TechSpective Podcast

Inner Circle Podcast Episode 045

The podcast is back. It's been a while, but it's time to crank things back up. I will be making a few changes in terms of scope and format and improving the frequency and consistency moving forward.

This is an episode that I recorded with Tim Keeler, co-founder and CEO of Remediant, back in November. We talk about some of the challenges of access management and privileged access management, and the ways that many of the existing or traditional solutions fall short.

Keeler shares the inspiration behind starting Remediant in the first place, and the way Remediant addresses those challenges and raises the bar for access management with the concept of just-in-time privileged access management.

As always, feel free to ask questions or share your thoughts on the topic in the comments below. I appreciate your help to share the podcast and grow the audience. Also, please subscribe to the Inner Circle podcast through your favorite podcast platform, and share the podcast with your peers and friends.

If you enjoy the podcast, I would also be grateful if you could take 2 minutes to rate and review the podcast on iTunes, or wherever you listen. You can also follow Tim on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Inner Circle Podcast Episode 044

OMG!

This was by far my favorite Inner Circle podcast so far--no offense to all former guests or future guests who will now have to try harder. I'm going to "fanboy" out a bit--but 'Marriage and Martinis' is one of my favorite podcasts. It's actually my top go-to podcast, to be honest. When I asked Adam and Danielle about coming on Inner Circle as guests on my podcast, I was blown away when they accepted.

Marriage and Martinis

First, a little background on Marriage and Martinis. Marriage and Martinis is a podcast started by a couple from New Jersey and recorded in their living room. Their website describes it:

"Marriage and Martinis is an attempt to present a real, authentic marriage at its core: the love, hate, teamwork, struggles, laughter, humiliation, and ever-changing dynamics that comprise spousal relationships.​ Join Danielle and Adam as they explore every hilarious, heartfelt, shocking, embarrassing, and completely inappropriate facet of marriage and parenting. It’s a bumpy ride, but it’s worth it."

In my opinion, you should absolutely listen to the Marriage and Martinis podcast. If you're married, engaged to be married, considering the concept of marriage, you might someday get married, or you know anyone who is married or might someday get married, this is the podcast for you. Seriously.

When Adam and Danielle say that the podcast is real and authentic, that is not just marketing hype. I am not as much a podcast junkie as some, but I listen to my fair share and Marriage and Martinis is by far the most relatable. It borders on creepy stalking (Borders? Perhaps it crosses the line. Who am I to judge?), but if they didn't live 1,600 miles away I could totally see being friends and just hanging out with Adam and Danielle.

That authenticity and relatability is one of the primary reasons for the huge success of the podcast. In June of 2018 the podcast and Instagram account for Marriage and Martinis didn't exist. They went from zero to podcast superstars in the blink of an eye, though. They have done just over 90 podcasts so far. I don't know how many subscribers they have across the various podcast platforms, but last week they crossed the 1 million downloads threshold. The MarriageandMartinis Instagram account has over 185,000 followers.

Starting a Podcast

That brings me to the reason I invited them to be guests on the Inner Circle podcast. Well, that and the whole creepy stalker fanboy thing. These two had no background in podcasting and were not social media gurus. Yet, within months of starting they had one of the top podcasts and their popularity skyrocketed. That's what I wanted to talk with them about--going from not knowing anything about podcasting to publishing a hit podcast.

Adam and Danielle have also frequently talked about technology as it relates to family, and raising kids, and they've discussed apps and technology specifically related to relationships and fostering communication and connection between spouses, so we hit on those topics as well.

As always, feel free to ask questions or share your thoughts on the topic in the comments below. We are grateful for all of our listeners and we appreciate your help to share the podcast and grow the Inner Circle audience. Also, please subscribe to the Inner Circle podcast through your favorite podcast platform, and share the podcast with your peers and friends.

If you enjoy the podcast, we would also be grateful if you could take 2 minutes to rate and review the podcast on iTunes, or wherever you listen. Be sure to also check out MarriageandMartinis (and comment below to thank me for recommending it) and follow MarriageandMartinis on Instagram.

