Alyssa Miller is a life-long hacker and highly experienced security executive who has a passion for security and the security community. She is an excellent advocate for continuous improvement in the community and a frequent speaker to audiences of both fellow business leaders and security community audiences. This combined with her deep experience in the industry makes her the perfect person to research and write the Cybersecurity Career Guide. The guide is a much needed  resource  for our community. In this OODAcast we ask Alyssa for context of use to cybersecurity professionals, including discussing insights important to those just starting out, those seeking to continue their self improvement journey, and those seeking to laterally move into the community. In the discussion we also capture the fact that the book is also a great resource for the most experienced cybersecurity professionals, since these more senior individuals are frequently asked for mentorship and other career advice and will find this to be a good source of current insights. We seek to go beyond the advice in the book and believe you will find this interview and excellent window into the decision-making processes and perspectives of Alyssa. The attitudes and approaches of a hacker, including those great traits of curiosity, persistence and continuing self education are apparent and an example for us all. The book is available now for pre-order and purchasing at this link will enable an advanced electronic copy for review:  Cybersecurity Career Guide

This OODAcast is a special edition focused on profiling Russian President Vladimir Putin with Dr. Scott Shumate, who has over 30 years of experience evaluating national leaders, terrorists, spies, and insiders.  Scott shares his unique perspective's on Putin informed by his extensive experience and insight.  During this session we explore: Is Putin suicidal? Is Putin a rational actor? How would Putin feel about an escalatory use of cyber attacks? What is Putin's primary motivation in attacking the Ukraine? How does Putin value propaganda? Should we expect more nuclear bravado from him? Is he a narcissist? Plus lots of additional insights... OODA Loop members can find our quick summary of this profile here (Link) R. Scott Shumate is the president of Valutare, LLC. He has overseen contracts with the Department of Defense, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the Secret Service, and the Department of Homeland Security. Scott worked for 19 years as an undercover operations officer, psychologist for the Central Intelligence Agency, he is seen as an expert in Counterterrorism, Middle Eastern, South-East Asian, Euroasian cultures including Russia and Chinese cultures. Scott left the Agency in 2003 to Join the Department of Defenses, Counterintelligence Field Activity as a Senior Executive where he led a multimillion-dollar Behavioral Sciences program that infused operational guidance to FCI programs as well as investigations. Currently, Dr. Shumate has developed a new and creative Insider Threat program that uses big data to analyze metadata on a network that uses Context and Motivational analysis. The model is based on an offensive recruitment, crime and changes in the person’s environment. Through Valutare, he provides Counter-Surveillance, Elicitation, and Interviewing training as well as TSCM scanning.

In this OODACast, Matt talks with Chris Butler about how concepts like adversarial thinking can be applied to product design and management.  Chris is an exemplar of someone who has excelled in his field but also looks to study and bring disruptive ideas like randomness and future framing from other disciplines to determine their value and applicability in product management.   As it turns out, he's a big fan of John Boyd's OODA Loop and even made a trip to the Boyd archives where he discovered that Boyd was a fan of a certain science fiction book.   Chris Butler is a chaotic good product manager, writer, and speaker. He facilitates critical decision making for teams that build new and innovative products. Chris focuses on bias, uncertainty, and randomization to help build robust and resilient teams. He has over 20 years of product management leadership at Microsoft, Waze, KAYAK, and Facebook Reality Labs. He is now Assistant Vice President, Head of Product Operations, at Cognizant where he PM's the PM experience.   Additional Information:   Book Recommendation:  Why Greatness Cannot be Planned https://amzn.to/3tvkIeN   Chris on LinkinedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisbu/   Chris on Twitter https://twitter.com/chrizbot   Chris on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTR1CgetbclHfZvNAR8BTCpA5Hz9qFxqf Chris on Medium https://chrizbot.medium.com/

