Identity management in security has been a difficult issue for many years, but the arrival of AI and AI agents has only complicated this picture. 

In addition to human and machine identities, cybersecurity professionals now have to handle potentially 1000s of AI agent identities across MCP and API endpoints. 

How can businesses handle all of these complications while maintaining their cybersecurity?

In this episode, Rory speaks to Art Gilliland, CEO of cybersecurity firm Delinea, to discuss the thorny issue of identity attacks, and how IT leaders can get a grip on digital identities.

Artificial intelligence has made data more useful and accessible to businesses than ever, but if businesses want to get the most from their data they have to get it in a fit state to use.

There’s a significant disconnect between IT specialists, CEOs, and other parts of the business when it comes to understanding what this means and how ready they are, however. 

Research from Informatica found 69% of IT teams rate their data quality as excellent or very good, barely half of business leaders say the same at 51%. The same survey found 57% of business professionals and 30% of IT workers don’t know what it means for data to be ‘AI ready’.

In this special edition of the ITPro Podcast, in association with Informatica, we explore what data excellence is, why it’s important to companies, and how they can achieve it.

The flow of data is core to businesses all around the world – how much can be transmitted, and at what speed, is a fundamental aspect of IT systems ranging from cloud computing to the frontier of AI models.

In data centers, the tech sector is focused on reducing latency, improving bandwidth, and reducing energy consumption to improve AI performance and lower operating costs. But achieving these goals by shifting about current technology can only go so far.

Increasingly, firms are looking to cutting-edge technologies and approach such as all-photonics networks, which use photons for all processes including data transfer and storage, rather than electronic components. How close are we to achieving this technology? And how could it benefit every business.

In this episode, Rory is joined Chris Wright, SVP global engineering and CTO at Red Hat, to discuss the potential benefits of all-photonics networks and how they could upend current network architecture.

Digital sovereignty is an issue that has been bubbling away in the background of IT for some time but doesn’t often see the limelight. In this episode of the ITPro Podcast, we’ve decided to change that.

From sovereign clouds to AI, Jane McCallion and Ross Kelly dig into what digital sovereignty is, how it’s being used, and its relationship with AI, cloud, and national data regulations.

“The World Economic Forum describes digital sovereignty as the ability to have control over your own digital destiny andI think that's a really great way of describing it. And when you look at how the EU has positioned itself in recent years, that certainly is the key focus there – it's all about … maintaining control.”

“You can't understate the impact of regulatory compliance in the EU – that's the huge driving factor, Microsoft, AWS, Oracle, Google Cloud, they wouldn't be bending over backwards if they didn't know the risks there. And for individual organizations as well as customers of these providers, they're the ones that are pushing for this because they're conscious of their compliance as well.”

• Sovereign cloud services are now the “bare minimum” expected by customers, and hyperscalers are scrambling to meet demand
• What the new Microsoft Sovereign Cloud push means for European customers
• AWS says only Europeans will run its European Sovereign Cloud service
• What is a sovereign cloud?
• SAP wants to take data sovereignty to the next level with new 'on-site' infrastructure options
• HPE launches exclusive sovereign cloud offering for the channel

In a recent episode of the podcast, we discussed the potential for AI to actually replace developer jobs. This is a complicated issue, as one has to consider both the accuracy of outputs – how well LLMs can code – as well as what execs think it can do.

Well, AWS CEO Matt Garman has weighed in this month, calling replacing devs with AI “the dumbest thing” he’s ever heard.

Elsewhere in August, Cisco has engaged in a round of layoffs, despite healthy figures in its recent financial report. 

What does all this mean for tech jobs at large?

In this episode Jane and Rory welcome back Ross Kelly, ITPro’s news and analysis editor, to explain why tech jobs have become such a hot talking point this August.

This episode was first published on 13/10/23.

The role of chief information security officer is among the most important in any firm. CISOs shoulder a heavy burden, with responsibility for protecting their company’s data, infrastructure, and associated assets.

As the tech stack has grown, so too has the pressure on those in the role. CISOs have to shepherd technologies including machine learning, artificial intelligence, and edge computing.

Gartner predicts that nearly half of all IT leaders could leave their roles by 2025, and CISOs are subject to the same talent shortages as the rest of the sector amidst a constant need to maintain oversight of a growing IT estate.

In this episode, Jane is joined by Andrew Rose, resident CISO for EMEA at Proofpoint, to expand on how to be an effective CISO, and how the role is changing.

For more information:

• Work-related stress “keeps cyber security professionals awake at night”
• CISO job description: What does a CISO do?
• Gartner: Nearly half of cyber leaders to leave roles over mounting stress
• Fighting the ‘always on’ culture that’s savaging mental health in cyber security
• Gartner urges CISOs to adopt new forms of trust and risk management for AI
• What is ransomware?
• What is business email compromise (BEC)?
• 96% of CISOs without necessary support to maintain cyber security
• Six generative AI cyber security threats and how to mitigate them

Every now and then, international law enforcement announces a stunning takedown of a cyber crime group.

