger resilience against evolving threats. But how do you foster a security-first mindset across an organization?

This session will explore the critical components of building and maintaining a robust cybersecurity culture, starting with executive leadership buy-in—a fundamental step in securing resources and driving organizational change. We'll then dive into the power of monthly phishing exercises, which reinforce awareness and preparedness. Attendees will also learn how to develop effective training programs that engage employees at all levels and create lasting behavioral change. Finally, we'll discuss the role of cybersecurity-themed events, particularly during Cybersecurity Awareness Month, as a powerful tool to capture attention and reinforce key security principles.

This segment is sponsored by Oktane by Okta. Visit https://securityweekly.com/oktane to learn more about them!

Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/esw for all the latest episodes!

Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/esw-430

David Brauchler says AI red teaming has proven that eliminating prompt injection is a lost cause. And many developers inadvertently introduce serious threat vectors into their applications – risks they must later eliminate before they become ingrained across application stacks.

NCC Group's AI security team has surveyed dozens of AI applications, exploited their most common risks, and discovered a set of practical architectural patterns and input validation strategies that completely mitigate natural language injection attacks. David's talk aimed at helping security pros and developers understand how to design/test complex agentic systems and how to model trust flows in agentic environments. He also provided information about what architectural decisions can mitigate prompt injection and other model manipulation risks, even when AI systems are exposed to untrusted sources of data.

More about David's Black Hat talk:

• Video of the talk and accompanying slides: https://www.nccgroup.com/research-blog/when-guardrails-arent-enough-reinventing-agentic-ai-security-with-architectural-controls/
• Talk abstract: https://www.blackhat.com/us-25/briefings/schedule/#when-guardrails-arent-enough-reinventing-agentic-ai-security-with-architectural-controls-46112
• Slide presentation only: https://i.blackhat.com/BH-USA-25/Presentations/USA-25-Brauchler-When-Guardrails-Arent-Enough.pdf

Additional blogs by David about AI security:

• Analyzing Secure AI Architectures: https://www.nccgroup.com/research-blog/analyzing-secure-ai-architectures/
• Analyzing Secure AI Design Principles: https://www.nccgroup.com/research-blog/analyzing-secure-ai-design-principles/
• Analyzing AI Application Threat Models: https://www.nccgroup.com/research-blog/analyzing-ai-application-threat-models/
• Building Security‑First AI Applications: A Best Practices Guide for CISOs: https://www.nccgroup.com/building-security-first-ai-applications-a-best-practices-guide-for-cisos/
• Building Trust by Design for Secure AI Applications: Tips for CISOs: https://www.nccgroup.com/building-trust-by-design-for-secure-ai-applications-tips-for-cisos/
• AI and Cyber Security: New Vulnerabilities CISOs Must Address: https://www.nccgroup.com/ai-and-cyber-security-new-vulnerabilities-cisos-must-address/

An op-ed on CSO Online made us think - should we consider the CIA triad 'dead' and replace it? We discuss the value and longevity of security frameworks, as well as the author's proposed replacement.

Finally, in the enterprise security news,

1. Slow week for funding, older companies raising via debt financing
2. A useful AI framework from the Cloud Security Alliance
3. two interesting essays, one of which is wrong
4. Folks are out here blasting unencrypted data to and from Satellites, while anyone can sniff and capture it
5. getting hacked during a job interview
6. LLM poisoning is far easier than previously thought
7. F5 got breached
8. Be careful when patching your Jeep ('s software)

All that and more, on this episode of Enterprise Security Weekly.

Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/esw for all the latest episodes!

Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/esw-429

We're always thrilled to have authors join us to discuss their new book releases, and this week, it is Dr. Anand Singh. He seriously hustled to get his new book, Data Security in the Age of AI, out as soon as possible so that it could help folks dealing with securing AI rollouts right now! We'll discuss why he wrote it, how he got it done so quickly, and who needs to read it.

Segment Resources:

• Get the book on Amazon: Data Security in the Age of AI (available in Kindle and print)

Val Tsanev, founder of ExecWeb, part of the CyberRisk Alliance family, posted shared some VERY spicy insights about how CISOs buy products. This elicited some passionate responses.

There are many interesting insights, but the biggest and most interesting is that 76% of CISOs choose products that presents the least risk to them, personally. Career safety trumps product performance, it would seem.

