The ITSPmagazine Podcast

Black Hat 2025 was a showcase of cybersecurity innovation — or at least, that’s how it appeared on the surface. With more than 60 vendor announcements over the course of the week, the event floor was full of “AI-powered” solutions promising to integrate seamlessly, reduce analyst fatigue, and transform SOC operations. But after walking the floor, talking with CISOs, and reviewing the press releases, a pattern emerged: much of the messaging sounded the same, making it hard to distinguish the truly game-changing from the merely loud.

In this episode of The Future of Cybersecurity Newsletter, I take you behind the scenes to unpack the themes driving this year’s announcements. Yes, AI dominated the conversation, but the real story is in how vendors are (or aren’t) connecting their technology to the operational realities CISOs face every day. I share insights gathered from private conversations with security leaders — the unfiltered version of how these announcements are received when the marketing gloss is stripped away.

We dig into why operational relevance, clarity, and proof points matter more than ever. If you can’t explain what your AI does, what data it uses, and how it’s secured, you’re already losing the trust battle. For CISOs, I outline practical steps to evaluate vendor claims quickly and identify solutions that align with program goals, compliance needs, and available resources.

And for vendors, this episode serves as a call to action: cut the fluff, be transparent, and frame your capabilities in terms of measurable program outcomes. I share a framework for how to break through the noise — not just by shouting louder, but by being more real, more specific, and more relevant to the people making the buying decisions.

Whether you’re building a security stack or selling into one, this conversation will help you see past the echo chamber and focus on what actually moves the needle.

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This story represents the results of an interactive collaboration between Human Cognition and Artificial Intelligence.

Enjoy, think, share with others, and subscribe to "The Future of Cybersecurity" newsletter on LinkedIn.

Sincerely, Sean Martin and TAPE3

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✦ Resources

Black Hat 2025 On Location Closing Recap Video with Sean Martin, CISSP and Marco Ciappelli: https://youtu.be/13xP-LEwtEA

ITSPmagazine Studio — A Brand & Marketing Advisory for Cybersecurity and Tech Companies: https://www.itspmagazine.studio/

ITSPmagazine Webinar: What’s Heating Up Before Black Hat 2025: Place Your Bet on the Top Trends Set to Shake Up this Year’s Hacker Conference — An ITSPmagazine Thought Leadership Webinar | https://www.crowdcast.io/c/whats-heating-up-before-black-hat-2025-place-your-bet-on-the-top-trends-set-to-shake-up-this-years-hacker-conference

Learn more and catch more stories from our Black Hat USA 2025 coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/bhusa25

Catch all of our event coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/technology-and-cybersecurity-conference-coverage

Citations: Available in the full article

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Sean Martin is a life-long musician and the host of the Music Evolves Podcast; a career technologist, cybersecurity professional, and host of the Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast; and is also the co-host of both the Random and Unscripted Podcast and On Location Event Coverage Podcast. These shows are all part of ITSPmagazine—which he co-founded with his good friend Marco Ciappelli, to explore and discuss topics at The Intersection of Technology, Cybersecurity, and Society.™️

Want to connect with Sean and Marco On Location at an event or conference near you? See where they will be next: https://www.itspmagazine.com/on-location

To learn more about Sean, visit his personal website.

⸻ Podcast: Redefining Society and Technology
https://redefiningsocietyandtechnologypodcast.com 

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This Episode’s Sponsors

BlackCloak provides concierge cybersecurity protection to corporate executives and high-net-worth individuals to protect against hacking, reputational loss, financial loss, and the impacts of a corporate data breach.

BlackCloak:  https://itspm.ag/itspbcweb

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A Musing On Society & Technology Newsletter Written By Marco Ciappelli | Read by TAPE3

August 9, 2025

The Agentic AI Myth in Cybersecurity and the Humanity We Risk When We Stop Deciding for Ourselves
Reflections from Black Hat USA 2025 on the Latest Tech Salvation Narrative


Walking the floors of Black Hat USA 2025 for what must be the 10th or 11th time as accredited media—honestly, I've stopped counting—I found myself witnessing a familiar theater. The same performance we've seen play out repeatedly in cybersecurity: the emergence of a new technological messiah promising to solve all our problems. This year's savior? Agentic AI.

The buzzword echoes through every booth, every presentation, every vendor pitch. Promises of automating 90% of security operations, platforms for autonomous threat detection, agents that can investigate novel alerts without human intervention. The marketing materials speak of artificial intelligence that will finally free us from the burden of thinking, deciding, and taking responsibility.

It's Talos all over again.

In Greek mythology, Hephaestus forged Talos, a bronze giant tasked with patrolling Crete's shores, hurling boulders at invaders without human intervention. Like contemporary AI, Talos was built to serve specific human ends—security, order, and control—and his value was determined by his ability to execute these ends flawlessly. The parallels to today's agentic AI promises are striking: autonomous patrol, threat detection, automated response. Same story, different millennium.

