In this episode of the FIRST Impressions podcast, two engineers from Stripe discuss their upcoming FIRSTCON25 session, Response via Prevention Engineering. They share how Stripe took a prevention-first approach to hardening laptops by reducing analyst workload, minimizing response toil, and increasing operational efficiency. Learn how data, trust, and cross-team collaboration made it all possible in this episode!
Jun 16, 2025
Is content king? Fisher argues data alone can lead us astray, instead, it is the story we should focus on. With a presentation loaded with artwork and visuals, Fisher hopes to teach statistic savvy security responders to see the bigger picture. What patterns appear when we take a step back? What narrative does the evidence summon? Question your answers and dive into this discussion with Chris and Martin.
Sep 27, 2019
Not EVERYONE who tweets from the toilet at 6 in the morning is a Narcissist.” In this episode, Chris and Martin dive into a discussion with data savvy Monica Whitty about how to spot and stop an insider threat. Unfortunately, most insider attacks we never see coming, but as Whitty explains, hindsight can be a tool. Realizing that not every perpetrator is evil or malicious, companies can begin to see the data for what it really is: people. Navigate psychological factors and learn to spot warning ...
Sep 20, 2019
No computers, no worries! After favorable feedback from the 2018 Conference, Chiyuki and her team returned this year with even more tabletop fun. Chris and Martin get the inside scoop on how a little friendly competition creates an international platform for learning. Without technology, red and blue teams ultimately work together to solve a handful of security scenarios in this Choose Your Own Adventure style exercise.
Sep 13, 2019
Join Chris John Riley and Martin McKeay live from annual FIRST conference in Edinburgh, Scotland as they interview Ken Munro. Ken is a partner and founder at Pen Test Partners, LLP and was the opening keynote for the 31st Annual FIRST Conference.
Jul 18, 2019
Missing out on #FIRSTCON19 this week! No worries! Join the interview in progress. Martin chats with Lisa Bradley (Senior Manager, NVIDIA PSIRT) and Jessica Butler (Senior Application Developer, NVIDIA) about their presentation at FIRST 2019 happening Monday, June 17 from 16:45-17:45.
Jun 17, 2019
Join the interview in progress! Desiree is a SOC Security Architect at Finanz Informatik. Desiree and Chris John Riley discuss her upcoming presentation that focuses on how to better integrate improvements into your security monitoring. Desiree presents at the 31st Annual FIRST Conference on Monday, June 17 at 12:45 in Fintry.
Jun 13, 2019
Join the interview in progress! Chris John Riley chats with Ralf Hund, CTO at VMRay and a supporter of the annual FIRST conference since 2016. Ralf shares his thoughts on the ongoing game of cat and mouse the industry is faced with when dealing with malware detection and the new protection technologies VMRay is working on in order to provide incident responders with faster and greater visibility to threats.
Jun 05, 2019
Join the interview in progress! The guys speak with presenters, Mike Murray (Senior Manager) and Robert Lelewski (Proactive Services Team Lead) of Secureworks. The duo are presenting on Thursday, June 20th from 11:00-12:00 and will be sharing their experiences and takeaways from conducting over hundreds of tabletops across various organizations. Get a primer of their upcoming session in this interview.
May 30, 2019
We’re kicking off the first episode of this year’s podcast with the man of the moment, Andrew Cormack, program chair of the 31st Annual FIRST Conference! Chris John Riley and Martin McKeay return as our podcast hosts once again and pick up where they left off almost a year ago during their last chat with Andrew. The guys touch on the program selection process, highlights of this year’s program, and what new things attendees will experience this year. Andrew is the Chief Regulatory Adviser at Jis...
May 17, 2019
Join the interview in progress! We’re closing out the 2018 podcast series with our 2019 program chair! Chris and Martin spend the last day of FIRST 2018 with a very well-known and very much appreciated active member of FIRST, Andrew Cormack. Andrew is the Chief Regulatory Adviser at Jisc Technologies and has graciously taken on the role of conference program chair for the 31st Annual FIRST Conference: Securing the Castle, June 16-21, 2019 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Take a listen and find out what A...
Aug 29, 2018
Join the interview in progress! Join Martin and Chris as they chat with Rob McMillan and discuss the evolution of incident response. Rob is the Research Director at Gartner and former co-founder and general manager of AusCERT. Rob was a featured keynote speaker at the 2018 annual conference.
Aug 24, 2018
Join the interview in progress! Chris John Riley interviews one of our favorites and a long-time supporter of FIRST, Bruce Schneier. Bruce is currently the CTO at IBM Resilient and lecturer at Harvard Kennedy School. While Bruce was not presenting at this year's conference, he stopped by to hang-out with the FIRST community to talk shop and talk about his new book, "Click Here to Kill Everybody" . Listen in to this fun and engaging interview. Special thanks to IBM Resilient for their continued s...
Aug 09, 2018
Each year, FIRST works with local teams to help locate an internet solutions provider willing to provide the conference with its own direct connectivity independent of the conference venue. This year with the championing of Cybersecurity Malaysia, FIRST was lucky enough to gain the support of TIME dotcom – one of Malaysia’s leading ISPs. Join the interview in progress as Chris chats with Paresh on the types of security challenges they face as an ISP and how they are planning for the future....
Jul 30, 2018
Join the interview in progress! Chris and Jerry discuss Microsoft’s involvement with FIRST over the past 15 years, new training materials, PSIRTs, threat information sharing, and more. Microsoft will be exhibiting at the 30th Annual FIRST Conference.
