Tim: CEO of DomainTools for over a decade Previously started four start-ups in a single year Ex Wall Street and ex Silicon Valley Listen to the episode for our discussion on breaking into the technology industry, choosing organic vs. accelerated growth, and leveraging advisors for sound strategy. https://www.returnonsecurity.com/newsletter/ https://www.domaintools.com https://www.domaintools.com/resources/podcasts...
Mar 22, 2022•43 min
While the Ukraine/Russia conflict lasts, there is increased uncertainty about what the future holds. In this episode, Karim Hijazi (CEO and Founder of Prevailion) and I discuss the cyber conflict in full. Precedent in previous cyber war, how the cyber conflict has unfolded so far, how attackers (both directly and indirectly involved) are responding, and what might unfold in various escalation paths. His first episode on Secure Ventures was episode #2, and you can find it on whatever app you are ...
Mar 11, 2022•42 min
Scott: CEO of BV Systems, a family owned security business for over 50 years Started working in security in 6th grade Published author Fellow podcast host Listen to the episode for our discussion on his contributions to the family business since childhood, the physical security needs of today, and his contributions back to the community across a variety of media facets.
Mar 08, 2022•55 min
Philippe: - Founder and CEO of CrowdSec, the "Waze of Security" - 5-time entrepreneur - Entered cybersecurity after meeting his childhood hero who hacked video games Listen to the episode for the full story behind his introduction to the field, the factors that make a business idea feasible, and how crowdsourced cybersecurity can revolutionize the industry. https://crowdsec.net
Feb 22, 2022•44 min
With me in this episode is Jesper Zerlang. After bouncing around from founder to sales to wealth management, he came in to LogPoint to replace the original founder and has since driven incredible growth. In our conversation we dive into the SIEM competitive landscape, the benefits and challenges of a European grown company, and much more. Jesper: CEO of LogPoint, a Security Incident Event Management (SIEM) company headquartered in Copenhagen Ex-COO at a Danish Wealth Management company, Griffin ...
Feb 08, 2022•46 min
Johanna: Two decades of cybersecurity consulting experience Tested the viability of starting her own consultancy through a three month engagement and never looked back Nicknamed "the Storm" Listen to the episode for our discussion of consulting principles, the relevance of customer industries for cybersecurity consulting, and growing a consultancy through word of mouth.
Jan 25, 2022•52 min
Uri: - Financial crime and fraud detection expert with 20+ years of experience - CEO and Co-founder at Biocatch - product was used by major banks like Citi, HSBC, and Barclays - Previously head of RSA Identity Protection Group - Six month stint as interim CEO at Funtactix, where one of his tasks was to go from level 1-40 in World of Warcraft Listen to the episode for a breakdown of the evolution of financial crime over the last two decades as attackers responded to new defensive measures, and ho...
Jan 11, 2022•53 min
Lane: Senior Vice President of Presales Systems Engineering at Arctic Wolf Previously Systems Engineer at Code42 Security Operations Enthusiast https://arcticwolf.com/
Dec 29, 2021•35 min
Harshil: - Co-founder and CEO at Tromzo - Co-founder of SVCI (Silicon Valley CISO Investments) - Previously Senior Director of Security at Medallia Listen to the episode for our discussion on starting a company in stealth, organizing CISOs as investors, raising money with only an idea, and more. https://www.tromzo.com/ https://www.svci.io/
Dec 14, 2021•50 min
AJ: Co-founder and CEO at ByteChek - "making compliance suck less" Founding Board Member of the National Association of Black Compliance and Risk Management Professionals LinkedIn Top Voice in 2020 SANS Instructor Listen to the episode for our discussion ranging from his dreams to be in the NBA, his experience with compliance challenges, and his revelation that startup founders do not necessarily have to be geniuses. https://www.bytechek.com/...
Nov 30, 2021•43 min
Shawn: - Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at World Fuel Services - Previously the first CISO at US Marine Corps Intelligence - Advisor in the startup ecosystem Listen to the episode for our discussion ranging from analogies between motorcycles and cybersecurity risk management, growing a cybersecurity team, and specific differences between working in government and the private sector.
Nov 16, 2021•58 min
Craig: 2(!) Master's degrees in Math Ex Principal Security Engineer at Raytheon Mach37 accelerator graduate with HyperQube Listen to the episode for our discussions around pursuing academia, automating security consulting, and the traditional problems with spinning up cyber ranges. https://hyperqube.io/
Nov 02, 2021•51 min
Corey: - Security professional for 25 years - Employee #12 at Cylance - Advocate for culture emphasis, including time as Chief Experience Officer Listen to the episode for our discussions around the structural challenges with security services, the value of customer success and retention teams in the absence of services teams, and the dynamics around security monitoring for nascent security teams. Links: cyvatar.ai...
Oct 19, 2021•57 min
Troy: Creator of Have I Been Pwned? Creator of the Troy Hunt blog Host and producer of the Troy Hunt Weekly Updates podcast Pluralsight course author Microsoft Regional Director and MVP Never finished a college degree
Oct 05, 2021•56 min
Al: Three-time startup builder including Picmonic (Acquired), Medumo (Acquired), and now Safebase. Two-time Y Combinator graduate and Harvard Business School alumni Past VC at Comcast Ventures and Investment Banking at Mooreland Partners Poker enthusiast SafeBase: "The Interactive Security Portal" - SafeBase is a security resume for your organization to share key cybersecurity certifications and capabilities with customers in a streamlined fashion....
Sep 21, 2021•58 min
Sudesh: Serial entrepreneur having developed start-ups across several technical industries 30+ years in networking and cybersecurity At one point considered professional basketball (listen to the episode for more) KAPALYA: KAPALYA empowers businesses and their employees to securely store sensitive files at-rest and in-transit across multiple platforms through a user-friendly desktop and mobile application. Recently received a $250,000 grant from the NSF for anti-ransomware capabilities Launching...
