Adversarial Content

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The Adversarial Podcast Ep. 11 - incoming Trump administration, Microsoft's leaked SaaS creds, and software liability policy

Introduction: * The episode opens with a discussion on securing devices for employees traveling to high-risk countries, like China, as a way to protect corporate data and maintain customer trust. * Hosts Jerry, Sounil, and Mario welcome listeners and discuss recent events, including the FS-ISAC Fall Summit in Atlanta and geopolitical implications of the recent election. Key Topics: 1. Geopolitical Risks: * The group explores China's espionage activities and Russia's geopolitical maneuv

The Adversarial Podcast Ep. 10 - the CISO job market, CRQ, beg bounties, cryptography...

The Adversarial Podcast Ep. 10 - the CISO job market, CRQ, beg bounties, and cryptography (00:00) Intro (5:15) The CISO job market: present and future (25:57) Handling beg bounties and VDP (41:30) Quantum cryptography – how important is cryptography, really? Stories: * “Chinese Researchers Reportedly Crack Encryption With Quantum Computer” - https://www.pcmag.com/news/chinese-researchers-reportedly-crack-encryption-with-quantum-computer Hosts: * Jerry Perullo: https://www.l

The Adversarial Podcast Ep. 9 - NIST password guidelines, CUPS vulnerabilities, breach vs. hack

The Adversarial Podcast Ep. 9 - NIST password guidelines, CUPS vulnerabilities, breach vs. hack Episode notes (00:00) Intro & NIST’s new password complexity requirements (13:19) CUPS vulnerability: critical or a distraction (31:26) Federal standards for cybersecurity in health care: should legal responsibility fall on individuals? (47:30) What constitutes a hack vs a breach? Stories: * “NIST Drops Password Complexity, Mandatory Reset Rules” - https://www.darkreading.com/identity-ac

The Adversarial Podcast Ep. 8 - Pagers and Supply Chain Attacks, GitHub stealers, “Founder Mode”

(00:00) Intro (02:24) Exploding pagers: are psychological attacks worse than breaches? (20:21) Are credit card breaches still a concern in 2024? (24:57) Infostealer delivered through GitHub Issues: how are trustworthy services being abused? (31:45) Founder mode: when is it time to switch from "founder mode" to "manager mode?" (44:02) Is open-source more secure than closed-source? The Adversarial Podcast Ep. 8 - Pagers and Supply | RSS.com Stories and books mentioned: * “Israel plant

The Adversarial Podcast Ep. 7 - Security Certs, Vulnerability Disclosure, and Effective Security Controls

Episode notes Listen as CISOs-turned-founders Jerry Perullo, Mario Duarte, and Sounil Yu discuss the value of security exams and question the relevance of certain certifications in today’s industry. Then, they debate into the vulnerability disclosure process, exploring how CVEs impact companies outside the SaaS world and whether CISA’s "Secure by Design" initiative is truly effective across industries. Finally, they discuss security misprioritization, from school systems to corporate desktops,

The Adversarial Podcast Ep. 6 - SSN Leaks, Cloud Misconfigurations, and Passkeys

Episode notes Join former CISOs-turned-founders Jerry Perullo, Mario Duarte, and Sounil Yu as they debate the impact of SSN leaks, discuss the effectiveness of recently implemented ransom payment bans in Miami, and recently reported AWS misconfigurations. Then, listen as they debate passkeys, vulnerability management, and board reporting. The Adversarial Podcast Ep. 6 - SSN Leaks, Cloud M | RSS.com 00:00 Intro 02:17 Social Security Number breach 14:48 Ransomware payment bans 21:47 AWS

The Adversarial Podcast Ep. 5 - Why Boards want more Joe Sullivans and Tim Browns and less CISOs - Jerry Perullo live at Evanta

Episode notes Speaking live at the Evanta CISO Summit in Atlanta in June 2024, host Jerry Perullo talks candidly about why CISOs are failing to land Board Director roles. The Adversarial Podcast Ep. 5 - Why Boards want mo | RSS.com

The Adversarial Podcast Ep. 4 - CrowdStrike Lawsuits, Overhyped Exploits, and Fake Remote Employees

Episode notes Join former CISOs-turned-founders Jerry Perullo, Mario Duarte, and Sounil Yu as they discuss upcoming lawsuits related to the recent CrowdStrike outage, switching costs, overhyped security vulnerabilities and their effect on practitioners' responsibilities, fake employees from North Korea, the information stealers and the state of password managers, and the increasing threat of deepfakes. The Adversarial Podcast Ep. 4 - CrowdStrike Lawsui | RSS.com Stories * “CrowdStrike i

The Adversarial Podcast Ep. 3 - CrowdStrike, Wiz Acquisition Rumors, and SolarWinds

