Vivek Khindria, longtime CISO, joins the show and he brought the heat. We talk building security teams, quantum computing timelines, and why your board doesn't want to hear about firewall rules. George K and George A talk to Vivek about: Why betting on business people and teaching them security > hiring tech nerds who can't talk to humans Why enterprises must start the conversation around crypto agility now with the quantum computing future ahead Your board wants to hear about "resilience," n...
Jun 30, 2025•45 min•Season 3Ep. 47
This week, we're returning to the original inspiration for our Pride in Cyber campaign! Angela Brown and Amber DiPippa join the podcast to discuss their scholarship initiative supporting LGBTQ+ individuals pursuing cybersecurity. George K and George A talk to Ang and Amber about: The scholarship's origins and its goals for supporting LGBTQ+ cybersecurity students The realities and financial hardships unfairly leveled at queer communities Practical advice for authentic allyship and community supp...
Jun 23, 2025•32 min•Season 3Ep. 47
Madeline and Oliver from Phish Club joined the show to talk community building for junior practitioners in cybersecurity. George K and George A talk to Madeline and Oliver about: The power of lateral networking - building relationships with peers who will rise together rather than just trying to impress executives What actually gets you hired - home labs and technical write-ups beat certifications every time Creating inclusive community - from Discord lounges to bringing non-cyber friends, becau...
Jun 16, 2025•44 min•Season 3Ep. 45
While everyone's obsessing over digital lead gen and automation, veteran marketer David Mundy argues the best companies are going back to basics - building actual relationships and cutting through the noise. George K and George A talk to David about: Not hiring marketers with playbooks, and hiring hunters who understand the market is dynamic AF Why SDRs should work under marketing (yes, really) for that crucial feedback loop Why early stage marketing teams need to know how to explain your produc...
Jun 09, 2025•41 min•Season 3Ep. 44
Erik Bloch, security operations expert and longtime infosec leader, joins the show to talk about the real problems plaguing SOCs and why the industry keeps missing the mark! George K and George A talk to Erik about: - The massive disconnect between what vendors think SOCs do vs. reality - spoiler alert: most founders have never worked in the trenches - Why we're still fighting the same problems from 20 years ago - false positives aren't even 10% of the actual work, so why do we keep obsessing ov...
Jun 02, 2025•42 min•Season 3Ep. 43
This conversation hits different. Mohammed "Moh" Waqas, CTO Healthcare at Armis, joined us to talk about burnout, mental health, and the hidden costs of our "always-on" cybersecurity culture. George K and George A talk to Mohammad about: Why perfectionism in cyber is literally making us sick How epilepsy taught Moh to recognize burnout triggers before they hit The real cost of saying "yes" to every sales deadline Why your team needs mandatory disconnect time (and how to make it happen) Leading w...
May 26, 2025•33 min•Season 3Ep. 42
Quinnlan Varcoe, founder of Blueberry Security, joins the show for a raw conversation about building a security startup! Quinn takes us through her wild ride from SOC analyst to founder - including how she shut down her business only to relaunch it stronger than ever. George K and George A talk to Quinn about: Finding your true product-market fit in the security services space The brutal reality of B2B sales cycles (hint: they're WAY longer than you think) How literally ONE client call changed e...
May 19, 2025•33 min•Season 3Ep. 41
Dr. Kashyap "Kash" Thimmaraju joins the show to talk about a new study on burnout, wellbeing, and flow state in security operations. George K and George A talk to Kash about: New research using psychologically validated scales to measure burnout in cybersecurity professionals How "flow state" might be the key to better performance AND preventing burnout The impact of remote work and isolation on security teams Practical techniques security leaders can implement TODAY to support their teams Prote...
May 12, 2025•44 min•Season 3Ep. 40
Recorded LIVE at RSAC 2025: Don Jeter, Chief Meme Officer at Torq returns! He breaks down how Torq built a cult brand in cybersecurity around their "SOAR is Dead" campaign. George K and George A talk to Don about: Harnessing creativity in an era of algorithmic optimization: “You're not remembered for the safe ideas ever" Building internal excitement with your team (especially sales) before launching campaigns Creating something people actually want to be part of, not just another product His bel...
May 05, 2025•20 min•Season 3Ep. 39
George K and George A are off to San Francisco for RSAC 2025 this week. Here are some short musings on what they think they might see... Mentioned: Chase Cunningham has built an app that lets you rank vendor demos in real time! If you'd like to join the effort, you can do so here: https://10ringvendors.glide.page
Apr 28, 2025•5 min•Season 3Ep. 38
“When you look at cybersecurity…we've got to be constantly thinking about how we disrupt ourselves in order to actually solve the problem." Casey Ellis is a hacker, a founder, and an advisor and investor. Occupying a lot of different vantage points in cyber has given him a very unique perspective on the industry. George K and George A talk to Casey about: How Casey went from hacker to solution architect to entrepreneur, creating a marketplace that connects ethical hackers with companies who need...
