Data Security Decoded

Rubrik
  • 5.0 (13)
  • Tech News
  • Updated Biweekly

Data Security Decoded provides actionable, vendor-agnostic insights to reduce data security risk and improve resilience outcomes. Designed for cybersecurity and IT professionals who want practical insights on preparing for attacks before they happen, so they can respond effectively when they inevitably do. Episodes feature insights from researchers, crafters of public policy, and senior cybersecurity leaders, to help organizations reduce risk and improve resilience. Data Security Decoded provides practical advice, proven strategies, and in-depth discussions on the latest trends and challenges in data security, helping listeners strengthen their organizations' defenses and recovery plans.

  1. 20h ago

    The Real Risks of Agentic AI in the Enterprise

    Please enjoy this encore of Data Security Decoded. As enterprises race to adopt AI, many are discovering that traditional security models no longer hold. In this episode of Data Security Decoded, host ⁠Caleb Tolin⁠ is joined by ⁠Camille Stewart-Gloster⁠, CEO of ⁠CAS Strategies ⁠and former Deputy National Cyber Director, to unpack how AI is redefining cyber risk at every layer of the organization. Camille explains why identity-based attacks are so effective and how non-human identities (from APIs to AI agents) are quietly expanding the attack surface. She emphasized how critical MFA is for organizations to enable as they scale up AI operations., and why conditional access and governance must be foundational, not optional. The conversation also tackles ethical AI head-on. Camille argues that AI ethics and AI security are inseparable, and that removing humans from the loop introduces both legal and operational risk. From shadow AI to agent autonomy, she offers a clear-eyed framework for deploying AI systems that augment human teams rather than replace them. This episode is a practical guide for security leaders and learners navigating AI adoption, focused on resilience, trust, and long-term enterprise readiness. What You’ll Learn Why identity has become the dominant attack surface How AI agents and non-human identities increase risk Where EDR falls short in Identity-driven attacks Why AI ethics is foundational to AI security How governance enables secure AI deployment When AI should augment—not replace—security teams Episode Highlights [00:03:00] Cyber offense and the evolving national strategy [00:07:30] Identity eclipses malware as the primary threat [00:10:00] AI systems as high-value targets [00:12:30] Human judgment vs. automated response [00:14:00] The ethics–security connection [00:15:30] Why AI governance can’t be an afterthought

    The Real Risks of Agentic AI in the Enterprise

  2. Aug 11

    Top CISO Priorities and Global Digital Trust with Morgan Adamski

    Please enjoy this encore of Data Security Decoded. Welcome to ⁠Data Security Decoded⁠. Join host ⁠Caleb Tolin⁠ in conversation with ⁠Morgan Adamski⁠ who leads Cyber, Data, and Tech Risk at PwC and is a former US national security leader who spent 16 years tracking nation-state threats inside the US government. Coming out of a career spent inside secure facilities without windows or phones and working to address China’s prepositioning in US critical infrastructure, Morgan shares a direct view of how geopolitics is now shaping cyber risk decisions in boardrooms. What You'll Learn: Why only 24% invest in proactive defense, even while 60% call cyber a top priority How AI agents are cutting breach timelines to under 80 days Why cyber insurance is now a hygiene scorecard, not just financial protection The real reason leaders lack confidence in resilience Where legacy systems and supply chain dependencies expose blind spots How public–private collaboration changed the response to China’s infrastructure campaign What CISOs must confront now to avoid being blindsided by the next crisis The conversation gives security leaders and decision-makers a clear view of where current strategies fall short and the choices required to build real resilience before the next crisis forces it. Episode Highlights: [03:43] Why China prepositions inside US critical infrastructure to trigger disruption and panic in a crisis [04:20] Collective defense in action: how victims and industry exposed the campaign [09:27] The truth behind cyber budgets: only 24% invest in proactive defense [11:57] How AI agents are shortening breach lifecycles to under 80 days [13:07] Why cyber insurance is now a security scorecard, not a safety net Episode Resources Caleb Tolin on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ Morgan Adamski on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ PwC’s ⁠2026 Global Digital Trust Insights⁠ report

