Security Stories

Jenny Radcliffe, AKA 'The People Hacker' joins us as our guest today. Jenny is a world renowned Social Engineer, hired to bypass security systems through a mixture of psychology, con-artistry, cunning and guile.

We learn about incidents in Jenny's childhood which led her to become a 'burglar for hire', including getting locked in the lion’s enclosure at the zoo! She has spent a lifetime talking her way into secure locations, protecting clients from scammers, and leading educational simulated criminal attacks on organisations of all sizes in order to help secure money, data and information from those with genuine malicious intent.

We also talk about how Jenny copes mentally with being in some of these situations, and how she works with organizations and helping them with their security culture.

There’s a great deal of advice here too about how to protect yourself and your friends and your families from social engineering attacks.

Jenny's podcast is available at https://humanfactorsecurity.co.uk/podcast-2/

Before that, it's Sana's last episode with us for a while (sob!) but she goes out on a high by telling the story of three military terms that have shaped the cybersecurity narrative in the last couple of decades. If you are like a movie buff, or geek out on military terminologies, or simply say ‘Roger that’ in response to everything, then you'll love this segment.

If that wasn't enough, we also have Nirav Shah join us in the pod booth. Nirav is new to Cisco, having joined us directly from Solar Winds. He was working then when the massive breach that was heard around the world happened. We hear the inside story, and learn how this was a catalyst in the threat landscape. Learn more in Nirav's blog here.

Episode time stamps:

0:00 - 15:31 - Intro topic with Sana - Three military terms that have shaped the cybersecurity narrative

15:32 - 42:29 - Interview with Jenny Radcliffe, Part 1

42:50 - 55:26 - Nirav Shah on the Solar Winds breach

55:38 - 73:24 - Interview with Jenny Radcliffe, Part 2

73:25 - 83:30 - Closing thoughts and outro

Our guest today is Stuart Peck,  director of cybersecurity strategy for Zero Day Lab. Stuart talks to Hazel about his various career roles within threat intelligence, social engineering and incident response.  We also talk about how he went from a non technical background to a technical one, and overcoming imposter syndrome in the process. 

Stuart then talks about how preparing your mentality for a data breach is an incredibly important part of your plan, and how you can do that. We also talk about the Many Hats Club community that Stuart set up, providing a network for infosec professionals as well as raising incredible funds for vulnerable children's charities. You can see more details about this at https://themanyhats.club

Plus, there’s some great advice in this interview for anyone who might be on the verge of burnout, or needs any tips on how to manage stress, as Stuart talks about his experience in these areas.

In the studio, we have a new cohost joining the ranks for a few epsiodes - Geraldo De La Cruz who is interning with us this summer and has his own podcast. We get to know him a little.

Plus, we tell the story of one of the most notorious data breaches of all time – the Enigma code.  It's striking how many of the tactics used still tie in to current thinking when it comes to protecting one’s data.

Time stamps:

0.00 Intro and getting to know Geraldo

10:16 The story of breaking the Enigma code

24:19: Stuart Peck interview

72:40: Closing thoughts and outro 

The past week has been a lot for people in the security industry. Last Friday in the US, people were just about to clock off for what would hopefully be a relaxing Fourth of July long weekend. Only for cybercriminals to have other plans.

This episode contains the audio from a recent live stream, where Hazel sat down with Cisco Talos’ US Outreach Team lead Nick Biasini. We talked about the unfolding events surrounding the REvil ransomware campaign and Kaseya VSA supply chain attack.

Nick broke down the complicated scenario, and talked about how the two attacks worked together. We also spoke about the impact for organizations around the world, as well as what we’re seeing with ransomware on a general level at the moment. 

The audio includes questions that we received during the live stream from our audience, and Nick's answers.

To stay up to date on this attack, please take a look at the Talos response post which is being continually updated.

Joining today's episode are not one, but two distinguished guests. First of all, we have Dug Song, Cisco's Chief Security Strategy Officer. Dug is the founder of Duo Security which was acquired by Cisco in 2018, and he is one of the industry’s most passionate and outspoken voices about building inclusive cultures. 

We're also joined by Gene Hall, Vice President of Security Marketing at Cisco. Gene is a veteran of Cisco for over 20 years and is someone who is a great advocate for nurturing the next generation, and driving down barriers across the security industry.

