The Cyber Ranch Podcast

Yaron Levi and Allan discuss SOC challenges, hypothesis-driven data analysis, business objectives, and the importance of context in threat detection. They highlight the need for structured approaches, threat modeling, and the value of trust in cybersecurity operations.

Allan is joined by Rafal Los, industry innovator, strategist, and personality. His career spans 20+ years while working inside companies from the Fortune 10 to a firm of less than 10. Additionally, Rafal is a founder and host of the Down the Security Rabbithole Podcast - an industry podcast delivering a weekly take on cybersecurity since 2011. Join Allan and Rafal as they discuss cyber security centers of excellence, metrics, marketing and acceptance in this conversation between two friends.   Key Takeaways: 01:56 Bio 04:27 Goals for Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (CoE) 06:44 How do you birth a Cybersecurity CoE? 09:45 Selling your service 15:18 Cost - who pays in the end and how? 17:10 Getting management on board 24:22 It’s not all about cost – but it is. 26:37 Metrics 31:05 Quality metrics 34:33 Your mess for less 38:02 What is something outside cyber that helps on the inside?   Links: Follow Allan on LinkedIn and Twitter Follow Rafal Los on LinkedIn and Twitter Check out his podcast Purchase a Cyber Ranch Podcast T-Shirt at the Hacker Valley Store Learn more about Hacker Valley Studio and The Cyber Ranch Podcast Sponsored by our good friends at Axonius

Join Allan as he discusses investing in cybersecurity startups with the perfect guest for the subject: Kathy Wang, CISO at Very Good Security, investor at Silicon Valley CISO Investments, investor at Firebolt Ventures, and former founder as well! Allan and Kathy talk about investment goals, the process from start to finish, how to get started, the buy-in costs, returns, what to expect, partnering, etc. Join them as they dive into this fascinating topic: DISCLAIMER: NOBODY ON THIS SHOW IS A FINANCIAL ADVISOR OR PLANNER, AND NOTHING SAID ON THIS SHOW CONSTITUTES FINANCIAL ADVICE. OPINIONS EXPRESSED ON THIS SHOW ARE JUST THAT – OPINIONS – AND YOU SHOULD NOT USE THEM TO CONDUCT YOUR FINANCIAL AFFAIRS. CONSULT A LICENSED EXPERT INSTEAD OF US!   Key Takeaways: 02:14 Bio 02:54 Getting into cyber security investing 05:28 Spotting good investments 09:13 What’s the process? 15:15 Ranging investments | partnerships 22:35 29 no's and 1 yes – is that reality? 26:20 Seeking investment? Start here. 29:31 Be willing to work with other people 30:57 What is something from outside of infosec that helped you in infosec?   Links: Follow Kathy Wang on LinkedIn Follow Allan Alford on LinkedIn and Twitter Purchase a Cyber Ranch Podcast T-Shirt at the Hacker Valley Store Learn more about Hacker Valley Studio and The Cyber Ranch Podcast Sponsored by our good friends at Axonius

In this special episode, Allan invites a few familiar voices back to the show, conducts a countdown of his Top 5 most popular shows, and reviews some of the most common guest responses. Lastly, Allan issues some important thank you's and shares a few comments and feedback from the listeners.   Highlights: Top 3 guest answers to "What keeps you going in cybersecurity?" Top 3 guest answers to "What surprises you the most in cybersecurity?" Top 5 shows by download   Visits from: Tim Rohrbaugh, CISO - Jet Blue Chris Cochran & Ron Eddings - Hacker Valley Media Drew Brown, who has held many security leadership roles and who is an avid user of the FAIR methodology of risk measurement Richard Seiersen, former CISO, famed champion of measuring risk, and author of "The Metrics Manifesto: Confronting Security with Data" Accidental CISO of Twitter fame   THANK YOU to all of our listeners, Hacker Valley Media, our fantastic guests, and to everyone who helped get us to 50 shows!!!   Links: Follow Allan Alford on LinkedIn and Twitter Purchase a Cyber Ranch Podcast T-Shirt at the Hacker Valley Store Learn more about Hacker Valley Studio and The Cyber Ranch Podcast Sponsored by our good friends at Axonius  

