Defense in Depth

Hosted by CISO Series

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380

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Oct 2026

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About the show

Defense in Depth, hosted by David Spark, Steve Zalewski, Geoff Belknap, and Edward Contreras, promises clear talk on cybersecurity's most controversial and confusing debates. Once a week we choose one controversial and popular cybersecurity debate and use the InfoSec community's insights to lead our discussion.

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60 recent

October 15, 202625 min

How Should Security Be Architected for Human Error?

All links and images can be found on CISO Series We've all internalized that humans are the weak link in cybersecurity. Why do we not account for that when we're building our cybersecurity programs? Check out this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode, co-hosted by David Spark , the producer of CISO Series , and Geoff Belknap . Joining them is their sponsored guest, Kieran Human , lead cybersecurity engineer, ThreatLocker . In this episode: Humans and automation checking each other Assume the click happens Catch it in the moment Take the manual step out entirely A huge thanks to our sponsor, ThreatLocker An AI-generated attack may be new, but it still needs to execute, access data, and move through your environment. ThreatLocker applies enforceable controls at each of those points, limiting what attackers can do regardless of how their code was created. Book a demo at threatlocker.com/ciso .

October 8, 202633 min

Can SMBs Get the Same Security as Everyone Else?

All links and images can be found on CISO Series Check out this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation for this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark , the producer of CISO Series , and Steve Zalewski . Joining us is their sponsored guest, Mark Stockley , cybersecurity evangelist, ThreatDown . In this episode: The ripple effect The economics of ignoring SMB Let the defaults do the work Accountability doesn't get outsourced A huge thanks to our sponsor, ThreatDown ThreatDown MDR is a 24/7/365 security analyst service that explains and resolves suspicious endpoint events. Our team of cybersecurity experts delivers proactive monitoring, investigation, and remediation, catching threats before they escalate. With ThreatDown's always-on protection, organizations gain peace of mind and safeguard their data, reputation, and finances - backed by real analyst expertise, not just automation. Learn more at threatdown.com

October 1, 202633 min

Why Do We Keep Complaining About the Same Issues in Cybersecurity?

All links and images can be found on CISO Series LinkedIn used to have a decent reputation among cybersecurity professionals. But lately, it feels like our feeds are relitigating the same debates every day, just with different faces. Has the situation changed? Check out this post by Allan Alford of NTT Global Data Centers for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark , the producer of CISO Series , and Geoff Belknap . Joining us is Howard Holton , founder, Phronia Counsel . In this episode: The clichés that say nothing A discipline without shared answers Old topics, new lenses A people problem, not a security problem A huge thanks to our sponsor, Teleskope Most DSPMs stop at finding the risk. Teleskope fixes this: it automatically finds sensitive data, including IP documents or board decks, and remediates exposure across cloud, SaaS, and AI environments natively, with human-in-the-loop controls, improving your team's efficiency tenfold. Trusted by Ramp, Polymarket, and Chevron Phillips, and more. teleskope.ai

September 24, 202635 min

Securing AI-Generated Open Source Code

All links and images can be found on CISO Series Check out this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark , the producer of CISO Series , and Steve Zalewski . Joining us is our sponsored guest, Abby Kearns , CEO, ActiveState . In this episode: Trust, but nobody verifies The economics of trust just changed Implicit trust doesn't scale anymore Rethinking what "open" even means A huge thanks to our sponsor, ActiveState ActiveState gives security and engineering teams a single governed source for open source software. With 79 million components built from source, continuously remediated, and delivered directly into the tools teams already use, ActiveState eliminates the CVE backlog and the developer toil that comes with it. Companies see a 60 to 99% reduction in CVEs and reclaim up to 30% of developer time. Learn more at activestate.com .