Both Gene and Dug meet up with Hazel to discuss how they both got into the security industry and what issues they're passionate about. We also chat about how Duo was born, and the values that Dug led with which have stood the test of time.

We discuss the greatest security challenges that our customers are going through and how Cisco Secure is helping them through those.

We also talk about what we can all do as a collective industry to build more inclusive cultures, and address the security skills shortage. Plus, we learn how Dug got his motto of ‘Dig and be Dug in return’.

To learn more about Cisco's recruitment drive and to check out current openings, head to https://www.linkedin.com/company/cisco/jobs/ 

Today's guest is Tanya Janca (@shehackspurple), founder and CEO of We Hack Purple, an online learning academy, community and weekly podcast that revolves around teaching everyone to create secure software. She’s also the best selling author of 'Alice and Bob Learn Application Security'.

We chat about Tanya's career journey and the various hats she's collected  (there are many!) - as well as being a founder and CEO, she’s been a pentester, a CISO, an AppSec Engineer, and software developer. She’s worked in startups to public service, including being the CISO for the Canadian elections when Justin Trudeau was elected, to working in tech giants.

Tanya has a really interesting perspective on many issues in cybersecurity, as you'll see in this chat. From why application security needs to be given more of a spotlight, to the issue of representation, working closely with devs, and seeking a fundamental change in the way we educate people in the industry.

Before that, Ben leads our intro topic. He discusses the influence his father had on him and his security career, which prompts Hazel and Sana to look back at their own lives and talk about their greatest influencers.

Plus, we discuss the new proposal from Talos and the Cyber Threat Alliance to truly tackle the global ransomware threat. If you can, please take a few minutes to read Neil Jenkins and Matt Olney's op ed piece on this, which is available on the Talos blog.

Time stamps:

01:46 - 15:33 Intro topic - Influencing figures, led by Ben

15:34 - 32:51 Tanya Janca interview, part 1

32:52 - 38:49 Ransomware recommendations discussion

38:50 - 60:00 Tanya Janca interview, part 2

60:01 - 66:56 Closing thoughts and outro

Our guest today is Al Huger,  Vice President of Cisco’s security platform and response. Al is a well known figure in the vulnerability space, and has developed several patents for cloud managed threat products which hunt down malware. He is also a three time veteran of building security companies, and successfully selling them to large organizations, including Cisco.

In this interview there is a huge amount of useful advice for anyone who is thinking of selling a company, or perhaps building your own security company is an ambition of yours.  We also explore the hottest security trends, taking a particular look at the future of end user security and SASE.

And we lift the lid on Al’s creative process, as he talks about how he comes up with new ideas. We also talk about culture, the power of his team, and Al’s advice for security leaders heading into the next 6 months.

In the studio, Sana leads our intro topic by recapping the best of RSAC 2021. And in Threat Corner, Ben and Hazel have a discussion on a new threat actor category posed by Talos: the privateers, whereby Hazel finally learns the difference between privateers and pirates.

Resources mentioned in the episode:

Cisco Secure Insights Summit with Al Huger: https://www.linkedin.com/video/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6806262317710491648/

Talos blog post on the proposal for a new category of threat actor: https://blog.talosintelligence.com/2021/05/privateer-groups.html

Time stamps:

02:10: Intro topic by Sana - RSAC 2021 highlights

11:06: Interview with Al Huger, part 1

23:27: Threat corner: The new potential threat actor category - the privateers 

28:39: Interview with Al Huger, part 2

48:49: Final thoughts and outro

On today’s show our guest is Helen Patton, CISO Advisor for Cisco Duo. Previously, Helen was an Executive Director at JP Morgan Chase, and CISO for Ohio State University.

Helen talks candidly about these two wildly different experiences—as well as how to know when it's time to leave a company, resilience in the age of Covid and killer hornets, and how the CISO role is likely to develop over the next three years.

In the virtual studio, we chat about the new executive order signed by President Biden aimed at improving the United States’ cybersecurity, and Ben runs down his latest threat research on supply chain attacks.