    Top CISO Priorities and Global Digital Trust with Morgan Adamski

  3. Jul 28

    Building Automation Frameworks and Tackling Cloud Archiving with Fred Lhoest

    This episode delivers operational insights from the frontlines of global telecommunications, drawing on Fred Lhoest's experience managing IT infrastructure across 60 countries at PCCW Global. The discussion begins with the realities of consolidating an environment that previously relied on more than 10 disparate backup tools into a single, unified data protection platform. Fred details his journey as a self-described automation junkie, explaining how he developed an open-source PHP and GraphQL framework to query APIs, detect unprotected virtual machines, and streamline automated recovery tasks. The conversation transitions into the operational boundaries of automation and cyber resilience. Fred warns against unvetted, fully autonomous failover triggers, emphasizing that false positives can lead to catastrophic outages if fallback systems are out of sync. He advocates for a human-in-the-loop validation model to maintain control over critical infrastructure decisions. Looking toward future infrastructure shifts, Fred examines the risks of migrating complex systems to hybrid cloud environments. He highlights the necessity of strict data residency compliance across global jurisdictions, including the European Union and the United States. Finally, Fred raises a critical warning regarding long-term digital archiving. He challenges the industry to solve the file format and hypervisor obsolescence trap, where compliance regulations require holding data for 30 years, but modern software renders the underlying files unreadable. What You'll Learn Strategies for consolidating fragmented backup tools into a single management interface. Methods for leveraging GraphQL APIs to build custom security automation frameworks. Risks of false positive automated failovers and human in the loop requirements. Key data residency considerations for migrating workloads across international jurisdictions. Practical guardrails for controlling employee and developer interaction with AI models. Uncovering software obsolescence risks hidden inside long term digital data archives. Why continuous recovery testing is essential to validating enterprise incident response plans.

    Building Automation Frameworks and Tackling Cloud Archiving with Fred Lhoest

  4. Jul 21

    Securing Research Infrastructure and Managing Shadow AI with Kevin Mortimer

    This episode explores the technical hurdles of protecting academic research environments and navigating the shift to automated cloud architectures, drawing on Kevin Mortimer's twenty five years of technical leadership experience. The dialogue focuses on how higher education institutions face escalating threat profiles, moving from initial denial of service events to targeted supply chain compromises aimed at extracting student records. Kevin details how his team rapidly deployed mandatory multi factor authentication overnight and altered storage topologies by isolating valuable research data inside protected cloud vaults. The discussion pivots to the operational reality of managing generative artificial intelligence across distributed campus networks. Kevin breaks down the friction between supporting early stage vibe coding for rapid proof of concept deployment and preventing shadow AI data exposure. He highlights the engineering required to build agent to agent communication platforms where firewall alerts automatically interface with backup systems to trigger live mounts and dynamic network segmentation. In addition to addressing autonomous agent architectures, Kevin challenges the prevalence of vendor AI washing, emphasizing the need for technical leaders to scrutinize underlying mathematical models and prepare for shifting OpEx financial models driven by tokenization. What You'll Learn Core strategies for securing academic research data within isolated cloud topologies. Methodologies for implementing emergency multi factor authentication policies across large user bases. Identifying supply chain vulnerabilities in third party student data record providers. Engineering autonomous agent to agent communication models between firewalls and recovery platforms. Frameworks for governing shadow AI usage and evaluating Model Context Protocol platforms. Utilizing vibe coding techniques for rapid scaffolding and proof of concept application development. Evaluating vendor transparency regarding underlying mathematical models to eliminate artificial intelligence washing.