Inner Circle Podcast Episode 043

I've been writing about cybersecurity and technology since 2002. Over the years, I have had the opportunity to meet many awesome writers and interesting people. One person who falls into both categories is Mike Elgan. Mike is someone I admire for his skill, his integrity, and his sense of adventure--so it was a distinct honor to have him join me for this episode of the Inner Circle podcast.

Mike and I discuss the state of tech journalism--and the issues posed by access journalism and social media. Readers--like you--expect to get value out of the time invested in reading a story. It is the duty of the writer to have objectivity and integrity when sharing news--or even when offering opinions. Journalism based on inside or early access can taint the underlying story, and the drive to get the most likes and shares on social media results in behavior that does not put the emphasis on the audience.

One of the other things that Mike and I talk about is his nomadic existence. He and his wife travel the world--unencumbered by a mortgage or rent at home. They aren't paying utilities for a home they don't even live in, and they don't have a vehicle collecting dust in the United States. Elgan and his wife take up residence in an AirBNB or similar rental property in other countries for weeks or months at a time. They don't just travel and visit other countries as run-of-the-mill tourists--they live in and experience the culture at a much deeper level. It is definitely something to consider--especially if you have the type of job that allows you to work remote and doesn't tether you to a specific place anyway.

Feel free to ask questions or share your thoughts on the topic in the comments below. We are grateful for all of our listeners and we appreciate your help to share the podcast and grow the Inner Circle audience. Also, please subscribe to the Inner Circle podcast through your favorite podcast platform, and share the podcast with your peers and friends.

If you enjoy the podcast, we would also be grateful if you could take 2 minutes to rate and review the podcast on iTunes, or wherever you listen. Be sure to also check out Elgan Nation, the official blog of columnist, author, and gastronomad, Mike Elgan.

Inner Circle Podcast Episode 042

In theory, social media provides a platform for keeping in touch with friends, family, and peers, and enables you to connect with a community of like-minded individuals or seek out and research different viewpoints from anywhere in the world. It should make the world a smaller place and help everyone communicate more effectively and stay informed of current events. The reality of social media is often quite different. Evan Kirstel--a social media influencer and prolific poster of social media content--joins me for this episode of the Inner Circle to talk about some of the pros and cons of social media and social media influence.

Evan has a substantial social media audience. Granted, he is no Barack Obama or Katy Perry, but for a mere mortal his social media following is not insignificant. With over a quarter of a million followers on Twitter and more than 50,000 followers on LinkedIn--never mind his efforts on Facebook or less mainstream (at least from a pure business perspective) platforms like Instagram or Tik Tok--Evan has established himself as a reliable source of valuable information...and that makes him valuable to companies that want to reach that audience.

One of the reasons I follow Evan on Twitter myself is that I find his posts to be a valuable source of relevant information about technology. With nearly 6,000 tweets posted every second of every day, the sheer volume of content on Twitter can quickly become overwhelming. It is nice to have someone you can trust to put in the effort of separating the signal from the noise and sharing a curated collection of content that you might be interested in. Evan is focused on technology, so his feed might not be for everyone, but there are influencers our there for just about any topic you can think of.

Of course, there's also a dark side to the powerful influence of social media. Russia has apparently been quite successful at sowing discord with coordinated social media campaigns designed to spread disinformation and fake news. In the race to engage online, many people like, share, and retweet without stopping to do any sort of critical analysis, often perpetuating things that are demonstrably false. Disinformation and fake news on social media helped put Donald Trump in the White House, and Trump and the GOP have tripled down on it since then. Why mess with a winning formula?

