Behind the Shield - A Virtual Guardian Podcast

Hosted by Virtual Guardian

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Jun 2026

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About the show

Behind the Shield is a monthly webinar hosted by Virtual Guardian, an ESI family company. Our team of experts are veteran threat smashers, ethical hackers, and experienced security professionals who speak in terms of lessons learned – and how identification, protection, response and resilience help organizations stay ahead of digital criminals. After each live webinar, the content is reproduced as a podcast for your listening enjoyment. Check out virtualguardian.com/events to register to participate in live episodes to ask questions and experience without commercial interruptions.

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37 recent

June 9, 2026Episode 361 hr 10 min

Behind the Shield -May 2026

Expert panelists and host Marco Estrela brings you behind our shield to discuss current cybersecurity topics ripped from the headlines. This month, we welcomed a very special guest: Paul Schmick, Executive Vice-President and Chief Security & Technology Officer for Alliance Security US. Paul joined our panelists Patrick Naoum, Bill Strub, Toby Penn, and host Marco Estrela for an insightful and dynamic discussion. Hot Topics & Bill Rides the Great Divide Details • Critical Infrastructure Resilience: Can We Operate When the Network Is Gone? • The Canvas / Instructure breach (ShinyHunters) • How dangerous is Anthropic’s Mythos AI? • Bill Rides the Great Divide – A fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, Inc. Follow along with Bill with blog, photos, and live tracker by visiting Bill Rides – Riding the Great Divide to End Cancer.

April 14, 2026Episode 3557 min

Behind the Shield - April 2026

RSA Conference 2026 Recap This month on Behind the Shield, the team dives into their experience at RSA Conference 2026—one of the cybersecurity industry’s biggest annual gatherings. Host Marco Estrela is joined by Bill Strub, Toby Penn, and special guest Tommy Koorevaar, Manager of SOC at Virtual Guardian, as they break down the key themes and takeaways from this year’s event. From the latest buzzwords dominating the expo floor to the rapid evolution of AI—and what it means for security teams—they cover it all, along with this month’s hot topics. The group also shares highlights from standout booths, emerging technologies worth watching, and even touch on their Waymo experiences. Whether you attended RSA or are catching up from afar, this episode offers a candid, insightful recap of what mattered most at RSA Conference 2026—and what it means for the future of cybersecurity.

March 3, 2026Episode 341 hr 0 min

Behind the Shield - February 2026

Expert panelists and host Marco Estrela brings you behind our shield to discuss current cybersecurity topics ripped from the headlines. This month, we welcomed a very special guest: Jay Suggs, Founder of Suggcess Consulting Services and crisis leadership specialist. Jay joined our panelists Patrick Naoum, Bill Strub, Toby Penn, and host Marco Estrela for an insightful and dynamic discussion. Hot Topics: AI Scam: Moltbot, now rebranded as OpenClaw, and the latest surge of AI-driven scams • Outlook Add‑In vulnerability leading to stolen credentials • Copilot Spills the Beans — what you need to know

December 23, 2025Episode 331 hr 3 min

Behind the Shield – December 2025

Expert panelists and host Marco Estrela brings you behind our shield to discuss current cybersecurity topics ripped from the headlines. This month we had a special guest! Elisa Mula, Founder of EM Designs, joined our panelists. Elisa and Marco went toe to toe, would Marco’s physical penetration prowess hold its own or would Elisa’s physical security tactics crush Marco like a bug! Listen to find out! Hot Topics: Major Privacy Hack in South Korea, Australia’s Social Media Ban, and Threat Landscape Grows Increasingly Dangerous for Manufacturers.

November 3, 2025Episode 3256 min

Behind the Shield – October 2025

Expert panelists and host Marco Estrela brings you behind our shield to discuss current cybersecurity topics ripped from the headlines. Hot Topics: Cybercriminals Leveraging ChatGPT, AI’s “Lethal Trifecta”, F5 Networks Source Code Theft, SharePoint Vulnerability Update, Disrupting Malicious Uses of AI, AI-Powered Password Guessing Threat