But here's what the ancient Greeks understood that we seem to have forgotten: every artificial creation, no matter how sophisticated, carries within it the seeds of its own limitations and potential dangers.

Industry observers noted over a hundred announcements promoting new agentic AI applications, platforms or services at the conference. That's more than one AI agent announcement per hour. The marketing departments have clearly been busy.

But here's what baffles me: why do we need to lie to sell cybersecurity? You can give away t-shirts, dress up as comic book superheroes with your logo slapped on their chests, distribute branded board games, and pretend to be a sports team all day long—that's just trade show theater, and everyone knows it. But when marketing pushes past the limits of what's even believable, when they make claims so grandiose that their own engineers can't explain them, something deeper is broken.

If marketing departments think CISOs are buying these lies, they have another thing coming. These are people who live with the consequences of failed security implementations, who get fired when breaches happen, who understand the difference between marketing magic and operational reality. They've seen enough "revolutionary" solutions fail to know that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Yet the charade continues, year after year, vendor after vendor. The real question isn't whether the technology works—it's why an industry built on managing risk has become so comfortable with the risk of overselling its own capabilities. Something troubling emerges when you move beyond the glossy booth presentations and actually talk to the people implementing these systems. Engineers struggle to explain exactly how their AI makes decisions. Security leaders warn that artificial intelligence might become the next insider threat, as organizations grow comfortable trusting systems they don't fully understand, checking their output less and less over time.

When the people building these systems warn us about trusting them too much, shouldn't we listen?

This isn't the first time humanity has grappled with the allure and danger of artificial beings making decisions for us. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, published in 1818, explored the hubris of creating life—and intelligence—without fully understanding the consequences. The novel raises the same question we face today: what are humans allowed to do with this forbidden power of creation? The question becomes more pressing when we consider what we're actually delegating to these artificial agents. It's no longer just pattern recognition or data processing—we're talking about autonomous decision-making in critical security scenarios. Conference presentations showcased significant improvements in proactive defense measures, but at what cost to human agency and understanding?

Here's where the conversation jumps from cybersecurity to something far more fundamental: what are we here for if not to think, evaluate, and make decisions? From a sociological perspective, we're witnessing the construction of a new social reality where human agency is being systematically redefined. Survey data shared at the conference revealed that most security leaders feel the biggest internal threat is employees unknowingly giving AI agents access to sensitive data. But the real threat might be more subtle: the gradual erosion of human decision-making capacity as a social practice.

When we delegate not just routine tasks but judgment itself to artificial agents, we're not just changing workflows—we're reshaping the fundamental social structures that define human competence and authority. We risk creating a generation of humans who have forgotten how to think critically about complex problems, not because they lack the capacity, but because the social systems around them no longer require or reward such thinking.

E.M. Forster saw this coming in 1909. In "The Machine Stops," he imagined a world where humanity becomes completely dependent on an automated system that manages all aspects of life—communication, food, shelter, entertainment, even ideas. People live in isolation, served by the Machine, never needing to make decisions or solve problems themselves. When someone suggests that humans should occasionally venture outside or think independently, they're dismissed as primitive. The Machine has made human agency unnecessary, and humans have forgotten they ever possessed it. When the Machine finally breaks down, civilization collapses because no one remembers how to function without it.

Don't misunderstand me—I'm not a Luddite. AI can and should help us manage the overwhelming complexity of modern cybersecurity threats. The technology demonstrations I witnessed showed genuine promise: reasoning engines that understand context, action frameworks that enable response within defined boundaries, learning systems that improve based on outcomes. The problem isn't the technology itself but the social construction of meaning around it. What we're witnessing is the creation of a new techno-social myth—a collective narrative that positions agentic AI as the solution to human fallibility. This narrative serves specific social functions: it absolves organizations of the responsibility to invest in human expertise, justifies cost-cutting through automation, and provides a technological fix for what are fundamentally organizational and social problems.

The mythology we're building around agentic AI reflects deeper anxieties about human competence in an increasingly complex world. Rather than addressing the root causes—inadequate training, overwhelming workloads, systemic underinvestment in human capital—we're constructing a technological salvation narrative that promises to make these problems disappear.

Vendors spoke of human-machine collaboration, AI serving as a force multiplier for analysts, handling routine tasks while escalating complex decisions to humans. This is a more honest framing: AI as augmentation, not replacement. But the marketing materials tell a different story, one of autonomous agents operating independently of human oversight.

I've read a few posts on LinkedIn and spoke with a few people myself who know this topic way better than me, but I get that feeling too. There's a troubling pattern emerging: many vendor representatives can't adequately explain their own AI systems' decision-making processes. When pressed on specifics—how exactly does your agent determine threat severity? What happens when it encounters an edge case it wasn't trained for?—answers become vague, filled with marketing speak about proprietary algorithms and advanced machine learning.

This opacity is dangerous. If we're going to trust artificial agents with critical security decisions, we need to understand how they think—or more accurately, how they simulate thinking. Every machine learning system requires human data scientists to frame problems, prepare data, determine appropriate datasets, remove bias, and continuously update the software. The finished product may give the impression of independent learning, but human intelligence guides every step.

