CyberWire Daily cover image

CyberWire Daily

Margaret Cunningham: A people scientist with a technology focus. [Behavioral science} [Career Notes]

Feb 2, 2025
Discover the fascinating journey of a principal research scientist who transitioned from aspiring English professor to a leader in cybersecurity. Explore her insights on how human behavior impacts technology and the importance of continuous learning. Learn about her role at the Department of Homeland Security, focusing on human systems integration and performance measurement. Margaret shares her belief in creating champions for human behavior in tech, emphasizing the significance of networking and keeping updated in this ever-evolving field.
06:56

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

  • Margaret Cunningham highlights the critical need to integrate human behavior considerations early in technology deployment to prevent unforeseen issues.
  • She emphasizes the importance of fostering professional connections and continuously updating knowledge in the evolving field of cybersecurity.

Deep dives

The Shift in Cybersecurity Approach

Traditional cybersecurity measures, such as firewalls and VPNs, have proven increasingly ineffective, with a marked rise in ransomware attacks and significant financial breaches in 2024. Conventional tools tend to expand an organization's attack surface, exposing public-facing IPs that can be easily exploited, particularly with the advancing capabilities of AI tools. A new security paradigm, represented by Zscaler's Zero Trust model, emphasizes the importance of making both applications and IPs invisible to potential attackers. By only connecting users to specific apps and continuously validating every request based on identity and context, organizations can significantly reduce the risk of breaches.

Get the Snipd
podcast app

Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
App store bannerPlay store banner

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode

Save any
moment

Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways

Share
& Export

Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode