Episode title:  The cyber skills crisis: When the firewall isn’t enough 

👤 Guest:  James Stanger, Chief Technology Evangelist, CompTIA  Globally recognised expert in cybersecurity, open source, and workforce development. Leads global conversations on tech skills, resilience, and the future of work. 

🧠 Episode summary:  In this episode, host Paddy Dhanda explores how the tech industry's skills gap is creating vulnerabilities no firewall can fix. James Stanger shares real-world examples of cybersecurity failure rooted in human factors - from undertrained help desk teams to rushed development practices like ‘vibe coding.’  

They unpack how poor culture, neglected frontline roles, and lack of foundational training are contributing to breaches - and what organisations can do to build a more resilient workforce.  

💡 Key topics covered:  • Why help desk teams are critical to threat detection  • The dangers of vibe coding and slopsquatting  • How AI misuse is creating new attack surfaces  • What CEOs get wrong about AI speed vs safety  • Why curiosity and foundational knowledge still matter  • How to sell cybersecurity careers to creative minds  • The role of data analytics in modern cyber defence  • CompTIA’s new certs: AI Essentials, SEC AI+, SEC OT+ 

📌 Memorable quote: “People don’t evaluate as much as they should, because ‘hey, we’re at the speed of innovation here. We’re doing vibe innovation or vibe coding’ or whatever. That’s a problem because if you get sloppy at the beginning, you end up with a whole lot of slop at the end - garbage in, garbage out kind of thing - and you end up with some serious security issues.”

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit qaltd.substack.com