John Chambers is the legendary former CEO of Cisco, a company he helped grow from $70 million in revenue per year when he joined in 1991 to $1.2 billion a year the year he became CEO to over $48 billion a year by the time he retired in 2015. As a leader John was always known for far more than just revenue growth, he was skilled at building an organization that treated people well, including employees, customers and the community. In this OODAcast we discuss John's book, Connecting The Dots, which shares his insights into leadership including leadership of organizations that need to disrupt themselves. The lessons of this book can help those at any stage of a career improve in their ability to lead innovative companies. John speaks to many learning points in his career including early lessons on how governments and companies ignore transitions at their own peril. He draws lessons from lost opportunities that include things West Virginia could have done differently, as well as transitions missed by IBM and Wang. We asked John to elaborate on his ability to spot market transitions and assess how they should impact business strategy and operations. This is a skill we are always seeking to improve at OODA and found his recommendations very consistent with our methods of keeping our ear to the ground and seeking insights from multiple sources, then dealing with reality as it is, not as you hope it will be. We also ask John for his assessment into the changing economic situation because of the pandemic. We discuss how his projections at the beginning of the pandemic played out. We then get his assessment on what is in store for the coming months, resulting in advice which should be heard by any CEO seeking to serve. He tells us agility, a word he used to dislike because it sounded like marketing, now needs to be the mantra of every CEO. "Agility is the watchword for leaders today" John is currently the CEO of JC2 Ventures, a venture capital firm he founded to invest in and mentor startups he believes are positioned to become core drivers of economic growth and job creation in the digital age. We discuss his approach on finding these firms and mentoring them. The CEO of a key firm in his portfolio, Guarav Banga of Balbix, was interviewed for the OODAcast last year). John concludes with advice for any leader seeking to succeed: "You deal with the world the way it is, not the way you wish it was." He also reminds us all that "The winners are those that do not do the right thing for too long. The winners are those that are willing to disrupt themselves."

In this OODAcast, we talk with Simon Clark. Simon a British journalist and writer. He previously worked at the Wall Street Journal. His investigative reporting has led him to the poppy fields of Afghanistan, the copper mines of Congo and to many banks in the City of London. He was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 2016. Simon is the author of the "The Key Man: The True Story of How the Global Elite Was Duped by a Capitalist Fairy Tale ". The book tells the story of Arif Naqvi and his Dubai-based private-equity firm Abraaj and how he attracted  billions of dollars in investment and shared the stage and social scene with the world's global elite in what would become one of the most audacious large scale frauds of recent times. The book also made my Top 10 Security, Technology, and Business book list for 2021. We discuss the rise and fall of Arif and specifically look at the tragedy of root causes that shifted Abraaj from the beacon of emerging economy investments to a shell game of alleged deep investor fraud. We also spend time discussing why Arif was able to attract so much attention and the role transparency could have played in discovering the fraud sooner. Podcast Version Simon's Book: The Key Man: The True Story of How the Global Elite Was Duped by a Capitalist Fairy Tale Book recommendation: Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty  

Charity Wright is a Cyber Threat Intelligence Analyst with over 15 years of experience at the US Army and the National Security Agency, where she translated Mandarin Chinese. Charity now specializes in dark web cyber threat intelligence, counter-disinformation, and strategic intelligence at Recorded Future. Her analysis has provided deep insights into a variety of incidents, activities and strategic moves by well resourced adversaries, primarily actors operating in China. In July 2021 she led production of a report on China’s digital colonialism, surfacing aspects of espionage, surveillance and manipulation campaigns that were staggering in scope. China’s Digital Silk Road (DSR) initiative, announced in 2015, is an expansive global data infrastructure that does far more than serve users. It has been proven to have a dark side that includes exporting surveillance technologies to dictators and authoritarian regimes throughout the developing world, in some cases trading technology for access to sensitive user data and facial recognition intelligence. Domestically, China uses this type of technology to assert authority over its citizens, censor the media, quell protests, and systematically oppress religious minorities. Now, over 80 countries are enabled to do the same with Chinese surveillance technology. In this OODAcast we examine Charity’s approach to analysis and review some of the key elements of her reporting on China’s Digital Silk Road. As we do we also examine ways that open societies can work together to help mitigate these threats. We also examine Charity’s views on other global cyber threats and seek insights that can help any intelligence analyst continue to improve their craft. Additional Resources: China’s Digital Colonialism

