Is It Even Possible to Fast-Track Your Way Into Cybersecurity?

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 Edward Contreras, senior evp and CISO, Frost Bank. Joining us is David Cross, CISO, Atlassian. In this episode: The experience prerequisite The bootcamp reality check The compensation conundrum The domain expertise imperative A huge thanks to our sponsor, ThreatLocker ThreatLocker® is a global leader in Zero Trust endpoint security, offering cybersecurity controls to protect businesses from zero-day attacks and ransomware. ThreatLocker operates with a default deny approach to reduce the attack surface and mitigate potential cyber vulnerabilities. To learn more and start your free trial, visit ThreatLocker.com.  

All posts 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 Geoff Belknap. Joining us is Steve Knight, former CISO, Hyundai Capital America. In this episode: Streamlining vendor evaluations  Moving beyond compliance theater The scorecard skeptics Finding the right balance Thanks to our sponsor, Formal Formal secures humans, AI agent’s access to MCP servers, infrastructure, and data stores by monitoring and controlling data flows in real time. Using a protocol-aware reverse proxy, Formal enforces least-privilege access to sensitive data and APIs, ensuring AI behavior stays predictable and secure. Visit joinformal.com to learn more or schedule a demo.

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 David Spark, the producer of CISO Series, and Mike Johnson, CISO, Rivian. Joining is Hanan Szwarcbord, vp, CSO and head of infrastructure, Micron Technology. In this episode Embracing growth An urgent need for creativity Get the business context Embrace your inner theater kid Huge thanks to our sponsor, Query.ai Query is a Federated Search and Analytics platform that builds a security data mesh, giving security teams real-time context from all connected sources. Analysts move faster and make better decisions with AI agents and copilots that handle the grunt work and guide each step. Learn more at query.ai

All links and images can be found on CISO Series. Check out this post by Justin Pagano at Klaviyo 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 Jesse Webb, CISO and svp information systems, Avalon Healthcare Solutions. In this episode: Align the incentives The feature and enforcement disconnect Putting the right people in the right place A need for transparency   Huge thanks to our sponsor, ThreatLocker ThreatLocker® is a global leader in Zero Trust endpoint security, offering cybersecurity controls to protect businesses from zero-day attacks and ransomware. ThreatLocker operates with a default deny approach to reduce the attack surface and mitigate potential cyber vulnerabilities. To learn more and start your free trial, visit ThreatLocker.com.

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 (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Steve Zalewski. Joining us is our sponsored guest Jason Steer, CISO, Recorded Future. In this episode We don't need more indicators Creating more work Generating actionable intelligence Design for what you can do Huge thanks to our sponsor, Recorded Future Every day, security teams face an impossible challenge: sorting through millions of threats, each potentially critical. But somewhere in that noise are the signals you can't afford to miss. Recorded Future's gives you the power to outpace AI-driven threats through intelligence tuned specifically to your needs, enabling you to act with precision. Their advanced AI detects patterns human eyes might miss, while their experts provide context that machines alone cannot. Visit recordedfuture.com to learn more about securing what matters to your business.

All images and links can be found on CISO Series. Check out this post by Gautam ‘Gotham’ Sharma of AccessCyber for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week’s episode, co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Steve Zalewski. Joining us is Krista Arndt, associate CISO, St. Luke’s University Health Network. In this episode: Verify then trust Dishonesty on all sides A lack of flexibility What about integrity? Huge thanks to our sponsor, Formal Formal secures humans, AI agent’s access to MCP servers, infrastructure, and data stores by monitoring and controlling data flows in real time. Using a protocol-aware reverse proxy, Formal enforces least-privilege access to sensitive data and APIs, ensuring AI behavior stays predictable and secure. Visit joinformal.com to learn more or schedule a demo.

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 (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Geoff Belknap (@geoffbelknap). Joining us is Dennis Pickett, vp, CISO, Westat. In this episode: Stop siloing cybersecurity Leading the charge A culture of ownership Preparing for resilience A huge thanks to our sponsor, Recorded Future Every day, security teams face an impossible challenge: sorting through millions of threats, each potentially critical. But somewhere in that noise are the signals you can’t afford to miss. Recorded Future’s gives you the power to outpace AI-driven threats through intelligence tuned specifically to your needs, enabling you to act with precision. Their advanced AI detects patterns human eyes might miss, while their experts provide context that machines alone cannot. Visit recordedfuture.com to learn more about securing what matters to your business.

All links and images for this episode 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 (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Yaron Levi, CISO, Dolby. Joining us is Joey Rachid, CISO, Xerox. In this episode: It's a balancing act Choose to leave the kids' table Your team is essential Don't change CISOs midstream Huge thanks to our sponsor, Blackslash Backslash offers a new approach to application security by creating a digital twin of your application, modeled into an AI-enabled App Graph. It categorizes security findings by business process, filters “triggerable” vulnerabilities, and simulates the security impact of updates. Backslash dramatically improves AppSec efficiency, eliminating legacy SAST and SCA frustration. Learn more at https://www.backslash.security/  

All links and images for this episode 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 (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Howard Holton, COO, Gigaom. Joining us is our sponsored guest, Rob Allen, chief product officer at ThreatLocker. In this episode:  Reinforcing zero trust Focus on effectiveness Understanding zero trust limitations What's next Huge thanks to our sponsor, ThreatLocker ThreatLocker® is a global leader in Zero Trust endpoint security, offering cybersecurity controls to protect businesses from zero-day attacks and ransomware. ThreatLocker operates with a default deny approach to reduce the attack surface and mitigate potential cyber vulnerabilities. To learn more and start your free trial, visit ThreatLocker.com.

All links and images for this episode 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 David Spark, the producer of CISO Series, and Steve Zalewski. Joining us is Jay Jay Davey, vp of cyber security operations, Planet.  In this episode: Aligning incentives The realities of the job Delivering ROI Holistic cybersecurity Thanks to our sponsor, Backslash Security Backslash offers a new approach to application security by creating a digital twin of your application, modeled into an AI-enabled App Graph. It categorizes security findings by business process, filters “triggerable” vulnerabilities, and simulates the security impact of updates. Backslash dramatically improves AppSec efficiency, eliminating legacy SAST and SCA frustration. Learn more at www.backslash.security.