Secure & Simple — Podcast for Consultants and CISOs on Cybersecurity Governance and Compliance

In this Secure and Simple Podcast episode, host Dejan Kosutic (Advisera) interviews Robert Siciliano, co-founder of ProtectNow and author of Strategic Human Firewall, about why organizations must address the “human blind spot” - people’s psychological need to trust that attackers exploit through impersonation, social engineering, and manufactured urgency. Siciliano explains why phishing simulation...

In this episode of Secure and Simple Podcast, host Dejan Kosutic (Advisera) speaks with Aaron Lange (GRC Lab, TÜV SÜD auditor) about combining security controls across multiple standards and frameworks, including ISO 27001/27002, NIST Cybersecurity Framework, NIST SP 800-53 and 800-171, TISAX, C5, SOC 2, and sector-specific regimes like PCI DSS and CMMC. They clarify the difference between require...

Dejan Kosutic hosts Matthew Webster, founder and CEO of Cyvergence, to explain what “security as a business enabler” means in practice: aligning cybersecurity with business operations, priorities, and decision-making rather than siloed technical metrics. Webster emphasizes using business impact analysis, scenario analysis, and cost-benefit thinking to translate vulnerabilities into operational ris...

In this episode of the Secure and Simple Podcast, host Dejan Kosutic (CEO at Advisera) interviews Craig Taylor, CEO and co-founder of CyberHoots, about best practices and myths in cybersecurity awareness training. Taylor argues the industry’s biggest mistake is relying on punishment, shame, and deception-based phishing tests, saying psychology supports positive reinforcement and rewards to increas...

Dejan Kosutic hosts Bruno Lecoq (co-founder, CEO, and CISO at BEMO) to explain CMMC compliance for Department of Defense contractors and suppliers, including those outside the U.S. They cover CMMC basics (levels, CUI vs. FCI, C3PAO assessments, phase 1 boundary review and phase 2 audit), current capacity challenges (about 93 C3PAOs vs. roughly 200,000 contractors), and why many companies fail earl...

Host Dejan Kosutic interviews McKinsey & Co. partner Charlie Lewis about how agentic AI will reshape cybersecurity by reinventing existing categories — especially identity, detection, operations, and vulnerability management — rather than creating entirely new ones. Lewis argues every company will manage a massive digital workforce of dynamically created, short-lived agents with constantly cha...

In this Secure and Simple Podcast episode, host Dejan Kosutic interviews independent information security consultant and Hacking for Dummies author Kevin Beaver about how hackers are often underestimated and how many run operations like a professional business. Beaver explains psychology concepts that affect security decisions, including the Dunning-Kruger effect, sunk cost fallacy, bystander apat...

In this Secure and Simple Podcast episode, host Dejan Kosutic (Advisera) interviews Michelle Drolet, CEO and founder of Towerwall, about communicating cybersecurity to corporate boards. Drolet says boards often don’t know what questions to ask, so CISOs should drive the agenda by focusing on incident impact, business risk, and alignment to strategic initiatives rather than vulnerabilities or techn...

In this Secure & Simple Podcast episode, host Dejan Kosutic (Advisera) talks with Hugo Huang, Product Director at Canonical and author of a Harvard Business Review article, about why conventional cybersecurity tools and patching alone are insufficient for AI systems. Huang shares research conducted with Canonical, IDC, and Google Cloud, highlighting leaders’ concerns about shadow AI usage, opa...

In this Secure & Simple Podcast episode, host Dejan Kosutic (CEO of Advisera) interviews Aron Lange, founder of GRC Lab and an ISO 27001 certification auditor, about what auditors look for in certification audits. Aron highlights common nonconformities and explains how auditors gather objective evidence through interviews, document review, and observation, emphasizing execution over paperwork....

In this Secure and Simple Podcast episode, host Dejan Kosutic (CEO at Advisera) speaks with Thom Langford, CTO for the EMEA region at Rapid7, about Anthropic’s new AI model “Mythos” and its impact on cybersecurity. Langford argues that the fundamentals remain the same - discover, risk-contextualize, and patch - but the speed, scale, and volume of findings will surge, exposing immature vulnerabilit...

In this Secure and Simple Podcast episode, host Dejan Kosutic (CEO of Advisera) interviews Andrew Gault (CEO of ZeroTier) about how quantum computing could impact cybersecurity, especially encryption and identity. They explain key terms like post-quantum cryptography (PQC), Q-Day, cryptographically relevant quantum computers, and main threats, “harvest now, decrypt later” and “trust now, forge lat...