Allan hosts a live podcast at the August, 2021 CISO XC event in the Dallas-Forth Worth area. He is joined by Chris Roberts, chief geek at Hillbilly Hit Squad, and Cecil Pineda, then head of the vICSO and GRC programs at Critical Start. The topic is Minimum Viable security, tactical frameworks, the challenges with large frameworks, and the challenges of competing frameworks. This show was recorded after happy hour and the audience and participants both imbibed.  It's a rowdy show and features some explicit content.   Key Takeaways: 0:00 Allan’s holiday greeting 0:39 Allan introduces the live show, guests and issues a disclaimer about naughty language 2:02 Chris Roberts on Minimum Viable Security 2:42 Cecil on his love/hate relationship with compliance and the need for weighting controls 4:25 Allan proposes “tactical frameworks” 5:38 Chris challenges the crowd on their asset management successes 7:43 Allan introduces “See it, manage it, secure it.” (Which he flagrantly stole from Steve Williams @ NTT DATA Services) 8:53 Cecil says: data discovery comes before DLP 10:17 Chris challenges Allan’s idea that MFA should “just happen” in order to capture at least 90% of ransomware threats 12:07 Cecil proposes a compromise – 30% of controls meet a higher CMMI requirement than the 70% 13:48 Chris says even the 30% are not even being met in most environments 14:56 Allan’s full proposal on a tactical framework (that includes Chris’ emphasis on asset management) 16:07 Chris states that we have to agree on the subset frameworks in order to achieve success.  Diverse frameworks actually harm the industry. 17:56 Chris challenges the crowd to hire interns and those new to the industry 20:02 Allan misattributes the total control count in NIST CSF.  We mentioned whiskey, right? 21:35 Barring regulated environments, Allan doubles down on his tactical framework idea 22:13 Chris says we must challenge the authors of all these frameworks 22:50 Allan points out that frameworks are implicitly behind the fast pace of the industry after going through committee 23:53 Chris criticizes the notion that compliance = security 24:57 Insurance carriers insist now upon framework compliance and are getting smarter 26:53 Chris says full compliance with a framework even still is useful only as a point in time exercise 28:22 We have to simplify compliance 28:59 Allan proposes SBOM, CMMC-like maturity awareness, and the shared responsibility model as the solution to the compliance problem 30:57 Chris says that will take ten years to sort out 31:49 Chris says “take the money out of compliance” 35:37 Cecil talks about self-attestation and standards that are needed on auditing processes  36:41 Allan says frameworks exist in the first place with the goal of getting secure 37:14 Chris disagrees and states (using naughty metaphors) that frameworks compete out of hubris 38:26 An audience member suggests “trust but verify” as the reason frameworks exist in the first place 41:24 Cecil deconstructs the practicality of shared responsibility, extending it into the business 43:28 Chris proposes working with insurance companies to create a consolidated or tactical framework   Links: Chris Roberts - LinkedIn Cecil Pineda - LinkedIn Follow Allan Alford on LinkedIn and Twitter Purchase a Cyber Ranch Podcast T-Shirt at the Hacker Valley Store Learn more about Hacker Valley Studio and The Cyber Ranch Podcast   Sponsored by our good friends at AttackIQ

In this episode, Allan is joined by Marnie Wilking, CISO at Wayfair. Marnie has directed Information Security and multi-discipline Risk Management Programs for more than 15 years --  providing a unique set of skills and experience to manage operational risks and improve risk management among diverse businesses. Join Allan and Marnie as they define organizational resilience, discuss its goals and enablers, and analyze the COVID pandemic through its lens.   Key Takeaways: 01:26  Bio 03:42  Organizational resilience 06:40  COVID benefits; business enabling? 09:47  Building hybrid work environments 11:11  Virtual offices and home fatigue 17:14  Bullets dodged in organizational resilience 20:51  Tabletop exercises 27:16  Office conflicts and mailing troubles 30:38  Communication in resilience 32:29  What surprises Marnie in cyber security?   Links: Learn more about Marnie on LinkedIn and Crunchbase Follow Allan Alford on LinkedIn and Twitter Purchase a Cyber Ranch Podcast T-Shirt at the Hacker Valley Store Learn more about Hacker Valley Studio and The Cyber Ranch Podcast Sponsored by our good friends at AttackIQ

Welcome to another live show of the Cyber Ranch! Allan is joined by Dan Doggendorf, a creative cybersecurity leader with a passion for simplicity, efficiency, accountability, common sense, and honesty. The duo discusses the ins and outs of being a VCISO, how one walks the path and what the industry can do to make this role better. This show was conducted at the Cybersecurity Conference 9 (CSC 9) conducted by the North Texas Chapter of ISSA. All proceeds from the event went directly to scholarships for the Collin College cybersecurity program.   Key Takeaways:   01:47 - Bio 02:33 - vCISO life 04:18 - The path to an independent contractor 07:46 - Should you specialize? 10:46 - Strategizing experience in cyber security 14:26 - Challenges of being a CISO & vCISO 19:04 - Staying connected as a vCISO 23:17 - Victories as a vCISO                        27:06 - The bad times and mistakes made as a vCISO 29:52 - What should change for vCISOs? 30:51 - Advice for future vCISOs 34:09 - What surprises Dan in cyber security?   Links: Learn more about Dan on Zintro and LInkedIn Follow Allan Alford on LinkedIn and Twitter Purchase a Cyber Ranch Podcast T-Shirt at the Hacker Valley Store Learn more about Hacker Valley Studio and The Cyber Ranch Podcast Sponsored by our good friends at AttackIQ

