Be Fearless Podcast by SquareX
SquareX is excited to launch The Be Fearless Podcast Series, where we bring together industry experts and professionals from the cybersecurity community.
Hosted by SquareX Founder - and cybersecurity veteran - Vivek Ramachandran, look forward to insights about our guests’ journeys in security, the evolution of the field, the changing threatscape and how enterprises across industries are addressing them today.
Episodes
116 episodes
Deepfakes, Disinformation & AI Agent Security | Alfredo Ramirez IV, Senior Director Analyst, Gartner
Alfredo Ramirez IV, Senior Director Analyst, Emerging Technologies & Trends at Gartner, sits with Audrey Adeline from the SquareX Founder’s Office to discuss the latest market trends from his vantage point: “agent washing” where vendors reb...
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43:18
Growth, Risk Management, Culture: Why CISOs Operate Like CEOs | Bithal Bhardwaj, CEO, Gramax
Bithal Bhardwaj, CEO at Gramax, spent over two decades as a cybersecurity leader across GE and GMR Group before making the leap to CEO. In this conversation, he reveals why the transition was surprisingly seamless, shares war stories from manag...
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39:59
“Procurement is the Gateway into Your Enterprise” | Marian Newsome, Founder, Ethical Tech Matters
Marian Newsome, Founder of Ethical Tech Matters and an IEEE CertifAIEd Lead Assessor (Top 100 Globally), sits down with SquareX Field CISO John Carse to unpack why most organizations are dangerously unprepared for AI governance. They dive into ...
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50:20
Social Engineering LLMs Like Humans | J Wolfgang Goerlich, CISO, Oakland County, Michigan Government
J Wolfgang Goerlich, CISO for Oakland County Michigan Government, shares his unconventional path from wanting to be a hacker after watching the movie "Hackers" to leading government cybersecurity. In this conversation, Wolfgang breaks down why ...
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43:54
Balancing Security, Culture, and Velocity | Kane Narraway, Head of Enterprise Security, Canva
Kane Narraway, Head of Enterprise Security at Canva, shares how he went from digital forensics in UK law enforcement to protecting millions of users' creative workflows today. He breaks down why marketing and sales teams are more vulnerable tha...
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49:28
Why Community Matters More Than Certifications | Dr. Nathan Fisk, USF & Cyber Florida
Join us as Dr. Nathan Fisk, Associate Professor of Cybersecurity Education of USF and Cyber Florida Academic Director, discusses the importance of community in cybersecurity education. In this episode, Nathan explains how formal education has d...
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1:07:38
Scaling Security Without Friction | Cezary Piekarski, Group CISO, Standard Chartered
Cezary Piekarski, Group CISO at Standard Chartered, joins us to share hard-earned wisdom from 25+ years securing financial institutions globally. In this episode of the Be Fearless podcast, Cezary shares how Standard Chartered scales security w...
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31:58
What You Don't Know About Your Certificates Can Hurt You | Eric Mizell, Field CTO, Keyfactor
Eric Mizell, Field CTO and VP Field Engineering at Keyfactor, breaks down why digital certificates are the security blind spot most companies don't know they have. From his early days fixing Novell networks to helping enterprises manage million...
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51:43
Basic Cyber Hygiene Wins in Healthcare | Ben Waugh, BISO, Datavant
Ben Waugh, BISO at Datavant, drops some hard truths about healthcare security - like how the most damaging breaches aren't from sophisticated nation-state actors, but from attackers exploiting basic gaps while security teams obsess over complex...
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42:28
Why Banks Need Two Defender Personas | Sandip Wadje, Global Head of Emerging Tech Risk, BNP Paribas
Sandip Wadje, Managing Director and Global Head of Emerging Technology Operational Risks & Intelligence at BNP Paribas, reveals the hidden challenges of securing one of the world's largest banks in an AI-driven world. From his unconventiona...
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45:55
Why Hospital Cyber Breaches Hit Different | Martin Holzworth, CISO, UnitingCare Queensland
Martin Holzworth, CISO at UnitingCare Queensland, brings 25 years of cybersecurity to this episode of the Be Fearless Podcast. In this conversation with Aleksandra Melnikova, Martin shares hard-won insights about protecting patient data, managi...
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43:44
The High Stakes in Defense Sector Security | Brad Berkson, CEO, Miles Space
Brad Berkson, CEO of Miles Space, sits down with John Carse to discuss his journey from McKinsey partner to serving as a former Pentagon senior official operations, to now pioneering space technology. Brad shares eye-opening insights about how ...