September 3, 2025Episode 3151 min

Behind the Shield September 2025 - Summer Recap

Expert panelists and host Marco Estrela bring you behind our shield to discuss current cybersecurity topics ripped from the headlines. This episode's Hot Topics include: The city of St. Paul's ransomware shutdown, Canada joins the EU in a cybersecurity pact, Palo Alto acquires CyberArk, SharePoint hack vulnerability, the Uberization of hacking, WhatsApp and Telegram banned in Russia Sources: Topic 1: Bill #1 Article title: St. Paul cyberattack//Group behind St. Paul cyberattack alleges posting 43 gigabytes of stolen data online, mayor says Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/melvin-carter-st-paul-cyberattack-update-august-11/ Topic 2: Patrick #1 Article title: Canada signs deal deepening European defence and security partnership Source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-rearm-europe-deal-1.7567162 Topic 3: Toby #1 Article title: Palo Alto Networks Q4 Earnings Surge 16%, Eyes $25B CyberArk Deal Source: https://www.webpronews.com/palo-alto-networks-q4-earnings-surge-16-eyes-25b-cyberark-deal/ Topic 4: Bill #2 Article title: What we know about the Microsoft SharePoint attacks Source: https://www.cybersecuritydive.com/news/what-we-know-microsoft-sharepoint-attacks/753961/ Topic 5: Patrick #2 Article title: The Uber of the underworld Source: https://www.economist.com/international/2025/05/29/the-uber-of-the-underworld Topic 6: Toby #2 Article title: Russia restricts WhatsApp and Telegram, alleging apps used for fraud and terrorism Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/13/russia-clamps-down-on-whatsapp-and-telegram-over-data-sharing

May 21, 2025Episode 3048 min

Behind the Shield May 2025

Expert panelists and host Marco Estrela bring you behind our shield to discuss current cybersecurity topics ripped from the headlines. In this special episode, we hear from panelists Patrick Naoum, Bill Strub, and new to the panel, Toby Penn about their experience at the 2025 edition of RSA. Tune in to hear about some of this year's trending topics, most popular booths, and puppies at the conference?!

March 28, 2025Episode 291 hr 1 min

Behind the Shield - March 2025

This month we welcome guest and sponsor Julia Furst Morgado of Veeam for her spotlight topic "The Critical Nature of Incident Readiness and Response" and to chat about this month’s biggest cyber headlines with our panelists Marco Estrela, Patrick Naoum, and Bill Strub. Topic 1: Patrick Article title: Statement on People's Republic of China reconnaissance of Canadian systems Source: https://www.cyber.gc.ca/en/news-events/statement-peoples-republic-china-reconnaissance-canadian-systems Topic 3: Bill Article title: Oracle customers confirm data stolen in alleged cloud breach is valid Source: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/oracle-customers-confirm-data-stolen-in-alleged-cloud-breach-is-valid/ Topic 4: Julia Article title: FBI Says Backup Now—Advisory Warns Of Dangerous Ransomware Attacks Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2025/02/22/new-fbi-warning-backup-today-as-dangerous-attacks-ongoing/

February 25, 2025Episode 2857 min

Behind the Shield February 2025

Expert panelists and host Marco Estrela bring you behind our shield to discuss current cybersecurity topics ripped from the headlines. In this special episode, the team interviews one of Virtual Guardian's top SOC managers Tommy Koorevaar. Their discussion dives into what a day in the life of a SOC manager entails and common misconceptions about the inner workings of SOC teams. Our panelists also share their hot topics including how the new presidency in the US is affecting the cybersecurity landscape and how AI is increasing the effectiveness of social engineering attacks. Sources: Topic 1: Bill Article title: What A New Presidency Means For Global Cybersecurity—And For SMEs Source: https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbestechcouncil/2025/02/19/what-a-new-presidency-means-for-global-cybersecurity-and-for-smes/ Topic 2: Patrick Article title: AI-Powered Social Engineering: Ancillary Tools and Techniques Source: https://thehackernews.com/2025/02/ai-powered-social-engineering-ancillary.html

January 28, 2025Episode 271 hr 8 min

Behind the Shield - January 2025

Happy New Year Behind the Shield listeners! This month we welcome back guest Tom Tovar, CEO and Co-Creator of our sponsor Appdome to reflect on the biggest cybersecurity headlines of 2024 and share predictions for 2025! Our guest is joined by host Marco Estrela and expert panelists Patrick Naoum, Bill Strub, and Jason Williams.