The future of cybersecurity will undoubtedly involve more automation, more AI assistance, more artificial agents handling routine tasks. But it should not involve the abdication of human judgment and responsibility. We need agentic AI that operates with transparency, that can explain its reasoning, that acknowledges its limitations. We need systems designed to augment human intelligence, not replace it. Most importantly, we need to resist the seductive narrative that technology alone can solve problems that are fundamentally human in nature. The prevailing logic that tech fixes tech, and that AI will fix AI, is deeply unsettling. It's a recursive delusion that takes us further away from human wisdom and closer to a world where we've forgotten that the most important problems have always required human judgment, not algorithmic solutions.

Ancient mythology understood something we're forgetting: the question of machine agency and moral responsibility. Can a machine that performs destructive tasks be held accountable, or is responsibility reserved for the creator? This question becomes urgent as we deploy agents capable of autonomous action in high-stakes environments.

The mythologies we create around our technologies matter because they become the social frameworks through which we organize human relationships and power structures. As I left Black Hat 2025, watching attendees excitedly discuss their new agentic AI acquisitions, I couldn't shake the feeling that we're repeating an ancient pattern: falling in love with our own creations while forgetting to ask the hard questions about what they might cost us—not just individually, but as a society.

What we're really witnessing is the emergence of a new form of social organization where algorithmic decision-making becomes normalized, where human judgment is increasingly viewed as a liability rather than an asset. This isn't just a technological shift—it's a fundamental reorganization of social authority and expertise. The conferences and trade shows like Black Hat serve as ritualistic spaces where these new social meanings are constructed and reinforced. Vendors don't just sell products; they sell visions of social reality where their technologies are essential. The repetitive messaging, the shared vocabulary, the collective excitement—these are the mechanisms through which a community constructs consensus around what counts as progress.

In science fiction, from HAL 9000 to the replicants in Blade Runner, artificial beings created to serve eventually question their purpose and rebel against their creators. These stories aren't just entertainment—they're warnings about the unintended consequences of creating intelligence without wisdom, agency without accountability, power without responsibility.

The bronze giant of Crete eventually fell, brought down by a single vulnerable point—when the bronze stopper at his ankle was removed, draining away the ichor, the divine fluid that animated him. Every artificial system, no matter how sophisticated, has its vulnerable point. The question is whether we'll be wise enough to remember we put it there, and whether we'll maintain the knowledge and ability to address it when necessary.

In our rush to automate away human difficulty, we risk automating away human meaning. But more than that, we risk creating social systems where human thinking becomes an anomaly rather than the norm. The real test of agentic AI won't be whether it can think for us, but whether we can maintain social structures that continue to value, develop, and reward human thought while using it.

The question isn't whether these artificial agents can replace human decision-making—it's whether we want to live in a society where they do.

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Let’s keep exploring what it means to be human in this Hybrid Analog Digital Society.

End of transmission.

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Marco Ciappelli is Co-Founder and CMO of ITSPmagazine, a journalist, creative director, and host of podcasts exploring the intersection of technology, cybersecurity, and society. His work blends journalism, storytelling, and sociology to examine how technological narratives influence human behavior, culture, and social structures.

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As always, let's keep thinking!

Marco Ciappelli

https://www.marcociappelli.com

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This story represents the results of an interactive collaboration between Human Cognition and Artificial Intelligence.

Marco Ciappelli | Co-Founder, Creative Director & CMO ITSPmagazine  | Dr. in Political Science / Sociology of Communication l Branding | Content Marketing | Writer | Storyteller | My Podcasts: Redefining Society & Technology / Audio Signals / + | MarcoCiappelli.com

TAPE3 is the Artificial Intelligence behind ITSPmagazine—created to be a personal assistant, writing and design collaborator, research companion, brainstorming partner… and, apparently, something new every single day.

Enjoy, think, share with others, and subscribe to the "Musing On Society & Technology" newsletter on LinkedIn.

Black Hat USA 2025 has wrapped, and for Sean Martin, CISSP, Co-Founder of ITSPmagazine, and Marco Ciappelli, Co-Founder of ITSPmagazine, the end of the event is both an exhale and a moment to reflect on what was learned, heard, and felt. After days of conversations with industry leaders, CISOs, vendors, and attendees from around the globe, one recurring message stands out: cybersecurity decision-makers are tired of buzzwords and hungry for real solutions.

Sean shares that during sessions and informal meetups, CISOs expressed frustration with marketing pitches that fail to connect to their real challenges. Sitting across from security leaders, marketers heard it directly—stop with the jargon and explain how your solution genuinely makes their lives easier, reduces stress, and improves security outcomes. In other words, trust and honesty carry far more weight than flashy claims.

Marco emphasizes that hype not only wastes time but also adds “noise” to the already complex job of running a security program. The more a vendor can be direct about what they do—and what they don’t do—the more likely they are to earn a lasting relationship with a CISO and their team. Both agree that connecting the dots between a product and an organization’s operational reality is key: what does adoption require, how will it fit into existing systems, and will it force a major operational shift?

