Chris Eng on lessons learned from the NSA, @Stake, Veracode, and 20 years in cybersecurity

October 7th, 2025  |  44 mins 54 secs

cybersecurity, entrepreneurship, pen-test, secure by design, supply chain

This week on Security Conversations, Ryan sits down with Chris Eng, former Chief Research Officer at Veracode, to talk about life after nearly two decades at one company and the lessons learned along the way. They dig into a career start at the NSA, the early days of @Stake and the Symantec acquisition, and the birth and ambitions of Veracode.

Plus, thoughts on how helping startups shape product strategy, what it takes to translate technical expertise into business impact, and how security culture has evolved since the early “hacker-to-enterprise” days. The conversation touches on defining your career beyond titles, how the perception of “cybersecurity” has changed over the years, and why the industry still has plenty of room for curiosity, reinvention, and good storytelling.

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.

Sounil Yu, Cyber Defense Matrix

March 17th, 2020  |  35 mins 48 secs

cybersecurity, infosec, security framework

Former Chief Security Scientist at Bank of America, Sounil Yu, explains why he created the Cyber Defense Matrix framework and how organizations are using it to drive visibility and security decisions in multiple places. We discuss securing "cattle vs pets," the next era of security innovation, and the increasing security poverty line that hurts small- and medium-sized businesses.