In episode 149 of Cybersecurity Where You Are, Sean Atkinson is joined by Chris McCullar, Director of Sales, Cloud Security, at the Center for Internet Security® (CIS®); and Mishal Makshood, Sr. Cloud Security Account Executive at CIS. Together, they discuss how to navigate human error, artificial intelligence (AI) missteps, and other landmarks in a new frontier of virtual machine (VM) risks. Here are some highlights from our episode:

• 00:50. Introductions with Chris and Mishal
• 02:20. The ongoing need to address the risk of human error when configuring VMs
• 04:55. The value of building trusted security into a VM image by design
• 07:28. A reality check of what the shared responsibility model means to an organization
• 13:06. How the integration of AI into DevOps accelerates both automation and mistakes
• 15:21. The importance of a secure foundation in the cloud on which you can build with AI
• 18:19. Automated enforcement and AI's role in complementing human judgment
• 21:03. Two examples how CIS resources can drive governance and policy integration
• 28:05. Cybersecurity as a community-driven team sport
• 30:33. Lifecycle management as a way of addressing organizations' security needs

Resources

• Keep the Cloud Secure with CIS after Migrating to the Cloud
• Automated Compliance: The Byproduct of Holistic Hardening
• Meet the Shared Responsibility Model with New CIS Resources
• Episode 135: Five Lightning Chats at RSAC Conference 2025
• 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report

If you have some feedback or an idea for an upcoming episode of Cybersecurity Where You Are, let us know by emailing [email protected].