Apr 21, 2025•45 min•Season 3Ep. 37
Jake Bernardes, CISO at Anecdotes, brings a uniquely adventurous spirit to this week’s show! And his ethos of “Don’t be an a**hole” is certainly one we can get behind. George K and George A talk to Jake about: Jake's "inherent risk-taker" philosophy that's guided his career moves Why the best CISOs are "repulsed by the idea of being bored" and how that drives innovation The changing face of security leadership - from risk-averse consultants to today’s disruptive problem solvers His refreshingly ...
Apr 14, 2025•43 min•Season 3Ep. 36
George K and George A are out this week to keynote SecureWorld Toronto and host the Cyber Pitch Battle Royale. Catch up on interviews you may have missed with: Stacey Lokey-Day on collecting experiences to build your career Candace Williams on the keys to networking Allan Alford on the best ways vendors can engage with CISOs and ensure they stay in good graces Jessica Andree on how to build loyalty and performance through better talent acquisition Kate Wood on the top 3 pieces of advice for adva...
Apr 07, 2025•33 min•Season 3Ep. 35
This week, Ads Dawson, Staff AI Security Researcher at Dreadnode, joins the show to talk all things AI Red Teaming! George K and George A talk to Ads about: The reality of securing #AI model development pipelines Why cross-functional expertise is critical when securing AI systems How to approach continuous red teaming for AI applications (hint: annual pen tests won't cut it anymore) Practical advice for #cybersecurity pros looking to skill up in AI security Whether you're a CISO trying to naviga...
Mar 31, 2025•32 min•Season 3Ep. 34
Ever wondered why cybersecurity hiring is broken? Jessica's flipping the script with a revolutionary approach to talent acquisition and development! George K and George A talk to Jessica about: How she transformed the company’s hiring by focusing on building talent rather than looking for unicorns or perfect fits Why asking "Why are you here?" is her #1 interview question (and what she learns from it) How her military background shaped her approach to servant leadership Their "strange renegades"...
Mar 24, 2025•45 min•Season 3Ep. 33
This week, researcher Kate Wood from Info-Tech joins the show to talk about the future of security autonomization with AI. George K and George A talk to Kate about: The reality of AI adoption in security beyond marketing hype (and where the hallucinations are still problematic) Modernizing vendor risk management beyond checkbox exercises A fascinating framework for "autonomization" vs. automation - and understanding your tolerance for AI decision-making at operational, tactical and strategic lev...
Mar 17, 2025•32 min•Season 3Ep. 32
This week we talk to Allan Alford talking about his 25 years journey from CISO to startups to consulting and now his return back to corporate America! George K and George A talk to Allan about: His wild career journey - and what motivated his most recent career decision His new gig at NTT Global Data Centers, and why data centers are the next hot thing in security The truly global scope of his new gig Why people and process beat technology EVERY time - even in tech companies! Allan also drops so...
Mar 10, 2025•40 min•Season 3Ep. 31
This week Jeanette Belashov, of Anvilogic , joins the show to talk about smarter and more authentic cybersecurity marketing. George K and George A talk to Jeanette about: Why the lead gen MQL mindset is total BS and hurts both your strategy AND your buyers Using selling signals instead of vanity metrics to actually help your sales team connect with the right accounts at the right time about the right use case Why marketers MUST get their hands dirty with the product and spend time understanding ...
Mar 03, 2025•49 min•Season 3Ep. 30
The unstoppable Tennisha Martin joins the show this week! The Executive Director of BlackGirlsHack digs into what it really takes to build diverse cybersecurity talent pipelines in today's challenging environment. George K and George A talk to Tennisha about: How BGH is using AI and hands-on labs to teach real-world hacking skills Why traditional education often falls short on practical cybersecurity training The economic barriers keeping talented people out of tech careers Building sustainable ...
Feb 24, 2025•44 min•Season 3Ep. 29
New episode drop! This week Chloe Burton joins us to talk about her journey from IT Help Desk to Head of Detection Engineering. George K and George A talk to Chloe about: How she used a foray into Splunk to learn and launch her career Why "more alerts" doesn't equal better security Her views on consulting as a career accelerator in cyber How she looks for and mentors new talent If you're tired of the "more alerts = more security" mindset or wondering how to break into cybersecurity from a non-tr...
Feb 17, 2025•32 min•Season 3Ep. 28
Candace Williams, security leader, joins the show to talk about what ACTUALLY matters in networking and professional development in cybersecurity. No BS, just real talk from someone who's lived it. George K and George A talk to Candace about: Why your internal barriers are often bigger than external ones The truth about transactional networking (spoiler: it doesn't work) Why chasing certs and being a “paper tiger” might not get you the job (and what will!) Why preparation beats perfection when o...