In this Secure and Simple Podcast episode, host Dejan Kosutic from Advisera interviews Carlos Cruz, founder of Metanoia and an ISO 9001/ISO 14001 expert, about continual improvement in ISO standards and how the concepts apply to cybersecurity. They explain continual improvement through the PDCA cycle, using data and Pareto analysis to focus on key issues, then performing root cause analysis with t...

In this Secure and Simple Podcast episode, host Dejan Kosutic (CEO of Advisera) speaks with Lee Rossey, CTO and co-founder of SimSpace, about why much cybersecurity training is becoming outdated as AI accelerates both threats and defensive stacks. Rossey explains “train like you fight” through realistic, hands-on, team-based cyber range exercises that emulate an organization’s environment, tools,...

In this Secure and Simple Podcast episode, host Dejan Kosutic from Advisera interviews Monzy Merza, co-founder and CEO of Crogl, about how cybersecurity is shifting to an “agent versus agent” world where attackers task AI agents to run fast, low-cost, sophisticated campaigns without human approvals. Merza outlines core security operations activities—preparation/tooling, alert investigation, and re...

In this Secure and Simple Podcast episode, host Dejan Kosutic (CEO of Advisera) interviews Andrew Gault (CEO of ZeroTier) about Zero Trust as a strategy and mindset rather than a single technology, shifting away from perimeter-based security to “default deny” with continuous verification. Gault outlines core layers such as identity for users and devices, policy-based scoring, encryption, and ongoi...

Dejan Kosutic interviews Yannick Hirt from ODCUS about his experience with a real ransomware attack on an international industrial company. They discuss likely phishing entry via a privileged IT account, overnight encryption, and setting up a war room. The company restored critical systems from verified cloud backups without paying, while briefly negotiating via a Dutch specialist as the attacker...

In this episode, Dejan Kosutic talks with Clar Rosso, CEO of Rosso Strategic Advisors, board member of Excelsior University, and the former CEO of ISC2, about the evolving role of boards for cybersecurity. They discuss the increasing importance of cyber governance, the impact of AI, the concept of digital resilience, and the interaction between cybersecurity professionals and boards of directors....

In this special first-year anniversary episode of the Secure and Simple Podcast, host Dejan Kosutic from Advisera welcomes back Carlos Cruz, founder of Metanoia Consulting and ISO expert. They deep-dive into best practices for conducting effective management reviews, covering not just ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 but also ISO 27001 and other cybersecurity frameworks. The discussion highlights the import...

In this episode of the Secure and Simple Podcast, host Dejan Kosutic, CEO of Advisera, discusses the ongoing conflict between IT operations and cybersecurity governance with Jared Leuschen, CEO and Founder of Blue Tree. They delve into the human component behind security and compliance issues, misalignment and communication gaps within organizations, and practical solutions for aligning IT and cyb...

In this episode, host Dejan Kosutic interviews Sasa Jusic, a board member at Infigo IS and a cybersecurity expert. They delve deep into penetration testing and cyber threat intelligence, explaining their roles in enhancing cybersecurity. Learn about the differences between offensive and defensive security measures, the importance of DORA and ISO 27001 frameworks, the critical steps for preparing a...

In this episode of the Secure and Simple Podcast, host Dejan Kosutic, CEO of Advisera, welcomes Jim Moran, founder of SimplifyISO, to discuss the importance and methods of simplifying ISO management systems. Jim, with over 30 years of consulting experience, shares valuable insights on how overly complex management systems can hinder employee understanding and implementation, leading to higher cost...

In this episode of the Secure and Simple Podcast, host Dejan Kosutic, CEO at Advisera, welcomes Carlos Cruz, founder of Metanoia Consulting and a seasoned expert in ISO standards. Carlos and Dejan share best practices for performing internal audits across various ISO standards, including ISO 27001, and other cybersecurity frameworks such as NIS2 and DORA. Key topics discussed include the importanc...

In this episode of the Secure and Simple Podcast, host Dejan Kosutic, CEO of Advisera, welcomes Steve Winterfeld, a seasoned security consultant, fractional CISO, and author of the book 'Cyber Warfare Techniques, Tactics, and Tools for Security Practitioners.' The discussion revolves around the relevance of cyber warfare for companies, the different types of cyber threats, and strategic ways to ad...

In this episode of the Secure and Simple Podcast, Dejan Kosutic, CEO of Advisera, interviews Paul C Dwyer, founder and CEO of Cyber Risk International and president of the ICTTF. They discuss digital resilience from a business and strategic standpoint, the role of company boards in cybersecurity, and how to effectively bridge the communication gap between technical experts and business leaders. Pa...