Bare Knuckles and Brass Tacks

Kendrick Trotter joins the show to talk about going from Uber driver to a major account executive at a public cybersecurity company, then founding his own business that created over $70 million in annualized salaries for underrepresented professionals. George K and George A talk to Kendrick about: How a Division I football scholarship and one life-changing Uber ride with an Amazon VP changed every...

George K and George A went completely off-script this week and recorded their first one-on-one episode in years. Fair warning: it gets heated about some industry trends that have been grinding their gears. George K and George A get into: The AI hype cycle vs. actual utility as George K articulates step by step how he used an LLM to prepare for a talk - what it could and couldn't help with The dang...

Tanya Janca joins the show this week, with unique perspective on building secure software and advocating for better cybersecurity policy. George K and George A talk to Tanya about: Her transition from 14 years as a Canadian public servant to private sector entrepreneurship The core values that guide her work: performing good and moving the industry toward secure software Entrepreneurship since age...

Vivek Khindria, longtime CISO, joins the show and he brought the heat. We talk building security teams, quantum computing timelines, and why your board doesn't want to hear about firewall rules. George K and George A talk to Vivek about: Why betting on business people and teaching them security > hiring tech nerds who can't talk to humans Why enterprises must start the conversation around crypt...

This week, we're returning to the original inspiration for our Pride in Cyber campaign! Angela Brown and Amber DiPippa join the podcast to discuss their scholarship initiative supporting LGBTQ+ individuals pursuing cybersecurity. George K and George A talk to Ang and Amber about: The scholarship's origins and its goals for supporting LGBTQ+ cybersecurity students  The realities and financial...

Madeline and Oliver from Phish Club joined the show to talk community building for junior practitioners in cybersecurity. George K and George A talk to Madeline and Oliver about: The power of lateral networking - building relationships with peers who will rise together rather than just trying to impress executives What actually gets you hired - home labs and technical write-ups beat certifications...

While everyone's obsessing over digital lead gen and automation, veteran marketer David Mundy argues the best companies are going back to basics - building actual relationships and cutting through the noise. George K and George A talk to David about: Not hiring marketers with playbooks, and hiring hunters who understand the market is dynamic AF Why SDRs should work under marketing (yes, really) fo...

Erik Bloch, security operations expert and longtime infosec leader, joins the show to talk about the real problems plaguing SOCs and why the industry keeps missing the mark! George K and George A talk to Erik about: - The massive disconnect between what vendors think SOCs do vs. reality - spoiler alert: most founders have never worked in the trenches - Why we're still fighting the same problems fr...

This conversation hits different. Mohammed "Moh" Waqas, CTO Healthcare at Armis, joined us to talk about burnout, mental health, and the hidden costs of our "always-on" cybersecurity culture. George K and George A talk to Mohammad about: Why perfectionism in cyber is literally making us sick How epilepsy taught Moh to recognize burnout triggers before they hit The real cost of saying "yes" to ever...

Quinnlan Varcoe, founder of Blueberry Security, joins the show for a raw conversation about building a security startup! Quinn takes us through her wild ride from SOC analyst to founder - including how she shut down her business only to relaunch it stronger than ever.  George K and George A talk to Quinn about: Finding your true product-market fit in the security services space The brutal rea...

Dr. Kashyap "Kash" Thimmaraju joins the show to talk about a new study on burnout, wellbeing, and flow state in security operations. George K and George A talk to Kash about: New research using psychologically validated scales to measure burnout in cybersecurity professionals How "flow state" might be the key to better performance AND preventing burnout The impact of remote work and isolation on s...

Recorded LIVE at RSAC 2025: Don Jeter, Chief Meme Officer at Torq returns! He breaks down how Torq built a cult brand in cybersecurity around their "SOAR is Dead" campaign. George K and George A talk to Don about: Harnessing creativity in an era of algorithmic optimization: “You're not remembered for the safe ideas ever" Building internal excitement with your team (especially sales) before launchi...

