Afternoon Cyber Tea with Ann Johnson

Megan Stifel, Chief Strategy Officer at the Institute for Security and Technology, joins Ann on this week’s episode of Afternoon Cyber Tea to discuss why cybersecurity must be treated as a shared governance responsibility, not just an IT issue. They explore how boardroom misalignment creates exposure across areas like workforce burnout, insider threats, and third-party risk, and why resilience, tr...

Tony Sager, Senior VP & Chief Evangelist, Center for Internet Security, joins Ann on this week’s episode of Afternoon Cyber Tea to discuss how the accelerating pace of technology, AI, and global software dependencies are reshaping the cybersecurity landscape. He shares why the industry has struggled to move from reactive to proactive security, the importance of building strong foundational defense...

Fabio Catassi, Chief Information Officer at Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) joins Ann on this week’s episode of Afternoon Cyber Tea to discuss the unique cybersecurity challenges of pr(otecting global shipping infrastructure. He shares how digital systems, vessels, satellites, and logistics networks converge in modern maritime operations and why security failures can disrupt not just data, bu...

Allie Mellen, cybersecurity analyst and author, joins Ann on this week’s episode of Afternoon Cyber Tea to discuss her new book Code War: How Nations Hack, Spy, and Shape the Digital Battlefield. Allie explores how cyber conflict is deeply connected to geopolitics, history, and national strategy, arguing that cyberattacks are not mysterious acts of chaos, but tools used by governments to pursue ec...

Cybersecurity leader and author George Finney joins Ann on this week’s episode of Afternoon Cyber Tea to explore how trust, communication, and culture shape effective security leadership. Drawing on his experience in higher education and enterprise environments, George explains why Zero Trust succeeds or fails based on people not technology, and how CISOs can better communicate risk to executives...

Dawn Song, Professor of Computer Science at UC Berkeley, joins Ann on this week’s episode of Afternoon Cyber Tea to explore how AI is rapidly reshaping the threat landscape. Dawn shares research from projects like Cyber Gym, demonstrating how frontier AI models are increasingly capable of identifying vulnerabilities, including zero-day exploits and generating proof-of-concept attacks, while also h...

Rob Suárez, Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer at CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield joins Ann on this week’s episode of Afternoon Cyber Tea. In the conversation, Rob shares how his career path and personal philosophy have shaped a mission-driven approach to cybersecurity that places patient trust, safety, and privacy at the center of every decision. He discusses the unique challeng...

David Gee, a veteran CISO, CIO, board advisor, and author, joins Ann Johnson, CVP of Cybersecurity, Microsoft, on this week’s episode of Afternoon Cyber Tea. Drawing on decades of experience and insights from his books, Gee explores the gap between theory and reality for security leaders, the role of imposter syndrome in professional growth, and why embracing discomfort is essential to effective l...

On this special best of episode of Afternoon Cyber Tea, Ann revisits six standout conversations from the past year with Amy Edmondson, Christina Morillo, Frank X. Shaw, Hugh Thompson, Troy Hunt, and Jack Rhysider. Together, these moments highlight the evolving human and technical challenges shaping cybersecurity today, from trust and transparency to breach response, leadership under pressure, AI d...

Dr. Lorrie Cranor, Director of the CyLab Security and Privacy Institute at Carnegie Mellon University joins Ann Johnson, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft, on this week's episode of Afternoon Cyber Tea to discuss the critical gap between security design and real-world usability. They explore why security tools often fail users, the ongoing challenges with passwords and password less authenticati...

Troy Hunt, founder of Have I Been Pwned, joins Ann on this week's episode of Afternoon Cyber Tea to explore what billions of breached records reveal about attacker behavior, human weakness, and the state of breach disclosure. He explains why organizations often hesitate to notify victims, how breach fatigue shapes user responses, and why transparency is both powerful and challenging. Troy also sha...

Brad L. Mortensen, President of Weber State University joins Ann on this week's episode of Afternoon Cyber Tea to discuss the evolving role of higher education in preparing the future cybersecurity workforce. Brad shares how Weber State supports students from all backgrounds through open enrollment, stackable credentials, real-world learning partnerships, and a focus on both technical training and...

Amy Hogan-Burney, Corporate Vice President of Customer Trust and Security at Microsoft joins Ann on this week's episode of Afternoon Cyber Tea to discuss her unexpected journey into cybersecurity, Microsoft’s evolving approach to combating global cybercrime, and the importance of collaboration across the private and public sectors. She reflects on lessons from the latest Microsoft Digital Defense...