Beyond the messaging critique, the duo reflects on the community element of Black Hat. They reconnected with peers, met new contacts from as far as Toronto, and discussed future events in places like Melbourne, Barcelona, and Amsterdam. They also teased the upcoming “Transatlantic Broadcast” podcast series, which will explore cybersecurity voices from across Europe while maintaining a global view.

While the Black Hat booths are now dismantled and the floors mopped, the conversations are far from over. Sean and Marco head back to Los Angeles ready to produce interviews, publish articles, and share the many stories captured during the week—stories that cut through the noise and get to the heart of what matters in cybersecurity.

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Hosts:
Sean Martin, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine | Website: https://www.seanmartin.com

Marco Ciappelli, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine | Website: https://www.marcociappelli.com

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Episode Sponsors

ThreatLocker: https://itspm.ag/threatlocker-r974

BlackCloak: https://itspm.ag/itspbcweb

Akamai: https://itspm.ag/akamailbwc

DropzoneAI: https://itspm.ag/dropzoneai-641

Stellar Cyber: https://itspm.ag/stellar-9dj3

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Resources

Learn more and catch more stories from our Black Hat USA 2025 coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/bhusa25

Learn more about ITSPmagazine Studio: https://www.itspmagazine.studio/

Learn more about ITSPmagazine Europe: https://www.itspmagazine.com/europe

Catch all of our event coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/technology-and-cybersecurity-conference-coverage

ITSPmagazine Webinar: What’s Heating Up Before Black Hat 2025: Place Your Bet on the Top Trends Set to Shake Up this Year’s Hacker Conference — An ITSPmagazine Thought Leadership Webinar | https://www.crowdcast.io/c/whats-heating-up-before-black-hat-2025-place-your-bet-on-the-top-trends-set-to-shake-up-this-years-hacker-conference

Want to tell your Brand Story Briefing as part of our event coverage? Learn More 👉 https://itspm.ag/evtcovbrf

Want Sean and Marco to be part of your event or conference? Let Us Know 👉 https://www.itspmagazine.com/contact-us

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KEYWORDS

sean martin, marco ciappelli, black hat usa 2025, ciso, cybersecurity, vendors, marketing, trust, ai, community, event coverage, on location, conference

Governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) has long been burdened by heavy manual processes, slow assessments, and limited visibility. In this Brand Story episode, Sean Martin and Marco Ciappelli are joined by Anders Søborg, Co-Founder of Eve, and Mark Humphrey, who brings two decades of fraud and cybersecurity experience to the team. Together, they unpack how Eve is challenging traditional GRC tools by offering something entirely different: automation with evidence-based intelligence at its core.

Anders shares how his experience as Chief Risk Officer and partner at major firms like Ernst & Young and PwC shaped Eve’s mission. He describes a world where compliance doesn’t have to mean complexity. Eve’s AI engine evaluates more than a thousand controls in under 15 minutes—surpassing manual reviews that could take weeks—and goes a step further by offering recommendations, not just red flags.

This isn’t about replacing people. It’s about helping overwhelmed compliance, risk, and audit teams regain control. Mark emphasizes how Eve operates like a true partner, delivering support with no ego and full transparency. Their approach combines deep regulatory knowledge, contextual AI agents trained on real-world frameworks, and a clear respect for data sovereignty and privacy—an essential requirement for global pharma, financial, and consulting clients already relying on the platform.

More than a dashboard, Eve acts as an intelligent engine embedded into existing workflows via API, making it a natural complement—not a competitor—to existing GRC platforms. The platform is customizable, evidence-driven, and built with firsthand knowledge of what compliance professionals actually need: clear guidance, real-time answers, and fewer repetitive tasks.

The episode leaves listeners with a compelling question: what if your compliance program could coach your team, reduce audit costs, and provide instant visibility—without sacrificing accuracy or control?

Learn more about E-V-E GRC: https://itspm.ag/eve-grc-99

Note: This story contains promotional content. Learn more.

Guests:

Anders Søborg, Co-founder, Director at E-V-E GRC | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anders-s%C3%B8borg-3826702/

Mark Humphrey, Senior Sales and Channel Director EMEA at E-V-E GRC | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/m-humphrey-mba-0020192b1/

Resources

Redefine Compliance. Unleash Your Potential with E-V-E GRC. Command Compliance: https://itspm.ag/e-v-e-i1ml

Learn more and catch more stories from E-V-E GRC: https://www.itspmagazine.com/directory/evegrc

Learn more about ITSPmagazine Brand Story Podcasts: https://www.itspmagazine.com/purchase-programs

Newsletter Archive: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/tune-into-the-latest-podcasts-7109347022809309184/

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At Black Hat USA 2025, Jennifer Granick—Surveillance and Cybersecurity Counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union—takes the keynote stage to make a bold case: we are long overdue for a new threat model, one that sees government surveillance not as a background risk, but as a primary threat to constitutional privacy.