Somehow, even though stories like the ones focused on Hillary Clinton's emails, or the hacked DNC server, or Hunter Biden being involved in some sort of Ukraine conspiracy have very little--if any--basis in reality and have been thoroughly debunked by any and all credible sources, the myths and fake news persist. There is a population--a relatively large one at that--living in a bubble where obvious lies and easily disproven theories are accepted as truth, while any attempts at logic or reasonable analysis of the stories is rejected out of hand as more "evidence" of the conspiracy that doesn't exist. It's an insane self-feeding cycle that is perpetuated in large part by social media.

I assure you that Evan and I don't come close to solving those problems--either the scourge of disinformation or fake news or the problem of a willfully gullible population anxious to propagate it via social media--but we have a great discussion of the issues nonetheless.

Please ask questions or share your thoughts on the topic in the comments below. We are grateful for all of our listeners and we appreciate your help to share the podcast and grow the Inner Circle audience. Subscribe to the Inner Circle podcast through your favorite podcast platform, and share the podcast with your peers and friends.

If you enjoy the podcast, we would also be grateful if you could take 2 minutes to rate and review the podcast on iTunes, or wherever you listen.

Inner Circle Podcast Episode 041

This Inner Circle podcast episode is overdue. I'll spare you the reasons and excuses for why there is a delay, but I want to frame the conversation because this episode was actually recorded with Ryan a few weeks ago and it references the Black Hat security conference which is now more than two months in the past.

With that said, I had the privilege of spending an hour or so chatting with Ryan Berg about the state of cybersecurity and some of the current trends and challenges. Ryan is one of the most intelligent and insightful individuals I know in the world of cybersecurity. He holds a number of patents related to cybersecurity and has an established history of success as a founder of cybersecurity companies. Ryan and I are also coworkers at Alert Logic. Alert Logic acquired the endpoint security company he was at--Barkly--at the beginning of this year, and Ryan joined Alert Logic as an Engineering Fellow.

While we were at Black Hat this year, Ryan and I spoke about what we saw on the Expo Floor and the messaging from the hundreds of cybersecurity vendors exhibiting there. Ryan drew an analogy that cybersecurity is like having gum on your shoe, and that customers are searching for vendors that can help them solve the problem and remove the gum, but many of the products actually end up putting more gum on your shoe and just adding new or different issues that companies have to fix.

Our conversation was very interesting. One of the things that I appreciate about Ryan is that he is pragmatic. He has an appreciation for the fact that each company or customer is unique, and also for the fact that different organizations have different philosophies or goals as it relates to cybersecurity. He doesn't present his view as gospel and assume that it is the best answer for every company. He simply spells out the challenges, and points out the pros and cons, and stresses that organizations must consider all of the above and weigh all of those factors to choose the cybersecurity strategy that makes the most sense for them.

I invite you to ask questions or share your thoughts on the topic in the comments below. We are grateful for all of our listeners and we appreciate your help to share the podcast and grow the Inner Circle audience. Subscribe to the Inner Circle podcast through your favorite podcast platform, and share the podcast with your peers and friends.

If you enjoy the podcast, we would also be grateful if you could take 2 minutes to rate and review the podcast on iTunes, or wherever you listen.

Inner Circle Podcast Episode 040

My guest for this episode of the Inner Circle podcast is Lakshmi Hanspal--Global CISO for Box. Lakshmi joined Box in January of this year, bringing 20 years of insight and experience from former roles at SAP, Bank of America, and PayPal.

Organizations of all sizes and across all industries around the world are under virtually constant siege from an expanding threat landscape. There is a reason for the alternative CISO acronym of "Career Is So Over". The role of CISO may have the word Chief in the title, but is often not perceived to be a part of the real C-suite, and in some cases is seen as a scapegoat role designed to take the fall when a major cybersecurity incident or data breach occurs. In recent years, however, the role has matured and gained some credibility.

Being a CISO is challenging at any company, but being the Global CISO for Box comes with a number of significant and unique concerns. Box is in the business of storing data and facilitating productivity in the cloud for customers around the world. Storing and protecting data is challenging in and of itself, but it gets much more complex when you delve into regional and local laws and privacy concerns, and try to balance streamlined productivity with the various compliance mandates that apply to different geographic regions of industries around the world.