Darren Kane, Chief Security Officer at NBN, Australia’s national broadband network joins Ann on this week's episode of Afternoon Cyber Tea to shares insights from his unique journey through law enforcement, financial enforcement, and corporate security, and how those experiences shaped his leadership of a converged security organization that unites physical and cyber defense. He discusses the chal...

Frank X. Shaw, Chief Communications Officer at Microsoft, joins Ann on this week's episode of Afternoon Cyber Tea to explore the critical role of communication in cybersecurity. They discuss how transparency and trust shape effective response to cyber incidents, the importance of breaking down silos across teams, and how AI is transforming communication strategies. Frank shares insights on leaders...

Volker Wagner, Chief Information Security Officer at BASF, joins Ann on this week's episode of Afternoon Cyber Tea to  talk shop on what it really takes to defend one of the world’s largest chemical companies. From his early days in auditing to leading global cyber for high-stakes industrial and research environments, Volker shares battle-tested insights on resilience, Zero Trust, and the fundamen...

Matt Rowe, Chief Security Officer at Lloyds Bank, joins Ann on this week's episode of Afternoon Cyber Tea to explore the future of cybersecurity. They discuss the accelerating pace of change in the industry, from AI and automation to data-driven security practices and identity management. Matt shares how Lloyds Bank is modernizing its approach by reducing friction, upskilling teams, and fostering...

Erez Liebermann, partner at Debevoise & Plimpton and a leading voice in cybersecurity and data privacy joins Ann on this week's episode of Afternoon Cyber Tea. Together, they unpack how legal and security teams can act as strategic partners, aligning regulatory compliance with business priorities while preparing for and responding to incidents. Erez offers actionable insights from real-world exper...

Amy Edmondson, Harvard Business School professor and psychological safety pioneer joins Ann on this week's episode of Afternoon Cyber Tea. Together they discuss how creating psychologically safe environments allows teams, especially in high-pressure fields like cybersecurity, to speak up about early warnings, embrace the red, and learn from failure. Amy shares her framework for distinguishing betw...

Nasrin Rezai, SVP and CISO at Verizon joins Ann on this week's episode of Afternoon Cyber Tea. Nasrin shares practical defense strategies for hard-to-secure legacy systems, emphasizes the importance of zero trust, and explains why cybersecurity is now a matter of national defense. Despite the challenges, she closes with optimism, believing that innovation, collaboration, and a new generation of cy...

Please enjoy this encore episode of Afternoon Cyber Tea while Ann Johnson and team are taking a break. Dr. Hugh Thompson⁠, Executive Chairman of RSA Conference and Managing Partner at Crosspoint Capital joins Ann on this week's episode of Afternoon Cyber Tea. They discuss what goes into planning the world’s largest cybersecurity conference—from theme selection to llama-related surprises on the exp...

Please enjoy this encore episode of Afternoon Cyber Tea while Ann Johnson and team are taking a break. Jack Rhysider, the creator and host of cybersecurity podcast Darknet Diaries joins Ann on this week's episode of Afternoon Cyber Tea. Jack shares his journey from network security engineer to self-taught storyteller, detailing how his passion for cybersecurity and relentless dedication to learnin...

Jeetu Patel, President and Chief Product Officer at Cisco, joins Ann on this week's episode of Afternoon Cyber Tea to explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping the cybersecurity landscape. Jeetu shares insights on the urgent need for machine-scale defenses, the potential for defenders to finally tip the scale against attackers, and the importance of collaboration across the industry. They d...

Dr. Aleise McGowan, Chief Information Security Officer of BlackGirlsHack and a 20-year cybersecurity veteran, joins Ann on this week's episode of Afternoon Cyber Tea. Aleise shares how a career-defining hack early on shifted her trajectory from developer to defender, and why she believes the future of security lies in resilience, diversity, and human-centered leadership. She talks about what separ...

Yonatan Zunger, Corporate Vice President and Deputy Chief Information Security Officer for Artificial Intelligence at Microsoft joins Ann on this week's episode of Afternoon Cyber Tea. They dive into the evolving cybersecurity landscape shaped by generative and agentic AI, discussing both the opportunities and the risks. Yonatan shares insights on how organizations should think about AI as a junio...