8th Layer Insights

On this episode, Perry speaks with Chris Cochran and Ron Eddings. Chris and Ron started the Hacker Valley Studio Podcast back in June of 2019 with the goal of exploring the human condition to inspire peak performance in cybersecurity. The podcast is about Chris and Ron’s quest to find inspirational stories and knowledge to elevate themselves and their communities. That podcast eventually kicked of...

On this episode, Perry sits down with Marta L. Tellado, President and CEO at Consumer Reports, to discuss the digital moment we are in and what that means for consumers and the marketplace: the risks, dangers, traps… and also the places and paths that can lead to progress. They also discuss Marta's new book, Buyer Aware: Harnessing Our Consumer Power for a Safe, Fair, and Transparent Marketplace....

Get ready for those 'fun' holiday dinner conversations with friends and family. You know the ones... In the spirit of the holidays, I thought we'd revisit Season 1, Episode 2. This is an episode about the battle for truth. As disinformation, misinformation, malinformation, and conspiracy theories seem to be hitting epidemic levels, how can we help each other determine what is real and what is fake...

There is something about a good spy story that seems to really resonate with people in the cybersecurity world. We love watching the moves and the counter moves, and the sneaking around, and the social engineering, and hacking, and all of the gadgets and toys, and car chases, and fights and double crosses and triple crosses. Yeah, you get the point.  But how much of that is real and how much can b...

For this week, we are revisiting a previous episode that first aired as Season 1 Episode 10. In this episode, we discuss the concept of security culture -- specifically, the difficulty that security leaders have in defining what a security culture actually is. Luckily, we can draw on learnings from organizational culture management and culture transformation experts. Guests for this episode includ...

On this episode, Perry sits down with Jenny Radcliffe (a.k.a. The People Hacker). Jenny is a well-known speaker, podcaster, professional social engineer, and physical penetration tester… in other words, she’s a social engineer who specializes not only in tricking people into doing things they shouldn’t do… but she also specializes getting into places she shouldn’t be and finding things she shouldn...

Over the past few years, there's been a lot of talk about the value of understanding Open Source Intelligence (OSINT). But, even with so much talk, relatively few cybersecurity professionals have had the time to take a deep dive into the topic. In this episode, Perry sits down with social engineer, OSINT investigator, and member of the OSINT Curious project, Christina Lekati to get an overview of...

In this episode, Perry talks about the value of storytelling and provides 7 tips for anyone who faces the fear associated with staring at a blank screen, wondering how they can begin to create fresh content. This is adapted from a presentation Perry recently gave at the 2022 SANS Security Awareness Summit. Books & Resources: Overview of "The Iron Triangle" Visual Summary of Perry's SANS Security A...

In this episode, Perry sits down with Mikko Hyppönen for a wide ranging discussion about the history, current state, and future of cybersecurity. We also discuss Mikko's new book, the title of which is derived from Hyppönen's Law: If It's Smart, It's Vulnerable. Guest: Mikko Hyppönen (LinkedIn) (Twitter) (Web) Books & Resources: If It's Smart, It's Vulnerable, by Mikko Hyppönen Mikko's TED Talks D...

This is a follow-up to Season 2, episode 4 –Bridging the Cyber Skills Gap. Many listeners contacted me saying that they loved the episode, but wished that I’d put more focus on people trying to find a career in cybersecurity later in life. So, consider this episode a Bridging the Cyber Skills Gap Part 2. We’ll hear the stories of several people who’ve come to cybersecurity a bit later in life. Thi...

You've probably been hearing the term 'mindfulness' a lot these days. And for good reason. We humans seem to be busier and more stressed out than ever before, and mindfulness practices seem to offer positive benefit. But how does mindfulness intersect with cybersecurity? What practices can we learn and promote to decrease human risk in our organizations and live safer digital lives? In this episod...

On this bonus episode, Perry sits down with physical penetration tester, lock picking guru, and Board Member of The Open Organization of Lockpickers (TOOOL), Deviant Ollam. They discuss lockpicking, physical penetration testing, locksport, and the ethics of teaching these skills. Guest: Deviant Ollam (Twitter) (YouTube) (Website) Books & Resources: 8th Layer Insights S2E8: Fun and Games: Lock Pick...

