Plaintext with Rich

Rich Greene
  • 5.0 (3)
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Cybersecurity is an everyone problem. So why does it always sound like it’s only for IT people? Each week, Rich takes one topic, from phishing to ransomware to how your phone actually tracks you, and explains it in plain language in under ten minutes or less. No buzzwords. No condescension. Just the stuff you need to know to stay safer online, explained like you’re a smart person who never had anyone break it down properly. Because you are!

  1. 2H AGO

    APIs: The Control Points Hiding Inside Every App

    You tap a button and a ride shows up. You check out online and your bank approves it in seconds. It feels automatic. But nothing in software is automatic. Something received a request, decided it was valid, did some work, and sent back a response. That something is an API. This episode breaks down what APIs actually are, why they exist, when to use them, and why they matter far more than most people realize. It starts with a restaurant analogy that makes the concept click, then walks through how modern software is built from modular pieces that coordinate through structured requests and responses. From there, it covers the four ways APIs quietly fail: weak identity, excessive permissions, blindly trusted input, and missing guardrails for automation abuse. The episode closes with a four-step starter kit for treating every API like the security-critical control point it is, covering authentication, authorization, data minimization, and abuse prevention. Whether you're a business leader trying to understand what your engineering team means by "API security" or a professional who wants the concept explained without the jargon, Plaintext with Rich makes it clear. Is there a topic/term you want me to discuss next? Text me!! YouTube more your speed? → https://links.sith2.com/YouTube   Apple Podcasts your usual stop? → https://links.sith2.com/Apple   Neither of those? Spotify’s over here → https://links.sith2.com/Spotify   Prefer reading quietly at your own pace? → https://links.sith2.com/Blog   Join us in The Cyber Sanctuary (no robes required) → https://links.sith2.com/Discord   Follow the human behind the microphone → https://links.sith2.com/linkedin   Need another way to reach me? That’s here → https://linktr.ee/rich.greene

    7 min

  2. MAR 13

    Securing AI at Work: What the Chat Box Actually Touches

    At 4:47 p.m., someone pastes a customer escalation into an AI assistant and asks it to rewrite the tone. The reply is perfect. It also includes a private note from the internal thread. No breach. No attacker. Just a new workflow that doesn't know what should stay inside. This episode breaks down how to secure AI tools in the workplace by treating them like any other system that handles sensitive information and influences decisions. It covers the three patterns where AI quietly breaks: sensitive data going in through normal use, assistants being steered by hidden instructions inside documents they read (prompt injection), and over-connected AI with too much autonomy and too little friction. The episode references NIST's AI Risk Management Framework, OWASP's Generative AI Security Project and LLM Top 10, and practitioners like Rob T. Lee and Chris Cochran for ongoing grounded guidance. The starter kit covers four moves in order: creating an approved AI lane with company identity and strong authentication, putting guardrails around sensitive data, limiting connectors and permissions with a human in the loop, and making usage observable through logging and adversarial testing. Whether you're rolling out AI tools to your team or trying to secure what people are already using, Plaintext with Rich provides the baseline. Is there a topic/term you want me to discuss next? Text me!! YouTube more your speed? → https://links.sith2.com/YouTube   Apple Podcasts your usual stop? → https://links.sith2.com/Apple   Neither of those? Spotify’s over here → https://links.sith2.com/Spotify   Prefer reading quietly at your own pace? → https://links.sith2.com/Blog   Join us in The Cyber Sanctuary (no robes required) → https://links.sith2.com/Discord   Follow the human behind the microphone → https://links.sith2.com/linkedin   Need another way to reach me? That’s here → https://linktr.ee/rich.greene

    8 min

  3. MAR 6

    AI Is an Umbrella Word (And That's the Problem)

    Every company says they're using AI. Some mean chatbots. Some mean automation. Some mean statistics with a new logo. If everything is AI, the word stops meaning anything. This episode untangles what people actually mean when they say "AI" by breaking the umbrella into its real components. It covers machine learning (systems that learn patterns from data), deep learning (layered neural networks that made modern recognition possible), large language models (text prediction engines driving today's headlines), RAG or retrieval-augmented generation (connecting models to specific documents instead of relying on training alone), and agentic AI (systems that don't just respond but take action). The episode explains why these distinctions matter for risk, why a fraud detection model making probability estimates is fundamentally different from an agent allowed to move money, and how to filter the hype with a simple mental checklist: is this prediction, generation, retrieval, action, or branding? Whether you're evaluating AI tools for your organization, sitting through vendor demos full of buzzwords, or just trying to have a smarter conversation about what AI can and can't do, Plaintext with Rich sorts the categories. Is there a topic/term you want me to discuss next? Text me!! YouTube more your speed? → https://links.sith2.com/YouTube   Apple Podcasts your usual stop? → https://links.sith2.com/Apple   Neither of those? Spotify’s over here → https://links.sith2.com/Spotify   Prefer reading quietly at your own pace? → https://links.sith2.com/Blog   Join us in The Cyber Sanctuary (no robes required) → https://links.sith2.com/Discord   Follow the human behind the microphone → https://links.sith2.com/linkedin   Need another way to reach me? That’s here → https://linktr.ee/rich.greene