 More resources:

Helen's RSA talk: https://www.rsaconference.com/Library/presentation/USA/2021/a-year-of-living-dangerously-resilience-after-covid-killer-hornets

Helen's blog response to the new Executive Order on cybersecurity issued by President Biden: https://duo.com/blog/cybersecurity-executive-order-observations

Ben's supply chain attacks  blog: https://blogs.cisco.com/security/threat-explainer-supply-chain-attacks

Time stamps:

0.00 - 14.54 Intro and recapping President Biden's executive order on improving the nation's cybersecurity

14.55 Interview with Helen Patton part 1

35.49 Supply chain attacks

46.02 Interview with Helen Patton part 2

01.01 Closing thoughts and outro

Today's episode is a little different from our usual format. In conjunction with Mental Health Awareness month, we welcome three leaders from Cisco Talos to join Hazel, Ben and Sana for a discussion on mental health, stress and burnout - specifically in the security and threat intelligence industry, although there are things that we discuss that could be relevant beyond that. 

Joining us are Matt Watchinski, Vice President of Talos who has been a guest before when we talked about the power of diverse teams. We also have Matt Olney, Talos’ Head of Threat Intelligence and Interdiction who our listeners will know from our episodes on election security. And we have Mitch Neff, who leads Talos' communication strategy and hosts the  Beers with Talos podcast.

Together, we share our own experiences about dealing with stress and burnout, both during the pandemic and beyond. We share these experiences from an individual level, and also our experience managing people within teams, and also helping managers who are managers too. 

Of course, there are many areas within mental health and people's experiences in threat hunting that we don't cover, so please don't consider this a full resource on the topic.

We hope that by sharing our experiences, we’re helping to destablise any stigmas that are out there when it comes to talking about these topics, and if you or anyone close to you is struggling at the moment, we hope this inspires you to talk to someone.

Some further resources:

Adjusting to extraordinary times ebook https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/security/extraordinary-times-ebook.html

Creating safe spaces, with Chloe Messdaghi
https://www.buzzsprout.com/926089/6457849-20-creating-safe-spaces-and-the-troubling-nature-of-attribution-in-threat-research-with-chloe-messdaghi-and-warren-mercer

We welcome back Talos guests Nick Biasini and Edmund Brumaghin discuss their latest research on the rising cases of collaboration app abuse, and how cyber criminals have come up with new ways of using them as an entry point into organizations. They also share lots of advice on how people can protect themselves from this increasing trend. You can read more about their research on the Talos blog.

In the studio, Ben shares the origin stories behind some cyber threats—and how they got  their unusual names. For more on this, check out Ben's twitter thread.

You can also check out more information about the Ryuk ransomware in this run down by Talos

Plus, Sana chats about the evolution of threats over the past year, how people can protect their home environments, and how the industry is fighting back.

Episode time stamps:

02:14 - The origin stories of prominent malware

14:23 - Interview with Nick and Edmund on collaboration app abuse

33:33 - Threats in the home environment, and how the industry is fighting back

43:58 - Closing thoughts

We're delighted to have Tazin Khan as our guest this week. Tazin is a data privacy advocate and founder of the Cyber Collective, a community-centered organization that seeks to help people understand the ways data and privacy impact them, and empower them to learn more about their data privacy rights. Cyber Collective is the first and only women of color-owned data ethics, privacy, and cybersecurity research organization.

In what Hazel describes as one of the most moving interviews she's ever conducted, Tazin isn’t afraid to tap into the power of her vulnerability, and talk about incidents that greatly affected her and shaped who she is today. From growing up as a Bengali immigrant, making a life for herself and her family in New York, finding her cybersecurity "sweet spot" and taking a stance on key issues, it's a fascinating story.

In the studio, Sana leads our intro topic. She takes us through a journey of discovery with some 2021 security trends, as decided by over 1650 security experts. This includes how companies are working on their rapid response capabilities, and what are the top causes of burnout. Access the full data here cisco.com/c/m/en_us/products/security/securex/polls-ebook.html

And finally Ben brings you the latest threat intelligence research, with some fascinating insights into the top threat categories certain industries face, and the threats that they’re more likely to encounter. Read the full blog at blogs.cisco.com/security/threat-trends-dns-security-part-2

Episode time stamps:

01:35: Sana discusses 2021 security trends

11:30: Interview with Tazin Khan part 1

38:07: Industry specific threat trends with Ben

45:21:  Interview with Tazin Khan part 2

64:08: Closing thoughts