Lakshmi stresses that Box is "customer zero" for its own products, so they gain firsthand experience with the challenges and issues customers face. She shares her insight on the threat landscape as well as the shared responsibility model and the obligations of the customer to secure and protect their own data. Lakshmi also discusses the evolving role of the CISO and the importance of empathy and communication to establish trust and ensure everyone is working toward the same goal.

Feel free to ask questions or share your thoughts on the topic in the comments below. We are grateful for all of our listeners and we appreciate your help to share the podcast and grow the Inner Circle audience. Subscribe to the Inner Circle podcast through your favorite podcast platform, and share the podcast with your peers and friends.

If you enjoy the podcast, we would also be grateful if you could take 2 minutes to rate and review the podcast on iTunes, or wherever you listen.

Inner Circle Podcast Episode 039

If a nation state launches a cyber attack against another nation state, is it acceptable to retaliate by launching missiles and engaging in a physical response? Or should cyber attacks only be met with a cyber response? That was the topic of a presentation that Mikko Hyppönen gave at Black Hat this year, and the topic he and I discuss on this episode of the Inner Circle podcast.

It's an important conversation to have. Some people believe that responding to a cyber attack with missiles or some other military action is disproportionate, while others argue that war is war and an attack is an attack and nation states can't or shouldn't be confined by arbitrary rules of engagement. Should a nation launch missiles at another country that was responsible for hacking into the customer database of a company and stealing credit card information? Maybe not. Should a nation launch missiles at another country to retaliate for a cyber attack that shuts down the power grid, or disrupts transportation? That's more of a gray area because it has a more direct impact on productivity and the economy--and could possibly result in the loss of human life.

We also chat about Black Hat and DefCon conference logistics. If you're a regular listener of this podcast, you should be familiar by now with the fairly regular discussions about the sheer, overwhelming size of the major cybersecurity events and the challenges of getting from Point A to Point B, or trying to actually see all of the things you want to see. Mikko and I talk about how Black Hat and DefCon were more of the same (although I did not stay for DefCon myself)--too many great sessions happening simultaneously and sometimes too many things happening in completely different hotels that take 45 minutes to get to whether by foot or by vehicle. If you've attended one of these events, you know the struggle is real.

Listen to the episode to hear Mikko's thoughts on attribution, retaliation, and the line--if and when there is one--between physical, real-world war and cyber war. Please feel free to ask questions or share your thoughts on the topic in the comments below. We are grateful for all of our listeners and we appreciate your help to share the podcast and grow the Inner Circle audience. Subscribe to the Inner Circle podcast through your favorite podcast platform, and share the podcast with your peers and friends.

If you enjoy the podcast, we would also be grateful if you could take 2 minutes to rate and review the podcast on iTunes, or wherever you listen.

Inner Circle Podcast Episode 038

Raj Samani is my guest for this episode of the Inner Circle podcast. Raj is a McAfee Fellow and Chief Scientist for McAfee, but he stressed when introducing himself that his title does not define him and that he doesn't put much weight in titles.

I want to start by apologizing--to both Raj and to you, the listeners--for the delay in getting this episode edited and published. You will hear us reference the Black Hat security conference as being 26 days away during our conversation. Black Hat actually took place in Las Vegas last week and I fully intended to have this episode out before the event.

That said, there is nothing inherently dependent on time in our conversation and nothing specifically about Black Hat per se. Most of the podcast discussion revolves around risk management and the fact that the CIA triad--Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability--remains both relevant and crucial no matter how technology evolves.

We have an interesting and insightful conversation of the current state of cybersecurity and cybercrime. Raj spends some time explaining why he dislikes the use of the prefix "cyber" for things. Cybersecurity is really just security. Cyberwar is just war. Cybersex is just sex. His point is simply that we don't need to give these things a separate name or treat them as if they are entirely new or separate things. They are simply evolutions and extensions of what already exists.