    8 min

  4. FEB 27

    Why Security Fails When Everyone Is Right

    The access made sense. The exception was justified. The shortcut saved time. Each decision worked on its own. And somehow, together, they added up to failure. This episode tackles the uncomfortable truth that most security failures aren't caused by ignorance or carelessness. They're caused by systems quietly accumulating risk while everyone is doing their best. It walks through the patterns that create this drift: temporary decisions that never expire, blurred ownership where risk becomes nobody's problem, trust that's too broad because convenience won repeatedly, and complexity without clarity where tools exist but don't drive action. The episode explains why none of this feels like failure while it's happening and why the sentence "we didn't realize it worked that way" is the fingerprint of systemic breakdown. The starter kit covers making ownership explicit, treating access like inventory, reducing silent permissions, designing for human reality, and favoring fewer tools with clearer purpose. Whether you're a leader trying to understand why incidents keep happening despite good intentions or a practitioner watching risk accumulate in real time, Plaintext with Rich names the patterns. Is there a topic/term you want me to discuss next? Text me!! YouTube more your speed? → https://links.sith2.com/YouTube   Apple Podcasts your usual stop? → https://links.sith2.com/Apple   Neither of those? Spotify’s over here → https://links.sith2.com/Spotify   Prefer reading quietly at your own pace? → https://links.sith2.com/Blog   Join us in The Cyber Sanctuary (no robes required) → https://links.sith2.com/Discord   Follow the human behind the microphone → https://links.sith2.com/linkedin   Need another way to reach me? That’s here → https://linktr.ee/rich.greene

    7 min

  5. FEB 20

    Zero Trust: What It Actually Means Beyond the Buzzword

    The breach didn't come through a broken firewall. It walked in through a valid login. Nothing exploded. Nothing looked suspicious at first. Someone just signed in and kept going. This episode clears up what Zero Trust actually is and what it isn't. It's not a product, not a box you install, and not a technology you turn on. It's a design decision: don't automatically believe a request just because it comes from inside your network. The episode explains why the old perimeter model stopped working when work moved to laptops, apps moved to the cloud, and being "inside the network" stopped meaning anything useful about risk. It walks through the four core signals Zero Trust evaluates (identity, device health, access scope, and segmentation), explains how Zero Trust Network Access differs from traditional VPNs, and addresses common misconceptions including the idea that Zero Trust means trusting no one. The starter kit covers strong authentication, separating daily accounts from admin accounts, mapping access paths, setting device requirements, and reducing broad network access. Whether you keep hearing "Zero Trust" in vendor pitches and want to know what it actually means or you're starting to rethink how your organization handles remote access, Plaintext with Rich cuts through the marketing. Is there a topic/term you want me to discuss next? Text me!! YouTube more your speed? → https://links.sith2.com/YouTube   Apple Podcasts your usual stop? → https://links.sith2.com/Apple   Neither of those? Spotify’s over here → https://links.sith2.com/Spotify   Prefer reading quietly at your own pace? → https://links.sith2.com/Blog   Join us in The Cyber Sanctuary (no robes required) → https://links.sith2.com/Discord   Follow the human behind the microphone → https://links.sith2.com/linkedin   Need another way to reach me? That’s here → https://linktr.ee/rich.greene

