No Password Required

From Best Buy to Cybersecurity: Curiosity, Confidence, and Finding Your Place in Tech

In this episode of No Password Required: Next Gen, Yazzel interviews Karina Rosario, Applications SOP Writer at ThreatLocker. Karina shares how her curiosity about technology led her from working at Best Buy and Geek Squad to earning her bachelor's degree in cybersecurity and beginning her career in the industry.

From building a strong IT foundation to learning how important networking can be, Karina keeps it real about what it actually takes to break into cybersecurity. She talks about why a career in cyber is a “slow burn,” the value of taking chances on yourself, and how experiences from outside of cybersecurity can become some of the most valuable skills in your career.

Outside of cyber mode, Karina brings plenty of personality to the conversation, from being a Nintendo and Fortnite fan to imagining her own cybersecurity sidekick in the world of Kim Possible. She also opens up about being a first-generation college graduate and her goal of becoming a voice for young women and girls entering cybersecurity.

Karina’s story is a reminder that there is no single path into cybersecurity. Sometimes the experiences you least expect can become the foundation for where you’re headed next.

Find Karina on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karina-r-3088691b9/

Presented by ThreatLocker 

Supported by Derscanner

Chapters: 

00:00 Introduction to Karina and Her Role at ThreatLocker
03:00 Journey into Cybersecurity: Education and Inspiration
05:51 Skills and Qualities for Success in Cybersecurity
09:05 Personal Interests and Hobbies Outside of Work
12:02 Empowering Women in Cybersecurity and Future Aspirations
 

In this episode:

• Bruno's origin story: a fifteen year old in a French village of 1,200 people watches a late night TV show about two young American millionaires and wakes up his mom at midnight to announce his plan (05:47 - 07:08)
• Arriving in Seattle with a $10,000 loan, a backpack, and English as a work in progress (07:08 - 08:06)
• From MS-DOS to Windows NT to Exchange to Xbox to Hardware to HR, how a developer ends up running Microsoft's worldwide HR planning (08:06 - 09:42)
• The day Bill Gates walked into the shipping party and canceled the product Bruno had spent a year building, and the box he still has (09:42 - 10:57)
• Starting BEMO in 2010 before Office 365 or Azure existed and building a system that could deploy SharePoint in 15 minutes (11:07 - 12:07)
• Watching Microsoft decide to eat his lunch in 2012 and becoming the second biggest reseller of Project Online and SharePoint Online on the way out (12:07 - 13:39)
• The deliberate pivot to cybersecurity in 2018 and winning Microsoft Partner of the Year in 2023 (13:39 - 14:34)
• Why CMMC compliance is like having a child and the birthday is just the beginning (14:34 - 15:34)
• Opening the hood on companies that have been self-attesting perfect CMMC scores for five years and what you find inside (15:34 - 16:53)
• What the average SMB gets wrong about cybersecurity and why being on Copacabana beach with a laptop makes you a very effective hacker (16:53 - 18:28)
• AI versus AI: going from 46 agents to 21 and building a governance framework that mirrors BEMO's human staffing levels (18:28 - 20:34)
• Eight years working alongside his son Brandon, how he kept it professional, and why he is relieved they never had an accident (20:34 - 22:00)
• The Lifestyle Polygraph: éclairs, a French bakery, the 1998 World Cup, flying lessons, the Marshawn Lynch earthquake, and the leader who blocks his own employees from connecting on weekends (22:29 - 33:15)

Timestamp Highlights:

• (05:47) The midnight promise to his mom that became a thirty-six year adventure
• (07:08) Arriving in Seattle with a $10,000 loan and English as a work in progress
• (09:42) Bill Gates walks into the shipping party
• (11:07) Building BEMO before Office 365 existed
• (12:07) Watching Microsoft eat his lunch and becoming the second biggest reseller anyway
• (14:34) CMMC compliance is like having a child
• (16:53) Why hackers love small businesses who think they are immune
• (18:28) From 46 AI agents to 21 and why governance matters
• (20:34) Eight years working with his son Brandon
• (23:18) His favorite French pastry is the éclair
• (25:59) France beats Brazil two months before his wedding
• (27:31) The family intervention that ended his flying lessons

Resources & Links:

• BEMO — bemopro.com
• ThreatLocker — Presenting sponsor of No Password Required
• DerScanner — Episode sponsor
• Cyber Florida — The Mother Ship

Austin Walley - AP History Teacher Turned Cybersecurity Educator and a believer in figuring it out.

Austin Walley is a cybersecurity educator at George Jenkins High School in Lakeland, Florida, where he leads the school’s cybersecurity academy. But unlike many people in the field, Austin didn’t start in technology. He started as an AP history teacher and was recruited into cybersecurity after his administrators saw something beyond technical skills: his ability to question, teach, build relationships, and connect with students.