Jan Chipchase is the founder and director of Studio D Radiodurans, a research, design and innovation consultancy. He specializes in identifying nuanced patterns of human behavior. The insight it generates informs and inspires design, strategy, brand and public policy. Jan describes his work in design anthropology in terms of a satellite launched into space that is chartered with identifying new planets, existential threats, but with a lens that can also be turned back on earth to help his clients also understand themselves. I've been fascinated with Jan's work for quite some time and had previously read and recommended both of his books. His research provides great insights into how products are being intentionally and unintentionally used and often take him into gray market environments. In this OODAcast, we discuss Jan's work but also his insights into how to conduct field research, build focused teams, and what sorts of insights can be derived. He also shares some great OODA Loop stories where quick decision-making and disrupting expected behaviors allowed him to get out of some tight situations. Earlier in his career he was Executive Creative Director of Global Insights at frog, a global design and innovation consultancy, where he headed up the global research practice. Prior to that he was Principal Scientist at Nokia where he specialized in entry level products. He's worked on products that have collectively sold over a billion units. His first book Hidden in Plain Sight was published in English, Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Russian. It became a best-seller in South Korea, of all places. The follow-up Today’s Office was published in South Korea. He also wrote The Field Study Handbook. At various times he has been based out of London, Shanghai, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Berlin and a decade in Tokyo. Additional Links: Studio D Radiodurans Jan's Books: Hidden in Plain Sight The Field Study Handbook Book Recommendations: The Culture Map Living in Data Sensemaking in Organizations

Ben Dubow is CTO and founder of Omelas, a firm that provides data and analysis on how nations manipulate the web to achieve their geopolitical goals. He has a background in research on Russian and Chinese online information operations and is a recognized expert, having appeared on international media including Reuters, Bloomberg and Roll Call. Ben began his career tracking jihadi, white supremacist, and Iranian activity online before joining Google where he played a lead role in removing ISIS content from YouTube and establishing the Redirect Method to counter violent extremism. Before Omelas, Ben was Secretary of Code To Inspire, a nonprofit that teaches Afghan women to code. Ben speaks Arabic, French, Farsi, and basic Russian. In this OODAcast we discuss Ben’s continuous drive to work in meaningful ways by contributing technical and cultural expertise to emerging challenges. Other topics include: The foundational story of Omelas and the needs for technology to help spot malicious influence operations via tracking open source information.   How to focus on missions by understanding what decision-makers need How authoritarian states manipulate open source data Why propaganda is effective and how the right information can help counter it How technology can improve scale of analysis The Omelas Wolf Totem dashboard and what it presents The metrics that can be applied to malign influence operations How to reduce the risk of our own analysts being biased in research Additional Links: Omelas https://www.benjamindubow.com/ Book recommendations: The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth The Invention of Russia: The Rise of Putin and the Age of Fake News  

In this OODAcast we talk with Jahon Jamali of Sarson Funds about a range of cryptocurrency issues including his coming book Deep Crypto. We also dive deep into the coming Metaverse. Jahon Jamali is a leading expert on emerging technologies, global risk management and international relations. He began his career as a U.S. Intelligence Officer with the Defense Intelligence Agency. He also has extensive experience in the high tech community creating and growing startups through to successful exits. All this makes him an even more credible authority when it comes to seeking the trends that are moving technology, business and government operations forward. This discussion examines the role of Bitcoin and Ethereum in finance today and the especially important need for cryptocurrencies to provide a trust layer for the Internet. Think of this trust layer in the context of the coming metaverse. As Jahon makes clear, there have been great visions of a metaverse for years, but something has been missing: a trust layer. Jahon also builds a very compelling logical argument that free loving countries open societies should really embrace cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Dictatorships and kleptocracies hate cryptocurrencies. This is a big reason he is quick to point out, in case there is any mistake, that “cryptocurrencies are as american as apple pie.” Some of the topics we cover include: Money as a belief system and the current status quo of money The need to shift concepts of money and the need for trust Jahon's experience educating large financial institutions on the nature of cryptocurrencies The state of maturing cryptocurrency community What an immutable distributed ledger can do for establishing a foundation of trust The shifting of importance of geographical boundaries What everyone (yes everyone) needs to know about cryptocurrencies The waking up of governments, including state, local, and even national governments to crypto Some of the naysayers and arguments against the Metaverse and Cryptocurrencies The OODAast with Jahon makes it very clear, he is a great explainer of topics like these, which makes us very eager to see the book Deep Crypto. Pre-order yours at: Discovery Deep Crypto

