The Cybersecurity Podcast New America and The Christian Science Monitor

Paul Vann is the 14-year-old CEO of VannTechCyber LLC, a new cybersecurity company based out of his bedroom in Fredericksburg, Virginia. A rising star in the field, Paul has presented his research on cyberthreats conferences such as BSides Charm in Baltimore and Thotcon in Chicago. He joins Cybersecurity Podcast cohosts Peter W. Singer from New America and Sara Sorcher from The Christian Science Monitor's Passcode to discuss what it's like to be a kid hacker, learn about ethics, build a company and get taken seriously by other cybersecurity pros at such a young age. His father, the technical director of international programs at Raytheon Foreground Security also named Paul Vann, chats about how to encourage kids' interest in cybersecurity and still make sure they're being safe online. 
 
Related reading: 15 under 15 hacker kids, which can be found at projects.csmonitor.com/hackerkids 
 
This episode is sponsored by HackerOne

On this extra episode of The Cybersecurity Podcast, reporter Jack Detsch brings you the highlights from Beat the Breach, an event cohosted by Passcode and Invincea during the RSA Conference in San Francisco. The live discussion focused on how the Trump administration will confront the nation’s biggest cybersecurity challenges. You'll hear from former White House Homeland Security Adviser Lisa Monaco, former US Chief Information Security Officer Greg Touhill, General Motors’ Jeffrey Massimilla, and US Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Hickey. This bonus episode is sponsored by Forcepoint, NSS Labs, and Vectra Networks.

Last summer, more than 1,500 hackers targeted Pentagon websites – but it wasn't a massive cyberattack. These were vetted hackers invited to participate in the US government’s first ever bug bounty program. Chris Lynch, the director of the Defense Digital Service, and Lisa Wiswell, the group’s digital security lead, explain in this episode of The Cybersecurity Podcast why letting researchers find security flaws in exchange for money or prizes is a big part of the Pentagon’s push to solve complex IT problems. This episode is sponsored by HackerOne. 

The election may be over but Washington isn’t moving on from the election hacking story just yet. With the intelligence community blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin for organizing hacks on Democratic political organizations to influence the American election to help Donald Trump, Capitol Hill is abuzz with talks of more hearings and new legislation. Cochairman of the Congressional Cybersecurity Caucus, Congressman Jim Langevin joins this episode to talk about the challenges ahead. Also on this episode, cohost Peter Singer of New America discusses the president-elect's reticence to condemn Russia for the cyberattacks and cohost Sara Sorcher of the Christian Science Monitor's Passcode discusses Germany's plan to fight fake news. 

 

The breach at the Office of Personnel Management was one of the most significant cyberattacks in history, and now serves as a cautionary tale for many in Washington and beyond. But what do we know about it a year later? How did it happen? What are some of the lessons the federal government needs to learn to prevent such major breach from happening again? To answer that question and more, The Cybersecurity Podcast crew interviews one of the authors of the US House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, John Costello, who spent last year on Capitol Hill as a Science and Technology fellow through TechCongress. 
 
Also on this episode, podcast cohost Peter W Singer from New America discusses local cybersecurity challenges and Passcode's Sara Sorcher talks about a new report from George Washington University about active defense. 
 
Show notes: Into the Gray Zone, 
George Washington University's Center for Cyber and Homeland Security
 
https://cchs.gwu.edu/gray-zone-active-defense-private-sector-against-cyber-threats

With a diverse array of threats facing companies and governments around the world, what ideas will resonate with investors? On this episode of The Cybersecurity Podcast, we interviewed Sunil James, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist investing in information security for Bessemer Venture Partners. Also on this episode, podcast cohost Sara Sorcher from Passcode discusses her latest feature on 15 kids under 15 years old who are rising stars in cybersecurity and cohost Peter W. Singer from New America discusses his latest piece on the Atlantic, about how social media is changing modern warfare.
Show notes:
15 under 15: Rising stars in cybersecurity, Passcode
War goes viral: How social media is changing modern warfare, The Atlantic