CISO Series Podcast

Hosted by David Spark, Mike Johnson, and Andy Ellis

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409

Latest episode

Jun 2026

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About the show

Discussions, tips, and debates from security practitioners and vendors on how to work better together to improve security for themselves and everyone else.

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60 recent

June 16, 202648 min

Boards Love to Hear Jargon," Says Soon-to-Be-Fired CISO (LIVE in Boston)

All links and images can be found on CISO Series This week's episode is hosted by me, David Spark, producer of CISO Series and Andy Ellis, principal of Duha. Joining us is Dmitriy Sokolovskiy, senior vice president, information security, Semrush. This episode was recorded in front of a live audience at the offices of Aqueduct Technologies in Canton, MA. See photos from the event. In this episode: A clock on everything The oversight loop Not a better tool, a different one It's not the alerts A huge thanks to our sponsor, Strike48 It's no secret that AI is only as good as the data available to it. Strike48 unifies agentic AI with unmatched log visibility while avoiding the typical hefty price tag. Build and deploy agents for phishing detection, alert triage, threat correlation and more. Queries existing logs where they currently live, so you can keep the technology you already have. Learn more at Strike48.com. A huge thanks to our sponsor, Dropzone AI Dropzone AI delivers a team of AI agents that investigate alerts, hunt threats, and respond to attacks across your full security stack. No playbooks required. No hidden humans in the critical path. Your analysts stay in control, directing strategy while AI agents handle the investigation workload at machine speed. Learn more at dropzone.ai.

June 9, 202644 min

There's Nothing an LLM Can Screw Up That the Cloud Didn't Do First

All links and images can be found on CISO Series This week's episode is hosted by David Spark, producer of CISO Series and Andy Ellis, principal of Duha. Joining is our sponsored guest, Danny Jenkins, CEO, ThreatLocker. In this episode: Permission creep at machine speed The pattern we keep calling a mistake Stop authenticating the human Vibe coded out of existence A huge thanks to our sponsor, ThreatLocker ThreatLocker delivers Zero Trust Network Access and Zero Trust Cloud Access that verifies both user and device before granting access to specific applications. No broad access, nothing exposed, and no reliance on credentials alone. It's a smarter way to control access and reduce risk. Learn more at ThreatLocker.com/CISO.

June 2, 202637 min

Our Data Security Policy Is Transparent in That It Doesn't Exist

Our Data Security Policy Is Transparent in That It Doesn't Exist All links and images can be found on CISO Series This week's episode is hosted by David Spark, producer of CISO Series, and Mike Johnson, CISO, Rivian. Joining is Mike Melo, CISO, TMX Group. In this episode: The weight of old controls Data you can actually see 68 vendors and counting Authority you never had to claim A huge thanks to our sponsor, Vanta Still stuck on the quarterly audit treadmill? Meet Calm-pliance. Vanta combines compliance, risk, and proof on one Agentic Trust Platform—and continuously monitors your controls, keeping you audit-ready all year round. Find your Calm-pliance here.

May 26, 202640 min

If You Love Cloud Misconfigurations So Much, Why Don't You Marry Them!

All links and images can be found on CISO Series This week's episode is hosted by David Spark, producer of CISO Series, and Andy Ellis, principal of Duha. Joining them is their sponsored guest Amit Megiddo, CEO and founder, Native. In this episode: The CISO you don't need Misconfigurations aren't a cloud problem Secure by design means enforcing it Finding bugs faster isn't the bottleneck A huge thanks to our sponsor, Native Native makes secure-by-design inherent to how the cloud operates. It's the control plane for built-in cloud security, unifying and governing native controls, so security intent is defined once and applied consistently across providers. Learn more at native.security.

May 19, 202641 min

Why Be Responsible When We Can Just Blame AI?

All links and images can be found on CISO Series This week's CISO Series Podcast features David Spark, producer of CISO Series, and Andy Ellis, principal of Duha. Joining us is our sponsored guest, Jadee Hanson, CISO, Vanta. In this episode: The compliance receipt nobody reads Who signs off on the AI that wrote the code The agent that wouldn't stop The questionnaire that should not exist A huge thanks to our sponsor, Vanta Risk and regulation ramping up—and customers expect proof of security just to do business. Vanta's automation brings compliance, risk, and customer trust together on one AI-powered platform. So whether you're prepping for a SOC 2 or running an enterprise GRC program, Vanta keeps you secure—and keeps your deals moving. Learn more at vanta.com/ciso.

