Crucial Tech

Lou Covey
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Unraveling the technology that affects us all but that few of us understand, in a format to give you a basic understanding in the time it takes to drive to and from the grocery store.

  1. 20H AGO

    Episode 11.21 - Vibe coding losing it's shine, but we're trying it anyway

    At the beginning of 2025, vibe coding (using LLMs to create computer code) was all the rage. By June, the bloom had fallen off the rose. Studies showed professional coders were losing skill, and falsely believing they were made more productive using it rather than doing it themselves. This failure of AI to produce efficiency made the fad of vibe coding crash faster than any other AI-related application. Companies producing tools to support the work lost 60% of traffic by September. Undeterred the editorial staff of Cyber Protection Magazine jumped into the fad with both feet... because the practice still has value for people who don't know jack about coding but have a few ideas. Patrick Boch and Lou Covey talk about their vibe journey to date. Don't pass up the poll.

    22 min

  2. FEB 4

    Episode 11.20 - Will you miss CISA 2015 now that it's gone?

    Last week, the Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Act of 2015 faded away without Congressional action (and because of some pretty stupid reasons from Senate Homeland Security Committee chair Rand Paul). But like Dumbledore's Phoenix could arise from the ashes in a new form. Who knows and who cares? Well, we talked to Gigamon's CSO Chaim Mazal this week about the act, and whether it's demise is good or bad. The short answer is, it depends. Listen. this is a short one and will probably make things clearer.... I think.

    11 min

  3. JAN 23

    Episode 11.19 -- Are you naive enough to fall for a ticket scam

    As the Superbowl and Olympics approach, ticket scammers are getting ready to separate fools from their money. Maybe that is harsh but it takes a pretty clueless person to fall for most phishing scams today. I talked with Anomali CISO about how emotional decisions are at the core of most online fraud and what can be done about it.

    21 min

  4. JAN 16

    Episode 11.18 - Decentralization for many, not all

    Last week we discussed the trend toward decentralization of technology, and we discuss that more next week in Cyber Protection Magazine. But while it may be a global trend, it doesn't mean everywhere. This week we met with Lisa Pent, CEO of ThePentEdge.com, a consulting organization that works with small to mid market banks and credit unions where consolidation is still very much standard. We also touch on the recent decision by the Chinese government to ban large US. and Israeli cybersecurity firms from operating in China, contributing to our prediction of the end of the World Wide Web.

    24 min

  5. JAN 7

    Episode 11.17 - Decentralization and Sovereign Cloud Predictions

    We kick off 2026 with a prediction episode where we call decentralization and sovereign cloud efforts as the trend for this year and for a few years. Co-editor Patrick Boch and I see the failures of Cloudflare, AWS, Microsoft and other cloud suppliers, along with growing deglobalization are reversing the efforts to consolidate the cybersecurity industry.

    22 min

  6. 12/10/2025

    Episode 11.16 - California Press Foundation: Saving journalism with tech

    Last week I attended the most honest tech conference I can remember. The ironic thing was that it wasn’t a tech conference at all. If was the California Press Foundation (CPF) annual conference. The CPF traces its history back to 1878 when it was formed originally as the California Press Association to represent the journalism industry in the state. It morphed and partnered with different journalism groups over its existence, and today it operates independently as a statewide nonprofit supporting the next generation of journalists. At its core, it works to keep the shrinking industry alive. Journalism is crucial to the survival of democracies worldwide, and this organization is doing yeoman's work in pushing it into the 21st century.

    14 min

  7. 12/02/2025

    Episode 11.15 - How to make proper predictions

    Every year at this time I start getting pitches from PR folks offering client's predictions for the coming year. Lots of publications put out their annual predictions articles in December with their own, plus a few selected from these pitches. At Cyber Protection Magazine we do it a bit different. Our predictions don't come out until January so we can give equal review to the stuff that comes in after Christmas. So you're welcome. But in this podcast with Ian Thornton-Trump, CISO of Inversion6, we start the process early. We not only give out a few predictions but we also talk about what makes a good prediction. Hint: It doesn't start with "In 2026 we will see a continuation of..." Anything that says everything will go on as it is is not a prediction worth reading. This is a longer than normal podcast, but when Ian and I get wound up, it's hard to stop.

    46 min

  8. 11/25/2025

    Episode 11.14 - Cheap marketing gets poor results

    The technology industries run penurious marketing programs. Most spend half as much of their budgets as most of the S&P, and then complain that customers don't respond. They also blame the marketing and PR folks for the bad results of their cut-rate budgets. It doesn't have to be that way. We sat down with Beth Trier of Trier Company, a successful and well-considered agency in San Francisco, and talked about how inadequate budgets and, frankly, C-suite ignorance is damaging the process of communications. While most people may not think this is important, the lack of customer education is at the core of most technology failures, and that's because of poor marketing.

    28 min
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Unraveling the technology that affects us all but that few of us understand, in a format to give you a basic understanding in the time it takes to drive to and from the grocery store.

Information

  • Creator
    Lou Covey
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    252
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Lou Covey
  • Show Website
    Crucial Tech