Nexus: A Claroty Podcast

Joe Slowik, Director of Threat Research and Cyber Engineering at Dataminr, joined the Nexus Podcast to discuss how artificial intelligence (AI), frontier AI models and large-language models (LLMs) are accelerating vulnerability discovery and exploitation. Slowik wrote a report called "Examining the Vulnapocalypse and Defensive Responses" that cautions security leaders not to be distracted by the volume of CVEs being produced, but instead focus on the velocity of exploitation and how attacks are increasingly preceding disclosure. Subscribe and listen to the Nexus Podcast here.

Jake Braun, cofounder of DEF CON Franklin and former White House acting Principal Deputy National Cyber Director, joins the Nexus Podcast to discuss cybersecurity for water and wastewater utilities. DEF CON Franklin is a volunteer-driven program that connects security researchers and hackers associated with the DEF CON conference with U.S.-based water wastewater utilities and K-12 schools. This summer at DEF CON, DEF CON Franklin and the National Rural Water Association announced the Water Watch Center, which provides support to water utilities in the event of a breach. Jake explains how both initiatives are progressing, the cybersecurity challenges smaller water utilities face, and what the government can do to help from a policy and regulatory standpoint. Subscribe and listen to the Nexus Podcast here. 

Tatyana Bolton, Executive Director of the Operational Technology Cybersecurity Coalition (OTCC), joins the Nexus Podcast to discuss a new partnership between OTCC and the International Society of Automation (ISA), alongside a joint position paper advocating for the ISA/IEC 62443 standard as the definitive global benchmark for operational technology (OT) cybersecurity.Read more about the partnershipRead the position paper on a unified approach to OT cybersecuritySubscribe and listen to the Nexus Podcast here. 

Ben Gardiner, senior cybersecurity research engineer for the National Motor Freight Traffic Association (NMFTA), joins the Nexus Podcast to discuss research he published on a silent patch released by vendor Bendix addressing serious cybersecurity vulnerabilities in brake controllers found on tractor trailers. The vulnerabilities—which were updated as part of a safety recall—posed safety risks to drivers and others on the road. Ben explains how and why he chose to reverse-engineer the safety recall and how the vulnerabilities impact the security of any trailer-connected telematics devices, and also how they could be exploited at close range. Subscribe and listen to the Nexus Podcast here. 

Remedio cofounder and Chief Executive Officer Tal Kollender joins the Nexus Podcast to discuss the challenges and security gaps enterprises and critical infrastructure organizations face with insecure configurations and other risky exposures. As AI and advanced attackers accelerate the speed at which exposures are uncovered and exploited, organizations are beginning to consider automated remediation. Subscribe and listen to the Nexus Podcast here. 

Check Point Head of Agentic Security Innovation Shahar Tal joins the Nexus Podcast to discuss research he and colleague Yarden Porat conducted that uncovered a dozen vulnerabilities in popular AI agent frameworks such as LangChain, LangGraph, CrewAI, AutoGen, Microsoft Agent Framework, and Google ADK. The vulnerabilities allow an attacker to exploit the inherent trust given to AI agents and can pave the way to remote code execution and other malicious outcomes. Subscribe and listen to the Nexus Podcast here. 

Ellen Boehm, Senior Vice President Strategy and AI Innovation at Keyfactor, joins the Nexus Podcast to discuss post-quantum cryptography (PQC) readiness in critical infrastructure organizations. A recent Executive Order on PQC installed a December 2030 deadline for federal agencies to transition high-value systems and key generation to PQC. The EO also directs CISA, other federal sector risk management agencies to assist with road map development. In this episode, Ellen discusses readiness in this context. She also delves into how critical infrastructure organizations overseeing fleets of cyber-physical systems (CPS) assets transition those environments and avoid disruptions. Governance, budgeting, supply chain management, and the AI-driven threat landscape are also discussed. This episode was recorded during the Black Hat USA Conference. Subscribe and listen to the Nexus Podcast here. 

John Laliberte, CEO of ClearVector, joins the Nexus Podcast in an episode recorded at Black Hat 2026 in Las Vegas. Laliberte discusses how artificial intelligence (AI) is accelerating the creation of so-called non-human identities, including autonomous identities created by AI agents. Laliberte covers the risks and controls that enterprises and critical infrastructure organizations must consider as AI adoption accelerates everywhere. Subscribe and listen to the Nexus Podcast here. Download ClearVector's Identity Intelligence report.

Jessica Ji, a Senior Research Analyst at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology and its CyberAI Project, joins the Nexus Podcast to discuss how frontier AI models such as Claude Mythos are changing cybersecurity for practitioners and policymakers alike. Jessica works closely with policymakers in the U.S. government. She discusses how they view AI models' offensive and defensive capabilities, the need for a long-term strategy on AI and cybersecurity, and the disparate incentives between private AI companies such as Anthropic and OpenAI and the government as these models are developed and deployed. Subscribe and listen to the Nexus Podcast here.   

ICS Advisory Project founder Dan Ricci joins the Nexus Podcat to discuss how to turn operational technology (OT) and cyber-physical systems (CPS) visibility into actual risk reduction. Dan describes the need to distinguish between asset lists and actual asset inventories, what those differences are, and how to make the most of the information made available. Device data such as firmware versions, protocol identification, and more are vital to other aspects of the OT and CPS protection program, including exposure management and segmentation initiatives.Dan wrote more on this topic in this article: “From Inventory to Insight: Turning OT Visibility into Concrete Risk Reduction.” This interview was pulled from Episode 4 of Nexus Digest. Subscribe and listen to the Nexus Podcast here.