Jun 21, 2018
Join the interview in progress! Chris and Martin interview the team from Netflix - Alex Maestretti (Security Intelligence and Response Team) and Swathi Joshi (Senior Technical Program Manager, SIRT). The duo will be presenting, “Learning from Chaos, Cloud and Scale: Netflix SIRT,” on 25 June @12:15 in the Sabah Ballroom.
Jun 21, 2018
Join this week's interview in progress! Chris and Martin chat with Chad Loeven, VP of Sales & Marketing at VMRay. Chad talks VMRay, their mission, and why they got involved with FIRST and how it has become one of their favorite communities to be a part of. VMRay has been a supporter of the FIRST community and conference since 2016. Be sure to visit with them in the exhibit area.
Jun 20, 2018
Join the interview in progress featuring Tom Millar. Tom has been an active FIRST community member for years and is no stranger to the annual conference. This year, Tom will present on the following topics, “TLP to IEP Evolution: What, Why & How,” on 28 June and “Professionalizing the Field of Cybersecurity Incident Response,” on 29 June.
Jun 12, 2018
May 28th has come and gone…Thomas Fischer, independent data protection advocate talks GDPR. How do you define personal data? Who is accountable? What is actionable and fineable? Join the interview in progress and be sure to join Thomas on Thursday, June 28th from 11:00-12:00 in the Management/Privacy Track for what is sure to be a lively discussion.
Jun 04, 2018
Let's get things rolling with this season's podcast series! Chris John Riley and Martin McKeay return as our hosts. Episode 1 features 2018 Program Chair, Jeffrey Carpenter. Jeff is Senior Director of Threat Intelligence and Incident Response Consulting at SecureWorks and has been an active member, supporter, and all-around various hat-wearer of FIRST over the years. Jeff talks program goals, session insights, and things to expect at this year's 30th anniversary celebration event.
May 24, 2018
Join the interview in progress! Martin chats with Alex Pinto, Chief Data Scientist at Niddel and lead of the MLSec Project on his upcoming presentation, “Beyond Matching: Applying Data Science Techniques to IOC-Based Detection.” Alex talks about the glamorous life of a data scientist and shares some of the key takeaways from his presentation. Alex presents on Monday, June 12 at 11:15-12:00.
Jun 06, 2017
Join the interview in progress featuring Ben Stock, post-doc researcher at CISPA, Saarland University as he discusses the highlights of his research regarding vulnerability notification. Ben and his colleague Christian Rossow, Professor of IT Security at CISPA, Saarland University will be presenting, “Hey, You Have a Problem: On the Feasibility of Large-Scale Web Vulnerability Notification,” on Tuesday, June 13th at 11:45-12:15.
Jun 05, 2017
Join this week’s interview in progress as the guys talk TRUST. Lewis Philbey, Cyber-security Lead at Surevine shares his insight on issues that companies of all sizes face when sharing information. The guys also hit on some of the hurdles individuals new to the information security world face within group sharing and why organizations like FIRST exist to vet and foster trusted forums. Surevine is the official sponsor of the Sunday Ice Breaker Reception on June 11th. We’ll see you there!
May 31, 2017
Join the interview in progress featuring seasoned forensic investigator, Chad Tilbury. Chad is currently the Technical Director at CrowdStrike and a Senior Instructor at the SANS Institute. Windows credentials are arguably the largest vulnerability affecting the modern enterprise. Martin, Chris, and Chad talk common attacks, mitigation techniques, best practices, and what to attendees can expect to take away from Chad's workshop. Chad presents Monday, June 12 from 11:15-12:45 at the 29th Annual ...
May 22, 2017
Join the interview in progress! FIRST's official podcast team, Martin McKeay and Chris John Riley, are back! Martin and Chris kick off this year's series with FIRST Board of Director and 2017 Conference Liaison, Derrick Scholl. Amazing programming and new opportunities are abundant this year. Find out more about how you can make the most of your time at the 29th Annual FIRST Conference and what NOT to miss out.
May 17, 2017
Join the interview in progress! The discussion dives into the very relevant issues that the AnubisNetworks team has been researching and fighting that have been arising out of the Asia-Pacific region. Chris chats with Joao Gouveia, CTO at AnubisNetworks and Nuno Vieira da Silva, Head of Sales at AnubisNetworks. AnubisNetworks has been a supporter and sponsor of the Annual FIRST Conference since 2015.
Jul 28, 2016
Join the interview in progress! Martin chats with Alex Sierra, CTO of Niddel and Alex Pinto, Chief Data Scientist at Niddel about their presentation, "Sharing is Caring: Understanding and Measuring Sharing Effectiveness." This presentation was delivered at the 28th Annual FIRST Conference in Seoul, South Korea, June 13, 2016.
Jul 28, 2016
Join the interview in progress! Stuart Murdoch and Chris John Riley tackle the messy subject of breach disclosures and how different companies and countries are handling the information sharing process. Does mandating this type of information sharing actually reduce the amount of information being shared? What are the platforms/infrastructure available? Stuart is Founder and CEO of Surevine, an SME specializing in smart and secure collaboration technology. Surevine is the official sponsor of the...
Jun 09, 2016
Join the interview in progress! Founder of Bluekaizen (a company focused on cyber security education), Moataz joins Chris Jon Riley to discuss the global issue facing organizations today – identifying and hiring skilled cyber security professionals. Moataz presents his full presentation on Wednesday, June 15th @ 16:00-16:30 at the 28th Annual FIRST Conference in Seoul, South Korea.
Jun 09, 2016
Join the interview in progress! Tom and Dave give insights on their upcoming presentation focusing on the lessons learned along the way at Adobe and the landscape to come. Tom and Dave present on Tuesday, June 14th @ 13:00-14:30 at the 28th Annual FIRST Conference in Seoul, South Korea.
Jun 09, 2016