George K and George A are off to San Francisco for RSAC 2025 this week. Here are some short musings on what they think they might see... Mentioned:  Chase Cunningham has built an app that lets you rank vendor demos in real time! If you'd like to join the effort, you can do so here: https://10ringvendors.glide.page

“When you look at cybersecurity…we've got to be constantly thinking about how we disrupt ourselves in order to actually solve the problem." Casey Ellis is a hacker, a founder, and an advisor and investor. Occupying a lot of different vantage points in cyber has given him a very unique perspective on the industry. George K and George A talk to Casey about: How Casey went from hacker to solution arc...

Jake Bernardes, CISO at Anecdotes, brings a uniquely adventurous spirit to this week’s show! And his ethos of “Don’t be an a**hole” is certainly one we can get behind. George K and George A talk to Jake about: Jake's "inherent risk-taker" philosophy that's guided his career moves Why the best CISOs are "repulsed by the idea of being bored" and how that drives innovation The changing face of securi...

George K and George A are out this week to keynote SecureWorld Toronto and host the Cyber Pitch Battle Royale. Catch up on interviews you may have missed with: Stacey Lokey-Day on collecting experiences to build your career Candace Williams on the keys to networking Allan Alford on the best ways vendors can engage with CISOs and ensure they stay in good graces Jessica Andree on how to build loyalt...

This week, Ads Dawson, Staff AI Security Researcher at Dreadnode, joins the show to talk all things AI Red Teaming! George K and George A talk to Ads about: The reality of securing #AI model development pipelines Why cross-functional expertise is critical when securing AI systems How to approach continuous red teaming for AI applications (hint: annual pen tests won't cut it anymore) Practical advi...

Ever wondered why cybersecurity hiring is broken? Jessica's flipping the script with a revolutionary approach to talent acquisition and development! George K and George A talk to Jessica about: How she transformed the company’s hiring by focusing on building talent rather than looking for unicorns or perfect fits Why asking "Why are you here?" is her #1 interview question (and what she learns from...

This week, researcher Kate Wood from Info-Tech joins the show to talk about the future of security autonomization with AI. George K and George A talk to Kate about: The reality of AI adoption in security beyond marketing hype (and where the hallucinations are still problematic) Modernizing vendor risk management beyond checkbox exercises A fascinating framework for "autonomization" vs. automation...

This week we talk to Allan Alford talking about his 25 years journey from CISO to startups to consulting and now his return back to corporate America! George K and George A talk to Allan about: His wild career journey - and what motivated his most recent career decision His new gig at NTT Global Data Centers, and why data centers are the next hot thing in security The truly global scope of his new...

This week Jeanette Belashov, of Anvilogic , joins the show to talk about smarter and more authentic cybersecurity marketing. George K and George A talk to Jeanette about: Why the lead gen MQL mindset is total BS and hurts both your strategy AND your buyers Using selling signals instead of vanity metrics to actually help your sales team connect with the right accounts at the right time about the ri...

The unstoppable Tennisha Martin joins the show this week! The Executive Director of BlackGirlsHack digs into what it really takes to build diverse cybersecurity talent pipelines in today's challenging environment. George K and George A talk to Tennisha about: How BGH is using AI and hands-on labs to teach real-world hacking skills Why traditional education often falls short on practical cybersecur...

New episode drop! This week Chloe Burton joins us to talk about her journey from IT Help Desk to Head of Detection Engineering. George K and George A talk to Chloe about: How she used a foray into Splunk to learn and launch her career Why "more alerts" doesn't equal better security Her views on consulting as a career accelerator in cyber How she looks for and mentors new talent If you're tired of...

Candace Williams, security leader, joins the show to talk about what ACTUALLY matters in networking and professional development in cybersecurity. No BS, just real talk from someone who's lived it. George K and George A talk to Candace about: Why your internal barriers are often bigger than external ones The truth about transactional networking (spoiler: it doesn't work) Why chasing certs and bein...

Kenneth Ellington returns, one year later to talk about the changes from leaving his corporate gig to work for himself. George K and George A talk to Kenneth about: How he's balancing running a cybersecurity academy, staffing agency, AND active security work Real talk about the challenges of building business processes from scratch Brutally honest advice about job hunting in cyber Why job opportun...