May 12, 202636 min

Can You Please Train the AI on Your Way Out the Door?

All links and images can be found on CISO Series This week's episode is hosted by David Spark, producer of CISO Series and Mike Johnson, CISO, Rivian. Joining is Jean-Paul Calabio, vp and CISO, Grainger. In this episode: Scanning the map isn't securing the territory CFOs don't fund faith What your AI inherits Nobody owns the gap Thanks to Jonathan Waldrop, CISO, Acoustic for providing our "What's Worse" scenario. A huge thanks to our sponsor, ThreatLocker ThreatLocker makes Zero Trust practical. With Default Deny, Ringfencing, and Elevation Control, CISOs get real control that's easy to manage and built to scale. Stop threats before they execute and reduce operational noise without adding complexity. See how simple prevention can be at ThreatLocker.com/CISO.

May 5, 202643 min

AI Confidence: It's a Trap! (LIVE in San Francisco)

All links and images can be found on CISO Series This week's episode is hosted by David Spark, producer of CISO Series and Mike Johnson, CISO, Rivian. Joining is Sara Madden, CISO, Convera. This episode was recorded live at BSidesSF 2026. In this episode: Playing vendor roulette Confident and wrong Making conferences count The stakes problem in tabletops A huge thanks to our sponsor, QuilrAI Can you tell if an action in your environment was performed by a human — or an AI agent? QuilrAI's Decision Engine evaluates content, context, and intent before actions complete — across browsers, endpoints, SaaS, LLMs, and agents. Not more alerts. Better decisions, in real time. Visit quilr.ai. A huge thanks to our sponsor, Nudge Security Get a full inventory of AI assets on Day One of your free trial, even those introduced before you started using Nudge. Get started. A huge thanks to our sponsor, Zenity Help shape the future of AI agent security. On May 27th, the AI Agent Security Summit returns to San Francisco. Hear from leading researchers and security pioneers, and usher in the new age of secure AI deployment across the enterprise. Register at zenity.io/ai-security-summit.

April 28, 202642 min

Step 1: Deploy New AI Tool. Step 2: Discover Security Flaws. Step 3: Repeat. (LIVE in Orlando)

All links and images can be found on CISO Series This week's episode is hosted by David Spark, producer of CISO Series and Michelle Wilson, CISO, Movement Mortgage. Joining is sponsored guest Rob Allen, chief product officer, ThreatLocker. This show was recorded in front of a live audience at ThreatLocker's conference, Zero Trust World 2026. In this episode: Risk as a daily habit AI agents talking to AI agents The code on the lock Words that shape decisions A huge thanks to our sponsor, ThreatLocker ThreatLocker makes Zero Trust practical. With Default Deny, Ringfencing, and Elevation Control, CISOs get real control that's easy to manage and built to scale. Stop threats before they execute and reduce operational noise without adding complexity. See how simple prevention can be at ThreatLocker.com/CISO.

April 21, 202639 min

Back in My Day, You Could Get a Cybersecurity Job at the Corner Store

All links and images can be found on CISO Series This week's episode is hosted by David Spark, producer of CISO Series and Andy Ellis, principal of Duha. Joining is Paul Drapeau, head of global information security, New Balance. In this episode: The logo trap Immunity through exposure The synthesis edge The cost of holding tight A huge thanks to our sponsor, Doppel This episode is sponsored by Doppel, the AI-native social engineering defense platform. Doppel strengthens human risk management by training employees to recognize deception, while our digital risk protection detects and disrupts attacks across every channel. Learn more at doppel.com

April 14, 202643 min

Our Theoretical Controls Work Great Against Hypothetical Attacks

Our Theoretical Controls Work Great Against Hypothetical Attacks All links and images can be found on CISO Series This week's episode is hosted by David Spark, producer of CISO Series and Andy Ellis, principal of Duha. Joining is David Nolan, former CISO, Asurion. In this episode: Influence, not control The initiative gap Skip the framework, patch the server Confident code with no owner A huge thanks to our sponsor, ThreatLocker ThreatLocker makes Zero Trust practical. With Default Deny, Ringfencing, and Elevation Control, CISOs get real control that's easy to manage and built to scale. Stop threats before they execute and reduce operational noise without adding complexity. See how simple prevention can be at ThreatLocker.com/CISO.