Typically realized in the form of website shutdowns, in which the National Crime Agency logo is emblazoned across the dark web site of would-be hackers, these are powerful PR moves to show that cyber crime doesn’t always pay – and the seriousness with which law enforcement approaches these crimes.

But the truth is, hackers continue to operate. And sometimes, the very groups that have been billed done and dusted simply reemerge under a new site, new servers, or with a fresh coat of paint.

What can we learn from this cycle – and does the industry need to take a different approach?

In this episode, Rory is once again joined by Ross Kelly, ITPro’s news and analysis editor, to explore some of the most prominent cyber crime gang takedowns we’ve had recently and what it means for the sector.

Read more:

• BlackSuit ransomware gang taken down in latest law enforcement sting – but members have already formed a new group
• Cobalt Strike abusers have been dealt a hammer blow: An "aggressive" takedown campaign by Fortra and Microsoft shuttered over 200 malicious domains – and it’s cut the misuse of the tool by 80%
• Hundreds of Cobalt Strike servers have been taken offline in a major law enforcement sting
• Ransomware victims are refusing to play ball with hackers – just 17% of enterprises have paid up so far in 2025, marking an all-time low
• Average ransom payment doubles in a single quarter
• 75% of UK business leaders are willing to risk criminal penalties to pay ransoms
• Can the UK ban ransomware payments?
• LockBit could be done and dusted after NCA operation gained access to admin environments, source code, and affiliate info
• LockBit ransomware group falls victim to hackers itself
• The Zservers takedown is another big win for law enforcement
• ‘I take pleasure in thinking I can rid society of at least some of them’: A cyber vigilante is dumping information on notorious ransomware criminals – and security experts say police will be keeping close tabs

For years, we humanities graduates have been told variations of the following message: you’re better off learning to code, because we’ll always need developers but writers will go the way of the dodo.

But advances in AI since 2022 have put this to the test. While human writers are no doubt being forced to compete with AI-written content, developers are also being asked to outsource more and more of their work to large language models in a bid for improved productivity.

While AI-generated code can be quick to produce and efficient to run, it also comes with associated risks such as overlooked vulnerabilities.

Are developers actually going to lose their jobs to the machine?

In this episode, Jane and Rory discuss the extent to which developers are already using AI to generate code and the potential risks associated with the practice.

As the old saying goes, it never rains but it pours. And, seeing how we’re based in the UK, it would be fitting that the month this most accurately described in 2025 so far has been July.

In the past four weeks, two almighty security stories have broken, with far-reaching implications for the tech sector and beyond. First, we learned that the China-backed hacking group Salt Typhoon had critically breached the US National Guard for more than a year – and has potentially gone undetected in other US military networks.

Later in the month, Microsoft revealed a major vulnerability in on-premises Sharepoint servers, sounding the alarm for users to patch with urgency – but the days after have seen attack after successful attack carried out.

In this episode Jane welcomes back Ross Kelly, ITPro’s news and analysis editor, to explore what happened to make July such a bad month for cybersecurity.

Read more:

• ‘All US forces must now assume their networks are compromised’ after Salt Typhoon breach
• FCC orders telcos to sharpen up security after Salt Typhoon chaos
• UK cyber experts on red alert after Salt Typhoon attacks on US telcos
• Salt Typhoon hacker group recorded conversations of ‘very senior’ US political figures
• 300 days under the radar: How Volt Typhoon eluded detection in the US electric grid for nearly a year
• Microsoft’s new SharePoint vulnerability – everything you need to know
• NCSC says ‘limited number’ of UK firms affected by SharePoint attack as global impact spreads
• SharePoint flaw: Microsoft says hackers deploying ransomware

Ransomware payments could soon be a thing of the past in the UK – at least that’s the hope of new controls and mandatory reporting requirements to prevent ransomware from inflicting damage on UK businesses.

Under government proposals, public bodies and operators of critical national infrastructure would be banned from paying up when they’re hit by ransomware – and other businesses would have to be transparent when they decide to cough up the cash.

But can we really put a lid on ransomware? And might the new rules have unintended negative consequences?

In this episode, Jane and Rory discuss the UK government’s new ransomware payment ban and what it could mean for the sector.

Read more:

• Nearly half of MSPs admit to having a ransomware kitty
• A ransomware payments ban risks criminalizing victims
• The end of ransomware payments: How businesses fit into the fight
• Building ransomware resilience to avoid paying out
• UK government officials consider banning ransomware payments