Feb 10, 2025•38 min•Season 3Ep. 27
Kenneth Ellington returns, one year later to talk about the changes from leaving his corporate gig to work for himself. George K and George A talk to Kenneth about: How he's balancing running a cybersecurity academy, staffing agency, AND active security work Real talk about the challenges of building business processes from scratch Brutally honest advice about job hunting in cyber Why job opportunities still exist in cyber - but you need the right mindset Contract work vs full-time positions Fav...
Feb 03, 2025•29 min•Season 3Ep. 26
This week we dive into GRC Engineering with Justin Pagano, Emre Ugurlu, and returning guest Terra Cooke, three of minds behind the new GRC Engineering Manifesto. We tackle: Why GRC folks are engineers (yes, really!) Moving beyond "legacy GRC" into systems thinking Building GRC tools that engineers actually want to use The intersection of AI and compliance automation This one gets nerdy! But if you want to understand how modern organizations can take a systems-based approach to governance while k...
Jan 27, 2025•1 hr•Season 3Ep. 25
Kristin Demoranville joins the show this week to talk securing the food supply chain as critical infrastructure, incidents’ effect on the global economy, representation in ICS/OT, and more! George K and George A talk to Kristin about: Dispelling misconceptions about OT security The food industry as critical infrastructure The need for more diverse voices in OT/ICS security to drive innovation and better solutions How to break into OT security Plus some raw honesty about being a woman founder in ...
Jan 20, 2025•42 min•Season 3Ep. 15
This week, Stacey Lokey-Day joins the show to talk about her career pivot from stay-at-home mom to cybersecurity analyst! George K & George A talk to Stacey about: How she leveraged a bootcamp experience into a successful career pivot Why she believes in "collecting experiences" early in your career, even the tough ones How her time in the SOC built up her resilience and confidence Finding your voice, and owning who you are in tech The lessons from her story are valuable to anyone, at any st...
Jan 13, 2025•45 min•Season 3Ep. 23
"Community" is getting bandied about a lot. What does it really mean, for both cybersecurity vendors and practitioners? This week's episode is a roundtable discussion recorded LIVE at Cyber Marketing Con in December 2024! The panel features Dani Woolf, Ben Siegel, Bronwen Hudson, Elliot Volkman, and BKBT's George K. Some key topics covered: Community is not something you can just spend money on. Successful communities are affecting change. You can't expect instant ROI from community building. Be...
Jan 06, 2025•32 min•Season 3Ep. 22
HAPPY NEW YEAR from BKBT! to you and yours! We have big plans... We hope you have a peaceful New Year's, and we're wishing you all the prosperity for 2025! 😳 We still can't believe we won Cybersecurity Podcast of the Year at the SANS Difference Maker Awards! Keep the celebration going with 30% off all orders from the BKBT Swag Shop. Discount will automatically be applied to all orders over $25, thru Dec 31st! Shop today: https://bkbtpodcast.shop Thanks for all the support over the years, we app...
Dec 30, 2024•3 min•Season 3Ep. 21
Happy holidays from BKBT to you and yours! Enjoy the time, and may be it restful, relaxing, and free of critical open-source vulns. 😳 We still can't believe we won Cybersecurity Podcast of the Year at the SANS Difference Maker Awards! Keep the celebration going with 30% off all orders from the BKBT Swag Shop. Discount will automatically be applied to all orders over $25, thru Dec 31st! Shop today: https://bkbtpodcast.shop Thanks for all the support over the years, we appreciate you!...
Dec 23, 2024•3 min•Season 3Ep. 20
As 2024 comes to close, we revisit some of the most listened to episodes in Season 3 so far! Don Jeter, CMO at Torq talks about breaking through the noise, and how to stand out in a market full of boring B2B copycats Lauren Palmer talks about why Sales is a profession people should be proud of, and how to build teams that don't abuse trust Andrew Owlett, global cybersecurity executive, explores how to tell the story of your career and your skills Michelle Eggers, pentester, talks about how she q...
Dec 16, 2024•40 min•Season 3Ep. 19
This week we sit down with Cecil Pineda to talk about building real community in cybersecurity, vendor relationships that actually work, and how to avoid being that annoying sales person calling every Monday. George K and George A talk to Cecil about: 🛠️ Why technical operations experience matters for CISOs ☝️ The art of "bothering someone" (yes, there is an art to it!) 💡 His advice for vendors trying to break through ✅ How his team evaluates new tech Plus we get into what it really takes to b...
Dec 09, 2024•43 min•Season 3Ep. 18
