Build Your Empire Podcast

Locked Up with Zach Lewis: Real Lessons from a LockBit Ransomware Attack


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Episode 7: Locked Up — Zach Lewis on Real-World Lessons from the LockBit Ransomware Attack.
When ransomware strikes, panic is the easy reaction — but true leadership is revealed in how you respond.
In this powerful episode of the Build Your Empire Podcast, host Nick Zellem sits down with Zach Lewis, CIO & CISO of the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis, and author of Locked Up: Cybersecurity Threat Mitigation Lessons from a Real-World LockBit Ransomware Response (Wiley, 2026).
Zach takes us inside a real LockBit ransomware attack — from the first ominous alerts to the moment he discovered the ransom note. He reveals what really happens when your network is compromised, how he led his university through a high-pressure incident, and what every leader — from CISO to CEO — can learn from it.
You’ll hear:
  • 🎯 How LockBit infiltrated his environment and how his team contained it
    • 🧠 Why calm thinking under pressure is the ultimate cybersecurity skill
      • 🔒 How resilience, leadership, and preparation can turn crisis into control
        • 🧰 The key tools and tactics that saved critical systems from collapse
          • 🤖 Why AI will transform both cyber defense and cybercrime in the next 5 years
            This episode isn’t just for cybersecurity pros — it’s for leaders in every industry who want to understand how to stay composed when everything’s on the line.
            Connect with Zach Lewis:
            🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacharylewis1/
            🌐 Website: homesteadingciso.com
            📘 Pre-order his book Locked Up on Amazon (January 2026 release)
            🎧 Listen now and discover what it truly means to lead under fire.


            #CyberSecurity #LockBit #Stoicism #Resilience #CISO #IncidentResponse #Leadership #BuildYourEmpirePodcast #ZachLewis #databreach #ransomwareresponse

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            Build Your Empire PodcastBy Nicholas Zellem