    Securing Research Infrastructure and Managing Shadow AI with Kevin Mortimer

  5. Jul 14

    Shifting Security and Protecting the Pharma Supply Chain with Andy Hillis

    This episode provides a technical exploration of security engineering within highly scrutinized life sciences environments, drawing on Andy Hillis' decades of operational history at The Almac Group. The discussion centers on the practical realities of shifting security left. Andy explains how his organization integrated rigorous info security reviews directly into the initial request for information and request for proposal stages, effectively establishing an unyielding baseline of evidence for third party vendors. Listeners will gain access to battlefield stories regarding the navigation of sudden structural oversight from global regulatory bodies, including the FDA, EMA, and the post Brexit MHRA. The narrative moves past high level compliance abstractions to focus on the technical enforcement of GXP principles, least privilege role based access control, and centralized configuration change management across distributed international networks. Andy challenges conventional industry perspectives on cloud adoption and rapid automation, outlining a calculated, use case driven approach to infrastructure management. The conversation covers critical recovery metrics, defining the architecture required to build a provable, immutable backup position capable of supporting a minimum viable company operational state during an incident. Finally, the dialogue addresses the integration of automated security operations centers and the governance frameworks needed to control decentralized citizen development. What You'll Learn Core methodologies for integrating security teams into early procurement and RFI cycles. Operational frameworks required to support over 200 diverse compliance audits annually. Tactical application of GXP guidelines to digital data retention workflows. Engineering immutable backup states to secure a minimum viable company position. Governance mechanisms for regulating generative AI and managing rogue asset development. Automated SOC implementation techniques designed to suppress alert noise effectively. Value of network discovery tools in mapping complex assets internationally.

    Shifting Security and Protecting the Pharma Supply Chain with Andy Hillis

  6. Jun 30

    Defending the Authentication Flow: Device Code Phishing with Selena Larson

    This episode delivers critical battlefield stories regarding the operational reality of modern identity based threats. Selena Larson, Staff Threat Researcher and Lead, Intelligence Analysis and Strategy at Proofpoint and Host of the DISCARDED podcast and the Only Malware in the Building podcast, joins host ⁠Caleb Tolin⁠ to detail the specific mechanics of device code phishing campaigns, revealing how adversaries exploit legitimate communication structures to capture administrative and enterprise access. The discussion centers on the rapid commercialization of cybercrime, highlighting the leak of specialized kits in late 2025 that catalyzed the democratization of sophisticated technical exploits. The conversation unpacks the behavioral patterns of specific threat groups, analyzing the intersection of business email compromise, credential harvesting, and account takeover jumping. Selena explains how opportunistic targeting allows threats to pivot horizontally through trusted external supplier networks and specific industry verticals. Rather than focusing solely on defensive theory, the dialogue transitions into hard technical controls, challenging the long-term viability of traditional security awareness programs. Defenders are provided with direct architectural recommendations, including the precise deployment of conditional access policies and rigid device compliance frameworks designed to stop unauthorized authentication attempts before execution. What You'll Learn Core operational mechanics behind the exploitation of Microsoft OAuth authentication workflows. Historical transition from early red team utility testing to commercialized phishing platforms. Impact of leaked cyber criminal source code on the current volume of identity attacks. Analytical methods to distinguish between intentional industry targeting and opportunistic account jumping. Strategic deployment of conditional access policies to terminate unauthorized authentication capabilities. Technical constraints of legacy security awareness training against modern behavioral engineering. Structural integration of strict device compliance validation within identity perimeters.

    Defending the Authentication Flow: Device Code Phishing with Selena Larson

  7. Jun 23

    Beyond the Doomsday: Operational Resilience, Identity Sprawl, and Back-to-Basics Cyber Defense