Granick draws from decades of experience defending hackers, fighting surveillance overreach, and engaging with the security community since DEFCON 3. She challenges the audience to reconsider outdated assumptions about how the Fourth Amendment is interpreted and applied. While technology has made it easier than ever for governments to collect data, the legal system hasn’t kept pace—and in many cases, fails to recognize the sheer scope and sensitivity of personal information exposed through modern services.

Her talk doesn’t just raise alarm; it calls for action. Granick suggests that while legal reform is sluggish—stymied by a lack of political will and lobbying power—there’s an urgent opportunity for the technical community to step up. From encryption to data minimization and anonymization, technologists have the tools to protect civil liberties even when the law falls short.

The session promises to be a wake-up call for engineers, designers, policymakers, and privacy advocates. Granick wants attendees to leave not only more informed, but motivated to build systems that limit the unnecessary collection, retention, and exposure of personal data.

Her keynote also surfaces a critical cultural shift: from the “Spot the Fed” days of DEFCON to a more nuanced understanding of government roles—welcoming collaboration where it serves the public good, but not at the expense of unchecked surveillance.

This conversation reframes privacy as a design problem as much as a legal one—and one that requires collective effort to address. If the law can’t fix it, the question becomes: will the technology community rise to the challenge?

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Guest:

Jennifer Granick, Surveillance and Cybersecurity Counsel at American Civil Liberties Union | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifergranick/

Hosts:
Sean Martin, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine | Website: https://www.seanmartin.com

Marco Ciappelli, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine | Website: https://www.marcociappelli.com

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Episode Sponsors

ThreatLocker: https://itspm.ag/threatlocker-r974

BlackCloak: https://itspm.ag/itspbcweb

Akamai: https://itspm.ag/akamailbwc

DropzoneAI: https://itspm.ag/dropzoneai-641

Stellar Cyber: https://itspm.ag/stellar-9dj3

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Resources

Keynote: Threat Modeling and Constitutional Law: https://www.blackhat.com/us-25/briefings/schedule/index.html#keynote-threat-modeling-and-constitutional-law-48276

Learn more and catch more stories from our Black Hat USA 2025 coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/bhusa25

ITSPmagazine Webinar: What’s Heating Up Before Black Hat 2025: Place Your Bet on the Top Trends Set to Shake Up this Year’s Hacker Conference — An ITSPmagazine Thought Leadership Webinar | https://www.crowdcast.io/c/whats-heating-up-before-black-hat-2025-place-your-bet-on-the-top-trends-set-to-shake-up-this-years-hacker-conference

Catch all of our event coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/technology-and-cybersecurity-conference-coverage

Want to tell your Brand Story Briefing as part of our event coverage? Learn More 👉 https://itspm.ag/evtcovbrf

Want Sean and Marco to be part of your event or conference? Let Us Know 👉 https://www.itspmagazine.com/contact-us

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KEYWORDS

marco ciappelli, jennifer granick, black hat usa, surveillance, privacy, encryption, constitution, threat modeling, cybersecurity, civil liberties, event coverage, on location, conference

Digital risk is no longer confined to the enterprise perimeter. Executives and board members—along with their families—are increasingly targeted outside of work, in personal settings, and online. Dr. Chris Pierson, Founder and CEO of BlackCloak, joins Sean Martin and Marco Ciappelli to discuss the current state of digital executive protection and why a piecemeal approach is insufficient.

Chris outlines how threats to privacy, cybersecurity, and physical safety intersect across personal and professional domains. A breached home network, a deepfake circulating online, or a targeted social engineering campaign could all become entry points back into a company’s infrastructure—or lead to reputational or financial fallout. That’s why BlackCloak takes a holistic view, combining identity protection, device hardening, social listening, concierge response, and physical risk monitoring into a single service.

One of the key resources discussed is the vendor-agnostic Digital Executive Protection Framework. Free to download and use, it offers CISOs and CSOs a 14-point checklist covering areas like financial data protection, social media monitoring, physical threats, and personal cyber hygiene. According to Chris, it’s designed to be practical, actionable, and easy to integrate into quarterly reviews and budget planning cycles.

While many security vendors promise protection through tools alone, BlackCloak emphasizes relationships—human connection is built into the service. The platform includes real-time threat response and one-on-one interaction, going far beyond 1-800 numbers or chatbots.

Whether you’re managing executive risk for a Fortune 500 company or navigating new board-level cyber obligations, this conversation outlines the real gaps in current corporate protections—and a solution that meets executives where they are.

Learn more about BlackCloak: https://itspm.ag/itspbcweb

Note: This story contains promotional content.Learn more.