On this bonus episode, Perry sits down with investigative journalist, speaker, podcaster, and author, Geoff White to talk about his path into investigative journalism, podcasting, and his new book, "The Lazarus Heist: From Hollywood to High Finance: Inside North Korea's Global Cyber War." Guest: Geoff White (LinkedIn) (Twitter) (Website) Books & Podcasts: Lazarus Heist Book Lazarus Heist Podcast C...

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If you could interview a password, what questions would you ask? Today, May 5th, 2022 is World Password Day. World Password Day was first established in 2013 and is celebrated each year on the 1st Thursday in May. To celebrate, I thought it would be fun to share an excerpt of a previous episode ("Security is Alive") where I interviewed multiple security-related objects. This clip is my interview w...

Creativity can be a scary topic for technologists. Most of us haven't been trained in the art and science of creativity and so they either feel out of their depth when called on to create content. But it doesn't have to be that way. In this episode, Perry sits down with New York Times bestselling author, Michelle Richmond, Audible bestselling author Rob Dircks, and two critically acclaimed cyberse...

"Security Awareness" is a slippery topic for a lot of people. It's a well known phrase -- and, let's face it, it's a phrase that can be very misleading. In this episode, Perry sits down with Dr. Jessica Barker (author and co-CEO at Cygenta), Cassie Clark (Security Awareness Lead Engineer at Brex), John Scott (Head of Security Education at Bank of England), and Lance Spitzner (Director, SANS Instit...

Risk is a funny thing – our minds are constantly looking for risk, scanning our environments and our available choices. And sometimes we do a great job at anticipating and avoiding risky situations. But that doesn’t mean that we are universally good at dealing with risk. In fact, we can be downright appalling at considering and avoiding risk. In this episode, we explore the concept of risk, why we...

What images come to mind when you see or hear the word 'Cybersecurity?' That word probably evokes mental images of people hunched over keyboards launching cyberattacks at each other. Or maybe you picture someone picking a lock or stealing a badge to slip into a building. In other words, most people picture the battle... or what some might think of as "the fun parts." But, here's the thing. Not eve...

If you love learning about cons, scams, and tricks, then this is the episode for you. Listen as Perry sits down with Brian Brushwood, someone who has made understanding and teaching scams and tricks his life's work. Brian is the creator of Scam School, Scam Nation, Hacking the System, Modern Rogue, and more. For the past 20 years, he's toured around the world teaching and demonstrating everything...

Every now and then you need to try something new. That's what this episode is. If you listened to Season 2, Episode 3 (Technology and the Law of Unintended Consequences), you may remember the mock interview with Janet, the virtual assistant. This episode expands that idea and features a set of four mock interviews -- all with security-related object. This is an interesting experiment to help flesh...

On this episode, Perry sits down with James Linton (formerly known as The Email Prankster). In 2017, James went on a virtual joyride exploiting the ways that people interact with emails. One of the most interesting things about James' story is that his exploits didn't rely on any type of highly technical method(s); they were simple display name deceptions. But that didn't stop him from fooling CEO...

If you've been following the cybersecurity industry for the past few years, you've likely heard about the "cyber skills gap." In this episode, Perry sits down with Heath Adams (TCM Security), Professor Karla Carter (Bellevue University), Sam Curry (Cybereason), and Lola Obamehinti (eBay) to explore what the skills gap is and how to begin to close the gap. We touch on subjects such as where traditi...

Let's face it. Most of us have a love/hate relationship with technology and technological advances. We dream about the new thing... but when it arrives, we are usually a little disappointed. Many of us also lament the constant erosion of privacy, the changes in social norms, and more. And, little-by-little, we allow those aspects of new technology to make us numb. We accept the cognitive dissonanc...

And now for something completely different. This episode is a show within a show. Get ready to step into The Dark Stream: it's a parody of one of those old late night paranormal, conspiracy, or confession call-in radio shows from the 1980's and 90's. And, yes, it's over-the-top and cheesy. In this episode, you'll hear some re-edited and never before aired sections from Perry's previous interviews...