    In this comprehensive roundtable episode, a powerhouse panel of seasoned security professionals—Cynthia Kaiser, Matt Castriotta, Allison Wikoff, John Fokker, Amit Malik, and Joe Hladik—joins host Caleb Tolin to confront the uncomfortable realities facing modern organizations. As digital infrastructure becomes more interconnected, traditional defense playbooks are being constantly challenged by sophisticated automated tactics, complex cloud migrations, and a massive explosion of non-human identities. Across both public and private sectors, the consensus among these experts is clear: maintaining foundational security hygiene is more critical than ever. The episode begins with a deep dive into active threat mitigation, exploring why layered defense strategies and robust identity controls are mandatory components of a resilient architecture. The conversation then seamlessly transitions into cloud environment realities, breaking down the often-misunderstood boundaries of the shared responsibility model. The panel challenges teams to look past surface-level configuration patching and focus intensely on data survivability, business continuity, and systemic recovery planning. Finally, the dialogue shifts to the rapidly evolving frontier of artificial intelligence integration. The guests examine the critical operational differences between simple environmental visibility and context-rich observability. Rejecting sensationalist doomsday narratives, they offer a grounded, realistic blueprint for the future of technological growth. This discussion provides essential high-level insights and tactical takeaways for both technical learners and strategic leaders looking to safeguard their organizations against modern operational risks. What You’ll Learn The Reality of Modern Ransomware: Why today’s cybercriminals act exactly like elite red teams, utilizing native tools to move surreptitiously across networks. Phishing-Resistant Identity Controls: How to implement hard tokens and application-based authentication to eliminate man-in-the-middle vector attacks. The Cloud Backup Blueprint: Practical methods for translating traditional concepts like air-gapping and data immutability directly into hyperscaler environments. Demystifying Shared Responsibility: Why cloud providers guarantee service uptime but leave data security and data care entirely in your hands. Visibility vs. Observability: A clear framework for understanding not just what assets exist on your network, but the active context of what they are executing. Overcoming the "Cyber Red Cross" Syndrome: Why healthcare and critical infrastructure must abandon the assumption that threat actors consider them off-limits. The Human-in-the-Loop Mandate: How to strategically design checkpoint systems that maintain human oversight over rapid AI agent execution.

    Beyond the Doomsday: Operational Resilience, Identity Sprawl, and Back-to-Basics Cyber Defense

  8. Jun 9

    The Anatomy of Cloud Ransomware with Matt Castriotta

    Are your cloud security controls actually protecting your infrastructure, or are they just keeping the lights on? With host Caleb Tolin, Matt Castriotta, Field CTO for Cloud at Rubrik, breaks down the tactical gaps exposed when organizations blindly replicate data center mindsets in public cloud networks. Castriotta charts the history of high-profile incidents from the Colonial Pipeline timeline up through modern adversaries like Scattered Spider and Storm-0501. He highlights how today's attackers move laterally by exploiting over-privileged, non-human identities to trigger malwareless mass deletion rather than relying on on-prem style encryption loops. The discussion pivots into an actionable critique of popular resilience assumptions. Castriotta details why relying on built-in features like S3 versioning and cross-region replication handles business continuity but leaves organizations entirely defenseless against automated cyber assaults. He delivers a precise operational roadmap for defining a "minimum viable business," establishing secure isolated recovery environments, and breaking the 80% ransomware reinfection cycle. This episode serves as an essential strategic guide for any enterprise trying to align the cloud shared responsibility model with predictable, audited return-to-service timelines. Resources ⁠Rubrik Cloud Cyber Resilience Solutions Microsoft Threat Intelligence Report on Storm-0501 Scattered Spider Threat Profile What You’ll Learn How to separate low-probability disaster recovery protocols from high-probability cyber attacks. The architectural threat mechanisms behind malwareless, privilege-driven data destruction. A blueprint for prioritizing operations based on your minimum viable business components. Solutions to tackle non-human credential sprawl and enforce just-in-time domain separation. The hard realities of cloud platform pricing mechanics during major recovery events.

    The Anatomy of Cloud Ransomware with Matt Castriotta
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5
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About

Data Security Decoded provides actionable, vendor-agnostic insights to reduce data security risk and improve resilience outcomes. Designed for cybersecurity and IT professionals who want practical insights on preparing for attacks before they happen, so they can respond effectively when they inevitably do. Episodes feature insights from researchers, crafters of public policy, and senior cybersecurity leaders, to help organizations reduce risk and improve resilience. Data Security Decoded provides practical advice, proven strategies, and in-depth discussions on the latest trends and challenges in data security, helping listeners strengthen their organizations' defenses and recovery plans.

Information

  • Creator
    Rubrik
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    62
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    Copyrights © 2024 All Rights Reserved by Rubrik 794942
  • Show Website
    Data Security Decoded

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