Every October, Cybersecurity Awareness Month brings a wave of tips: update your software, enable MFA, use strong passwords. But what good is any of that if the people behind the defenses are feeling burned out?

In this episode of Talos Takes, Hazel sits down with Joe Marshall for a candid, vulnerable conversation about the human cost of cybersecurity. Joe opens up about his experience during the VPNFilter campaign — months of secrecy, long hours, immense pressure, and the trauma it left behind. Hazel shares her own journey with burnout, and together they talk about how to recognise the warning signs.

They close with practical steps: building a personal “incident response playbook” that includes boundaries, peer support, and self-care. Because at the end of the day, you can’t patch a system if you're burned out.