September 21, 202621 min

BONUS EPISODE: Super Cyber Friday Express - Hacking Vendor Selection

All links and images can be found on CISO Series This is a bonus episode of our brand new podcast, Super Cyber Friday Express — a 20-minute highlight version of our live one-hour show we do every available Friday at 1 p.m. Eastern. In this episode, David Spark is joined by Karl Mattson , founder and managing director of Squared Circle Ventures, and Howard Holton , founder and principal analyst at Phronia Counsel LLC, to discuss how your existing environment shapes what you buy next — and whether that's a strategy or just inertia. Watch the full one-hour show at Crowdcast . Subscribe to Super Cyber Friday Express, or any show on CISO Series, at CISOseries.com/subscribe .

September 17, 202626 min

How AppSec Needs to Change For the Speed of AI

All links and images can be found on CISO Series Check out this post by Anand Singh, CSO, Symmetry Systems, for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark , the producer of CISO Series , and Steve Zalewski . Joining us is Ryan Barrett , svp, security, Intermedia Cloud Communications . In this episode: Risk by default, not by decision Identity, not just speed Building security into the pipeline, not around it Letting the machine make the fix A huge thanks to our sponsor, ThreatLocker An AI-generated attack may be new, but it still needs to execute, access data, and move through your environment. ThreatLocker applies enforceable controls at each of those points, limiting what attackers can do regardless of how their code was created. Book a demo at threatlocker.com/ciso .

September 10, 202627 min

Building Resilience for Microsoft 365

All links and images can be found on CISO Series Check out this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by me, David Spark , the producer of CISO Series , and Brett Conlon , CISO, American Century Investments . Joining us is our sponsored guest, Simon Hughes , vp of field security at CoreView . In this episode: Ecosystem, not platform Beyond backup, into resilience What survives the restore Toward a digital twin A huge thanks to our sponsor, CoreView Attackers don't break into Microsoft 365. They log in and reconfigure it. When tenant configurations drift or get tampered with, recovery can take weeks and missed settings can reopen the door. The Cyber Resilience Framework for Microsoft 365 covers the five pillars, harden, govern, detect, respond, recover, and shows exactly where today's tools leave gaps. Download the free practical guide

September 3, 202628 min

Recommendations to Reboot the Security Vendor Pitch

All links and images can be found on CISO Series Check out this post by Val Tsanev of CyberRisk Alliance, for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by David Spark , the producer of CISO Series , and Edward Contreras , senior evp and CISO, Frost Bank . Joining is Jill Rhodes , svp, CISO, Option Care Health . In this episode: The ten-minute test Relevance beats format Price the problem or lose the room Whose meeting is it, really A huge thanks to our sponsor, Teleskope Most DSPMs stop at finding the risk. Teleskope fixes this: it automatically finds sensitive data, including IP documents or board decks, and remediates exposure across cloud, SaaS, and AI environments natively, with human-in-the-loop controls, improving your team's efficiency tenfold. Trusted by Ramp, Polymarket, and Chevron Phillips, and more. teleskope.ai

August 27, 202629 min

Market Confusion Is Responsible for the Biggest Gaps in Cybersecurity

All links and images can be found on CISO Series Check out this post from Joe Head of RELEX Solutions for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted by David Spark , the producer of CISO Series , and Edward Contreras , senior evp and CISO, Frost Bank . Joining is Mary Rose Martinez , CISO, and vp of digital technology services, Marathon Petroleum Corporation . In this episode: Left behind A hypothetical sale The philosophy problem Stop shifting the problems A huge thanks to our sponsor, ActiveState ActiveState gives security and engineering teams a single governed source for open source software. With 79 million components built from source, continuously remediated, and delivered directly into the tools teams already use, ActiveState eliminates the CVE backlog and the developer toil that comes with it. Companies see a 60 to 99% reduction in CVEs and reclaim up to 30% of developer time. Learn more at activestate.com .

August 20, 202635 min

Will AI Replace Detection Roles in Cybersecurity?

All links and images can be found on CISO Series Check out this post from Caleb Sima of Whiterabbit for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week's episode co-hosted David Spark, the producer of CISO Series , and Yaron Levi , CISO, Dolby . Joining is Adrian Ludwig , CSO, Rippling . In this episode: The messy middle The automatable part Where automation stops The influence gap 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 .