This week, Allan is joined by Frederick Lee aka “Flee”, Chief Security Officer and Head of IT at Gusto, Jeff Man, host of Security & Compliance Weekly, and notorious infosec curmudgeon, and by Kat Valentine, Security and Compliance Weekly co-host.  A few weeks ago Allan appeared on their show to discuss “GRC: ‘What?’ and ‘So What?’.  In that episode, found here, they take a deep dive into GRC in terms of understanding is purpose and value. In this crossover episode, the group continues the conversation to talk about “GRC: ‘Now what?’ (The cultural impact and implementation, risk register, achieving actionable results and much more). Join Allan and the Security & Compliance Weekly team as they dive into overcoming cultural barriers, a continued conversation on the order of priority (“RGC” vs. “GRC”, for example), and enlisting allies in the business.   Key Takeaways: 2:20 Implementing GRC culturally – Flee's take 4:13 Jeff’s take 6:16 Kat’s take 10:43 The CISO – Turning compliance data into actionable results – Jeff’s take as an assessor 13:56 Kat’s take as an assessor 15:41 Flee’s take as a CISO 21:13 Understanding perspectives from all parties 28:10 Sharing problems upstream/Audits vs. Assessments 34:48 Flee’s take on “governance vs. doctrine” 37:43 Risk register – training for self sufficiency 42:40 Get in touch!   Links: Check out Security and Compliance Weekly! Follow Flee on LinkedIn and Twitter Follow Jeff Man on LinkedIn and Twitter Follow Kat Valentine on LinkedIn Follow Allan Alford on LinkedIn and Twitter Purchase a Cyber Ranch Podcast T-Shirt at the Hacker Valley Store Learn more about Hacker Valley Studio and The Cyber Ranch Podcast Sponsored by our good friends at AttackIQ

CISOs complain on social media about bad marketing – when they are targeted inappropriately, or with messages that don’t resonate, or with messages that outright lie. This week Allan Alford decides to hear from the other side, and invites his two favorite CMOs to the show. Julie O’Brien, CMO at AttackIQ, and Nathan Burke, CMO at Axonious, sit down with Allan to send a message to cyber security professionals about the vital role marketing plays in the industry, what is good marketing and bad marking, and how marketing affects all of our careers more than we know. Hear different perspective on topics like buzzwords, cold calls, and the difference between good and bad marketing practices. Backed up with proven experience, this episode is packed with useful info for all cyber practitioners and aspiring practitioners.    Key Takeaways: 02:00 Julie Bio 03:13 Nathan Bio         04:00 Standing out as a marketer 10:15 Emphasizing what you don’t do as a company, rather than what you do 15:56 A message to CISO’s - Julie 23:00 Nathan’s message to CISO’s 25:55 Allan touches on why innovation occurs on the vendor side 27:45 Buzzwords 33:50 What surprises Nathan and Julie in cyber security? Links: Learn more about Nathan on LinkedIn and Twitter Check out Julie on LinkedIn and Twitter Follow Allan Alford on LinkedIn and Twitter Purchase a Cyber Ranch Podcast T-Shirt at the Hacker Valley Store Learn more about Hacker Valley Studio and The Cyber Ranch Podcast Sponsored by our good friends at AttackIQ

Brian Castagna (CISO at Seven Bridges - a genomics company) is a CISO with a proven track record of successfully building information security programs at cloud technology companies. He is on a mission to humanize the new work environment - our own home. Join Allan and Brian as they touch on transitioning from an office environment, both mentally and physically, hiring remotely, work/life balance and much more.   Key Takeaways: 01:33 Bio 02:22 Remote work 03:00 Hiring a remote workforce 10:50 What’s the human side of working from home? 17:38 Transitioning from work to home 19:54 Mental transitioning 21:00 Collaboration & strategy 24:30 Layering the human back in 27:19 What surprises you in cyber?   Learn more about Brian on LinkedIn Follow Allan Alford on LinkedIn and Twitter Purchase a Cyber Ranch Podcast T-Shirt at the Hacker Valley Store Learn more about Hacker Valley Studio and The Cyber Ranch Podcast Sponsored by our good friends at AttackIQ