The Black Hat Files

Performance data used to feel personal. Now, it is becoming predictive.

 In this episode of The Black Hat Files, host Phillip Wylie sits down with Sri Manda, Chief Security and Trust Officer at Peloton Interactive, to unpack what happens when AI coaching, connected fitness and cybersecurity meet.

 The conversation goes straight to the questions organisations are now facing.

• What happens when heart rate, breathing patterns, behaviour and training goals become part of a digital profile?
• Can users trust AI coaches with the data they share to improve performance?
• How do security teams protect systems that now sit across devices, content, social features, models and infrastructure?

Drawing on his experience securing connected fitness experiences, Manda explores the legal, technical and ethical challenges around performance data, from LLM-powered coaching and model bias to data provenance, wearables, VR and the infrastructure behind personalised digital experiences.

The episode also looks at why these technologies matter, especially when connected health tools can support wellbeing, improve access and help people live more independently.

Because the future of AI coaching is not just about better recommendations.

It is about protecting the trust behind them.

In this episode of The Black Hat Files, Jameeka Green Aaron, CISO at Headspace, speaks with host Phillip Wylie about mental health, burnout and leadership in cybersecurity.

The conversation covers why cybersecurity is ultimately about protecting people, how burnout affects security professionals, and what leaders can do to build stronger teams through trust, transparency and honest feedback.

Jameeka also shares her perspective on employee retention, culture, generational change, AI privacy and the evolving role of CISOs as security becomes more global, more complex and more human.

Quantum computing used to feel like a future problem. Now it is close enough that security leaders are being asked what they are doing about it today.

In the fourth episode of The Black Hat Files, host Richard Dean sits down with Margarita Rivera, SVP, Global CISO at Carnival Corporation, and Marcos Marrero, Chief Information Security Officer at H.I.G. Capital, to unpack how CISOs can prepare for the quantum computing threat.

The conversation goes straight to the questions organisations are now facing.

How do you prepare for a threat that is still emerging, but already changing the way security teams think?
What does quantum-resistant security actually require from teams, vendors and leadership?
And why is compliance alone not enough when risk keeps moving?

Drawing on their experience leading security across hospitality and financial services, Rivera and Marrero explore why CISOs need to move from reactive thinking to proactive preparedness.

From quantum-resistant cryptography to the leadership shift from compliance to culture, this episode looks at what it takes to build organisations that can think ahead, adapt faster and make cyber risk part of everyday decision-making.

In the third episode of The Black Hat Files, Phillip Wylie sits down with Trina Ford, Senior Vice President & Chief Information Security Officer at iHeartMedia to unpack an idea often overlooked in cybersecurity: how diverse thinking can strengthen security.

Cybersecurity is built on problem-solving. But what happens when everyone approaches problems the same way?

From leadership and decision-making to building stronger teams, Ford explores why different perspectives matter, how varied lived experiences can improve resilience and what organisations miss when security becomes too one-dimensional.

The conversation looks at the human side of cyber, where innovation comes from challenging assumptions, thinking differently and creating environments where better questions get asked.

Because stronger security is not only about better technology. Sometimes, it starts with better thinking.

In the second episode of The Black Hat Files, host Phillip Wylie sits down with Dan Meacham, VP, Information & Content Security at Legendary Entertainment.

The conversation goes straight to one of the most complex challenges facing security teams today: identity.

• How do you protect what’s real when anything can be replicated?
• What happens when superfans, insiders, or bad actors blur the line between engagement and exploitation?
• And how do organisations respond when deepfakes and synthetic media start to scale?

Drawing on his experience protecting one of the world’s leading entertainment companies, Meacham breaks down the risks surrounding digital identity, content security and the growing sophistication of social engineering tactics.

From deepfakes to fandom-driven threats, this episode explores what it takes to defend authenticity in a landscape where trust can be manufactured.

Because when identity can be copied, protecting what’s real becomes the priority.

Artificial intelligence can write code, analyse data and simulate human reasoning. But what happens to security when machines start thinking alongside us?

In the first episode of The Black Hat Files, host Phillip Wylie sits down with Dr. Rumman Chowdhury, Founder & CEO of Humane Intelligence and one of the leading voices in responsible AI.

The conversation goes straight to the questions security leaders are now facing.

• How do you test systems that learn on their own?
• What does red teaming look like when the target is an AI model?
• And how do organisations stay accountable as AI moves from research labs into real-world deployment?

Drawing on her work leading global AI safety initiatives and adversarial testing programmes, Dr. Chowdhury breaks down how intelligent systems fail, how they can be manipulated and what defenders need to understand now.

From algorithmic bias to AI red teaming, this episode explores what it takes to secure systems in an era where machines are starting to make decisions.

Because in the age of intelligent machines, critical thinking is still the most powerful defence.