Sep 07, 2021•45 min
Achiad: Bootstrapped Validize from idea to revenue, and he still has yet to take outside investment Incredibly involved in the Israeli cybersecurity ecosystem including being a Cyber Security Advisor for Start-up Nation Central, a board member for the Israel Export Institute, and the head of business development for the Ariel Cyber Innovation Center Originally studied Economics! Validize: Validize connects global cybersecurity solution purchasers with the innovative products in the Israeli marke...
Aug 24, 2021•50 min
Reuven: Previously head of Israel's cybersecurity red team Got a blank check offer for his first job in the private sector (listen to the episode for the story) Was mistaken for a janitor on his first day of college Has grown Cyesec 100% YOY and is targeting 250% this year in part due to a $120MM funding round earlier this year CYE: CYE brings a fact-based approach to organizational cyber defense, managing real business risks and optimizing the cybersecurity investment. CYE serves as a trusted a...
Aug 10, 2021•46 min
Bruce: Creator and content producer for popular security blog Schneier on Security (see first link below) Renowned author with over a dozen books Lecturer at Harvard Has a wikipedia page (I'm not quite there yet...) His site: https://www.schneier.com/ His paper on AI+Hacking: https://www.belfercenter.org/publication/coming-ai-hackers His Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Schneier...
Jul 27, 2021•36 min
Hugo: Started his career in pharmacology and now has over a decade of sales experience across several disparate industries Born in Mexico, he spent the majority of his sales career focused on Latin American expansion Similar to Alex/Archis who discussed Polyverse at a Johnny Rockets, Hugo and his co-founder Jesus first discussed rThreat at another classic chain, The Cheesecake Factory. rThreat: Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS) tool focused on understanding security posture Incredibly strong te...
Jul 13, 2021•47 min
Alex: 17 year tenure at Microsoft including Bill Gates' Technology Advisor Has started 5 companies Angel investor Board member on several companies CEO at Polyverse Archis: Previously a software developer at both Microsoft and Amazon Won a computing competition in India Board member at the Center on Contemporary Art CTO at Polyverse Polyverse: Provide continuous protection to Linux systems from memory-based attacks through operating system controls....
Jun 29, 2021•45 min
Ike: Almost 50 years of experience in tech Tenures at Apple, MIT, SAP, Cisco and more 20 patents Way more knowledgeable than me about computing (and most things...) TidalScale: Rethinking the problem of big data computing by scaling up rather than out through a powerful supercomputer
Jun 15, 2021•59 min
Michael is the CEO of Virta Labs, a healthcare security company building a platform for medical device management. He also founded his own consultancy to help start-ups acquire funding through traditional and non-dilutive mechanisms like government grants. He’s especially well-versed in the financial and legal aspects of startups which are tricky for so many founders.
Jun 01, 2021•49 min
With me in this episode is Eric Cole. Eric is the CEO and Founder of Secure Anchor Consulting, where he has provided guidance for companies of all sizes and the Obama administration. He is also an established author who will have a total of 8 published books after the release of Cyber Crisis at the start of June. In the episode we dive into the common themes between entrepreneurship and authorship, and how he became successful in both. Pre-order the book now on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Cyb...
May 18, 2021•35 min
The average professional's experience with cybersecurity generally involves phishing training, and that is a brutally dry introduction. Oz Alashe at Cybsafe is working to revolutionize the world of security training, and he won't stop until he has influenced training across the globe. Listen to this episode for his embarrassing icon that influenced his joining the UK paratrooper regimen and his outlook for the future after raising $8 million earlier this year.
May 04, 2021•38 min
Pete is a guru in the entrepreneurship space. He is currently acting as VP of Business Development for two different companies and CEO of his own consultancy, all while acting as an advisor and board member for several others. Pete is a clear "people person", and his stories of innocent connection followed by subsequent business opportunities are incredulous. Tune in to hear about his recipes for success for start-ups that sometimes go against commonly accepted ideas.
Apr 20, 2021•1 hr 12 min
As Wayne put it, security companies are often boring. To his credit, ThreatQuotient is far from it. The company has grown to over 100 employees since Wayne founded it with his coworker, Ryan Trost, back in 2013. The team has raised over $50 million in funding, and some portion of that has gone toward adopting three rhinoceroses, the company's logo and official mascot. On this episode, Wayne discusses his burning desire to become a founder before he succeeded with ThreatQuotient, the time commitm...
Apr 06, 2021•40 min
While episodes so far focused on the stories of founders, in this episode I interview the hosts of the Extreme Uncertainty podcast, Mike Ravenscroft and Mike Leffer, who are prominent venture capitalists in the security space. The episode includes a glimpse into the untraditional routes into VC as well as several tips for founders looking for funding and idiosyncrasies of the security market when looking at potential investments. This is one of my favorite episodes so far, as it provides additio...
Mar 30, 2021•58 min
Vladi has been through the gamut of cybersecurity roles including experience with the military, teaching, consulting, product, and entrepreneurship. After quickly rising through the ranks of Israel's cyber security arm, he entered the private sector where he gave up his free time for several years as he worked in consulting during the day and on coursework at night, including founding a security program at his alma mater shortly after graduating. Now, Vladi is leading Lightspin in the red-hot cl...
Mar 23, 2021•42 min
Sam is the youngest guest to join the show so far, having started his company Kasada while he was still a teenager. After experience working in the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) in high school, basically the NSA of Australia, Sam decided to forgo college ("university" for the Australians) in favor of going directly into the security world. Shortly after, he founded Kasada, which is built around a bot deterrence platform that presents complex quantitative challenges that cost attackers tho...
Mar 09, 2021•29 min