Carlton Fields Podcasts

Carlton Fields

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  1. 5d ago

    No Password Required: Nonresident Senior Fellow at AEI and the Person Who Explained the Internet to Capitol Hill

    Shane Tews is a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where she focuses on cybersecurity, privacy, artificial intelligence, and internet governance. She is also president of Logan Circle Strategies, a strategic advisory firm working at the intersection of technology and policy. Before her think tank work, Shane helped introduce modems to the George H.W. Bush White House, walked the halls of Capitol Hill explaining the internet to blank-staring legislators, and spent years at Verisign helping shape the foundational frameworks of how the internet would be governed. In this episode, Shane traces her unlikely path from the Bush administration to becoming one of Washington's most trusted voices on tech policy. She breaks down why regulating outcomes rather than inputs is the only sensible approach to technology governance, why the United States and European Union are operating from fundamentally different innovation philosophies, and why a national privacy bill is long overdue. She also explains why most organizations and individuals are far less protected than they think and why nobody knows who to call when something goes wrong. Jack Clabby and co-host Kayley Melton talk with Shane about legacy system vulnerabilities, the cybersecurity implications of agentic AI, and what policymakers absolutely must get right over the next decade. She also reflects on what the CISA reauthorization limbo means for companies that don't even know they've lost liability protection. In the lifestyle polygraph segment, Shane reveals she has 20,000 emails across eight accounts, admits she fakes laughs at bad jokes out of Midwestern politeness, shares her obsession with “The Bear” and “Peaky Blinders,” and tells us about her children's book project using Google Omni called "Shane on a Train."

    52 min
  2. Jun 9

    No Password Required: Tech Lead at Airbnb and the Person Who Always Says, “I Got This”

    Mudita Khurana is a tech lead for automated tooling and vulnerability management at Airbnb, where she focuses on building modular, scalable security systems in an era of rapidly evolving AI threats. Before Airbnb, she spent nearly a decade in security roles across Accenture, Meta, and PwC, making bold career pivots along the way, including a move into Facebook's product security team. In this episode, Mudita shares her journey from a family of doctors in India to Carnegie Mellon and into the heart of Big Tech security. She discusses what it means to thrive as a non-traditional engineer in a deeply technical field, why she stepped back from management to get closer to the work, and how she thinks about building security tooling that won't be obsolete in three months. Jack Clabby and co-host Kayley Melton, recording live from the BSides Tampa Conference at the University of South Florida, talk with Mudita about imposter syndrome, AI's curveballs for security teams, leadership without a leadership title, and the importance of community in staying on top of a field that never stops moving. She also reflects on what great mentorship looks like early in a career and why clarity, ownership, and consistency are the leadership qualities she keeps coming back to. In the lifestyle polygraph segment, Mudita firmly plants her flag in the Harry Potter universe as Hermione, explains why Deadpool doesn't qualify as a superhero, debates gym vs. nature as a reset strategy, and reveals her dream remote work base: a high-altitude Buddhist mountain town in the Himalayas.

    28 min
  3. Apr 6

    No Password Required: Project Manager at Rapid7 and Queen of Cyber Media

    Cynthia Wyre is a senior strategic engagement project manager at Rapid7, where she helps connect academic research and industry. Her path into cybersecurity innovation was untraditional, moving from health care and construction project management into vulnerability research and academic partnerships. Cynthia reflects how she applied for a role she did not think she was qualified for, why professionals of all backgrounds belong in cyber, and how project management skills can open unexpected doors. Jack Clabby of Carlton Fields and K. Melton of the Cognitive Security Institute welcome Cynthia live from CyberBay 2026 in Tampa for a conversation about research, resilience, and relationship-building in cybersecurity. Cynthia explains Rapid7’s partnership with the University of South Florida and Cyber Florida, including her efforts to support research around SOC analyst training and burnout, and the future of cyber education. Throughout the conversation, Cynthia highlights the importance of community, mentorship, and helping people see that cybersecurity is not limited to one path or one type of person. The episode wraps with the lifestyle polygraph segment, where Cynthia reveals how she would work a room full of strangers and how she won a costume contest moments before meeting rapper Yung Gravy. She also earns a crown of her own, officially joining the No Password Required fantasy cybersecurity squad as queen of the podcast.

    40 min
  4. Mar 17

    No Password Required: AI Security Researcher and Documentarian of Spirituality and Play

    Madhav Nakar is a security researcher at BeyondTrust specializing in identity threats, endpoint security, and cloud attack paths. With a background in theoretical mathematics, his current research focuses on analyzing attacker behavior to build practical systems of detection. In this episode, Madhav shares the pivotal moments that shaped his career, including his first experience witnessing a nation-state attack unfold in real time from his seat in a security operations center. He explains how mathematical thinking sharpens security strategy and why strong research is rooted in exploration, not predetermined outcomes. Jack Clabby of Carlton Fields, joined by co-host Kayley Melton of the Cognitive Security Institute, welcomes Madhav for a conversation on modern cyber defense. From AI-driven attacks and agentic systems to privilege escalation risks in role-based access environments, Madhav breaks down what teams are getting wrong about AI and why defending against AI increasingly requires AI-powered tools. The conversation turns to Madhav’s philosophy of “serious play,” where curiosity, experimentation, and failure fuel better research and resilience. He also shares insights from his spiritual and philosophy project, The Fire of Knowing, exploring consciousness and belief through a neutral lens. In the lifestyle polygraph segment, Madhav pitches a cybersecurity documentary, debates growth versus comfort, and reflects on public dancing experiments.

    37 min
  5. Feb 17

    No Password Required: Social Media Security and Governance Leader and Lover of All Beagles

    Sue Serna is the CEO and founder of Serna Social and the former head of global social media at Cargill. She brings more than two decades of experience at the intersection of storytelling, strategy, and security. In this episode, she shares her journey from business reporter to leading her own consultancy serving companies around the world on social media strategy. Jack Clabby of Carlton Fields, joined by guest co-host Rex Wilson of Cyber Florida, welcomes Sue for a candid discussion about the realities of enterprise social media. From managing more than 150 Facebook pages for a single company, to navigating internal politics, agency relationships, and regulatory pressure, Sue explains why social media is far from “free” and why most organizations still under-resource it. Sue dives deep into the gap between social media teams and cybersecurity departments. She outlines how personal account compromises can escalate into enterprise-level incidents, why governance frameworks matter, and how large organizations can regain control of sprawling digital footprints. Drawing from real-world examples, she argues that social media must be treated like finance or HR, a core business function requiring structure, ownership, and accountability. The episode wraps with the lifestyle polygraph segment, where Sue reveals her love of Apollo-era space history, debates iconic Philadelphia traditions, and imagines what magical talent her beagle would bring to Hogwarts.

    45 min

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

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Watch, listen, and subscribe for timely insights on the latest industry and legal trends, and what they mean for your business.