In the enterprise security news,

1. Shifting Zero
2. Cyber insurance, unlike cyber crime, doesn't pay
3. New AI security categories are popping up to serve Agentic and MCP servers
4. how tech companies measure AI impact
5. first malicious MCP server in the wild
6. is your computer mouse listening to you?
7. The Korean government did not follow the backup rule of three
8. Think you've seen the absolute worst idea for a mobile app? Wait until you hear about Neon.
9. We have no less than three squirrel stories involving bullets, lasers, and greasy snacks

All that and more, on this episode of Enterprise Security Weekly.

Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/esw for all the latest episodes!

Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/esw-428

At Oktane 2025, leaders from across the security ecosystem shared how identity has become the new front line in protecting today's AI-driven enterprises. As SaaS adoption accelerates and AI agents proliferate, organizations face an explosion of human and non-human identities—and with it, growing risks like misconfigured access, orphaned accounts, and identity-based attacks.

In this special Enterprise Security Weekly episode, we bring together insights from top experts:

• Dor Fledel (Okta) explains how teams can gain visibility into AI agents, uncover risks, and enforce appropriate access controls.
• Alexander Makarov (Adyen) shares how a global fintech unified and streamlined identity with Okta, improving both security and employee experience across 200+ countries.
• Aaron Parecki (Okta) highlights the importance of open standards—like IPSIE, MCP, and A2A—for building secure, interoperable AI ecosystems and centralized control over AI-driven interactions.
• Heather Ceylan (Box) discusses how Box embeds AI into workflows to enhance data protection, even for highly regulated industries.
• Matt Immler (Okta) offers lessons from the field on strengthening defenses with behavioral monitoring, automation, and a security-first culture to counter attackers who now "log in" instead of hacking in.
• Nitin Raina (Thoughtworks) warns about AI-driven social engineering—from deepfakes to multi-channel phishing—and shares practical strategies like phishing-resistant MFA, zero-trust architecture, and better employee training.

From open standards to privileged access management and AI-powered defense, these Oktane 2025 conversations explore how identity-driven strategies are shaping the future of enterprise security.

Segment Resources: https://www.okta.com/newsroom/articles/old-security-challenges--new-ai-risks--managing-authorization-in https://www.okta.com/newsroom/press-releases/okta-introduces-cross-app-access-to-help-secure-ai-agents-in-the/ https://www.okta.com/blog/ai/securing-the-ai-agent-ecosystem/ https://www.okta.com/customers/adyen/ https://www.okta.com/newsroom/?sort=featured&filters=okta%3Acategories%2Fidentity-security https://www.okta.com/customers/thoughtworks/

This segment is sponsored by Oktane by Okta. Visit https://securityweekly.com/oktane to learn more about them!

Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/esw for all the latest episodes!

Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/esw-427

How identity security can keep pace with the evolving threat landscape, with Brett Winterford

Today's threat landscape has never been more complex. Malicious actors are leveraging tools like generative AI to develop more creative social engineering attacks that can have serious ramifications for businesses. Brett Winterford, VP of Okta Threat Intelligence, shares findings from his team's most recent investigations, as well as recommendations for organizations looking to strengthen their defenses.

Segment Resources

• https://www.okta.com/newsroom/articles/okta-threat-intelligence-exposes-genai-s-role-in-dprk-it-scams/
• https://www.okta.com/newsroom/articles/okta-observes-v0-ai-tool-used-to-build-phishing-sites/
• https://sec.okta.com/articles/uncloakingvoidproxy/

How to navigate app development in the AI era with Shiv Ramji

As AI reshapes how applications are built and consumed, developers and engineering leaders face a new set of challenges: enabling innovation while maintaining security. In this interview, Auth0 President Shiv Ramji will discuss the shifting landscape of application development in the AI era. He'll discuss the shift toward developing AI agents that are secure by design and standards-first so they can thrive within an interconnected web of applications and systems.

How AI agents are reshaping cybersecurity from the inside out with Damon McDougald

AI is being harnessed to transform cybersecurity operations—from automating routine tasks to closing skills gaps and accelerating incident response. Damon McDougald, Global Security Services Lead at Accenture, shares how agents can cut through alert fatigue and proactively defend against threats at scale. Damon also outlines the identity risks these agents introduce—and what cybersecurity leaders must do now to secure their access and maintain control in an increasingly autonomous environment.

All three segments are sponsored by Oktane by Okta. Visit https://securityweekly.com/oktane to learn more!

Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/esw for all the latest episodes!

Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/esw-426