Episode notes In this episode, former CISOs-turned-founders Jerry Perullo, Mario Duarte, and Sounil Yu discuss the recent Crowdstrike outages, PR in the recent Wiz acquisition rumors, stakeholder value in Rapid7, and the SEC dropping charges in the SolarWinds case. Stories: - Activist Jana has a stake in Rapid7. There are two paths to bolster value at the cybersecurity company: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/06/29/two-paths-for-jana-to-bolster-shareholder-value-at-rapid7.html - Google Near $23

The Adversarial Podcast Pilot – Cybersecurity Investments, Secure Configurations vs. Code, and Risk Management

Episode notes Join former CISOs-turned-founders Jerry Perullo, Mario Duarte, and Sounil Yu as they reflect on the state of cybersecurity investments in 2024, debate the importance of configuration vs. code security, and discuss the importance of governance in risk management. Stories: * ‘There’s A Lot Of Noise’ — VCs Trying To Find Clarity In Cluttered Cyber AI Landscape: https://news.crunchbase.com/cybersecurity/venture-funding-ai-wiz-ma-rsa/ * Wiz raises $1B at a $12B valuation to expan

The Adversarial Podcast Ep. 2 - Chrome Extension Vulns, Cyber Job Market, Mouse Jigglers, and the Ransomware Plague

Episode notes In this episode, former CISOs-turned-founders Jerry Perullo, Mario Duarte, and Sounil Yu discuss malicious Chrome extensions, the cybersecurity job market, mouse jigglers and security policy, and the impact of the recent ransomware wave. They share insights from their experiences, exploring the challenges of managing browser security policies, job burnout, and banning ransom payments. Stories: * Millions under threat from malicious browser extensions — what to do: https://www.t

The Adversarial Podcast Ep. 1 - Snowflake, Shared Fate, and the Gili Ra’anan Model

In this episode, former CISOs-turned-founders Jerry Perullo, Mario Duarte, and Sounil Yu discuss the recent wave of cyber-attacks using Snowflake and the model of shared fate. They debate the effectiveness of banning ransom payments and explore the complexities of cybersecurity regulation, using recent events involving UnitedHealth and Jerry's former employer as case studies. The conversation also touches on the ethical dilemmas CISOs face when interacting with venture capital, highlighting pers

Season 02 Episode 02 - The Interim CISO

Joined by fellow Interim CISO veterans Yael Nagler of Yass Partners and Aurobindo Sundaram of RELX, host Jerry Perullo reflects on his experience as the Interim CISO of Silicon Valley Bank and explores the challenges of the role from hiring manager and candidate perspectives. Yael Nagler: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yaelnagler/ Aurobindo Sundaram: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aurobindosundaram/ 00:16:30 Why hire an Interim CISO? 00:21:00 Is there such a thing as KTLO in the CISO role? 00:30:3

The Risk Acceptance Myth

The notion of "Risk Acceptance" has always challenged me. For the uninitiated, Risk Acceptance is a concept often discussed in cybersecurity leadership when it comes to accountability for cyber debt. The idea is that cybersecurity leaders and other professionals identify risks and recommend mitigating actions that would reduce that risk, but recognize that it is always up to business leadership to weigh the costs and benefits of change and make a final decision. Risk Acceptance has always come u

Cyber Governance: What is Fair to Expect from Board Directors and Management? 3 of 4

Episode 3: Incidents In Episode 1 of this series I talked about oversight of cybersecurity threats and how a Board can engage with senior management to determine the mission of the cybersecurity department and prioritize testing and analysis. Next I moved on to cyber risks in Episode 2 and the idea of a Remediation Agility chart to guide a wide-ranging Board room discussion with a single visual. The next area that deserves a permanent spot on the Board agenda is incidents. Incident awareness a

Season 02 Episode 01 - Board/CISO Interaction

Returning from 6 months as the interim CISO of Silicon Valley Bank, host Jerry Perullo speaks about Board/CISO interaction on the FS-ISAC Insights podcast. Full video interview at fsisac.com/insights 00:04:35 Being the Interim CISO of SVB through the crisis 00:06:36 The CISO “seat at the table” 00:14:00 Board TRIC 1: Threats 00:17:30 Board TRIC 2: Risks 00:19:30 Board TRIC 3: Incidents 00:21:20 Board TRIC 4: Compliance 00:26:00 CISOs as Board Directors Season 2 Episode 1 - Board/CISO I

Cyber Governance: What is Fair to Expect from Board Directors and Management? 2 of 4

Episode 2: Risks In Episode 1 of this series I talked about oversight of cybersecurity threats and how a Board can engage with senior management to determine the mission of the cybersecurity department and prioritize testing and analysis. Now it's time to move on to cyber risks and what level of detail is appropriate in a Board room. To steer our conversation let's use a Remediation Agility chart. Similar to the Threat Objective portrayal in Episode 1, this visual is meant to sit on the screen