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51:07
A Veteran's Approach to Federal Cybersecurity | Sarah Cleveland, Senior Director, ExtraHop
With years directing cyber operations in the United States Air Force as a Cyber Officer, Sarah Cleveland brings a unique perspective to cybersecurity. In this conversation with John Carse, she discusses how military risk calculation differs fro...
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57:28
"Your Foundation Needs to be Strong" | Yaamini Mohan, Security Engineer, Dell EMC
Drawing from her experience at Dell and Infosys, Security Engineer Yaamini Mohan breaks down why getting your security basics right — boring stuff like passwords, patching, and MFA— will move the needle much more than any expensive AI-powered s...
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37:14
Navigating Security in the Nordics | Morgan Svensson & Stefan Tapper, Grant Thornton Sweden
Morgan Svensson and Stefan Tapper, CIO and CISO of Grant Thornton Sweden respectively, reveal how they navigate the constant tension between business innovation and security requirements. From their shared history at a Scandinavian airline to t...
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44:22
How Diverse Leadership Shapes AI's Future in Security | Felicita Sandoval, CEO & Founder, SENP-X
Felicita Sandoval, CEO/Founder of Sentient Perspectives (SENP-X) and security professional at LiveRamp, breaks down how to navigate the rapidly changing world of AI and cybersecurity. In this episode, Felicita shares practical insights on build...
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52:38
Every Employee is a Function of Security | Martin Hinton, Editor, Cyber Insurance News & Information
Martin Hinton, award-winning journalist and Executive Editor of Cyber Insurance News & Information, (https://www.youtube.com/@CyberInsuranceNews) breaks down why companies are dangerously unprepared for today’s modern threatscape.Dr...
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57:15
Security Through Observability: From Manufacturing to AI | Chidi Alams, CIO, Just Born
Join Chidi Alams, CIO at Just Born (makers of PEEPS®, HOT TAMALES®, and MIKE AND IKE®), as he breaks down how a 100-year-old candy company navigates digital transformation in the 21st century. In this episode of the Be Fearless Podcast, Chidi s...
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44:42
Why Security Can't Lag Behind Anymore | Stan Lee, CISO of EarnIn
Stan Lee didn't start in cybersecurity - he has a biochemistry degree from UCLA and worked his way up from IT helpdesk to becoming CISO at major companies like PayPal, Palo Alto Networks, and now EarnIn. His unique journey across industries giv...
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51:37
Why Punishing Employees on Phishing Tests Doesn't Work | Craig Taylor, CEO and Co-Founder, CyberHoot
Craig Taylor, Founder and CEO of CyberHoot, joins us to explain why traditional phishing tests that punish employees are fundamentally broken. Drawing from his decades-long cybersecurity career, Craig shares the story of a $24,000 gift card sca...
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43:34
From Dark Web Ops to Enterprise Security | Clint Kehr, Senior Instructor/Training Architect, Cybrary
Clint Kehr brings a unique perspective to cybersecurity, having gone from training personnel in dark web investigations as a former federal agent to transforming penetration testing in one of America's biggest banks. Now a Senior Instructor and...
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47:58
The Simplest Answer Is Usually Right in Cybersecurity | Travis Farral, VP & CISO, Archaea Energy
Travis Farral, Vice President and CISO at Archaea Energy, joins us to share hard-earned wisdom from securing everything from oil giants to renewable energy startups. In this episode, Travis shares how even non-nation-state actors are getting st...
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39:30
Never Stop Learning, Ask the Right Questions | Tom Hollingsworth, Practice Lead, Tech Field Day
Tom Hollingsworth, the "Networking Nerd" and Tech Field Day's Event Lead, sits down with SquareX Field CISO John Carse to share his 20+ year journey in enterprise networking and how he helped build one of tech's most influential community event...
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41:24
AI Literacy Is the New Survival Skill | Olivia Heslinga, Founder of AI for Good Denmark
Olivia Heslinga, founder of AI for Good Denmark and AI literacy consultant, joins SquareX Field CISO John Carse to discuss the (security) implications of AI's rapid evolution. They dive into how browser AI agents can compromise your entire digi...
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52:23
90% of Breaches Come Down to Just Two Simple Mistakes | Patrick Benoit, vCISO, Cyber Risk Insights
Patrick Benoit, President and Virtual CISO of Cyber Risk Insights, breaks down three decades of cybersecurity evolution and reveals why most organizations keep making the same fundamental mistakes. From protecting global enterprises like Brink'...
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40:19