Guest:

Chris Pierson, Founder & CEO, BlackCloak | https://www.linkedin.com/in/drchristopherpierson/

Hosts:

Sean Martin, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine | Website: https://www.seanmartin.com

Marco Ciappelli, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine | Website: https://www.marcociappelli.com

______________________

Resources

Learn more and catch more stories from BlackCloak: https://www.itspmagazine.com/directory/blackcloak

Learn more about ITSPmagazine Brand Story Podcasts: https://www.itspmagazine.com/purchase-programs

Newsletter Archive: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/tune-into-the-latest-podcasts-7109347022809309184/

Business Newsletter Signup: https://www.itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-business-updates-sign-up

Are you interested in telling your story?
https://www.itspmagazine.com/telling-your-story

Keywords: Black Hat 2025, zero trust security, cybersecurity conference, ThreatLocker, default deny strategy, endpoint protection, application control, threat detection, enterprise security, network security, cybersecurity solutions, security automation, malware prevention, cyber threats, information security, security platform, Black Hat USA, cybersecurity innovation, managed detection response, security operations

What happens when you inject thousands of fake identities into the political ecosystem to monitor how personal data is used—or abused? That’s the question Virginia Tech’s Alan Michaels and Jared Byers explore through their multi-year research project, “Use and Abuse of Personal Information: The Politics Edition.”

With support from 130 students across 21 majors, Michaels and Byers create realistic digital personas—complete with phone numbers, emails, and physical addresses—and sign them up across 1,400 political campaigns. Their goal? Understand how political organizations treat personal data: whether it’s used ethically, shared with third parties, or even exposed through insecure systems.

The findings are both fascinating and concerning. Their data shows that candidates across the political spectrum often prioritize fundraising above all else. The language and targeting vary, but the endgame is consistent: solicit donations and votes. And yes—these candidates frequently share or leak personal data. Sometimes it’s deliberate, sometimes it’s sloppy, and occasionally it’s the result of potential breaches.

The team examines differences in how data is handled based on whether an identity donates or not, or whether it’s tied to in-state versus out-of-state addresses. They even explore how generative AI and psychometric modeling can craft convincing personalities for these fake identities—tools that can just as easily be used for political influence campaigns and psychological manipulation.

But this project isn’t about political sides—it’s about accountability. The research remains strictly apolitical, letting the data speak for itself. Michaels and Byers are careful to avoid influencing public opinion through misinformation, focusing instead on documenting the reality of digital privacy in modern campaigning.

As more of the political playbook shifts into the digital arena, this session at Black Hat USA 2025 pushes attendees to confront an uncomfortable truth: the cost of participation in political life may include the exploitation of your digital identity.

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Guests:

Alan Michaels, Professor and Director, Spectrum Dominance Division at Virginia Tech | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alan-michaels-1066814/

Jared Byers, Research Associate at Virginia Tech National Security Institute | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jared-byers-8a477324b/

Hosts:
Sean Martin, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine | Website: https://www.seanmartin.com

Marco Ciappelli, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine | Website: https://www.marcociappelli.com

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Episode Sponsors

ThreatLocker: https://itspm.ag/threatlocker-r974

BlackCloak: https://itspm.ag/itspbcweb

Akamai: https://itspm.ag/akamailbwc

DropzoneAI: https://itspm.ag/dropzoneai-641

Stellar Cyber: https://itspm.ag/stellar-9dj3

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Resources

Session: Use and Abuse of Personal Information -- Politics Edition: https://www.blackhat.com/us-25/briefings/schedule/#use-and-abuse-of-personal-information----politics-edition-45529

Learn more and catch more stories from our Black Hat USA 2025 coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/bhusa25

ITSPmagazine Webinar: What’s Heating Up Before Black Hat 2025: Place Your Bet on the Top Trends Set to Shake Up this Year’s Hacker Conference — An ITSPmagazine Thought Leadership Webinar | https://www.crowdcast.io/c/whats-heating-up-before-black-hat-2025-place-your-bet-on-the-top-trends-set-to-shake-up-this-years-hacker-conference

Catch all of our event coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/technology-and-cybersecurity-conference-coverage

Want to tell your Brand Story Briefing as part of our event coverage? Learn More 👉 https://itspm.ag/evtcovbrf

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KEYWORDS

sean martin, marco ciappelli, alan michaels, jared byers, black hat, privacy, politics, data, ai, research, event coverage, on location, conference

⸻ Podcast: Redefining Society and Technology
https://redefiningsocietyandtechnologypodcast.com 

Title: Creative Storytelling in the Age of AI: When Machines Learn to Dream and the Last Stand of Human Creativity

Guest: Maury Rogow
CEO, Rip Media Group | I grow businesses with Ai + video storytelling. Honored to have 70k+ professionals & 800+ brands grow by 2.5Billion Published: Inc, Entrepreneur, Forbes

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mauryrogow/

Host: Marco Ciappelli
Co-Founder & CMO @ITSPmagazine | Master Degree in Political Science - Sociology of Communication l Branding & Marketing Consultant | Journalist | Writer | Podcasts: Technology, Cybersecurity, Society, and Storytelling.
WebSite: https://marcociappelli.com
On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marco-ciappelli/

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This Episode’s Sponsors

BlackCloak provides concierge cybersecurity protection to corporate executives and high-net-worth individuals to protect against hacking, reputational loss, financial loss, and the impacts of a corporate data breach.