In this episode, Austin shares how he went from knowing almost nothing about cybersecurity to building and teaching an evolving cybersecurity program. He breaks down why teaching cyber means constantly rebuilding the curriculum, how to separate foundational skills from technology that will quickly become outdated, and why students don’t need to be “super, super technical” to get started.

Live from CyberLaunch 2026, Austin shares his experience preparing high school students for cybersecurity careers, emphasizing the importance of teamwork and communication and how CTF competitions reveal natural leaders in the classroom. He also explains why resilience and the ability to “figure it out” may be some of the most important skills a future cybersecurity professional can develop.

He also shares what it’s like when everyone assumes the cyber teacher knows everything about computers, why students from completely different backgrounds can thrive in cybersecurity, and how his school’s administrators took a chance on him and continued to support him every step of the way.

Follow No Password Required Breakout room for more conversations with the innovators, creators, and game changers shaping the cybersecurity industry

Chapters: 

00:00 Introduction to Cybersecurity Education

02:58 Transitioning from History to Cybersecurity

05:52 Curriculum Development in a Fast-Paced Field

09:02 Student Diversity and Soft Skills in Cybersecurity

12:09 Challenges and Resilience in Cyber Competitions

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No Password Required: Next Gen - Ep. 3 - Kieran Human

How Lead Cybersecurity Engineers Actually Think 

In this episode of No Password Required: Next Gen, Yazzel interviews Kieran Human, Lead Cybersecurity Engineer at ThreatLocker. From research to working directly with ThreatLocker's CEO on new security initiatives, Kieran gives an inside look at what it's really like to work on the front lines of cybersecurity.

Kieran stands out as a cybersecurity professional by hares why curiosity, strong communication, and understanding the bigger picture are just as valuable as technical skills. He also reflects on one of his proudest career moments, writing a compliance white paper that earned praise from ThreatLocker's CEO Danny Jenkins, and explains how that experience reinforced the importance of research, writing, and always looking for ways to improve.

Kieran also explains why Zero Trust security is becoming essential, teaches viewers a few cybersecurity terms that are guaranteed to impress at dinner, and even reveals why the Terminator would be his ultimate cybersecurity teammate! 

Whether you're exploring a career in cyber or looking for practical advice from someone working in the field every day, this episode is packed with insights for the next generation of cybersecurity professionals.

Presented by ThreatLocker

Supported by DerScanner

Follow Kieran on Linked in here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kieran-human-5495ab170/ 

Chapter List:

00:00 Introduction to Cybersecurity and Career Path

02:54 Key Skills and Qualities for Success in Cybersecurity

06:07 Impact of AI and Zero Trust in Cybersecurity

06:56 Fun Insights and Closing Thoughts

Philipp Leo — Swiss cyber expert, diplomat, and military officer, always two steps ahead of the storm

No Password Required Season 7: Episode 7 - Philipp Leo

Philipp Leo co-founded Leo & Muhly Cyber Advisory, a strategic advisory firm specializing in cyber risk, resilience, and geopolitics. Now consulting with governments and private firms in Switzerland and abroad, Philipp has served as a UN observer on the Korean DMZ, trained the next generation of Swiss Armed Forces cyber specialists, and taught at the University of Glasgow. He is also part of Europol's network of experts in data protection and cybercrime and has published stateside in MIT Sloan Management Review.

In this episode, Philipp shares his journey from a Swiss bank he couldn't wait to leave to the Korean border, and eventually to the boardrooms of executives who still think cyber risk is someone else's problem. He breaks down the three most dangerous misconceptions executives have about cyber risk, why the CISO is too often a poster child rather than a decision-maker, and the challenges to cyber insurance in Europe.

Cyber attorney Jack Clabby and co-host Kayley Jerrell talk with Philipp about his live crisis simulation that nobody can win, how to train cyber warriors, and how nation-state cyber conflict is looking more and more like the age of Caribbean pirates.

In the Lifestyle Polygraph, Philipp reveals his favorite book, his eye-opening, go-to celebratory drink, and the weight of his luxury umbrella. He also shares his favorite escape when the complexity of modern life gets to be too much and introduces us to a Zurich commuting tradition that involves swimming home through a river.

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Shane Tews — Non-Resident Senior Fellow at AEI and the person who explained the internet to Capitol Hill

No Password Required Season 7: Episode 7 – Shane Tews

Shane Tews is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where she focuses on cybersecurity, privacy, artificial intelligence, and internet governance. She is also President of Logan Circle Strategies, a strategic advisory firm working at the intersection of technology and policy. Before her think tank work, Shane helped introduce modems to the George H.W. Bush White House, walked the halls of Capitol Hill explaining the internet to blank-staring legislators, and spent years at VeriSign helping shape the foundational frameworks of how the internet would be governed.