It's a valid point. Robbing a bank is robbing a bank whether you walk in and demand cash at gunpoint or figure out how to hack into bank servers and surreptitiously redirect money to your own account. The reality is that the "cyber" part of a cybercrime separates it from traditional crime from the perspective that there is little--or even zero--risk for the criminals. If you walk into a bank and rob it at gunpoint, you risk getting caught or killed on the spot, but if you execute a phishing or ransomware attack you can steal or obtain money with relatively low risk of being caught or prosecuted. That is a challenge we need to address as a global society if we want to really make a difference to reduce or eliminate cybercrime.

Listen to the episode for more insights from Raj. Please feel free to ask questions or share your thoughts on the topic in the comments below. We are grateful for all of our listeners and we appreciate your help to share the podcast and grow the Inner Circle audience. Subscribe to the Inner Circle podcast through your favorite podcast platform, and share the podcast with your peers and friends. We would also be grateful if you could take 2 minutes to rate and review the podcast on iTunes, or wherever you listen.

Inner Circle Podcast Episode 037

My friend Michael Farnum is my guest for this episode of the Inner Circle podcast for an insightful discussion on increased threats against industrial control systems (ICS) and the need for ICS security. Michael and I have known each other for years after meeting at a Security Blogger's Meetup at RSA many years ago. We both live in the Houston area, and every once in awhile the Venn diagram of our kids' extracurricular activities overlap and we run into one another.

Farnum and I worked together for a short time while we were both at Alert Logic. I'm still at Alert Logic by day, but Farnum's knowledge and skills could not be contained within the world of marketing and he left for Set Solutions where he could get back in the trenches and work directly with customers solving cybersecurity challenges.

On this episode of the Inner Circle podcast we talk about cybersecurity for industrial control systems. ICS security is a significant challenge--especially in the Houston area with all of the companies in the oil and gas industry--and it's a primary focus for Farnum lately at Set Solutions.

We also talk about the Houston Security Conference. Michael is a co-founder of the event and one of the chief conference organizers. He has hosted the Houston Security Conference for over a decade now, and it continues to grow--both in terms of attendance and in terms of its prestige. I had the privilege of presenting a session at the 2019 Houston Security Conference. My session differed from the cybersecurity advice and insight and focused on the cybersecurity industry through a marketing and journalism lens.

Listen to the podcast and feel free to share your thoughts or ask questions in the comments below. Please subscribe to the Inner Circle podcast through your favorite podcast platform, and share the podcast with your peers and friends. It would also be awesome if you could take 2 minutes to rate and review the podcast on iTunes, or wherever you listen.

Inner Circle Podcast Episode 036

The name Alan Shimel is fairly ubiquitous and well known throughout cybersecurity circles. As one of the founders and ringleaders of the annual Security Blogger's Meetup at the RSA Conference, he is certainly a household name in the world of cybersecurity bloggers and journalists. Alan has also been a good friend of mine for years, and I have had the privilege of working with him as a contributing editor / writer for DevOps.com, ContainerJournal, and SecurityBoulevard.

I asked Alan to join me for this episode of the Inner Circle podcast to share his insight on how the world of cybersecurity intersects and meshes with the world of DevOps, and what the future of DevSecOps has in store. As the founder of DevOps.com and chief organizer of DevOps conferences and events around the world, Alan is uniquely qualified to talk about current trends and how the role of cybersecurity has evolved--and continues to adapt--as technology has shifted to a DevOps culture and containerized applications running on hybrid cloud environments.

Alan also recently launched a new website / platform focused on video content. Digital Anarchist is filled with awesome podcasts and valuable content featuring respected experts and voices from the industry.

I had a great time discussing these things with Alan and I'm sure you will appreciate the conversation. Listen to the podcast and share your thoughts and questions in the comments below. Please subscribe to the Inner Circle podcast on iTunes (or your podcast platform of choice). It would also mean so much if you would share this with your friends and peers, and take the time to rate and review the podcast in iTunes.