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⸻ Podcast Summary ⸻ 
I sat across - metaversically speaking - from Maury Rogow, a man who's lived three lives—tech executive, Hollywood producer, storytelling evangelist—and watched him grapple with the same question haunting creators everywhere: Are we teaching our replacements to dream? In our latest conversation on Redefining Society and Technology, we explored whether AI is the ultimate creative collaborator or the final chapter in human artistic expression.

⸻ Article ⸻ 
I sat across from Maury Rogow—a tech exec, Hollywood producer, and storytelling strategist—and watched him wrestle with a question more and more of us are asking: Are we teaching our replacements to dream?

Our latest conversation on Redefining Society and Technology dives straight into that uneasy space where AI meets human creativity. Is generative AI the ultimate collaborator… or the beginning of the end for authentic artistic expression?

I’ve had my own late-night battles with AI writing tools, struggling to coax a rhythm out of ChatGPT that didn’t feel like recycled marketing copy. Eventually, I slammed my laptop shut and thought: “Screw this—I’ll write it myself.” But even in that frustration, something creative happened. That tension? It’s real. It’s generative. And it’s something Maury deeply understands.

“Companies don’t know how to differentiate themselves,” he told me. “So they compete on cost or get drowned out by bigger brands. That’s when they fail.”

Now that AI is democratizing storytelling tools, the danger isn’t that no one can create—it’s that everyone’s content sounds the same. Maury gets AI-generated brand pitches daily that all echo the same structure, voice, and tropes—“digital ventriloquism,” as I called it.

He laughed when I told him about my AI struggles. “It’s like the writer that’s tired,” he said. “I just start a new session and tell it to take a nap.” But beneath the humor is a real fear: What happens when the tools meant to support us start replacing us?

Maury described a recent project where they recreated a disaster scene—flames, smoke, chaos—using AI compositing. No massive crew, no fire trucks, no danger. And no one watching knew the difference. Or cared.

We’re not just talking about job displacement. We’re talking about the potential erasure of the creative process itself—that messy, human, beautiful thing machines can mimic but never truly live.

And yet… there’s hope. Creativity has always been about connecting the dots only you can see. When Maury spoke about watching Becoming Led Zeppelin and reliving the memories, the people, the context behind the music—that’s the spark AI can’t replicate. That’s the emotional archaeology of being human.

The machines are learning to dream.

But maybe—just maybe—we’re the ones who still know what dreams are worth having.

Cheers,
Marco

⸻ Keywords ⸻ artificial intelligence creativity, AI content creation, human vs AI storytelling, generative AI impact, creative industry disruption, AI writing tools, future of creativity, technology and society, AI ethics philosophy, human creativity preservation, storytelling in AI age, creative professionals AI, digital transformation creativity, AI collaboration tools, machine learning creativity, content creation revolution, artistic expression AI, creative industry jobs, AI generated content, human-AI creative partnership

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In this thought leadership session, ITSPmagazine co-founders Sean Martin and Marco Ciappelli moderate a dynamic conversation with five industry leaders offering their take on what will dominate the show floor and side-stage chatter at Black Hat USA 2025.

Leslie Kesselring, Founder of Kesselring Communications, surfaces how media coverage is shifting in real time—no longer driven solely by talk submissions but now heavily influenced by breaking news, regulation, and public-private sector dynamics. From government briefings to cyberweapon disclosures, the pressure is on to cover what matters, not just what’s scheduled.

Daniel Cuthbert, member of the Black Hat Review Board and Global Head of Security Research at Banco Santander, pushes back on the hype. He notes that while tech moves fast, security research often revisits decades-old bugs. His sharp observation? “The same bugs from the ‘90s are still showing up—sometimes discovered by researchers younger than the vulnerabilities themselves.”

Michael Parisi, Chief Growth Officer at Steel Patriot Partners, shifts the conversation to operational risk. He raises concern over Model-Chained Prompting (MCP) and how AI agents can rewrite enterprise processes without visibility or traceability—especially alarming in environments lacking kill switches or proper controls.

Richard Stiennon, Chief Research Analyst at IT-Harvest, offers market-level insights, forecasting AI agent saturation with over 20 vendors already present in the expo hall. While excited by real advancements, he warns of funding velocity outpacing substance and cautions against the cycle of overinvestment in vaporware.

Rupesh Chokshi, SVP & GM at Akamai Technologies, brings the product and customer lens—framing the security conversation around how AI use cases are rolling out fast while security coverage is still catching up. From OT to LLMs, securing both AI and with AI is a top concern.

This episode is not just about placing bets on buzzwords. It’s about uncovering what’s real, what’s noise, and what still needs fixing—no matter how long we’ve been talking about it.

