Defense in Depth

CISO Series

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.

  1. 1 day ago

    Is the "Attackers Only Need to Be Right Once" a Misnomer?

    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 George Finney, CISO, University of Texas System. Joining is Sean Walls, CISO, Bob's Discount Furniture. In this episode: Asymmetric accounting Sometimes it really is that easy The spirit of the saying The cheapest way in A huge thanks to our sponsor, Native Security Native is the Cloud Security Control Plane. It helps enterprises enforce secure-by-design architecture across multi-cloud environments by translating security intent into the cloud provider's built-in controls, previewing impact before rollout, and keeping enforcement aligned as the environment changes.

    28 min

  2. 18 Jun

    What It Takes To Be Successful in Cyber Media

    What It Takes To Be Successful in Cyber Media 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 Dave Bittner, producer and host, The CyberWire. Joining is Graham Cluley, host of Smashing Security podcast and Leo Laporte, founder of TWiT (This Week in Tech) and host of Security Now podcast. In this episode: Format follows function The decision gap Practitioner fingerprints Beyond the news cycle A huge thanks to our sponsor, Palo Alto Networks Cortex Cloud unifies code, cloud, and SOC on a single data, risk, and control plane — giving teams the context, workflows, and agentic intelligence to turn risk into resolution. Native AI agents investigate and act within enterprise guardrails, delivering real-time protection from workload to network edge. Cloud security that outpaces machine-speed threats. Learn more at paloaltonetworks.com/cortex/cloud/demo.

    55 min

  3. 11 Jun

    CISOs Buy For Selfish and Politically Risk-Averse Reasons (Not Because Your Product is the Best)

    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 Howard Holton, CEO, GigaOm. Joining is Tyler King, senior director - threat operations and response, Sinclair. In this episode: Career insurance In the trenches together Who are you actually selling to? Common sense, uncommon in sales A huge thanks to our sponsor, Material Security Legacy email security only watches the door. Material protects your entire cloud workspace—email, files, and accounts—as one ecosystem. It's more coverage for less than the cost of a legacy SEG. One price, no surprises: just security that covers the whole surface area. Learn more at material.security.

    31 min
  4. Has Cybersecurity Become a Cult?

    4 Jun

    Has Cybersecurity Become a Cult?

    All links and images can be found on CISO Series We think of cybersecurity as a discipline. But when do ideas like best practices and NIST frameworks change into a system of belief? 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 Davi Ottenheimer, principal, Flying Penguin. Joining is Joshua Copeland, director of security, Crescendo. In this episode: Tools, not religion The case for structured discipline The management problem underneath Fix the damn holes 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.

    34 min

  5. 28 May

    What Does the Next Generation of Cloud Security Look Like?

    All links and images can be found on CISO Series We know human-paced security controls can't be applied to autonomous AI agents. So what needs to change with CNAPP and cloud security? 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 our sponsored guest, Dan Benjamin, vp product - data, identity, and AI security, Palo Alto Networks. In this episode: The detection ceiling A category gap, not a feature gap Resilience by design An insider threat with no face A huge thanks to our sponsor, Palo Alto Networks Cortex Cloud unifies code, cloud, and SOC on a single data, risk, and control plane — giving teams the context, workflows, and agentic intelligence to turn risk into resolution. Native AI agents investigate and act within enterprise guardrails, delivering real-time protection from workload to network edge. Cloud security that outpaces machine-speed threats. Visit Palo Alto Networks and search cortex cloud.

    33 min
  6. The Dangers of Picking the Wrong Vendor

    21 May

    The Dangers of Picking the Wrong Vendor

    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 Steve Zalewski. Joining us is our guest, Paul Guerra. In this episode: Read the contract How vendors win before the evaluation ends The fallout The real cost A huge thanks to our sponsor, Native Security 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.

    27 min

  7. 14 May

    Why Cyber Startups Need CISO Advisors

    All links and images can be found on CISO Series All security startups will tell you they talk to potential customers. The problem is that you limit your development when you only talk to CISOs who might buy. It's not the same guidance you'll get from a CISO who advises. Check out this post by Val Tsanev of the Cyber Risk Alliance for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation. This week's episode is co-hosted by me, David Spark, the producer of CISO Series, and Edward Contreras, senior evp and CISO, Frost Bank. Joining us is Steve Jensen, CISO, University of Maine System. In this episode: Building for whom? The only feedback loop that matters Valid, but for whom? Rethink the advisor roster A huge thanks to our sponsor, Material Security Legacy email security only watches the door. Material protects your entire cloud workspace—email, files, and accounts—as one ecosystem. It's more coverage for less than the cost of a legacy SEG. One price, no surprises: just security that covers the whole surface area. Learn more at material.security.

    27 min

  8. 7 May

    Breaking the Reactive Cycle of 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 David Spark, the producer of CISO Series, and Steve Zalewski. Joining us is our sponsored guest, Rob Allen. In this episode: The vulnerable stack Changing the structural economics Change the terrain The cost-benefit equation 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.

    32 min
See All (364)

About

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.

Information

  • Creator
    CISO Series
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    364
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2018-2024 Spark Media Solutions, LLC
  • Show Website
    Defense in Depth

You Might Also Like