Maury Rogow builds a solid case that your brand will live or die based on the story you tell in the metaverse. Maury is a pioneer in applying the art of storytelling to convey the value of technology in the Internet age. He built a successful approach to storytelling that made direct contributions to the success of some of the most important firms in the early wave of Internet companies. He later leveraged storytelling expertise and insights into a career in Hollywood which included producing films and helping craft storylines. After six years in Hollywood he shifted focus to how to help major brands tell their stories. His company Rip Media Group has helped companies from multiple sectors of the economy leverage the mobile Internet and video to improve their marketing and storytelling. Today Rip Media Group, is preparing for another big shift, the transition to the age of the Metaverse. In this OODAcast we dive deep into how Maury sees the Metaverse shaping corporate strategies and ways leaders should be positioning themselves to serve the early adopters of the coming Metaverse. What does Maury see coming? The metaverse is the third big wave of change to sweep across the Internet. The first was the client server world of the initial Internet. Then the video mobile world of the last decade. Now the metaverse promises to be just as, or maybe even a bigger change than those first two shifts. Maury encourages us to think of the Metaverse today as an infant, so new that it is hardly functional yet. But there is enough there to see something incredible is coming. Those that are grasping the power and potential of the coming metaverse today are those that are probably interacting with large online communities like those around the big 3D games. There are other use cases including medical, healthcare, industrial and retail already coming into focus. But all are in their infancy. The real power of the Metaverse will come when users will have persistence across multiple platforms including an ability to exchange value and be productive. An example of a retail metaverse is RedFox, which has built a shopping mall which enables retail, entertainment, interaction with others and a blended approach to purchasing that bridges the virtual and real worlds. We discuss retail and the huge economic potential for retail in the metaverse. We also discuss how just becoming part of the metaverse is not going to guarantee success. It will take marketing and advertising that helps people understand why to visit an online destination. Maury has crafted campaigns for metaverse companies already, and has found success by building stories that leverage timeless storytelling practices. When it comes to marketing to bring attention to metaverse capabilities, he describes his methods with an acronym that helps people understand the importance of action. The acronym is STUFF, which stands for: 1. The sizzle and sexy elements of a story 2. Touching or nostalgic story 3. Unexpected or unique 4. Funny 5. Fear of something We dive into several use cases other than retail, including how metaverse enabled technologies are already helping in delivery of healthcare. The use of the metaverse for testing and training for the military, the use of the metaverse for education, real estate, legal advice, and business planning was also examined. Maury and Bob discuss views on the great SciFi stories that have helped people understand the potential of the metaverse, including Snowcrash, Neuromancer, Enders Game, Ready Player one. SciFi stories can help conceptualize potential benefits and also potential pitfalls and problems. One example of the latter is conceptualizing security challenges, something rarely discussed these days.  Bob mentions two SciFi stories that can help us think through security issues related to the metaverse, one from Star Trek (Kirk hacked the Kobayashi Maru scenario) and one from Ready Player One (there was a credential theft scene). Bob and Maury discuss the "so-what" of potential security issues in this domain.  Clearly as we build our metaverse we really have to think about security, privacy and counter crime. Maury’s advice for corporate metaverse strategies: We are early. Which is good! Get involved nad keep a watchful eye on the space The worst decision you can make is to do nothing. As you build your metaverse strategy, build your communication strategy and know how you are going to tell your story across the brand. Related Resources: Rip Media Group Maury Rogow on LinkedIn The Metaverse at OODAloop The Metaverse Is Coming And It Will Disrupt The Current Internet The age of the Metaverse is upon us. The Metaverse is the successor to the Internet of today. It is a future state that will include persistent interoperable virtual worlds and the platforms required to support and interact with them. It will have its own thriving economy and deliver experiences unavailable in the physical world. It will be a primary means of educating our youth and delivering knowledge through life, and will be a leading form of social interaction and entertainment. For more see: What To Know And Do About The Coming Metaverse