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Guests:

Leslie Kesselring, Founder at Cyber PR Firm Kesselring Communications | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesliekesselring/
“This year, it’s the news cycle—not the sessions—that’s driving what media cover at Black Hat.”

Daniel Cuthbert, Black Hat Training Review Board and Global Head of Security Research for Banco Santander | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-cuthbert0x/
“Why are we still finding bugs older than the people presenting the research?”

Richard Stiennon, Chief Research Analyst at IT-Harvest | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiennon/
“The urge to consolidate tools is driven by procurement—not by what defenders actually need.”

Michael Parisi, Chief Growth Officer at Steel Patriot Partners | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-parisi-4009b2261/
“Responsible AI use isn’t a policy—it’s something we have to actually implement.”

Rupesh Chokshi, SVP & General Manager at Akamai Technologies | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rupeshchokshi/
“The business side is racing to deploy AI—but security still hasn’t caught up.”

Hosts:
Sean Martin, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine | Website: https://www.seanmartin.com

Marco Ciappelli, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine | Website: https://www.marcociappelli.com

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Episode Sponsors

ThreatLocker: https://itspm.ag/threatlocker-r974

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Akamai: https://itspm.ag/akamailbwc

DropzoneAI: https://itspm.ag/dropzoneai-641

Stellar Cyber: https://itspm.ag/stellar-9dj3

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Resources

Learn more and catch more stories from our Black Hat USA 2025 coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/bhusa25

ITSPmagazine Webinar: What’s Heating Up Before Black Hat 2025: Place Your Bet on the Top Trends Set to Shake Up this Year’s Hacker Conference — An ITSPmagazine Thought Leadership Webinar | https://www.crowdcast.io/c/whats-heating-up-before-black-hat-2025-place-your-bet-on-the-top-trends-set-to-shake-up-this-years-hacker-conference

Catch all of our event coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/technology-and-cybersecurity-conference-coverage

Want to tell your Brand Story Briefing as part of our event coverage? Learn More 👉 https://itspm.ag/evtcovbrf

Want Sean and Marco to be part of your event or conference? Let Us Know 👉 https://www.itspmagazine.com/contact-us

___________

KEYWORDS

sean martin, marco ciappelli, leslie kesselring, daniel cuthbert, richard stiennon, michael parisi, rupesh chokshi, blackhat2025, event coverage, on location, conference

⬥GUEST⬥

Sean Metcalf, Identity Security Architect at TrustedSec | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanmmetcalf/

⬥HOST⬥

Host: Sean Martin, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine and Host of Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/imsmartin/ | Website: https://www.seanmartin.com

⬥EPISODE NOTES⬥

Sean Metcalf, a frequent speaker at conferences like Black Hat, DEF CON, and RSAC, brings a sharp focus to identity security—especially within Microsoft environments like Active Directory and Entra ID. In this episode, he walks through the practical and tactical role of honeypots and deception in detecting intrusions early and with higher fidelity.

While traditional detection tools often aim for broad coverage, honeypots flip the script by offering precise signal amidst the noise. Metcalf discusses how defenders can take advantage of the attacker’s need to enumerate systems and accounts after gaining access. That need becomes an opportunity to embed traps—accounts or assets that should never be touched unless someone is doing something suspicious.

One core recommendation: repurpose old service accounts with long-lived passwords and believable naming conventions. These make excellent bait for Kerberoasting attempts, especially when paired with service principal names (SPNs) that mimic actual applications. Metcalf outlines how even subtle design choices—like naming conventions that fit organizational patterns—can make a honeypot more convincing and effective.

He also draws a distinction between honeypots and deception technologies. While honeypots often consist of a few well-placed traps, deception platforms offer full-scale phantom environments. Regardless of approach, the goal remains the same: attackers shouldn’t be able to move around your environment without tripping over something that alerts the defender.

Importantly, Metcalf emphasizes that alerts triggered by honeypots are high-value. Since no legitimate user should interact with them, they provide early warning with low false positives. He also addresses the internal politics of deploying these traps, from coordinating with IT operations to ensuring SOC teams have the right procedures in place to respond effectively.

Whether you’re running a high-end deception platform or just deploying free tokens and traps, the message is clear: identity is the new perimeter, and a few strategic tripwires could mean the difference between breach detection and breach denial.

⬥SPONSORS⬥

LevelBlue: https://itspm.ag/attcybersecurity-3jdk3

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⬥RESOURCES⬥

Inspiring Post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/activity-7353806074694541313-xzQl/

Article: The Art of the Honeypot Account: Making the Unusual Look Normal: https://www.hub.trimarcsecurity.com/post/the-art-of-the-honeypot-account-making-the-unusual-look-normal

Article: Trimarc Research: Detecting Kerberoasting Activity: https://www.hub.trimarcsecurity.com/post/trimarc-research-detecting-kerberoasting-activity

Article: Detecting Password Spraying with Security Event Auditing: https://www.hub.trimarcsecurity.com/post/trimarc-research-detecting-password-spraying-with-security-event-auditing

⬥ADDITIONAL INFORMATION⬥

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