CISO Resources

  • How to CISO, Volume 1: The First 91 Days

    How to CISO, Volume 1: The First 91 Days

    Just want to download the eBook? Head over to How to CISO, Volume 1: The First 91 Days! It seems to be a rite of passage for all CISOs to, at some point in their career, write down their advice for other CISOs starting a new job, whether they are a first-time or veteran CISO.…

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Security Talks

  • The Untold Story of Fantastical Social Engineering. Hidden inside the story of Harry Potter is a most subtle of social engineering attacks. Explore how J.K. Rowling hid the world’s greatest villain in plain sight. This talk explores the world of Harry Potter from a different angle: that of the villain. In this talk, given in…


  • How do you know what to invest in next, or whether the time and energy that you’re spending on a security technology or program is a good investment?  Learn how veteran CSOs think about security investments, and develop your own rubric for evaluating where to best make your next security improvement.


  • How do you design defenses against DDoS? And how do you think about them from a policy perspective?


  • How do humans make risk decisions, and are they good, bad, or something else?


  • How do the grand challenges of the future look like the grand challenges of the past?


  • What does a Zero Trust journey look like? Explore how we migrated Akamai to a zero trust network access model, before that was even a phrase people knew.



Security Panels

  • Lenovo Late Night I.T: Cybersecurity: Trust No One

    Join Baratunde Thurston, Tim Brown, and Andy Ellis as they demistify security.


  • Cyberweek 2021: Navigating the CISO-Vendor relationship

    The panel discusses the do’s and don’ts of engagements between CSOs and early-stage startups, the concerns around long integration cycles, the value in quick implementations, and the need to show value quickly.


  • Cyberweek 2021: YL Ventures & Scale Fireside Chat

    YL Ventures and Scale Venture Partners hosted a Cyber Week 2021 Fireside chat where Wendy Nather, Sounil Yu, Ryan Gurney, and Ariel Tseitlin discussed the cyber industry challenges and trends. They talked about the burning challenges and the basics that CSOs are still struggling with, and how ransomware attacks undermine our ability to recover. Other…



Security Blog

  • False Positives
    False Positives

    During my morning commute, I encountered an interesting flaw in an alerting system. My car’s weight sensor triggers an alarm if it detects a possible passenger without a seatbelt. However, this car’s system escalates from a dinging sound to a rapid alarm. My immediate thought was to disable the alarm, highlighting a common security system…

  • Sledgehammers
    Sledgehammers

    Achieving perfect data security involves elaborate measures such as encryption, one-time passwords, asymmetric identifiers, and physical access controls. However, the ultimate level of security must align with the data’s value and potential threats, avoiding the extreme sledgehammer argument while striking a balance in risk management.

  • Usenix Security Symposium
    Usenix Security Symposium

    The upcoming USENIX security symposium in Vancouver during the first week of August promises an impressive lineup of invited talks. While I may not attend, I highly recommend catching Matt Blaze’s presentation on wiretapping, previously acclaimed as one of the most exceptional research talks at ICNS 2006.

  • Pseudonymity
    Pseudonymity

    Pseudonymity refers to adopting a semi-permanent, yet incomplete or false identity, commonly observed in online communities. It allows individuals to use distinctive pseudonyms to establish their unique presence while avoiding full anonymity. This practice fosters better community engagement by promoting courteous interactions. However, the challenge lies in identifying instances where a single person assumes multiple…

  • Disclosure Laws
    Disclosure Laws

    During a recent conference, a panelist expressed their belief that the California Disclosure Law (SB-1386) was an exceedingly inadequate information security regulation. However, I hold a different perspective. In my view, SB-1386 stands as the epitome of information security regulations, surpassing even the esteemed GLBA. While most regulations focus on prescribing specific controls for safeguarding…


Security Podcasts

  • The Best Interview Questions and the Answers You Want to Run From
    The Best Interview Questions and the Answers You Want to Run From

    https://cisoseries.com/the-best-interview-questions-and-the-answers-you-want-to-run-from/ You want an awesome job in cybersecurity, and you want to ask the right questions. What are the right answers, and which ones are red flags that should cause you to run?This week’s episode is hosted by  David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO Series and Andy Ellis (@csoandy), operating partner, YL Ventures. Our guest is Renee Guttman, former CISO,…

  • It’s OK to Look Like a Cyber Hero. Just Don’t Act Like One.
    It’s OK to Look Like a Cyber Hero. Just Don’t Act Like One.

    https://cisoseries.com/its-ok-to-look-like-a-cyber-hero-just-dont-act-like-one/ Security professionals should turn in the cyber hero mentality for the “sidekick” role. Many cybersecurity leaders believe they need to save the company from all the stupid users who can’t protect themselves. The reality is security professionals should lose the saviour mentality for a supporting role where they’re running alongside different business units trying…

  • When Good Decisions Go Bad
    When Good Decisions Go Bad

    https://cisoseries.com/when-good-decisions-go-bad/ You can make the right decision given the information you have, but everything is a risk, so there are times those good decisions are going to result in not the result you were hoping for. In essence, plenty of good decisions result in poor outcomes.This week’s episode is hosted by David Spark (@dspark), producer of CISO…