In this episode, Shane traces her unlikely path from the Bush administration to becoming one of Washington's most trusted voices on tech policy. She breaks down why regulating outcomes rather than inputs is the only sensible approach to technology governance, why the US and EU are operating from fundamentally different innovation philosophies, and why a national privacy bill is long overdue. She also explains why most organizations and individuals are far less protected than they think and why nobody knows who to call when something goes wrong.

Jack Clabby and co-host Kayley Melton talk with Shane about legacy system vulnerabilities, the cybersecurity implications of agentic AI, and what policymakers absolutely must get right over the next decade. She also reflects on what the CISA reauthorization limbo means for companies that don't even know they've lost liability protection.

In the Lifestyle Polygraph, Shane reveals she has 20,000 emails across eight accounts, admits she fakes laughs at bad jokes out of Midwestern politeness, shares her obsession with The Bear and Peaky Blinders, and tells us about her children's book project using Google Omni called "Shane on a Train."

Follow Shane on LinkedIn and on X at @ShaneTews. Find her work at AEI.org and TechPolicyDaily.com.

No Password Required is presented by ThreatLocker

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Mudita Khurana — Tech Lead at Airbnb and the person who always says, “I got this”

No Password Required Season 7: Episode 6 - Mudita Khurana

Mudita Khurana is a Tech Lead for Automated Tooling and Vulnerability Management at Airbnb, where she focuses on building modular, scalable security systems in an era of rapidly evolving AI threats. Before Airbnb, she spent nearly a decade in security roles across Accenture, Meta, and PwC, making bold career pivots along the way, including turning down a PwC return offer to join Facebook's product security team.

In this episode, Mudita shares her journey from a family of doctors in India to Carnegie Mellon and into the heart of Big Tech security. She discusses what it means to thrive as a non-traditional engineer in a deeply technical field, why she stepped back from management to get closer to the work, and how she thinks about building security tooling that won't be obsolete in three months.

Jack Clabby and co-host Kayley Melton, recording live from Tampa B-Sides at the University of South Florida, talk with Mudita about imposter syndrome, AI's curveballs for security teams, leadership without a leadership title, and the importance of community in staying on top of a field that never stops moving. She also reflects on what great mentorship looks like early in a career and why clarity, ownership, and consistency are the leadership qualities she keeps coming back to.

In the Lifestyle Polygraph, Mudita firmly plants her flag in the Harry Potter universe as Hermione, explains why Deadpool doesn't qualify as a superhero, debates gym vs. nature as a reset strategy, and reveals her dream remote work base: a high-altitude Buddhist mountain town in the Himalayas.

Follow Mudita on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/muditakhurana/

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Madeline Sedgwick — Cyber Threat Analyst at Palo Alto Networks and a DUUUUVALLL lifer

No Password Required Season 7: Episode 5 – Madeline Sedgwick  

Madeline Sedgwick is a  Cyber threat Researcher and Threat Analyst at Palo Alto Networks Unit 42, specializing in nation-state cyber activity, covert infrastructure, and cyber intelligence analysis. Before entering the private sector, she spent six years in the U.S. Navy as an intelligence specialist, helping support some of the earliest cyber operations under United States Cyber Command.

In this episode, Madeline shares her journey from joining the Navy to becoming one of the first certified cyber targeteers supporting offensive cyber operations. She discusses the realities of tracking covert threat actor infrastructure, why defenders must understand adversary behavior beyond alerts and signatures, and how intelligence analysis helps uncover the bigger picture behind cyber campaigns.


Jack Clabby and co-host Sarina Gandy talk with Madeline about fusion analysis, cyber warfare, leadership, and the challenges of translating highly technical investigations into actionable insights for government and industry leaders. She also reflects on the importance of humility in leadership, mentoring, and learning to navigate high-pressure situations with confidence and curiosity.


In the Lifestyle Polygraph, Madeline debates cybersecurity in the Star Wars universe, explains her Weird Al Yankovic Dragon Con costume, reflects on her time playing bass in a metal band, and proudly shares why Jacksonville, Florida, will always be home.

Follow Madeline on Linked in: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mesedgwick/

Chapters: 

02:10 Intro-Madeline Sedgwick 

09:00 The Role of Cybersecurity in National Security

12:08 Understanding Covert Networks and Threat Intelligence

14:52 Fusion Analysis in Cybersecurity

18:04 The Importance of Distinguishing Threats

20:52 Challenges in Cybersecurity Response

23:58 Briefing Decision Makers on Cyber Threats

27:52 Understanding Adversary Intent and Risk Communication

30:12 Leadership Lessons from the Navy

34:33 The Importance of Mentorship in Career Development

37:30 The Lifestyle Polygraph: A Fun Twist on Cybersecurity

41:04 Embracing Creativity and Personal Expression

45:50 Pride in Roots: The Jacksonville Connection