    8 min

  6. FEB 13

    Supply Chain Cybersecurity: When the Breach Starts Upstream

    You can lock down every system you own. Patch everything. Train everyone. And still lose control, because the failure didn't start with you. It started somewhere upstream. This episode breaks down supply chain cybersecurity by explaining why attackers who can't reach you directly look for someone you already trust. It covers the most common patterns: tampered software updates that arrive through legitimate channels, vendor breaches that expose your data through someone else's failure, compromised third-party credentials, and dependency risk hidden inside assembled code libraries. The episode explains why these attacks scale so effectively and why they're hard to defend against, because they ride on legitimate trust. The starter kit covers identifying crown jewel data, mapping real vendor relationships, limiting vendor access aggressively, protecting vendor logins with mandatory MFA, monitoring vendor behavior, patching shared dependencies fast, asking better pre-purchase questions, putting security expectations in contracts, and maintaining backups that actually restore. Whether you manage vendor relationships, oversee procurement decisions, or just want to understand why one compromised supplier can impact thousands of organizations, Plaintext with Rich explains the risk and the response. Is there a topic/term you want me to discuss next? Text me!! YouTube more your speed? → https://links.sith2.com/YouTube   Apple Podcasts your usual stop? → https://links.sith2.com/Apple   Neither of those? Spotify’s over here → https://links.sith2.com/Spotify   Prefer reading quietly at your own pace? → https://links.sith2.com/Blog   Join us in The Cyber Sanctuary (no robes required) → https://links.sith2.com/Discord   Follow the human behind the microphone → https://links.sith2.com/linkedin   Need another way to reach me? That’s here → https://linktr.ee/rich.greene

    8 min

  7. FEB 6

    Phishing and Social Engineering: Why the Strongest Defense Is Being Slower

    You don't need to break a system if someone will open it for you. You don't need malware if a message feels urgent enough. Most modern breaches don't start with code. They start with a conversation. This episode breaks down phishing and social engineering by explaining why these attacks keep working: they don't fight logic, they sidestep it. It covers how modern phishing has evolved beyond email to include text messages, voice calls, MFA fatigue attacks, QR code phishing, and AI-assisted impersonation. The episode walks through the emotional triggers attackers rely on (urgency, authority, fear, curiosity, helpfulness), why "I'd never fall for that" is often the opening, and what to do if you've already clicked. The starter kit covers the ten-second pause, second-channel verification, treating "unexpected plus urgent" as suspicious, inspecting senders and destinations, never typing passwords from links, using password managers for detection, strong MFA methods, two-person approval for money movement, and reporting phishing to help stop it for others. Whether you're responsible for protecting a team or you just want to stop second-guessing every email, Plaintext with Rich explains what actually works. Is there a topic/term you want me to discuss next? Text me!! YouTube more your speed? → https://links.sith2.com/YouTube   Apple Podcasts your usual stop? → https://links.sith2.com/Apple   Neither of those? Spotify’s over here → https://links.sith2.com/Spotify   Prefer reading quietly at your own pace? → https://links.sith2.com/Blog   Join us in The Cyber Sanctuary (no robes required) → https://links.sith2.com/Discord   Follow the human behind the microphone → https://links.sith2.com/linkedin   Need another way to reach me? That’s here → https://linktr.ee/rich.greene

    9 min

  8. JAN 30

    Ransomware and Double Extortion: Why Backups Alone Don't Save You Anymore

    You don't get locked out first. You get watched. Someone maps your systems quietly, copies your data quietly, and waits until they're sure you can't avoid the conversation. Only then do the screens go dark. This episode breaks down how ransomware actually works today and why double extortion changed the stakes completely. It explains how modern ransomware operations move slowly at first, stealing credentials and exploring systems before copying data and triggering encryption. The real leverage isn't locked files, it's the threat of publishing what was already taken. The episode walks through the most common entry points (phishing, reused credentials, unpatched remote access, over-privileged vendors), why ransomware crews now operate like supply chain businesses, and what to do during an incident. The starter kit covers immutable backups, multi-factor authentication, fast patching of internet-facing systems, administrative sprawl reduction, network segmentation, endpoint detection, credential hygiene, and building a one-page incident response plan. Whether you're a small business owner who thinks you're too small to be targeted or a leader who needs to understand why backups alone no longer solve the problem, Plaintext with Rich lays out the new reality. Is there a topic/term you want me to discuss next? Text me!! YouTube more your speed? → https://links.sith2.com/YouTube   Apple Podcasts your usual stop? → https://links.sith2.com/Apple   Neither of those? Spotify’s over here → https://links.sith2.com/Spotify   Prefer reading quietly at your own pace? → https://links.sith2.com/Blog   Join us in The Cyber Sanctuary (no robes required) → https://links.sith2.com/Discord   Follow the human behind the microphone → https://links.sith2.com/linkedin   Need another way to reach me? That’s here → https://linktr.ee/rich.greene

    8 min
See All (17)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Cybersecurity is an everyone problem. So why does it always sound like it’s only for IT people? Each week, Rich takes one topic, from phishing to ransomware to how your phone actually tracks you, and explains it in plain language in under ten minutes or less. No buzzwords. No condescension. Just the stuff you need to know to stay safer online, explained like you’re a smart person who never had anyone break it down properly. Because you are!

Information

  • Creator
    Rich Greene
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    17
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Plaintext with Rich
  • Show Website
    Plaintext with Rich

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