Bad CISO Archetypes

As part of my advisory work, I often help companies find and/or interview security leaders. While I'm a huge fan of screening quizzes, I realized that I should go a step further and help firms understand what I'm trying to detect or avoid during the interview process. In the process of discussing this with some peers, the Bad CISO Archetypes list was born. Look out for these when you are hiring - but more importantly steer your career to avoid becoming one! Chicken Little You don’t want someo

Cyber Governance: What is Fair to Expect from Board Directors and Management? 1 of 4

With mounting pressure around cyber literacy in the Boardroom, Directors are looking for specifics around what will be expected of them. Likewise, organizations are wondering what is fair for Directors to expect of management. Drawing on experiences from both sides of the table, following are reasonable expectations that leverage Director talents to establish effective cyber oversight. I'll do this using a mnemonic to guide program governance internally and externally - TRIC: Threats, Risks, In

Season 01 Episode 02 - The CISO Board Director

In this episode, host Jerry Perullo explores the opportunities and challenges for retiring tech executives and CISOs in the Board room. Hear about how Boards need business leaders first and specialists second, and what you can do today to groom yourself in that very direction. 01:57 Background 07:45 The Traditional Board Director 09:50 Episode BLUF 10:19 Landing a Seat 14:32 Your Board Profile 16:08 t-3: What You Should do Now 28:40 Recap Episode 02 - The CISO Board Director | RSS.com

Making Sense of Geographic Network and Travel Restrictions

There is a lot of confusion when it comes to cybersecurity "geo restrictions" on networks, and just as much when it comes to corporate travel protocol. While the topics are distinct, they are often conflated and share enough underpinning facts to discuss together. First, let's talk about geographic network restrictions. We can organize that topic by ingress - or inbound restrictions, and egress - or outbound. INGRESS Ingress geographic network ("geo IP") restrictions apply to restricting wha

Cybersecurity for Investor Relations and Corporate Governance

In addition to new rulemaking and interpretive guidance on cybersecurity from the SEC, public companies are seeing their cybersecurity disclosures and assertions weighed directly by investors, ratings agencies, and insurance providers - not to mention prospective customers. Investors and analysts are capturing cybersecurity maturity alongside other Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) priorities, and agencies are performing algorithmic reviews of public filings to score companies on their

Cybersecurity in the Three Lines Model

Since 2010, the Three Lines of Defense model has been widely adopted as an authoritative framework for operational and financial enterprise risk management across the globe. The model was not intended to dictate new positions and roles within an organization per se, but to evaluate existing structures to ensure sufficient coverage and independence to provide effective risk management. Even if you are not evaluated against the model today, it is a useful framework to gauge the maturity of your or

Briefing Your Board on Cybersecurity part 3/3: Board Committees - Metrics and Materials

Cybersecurity is arguably the most concerning topic across corporate board rooms these days, with Directors clamoring for data not just on risk, but on general education around this new and complex subject. This collection of tips mirrors a talk I gave at the FS-ISAC annual summit in April 2018 and I hope follow CISOs, security practitioners, corporate governance professionals and corporate Directors may find it helpful. Episode 1 introduced core Corporate Governance concepts for Security Profe

Briefing Your Board on Cybersecurity part 2/3: Full Board Meetings

Cybersecurity is arguably the most concerning topic across corporate board rooms these days, with Directors clamoring for data not just on risk, but on general education around this new and complex subject. This collection of tips mirrors a talk I gave at the FS-ISAC annual summit in April 2018 and I hope follow CISOs, security practitioners, corporate governance professionals and corporate Directors may find it helpful. Episode 1 introduced core Corporate Governance concepts for Security Profe

Briefing Your Board on Cybersecurity Part 1/3: Corporate Governance 101 for Security Professionals

Cybersecurity is undeniably one of the most concerning topics in corporate board rooms today. Directors are looking not only for assurance around the obvious risks, but for general education around this new and complex subject. Clarity is sought around what is expected of Directors, how exposed a firm is to the latest breach on the news, how management assesses cybersecurity risk, and how a firm's program stacks up in independent reviews. A knock-on effect of this is a raft of questions among CI

What are they after? A threat-based approach to cybersecurity risk management

I'm pleased to be a part of the publication of a substantial Cybersecurity Guide for Directors and Officers announced yesterday. I hope you will visit www.securityroundtable.org and enjoy the entire book and more. Following is my contribution (Chapter 27): What are they after? A threat-based approach to cybersecurity risk management Intercontinental Exchange & New York Stock Exchange - Jerry Perullo, CISO Given finite resources and the ongoing threat of the “next big hack,” cybersecurity is