About the show
Security Conversations is a series of podcasts covering threat intelligence and the business of cybersecurity, from the lens of veteran journalist and storyteller Ryan Naraine. The Three Buddy Problem show features conversations and debates on nation-state APTs, cyberespionage, spy tradecraft, cryptocurrency theft, advancements in offensive research and targeted malware espionage activity.
Connect with Ryan on Twitter (Open DMs).
Security Conversations on social media
Episodes
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Patrick Howell O'Neill, Cybersecurity Editor, MIT Technology Review
March 30th, 2021 | 25 mins 52 secs
apt, attribution, google, journalism, nation-state malware, project zero, story-telling
Patrick Howell O’Neill is the cybersecurity senior editor for MIT Technology Review. In this out-of-band episode of the show, Patrick joins Ryan to discuss his latest scoop on Google Project Zero's visibility into malware used in a Western .gov counter-terrorism operation, the tricky nature of attributing nation-state backed attacks, Apple's iOS becoming a hot target and the controversies surrounding all of these conversations. Follow Patrick on Twitter.
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Nico Waisman, Head of Privacy & Security, Lyft
March 26th, 2021 | 56 mins 18 secs
ciso, offensive security, risk management, third-party risk, zero-days
After a 20-year career working in the offensive security reseach trenches, security industry pioneer Nico Waisman made the transition to defense to head up privacy and security efforts at ride-sharing firm Lyft. Waisman joins Ryan Naraine on the show to talk about early hacking in Argentina, the contributions of non-Americans to the security industry, and much much more...
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Ron Brash on the water plant hacks and the state of ICS security
March 11th, 2021 | 50 mins 6 secs
critical infrastructure, ics, nation-state hacks, ransomware, scada
Ron Brash joins Ryan on the show talk about the recent water supply hack, the state of security in ICS/SCADA installations, the checklist of affordable things for critical infrastructure defender, and the things we should worry -- and not worry -- about. Ron is Director of Cyber Security Insights at Verve Industrial Protection, a critical infrastructure-focused organisation that sells services and products that work across IT and OT environments for effective cyber security, controls and management.
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Throwback: Zero-day exploit broker Chaouki Bekrar
March 3rd, 2021 | 24 mins 42 secs
exploit brokers, exploits, pwn2own, vupen, zero-day, zerodium
This is the republication of an interview first conducted in March 2013 with then-VUPEN chief executive Chauki Bekrar. The audio file was lost in several podcast platform transfers and I'm glad to be able to retain this interview for historical purposes.
The recording was conducted in the hallways of the CanSecWest Pwn2Own hacking contest in 2013 where Bekrar's team of hackers demo'd a zero-day attack against Microsoft Internet Explorer 10 on Windows 8, an exploit that bypassed all mitigations including the browser sandbox. We chat about the controversies surrounding the sale of zero-day vulnerabilities and exploits, his company’s business dealings and the work that goes into winning the CanSecWest Pwn2Own hacker contest.
Please excuse the audio quality and background noise.
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Selena Larson, Intelligence Analyst, Dragos
September 16th, 2020 | 52 mins 17 secs
blue team, ics, journalism, ransomware, red team, scada
Journalist-turned-intel analyst Selena Larson joins the podcast to discuss the nuances of cybersecurity journalism, making the shift to analyzing intelligence and writing for a private audience, the ransomware epidemic, and the state of critical infrastructure security.
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Fredrick Lee, Chief Security Officer, Gusto
September 10th, 2020 | 41 mins 37 secs
business continuity, compliance, corona virus, covid, crisis management, cybersecurity, pandemic, privacy, security
Gusto chief security officer Fredrick 'Flee' Lee talks about his passion for democratizing security, solving problems for small businesses, the responsibilities of being a black security leader, and the people and experiences that influenced him along the way.
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Zack Whittaker, Security Editor, TechCrunch
September 1st, 2020 | 25 mins 45 secs
journalism, news gathering, story-telling, writing
TechCrunch security writer Zack Whittaker stumbled into journalism while in college and has carved a successful career covering cybersecurity the last decade. He joins the podcast to talk about landing at ZDNet out of university and some lucky breaks along the way. Zack also talks about the trials of living and working with Tourette syndrome.
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Jason Chan, VP, Information Security, Netflix
August 18th, 2020 | 31 mins 4 secs
ciso, leadership, serverless, zero-trust
Netflix security leader Jason Chan talks about the connections between ultra-marathons and running a robust security program, his view of the defender's top priorities, the talent shortage in cybersecurity, and the shifting patterns that drive secure code delivery.
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Matt Honea, Senior Director, Cybersecurity, Guidewire
August 11th, 2020 | 46 mins 36 secs
cyber-insurance, data recovery, insurance, ransomware
After a career in government that included physical security work for the U.S. State Department, Matt Honea transitioned to Silicon Valley and turned his attention to the cyber-insurance space. He joins the podcast for a frank discussion on cyber-insurance, ransomware payments and trends, and his opinions on innovation in security.
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Andy Greenberg, Senior Writer, Wired
August 11th, 2020 | 59 mins 47 secs
journalism, news gathering, story-telling, writing
Cybersecurity journalist and author Andy Greenberg joins the podcast to talk about his career as a journalist, the ins-and-outs of negotiating a big story with sources, the intricacies of writing a good book, and some of his biggest stories to date.
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Brooke Pearson, Security Awareness, Uber
June 17th, 2020 | 1 hr 1 min
diplomacy, security, security awareness
After a career in diplomacy at the U.S. State Department, Uber's Brooke Pearson headed to Silicon Valley to find a new path in cybersecurity. We chat about her early interest in Russia and international relations, a life-changing chance encounter during an airport layover, using non-traditional skills to find success in tech, and her passion for helping minorities find meaningful careers in security.
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Tim MalcomVetter, Red Team Lead, Walmart
May 4th, 2020 | 59 mins 34 secs
blue team, offense vs defense, red team, simulated hacking attacks
Tim joins the podcast to talk about red-team/blue team dynamics, the adversarial relationship between the two sides, the mentality of a determined attacker, and why everyone in cybersecurity should give jiu-jitsu a try.