#CyberChats

Keep those fans on MAX, cyberheads! In this episode of the #CyberChats special edition summer series, we continue to build on our theme of system security. To start, we walk through our thought process and some techniques for solving this month's Cyber Challenge on MetaCTF: "Lost in the Woods." If you had a different methodology, let us know. Next, we explore some ways to defeat cred...

The heat is on, Cyberheads! In this episode of the #CyberChats special edition summer series, we explore how to improve your system security. In today's episode, we discuss the basics of how to make your phone, laptop, or PC more secure and less attractive to bad actors. How do you reduce your attack surface? How do you limit access to your location data? Why should you remove apps you don&#39...

Happy summer, cyberheads! Like many of you, our guests are on break and out of office, so we have some special edition episodes just for the summer. Don't worry, guests will be back to chat with us in the fall. But until then, join us on #CyberChats as we stay cool in the summer heat and dive into the freshest topics in cyber. In this episode, we give a basic primer on how asymmetric cryptogra...

Happy summer, cyberheads! Like many of you, our guests are on break and out of office, so we have some special edition episodes just for the summer. Don't worry, guests will be back to chat with us in the fall. But until then, join us on #CyberChats as we stay cool in the summer heat and dive into the freshest topics in cyber. In today's episode, we dip our toes into an introduction to cry...

In this throwback episode from Season 1, we hear from two incredible women in cyber to help us explore our risk appetite. Not all people or businesses can tolerate the same amount or type of risk… so that means everyone approaches manages risk differently. What are you risking when you decide to take a certain class or download a particular application? Are you missing out on friends? Are you sacr...

We don't play around in cybersecurity, but we definitely game! In this episode, our guests detail the role that games and game strategy play in teaching us how to think like an adversary and keep safe online. We chat with DJ Strickland about his work and advocacy in bringing more representation into the cyber community through video games and comic books. But, like DJ experienced, we learn tha...

In this bonus episode, we talk about Cyber Saturday - a day of cyber exploration for rising 5th-10th grade students with workshops covering cybersecurity, data protection, and online safety. Cyber Saturday is Saturday May 4th, from 9am to 2pm, at TAC in Columbia, Maryland. https://cryptologicfoundation.org/students/events/cyber-saturday.html

Alethe Dennis, mistress of social engineering, talks about what social engineering is, how it can improve overall security for a company, and her path to becoming a professional social engineer and DefCon Black Badge holder. She also discusses what to teach your kids about not getting engineered, how to ethically learn and practice your skills, and gives some reading recommendations. Connect with...

Imagine working hard, finally starting a job, and hating it all while being cyberstalked. Would you know what to do? Our guest this episode shares how to approach these challenges so you can get the best outcome but also keep moving forward in a new career. Our guest Kennedy Taylor is a Senior Technology Risk Consultant for Ernst & Young, where she supports our Department of Defense. Topics di...

Get to know a little more about our new host, James, with this round of Fast Five questions!

DEF CON is one of the biggest cyber conferences of the year, and this year's DEF CON 32 will feature a new initiative called DCNextGen -- a track for kids and teens of all skill levels, from complete beginner to practitioners. There will be CTFs (Capture the Flag events), badges you can solder and program, workshops on technical skills, and even the opportunity to present a talk. In this episo...

Cyber crime can seem like something that only the most technically advanced people could pull off. But with last year's MGM hack, attackers basically had the door held open for them as they logged in with valid credentials they engineered someone to give them, stole company data and demanded payment. In this episode, we’ll learn how to protect ourselves and our information by learning how huma...

Being a leader in cyber often denotes valuable insights gained from a long career. Today's guest is not only a highly regarded leader in cyber but is also NCF's very own CEO, Laura Nelson. Learn how Laura's career has shaped her views on the importance of data privacy, what she's most excited about at the NCF, and how mentorship has played a vital role getting her to where she is t...

Curious about cryptography and why it’s linked to cybersecurity? How can something like math help us fight the bad guys? On this episode, our highly esteemed guest will bring her experience in research, cryptography, and law in order to explain how cryptography can be used to solve some of the world’s biggest problems. Anjana Rajan is the Assistant National Cyber Director at The White House. Topic...

Closing the workforce gap is a huge challenge within the cybersecurity industry, and the demand for professionals continues to grow worldwide. How can we address the barriers to solving this issue? This week's guest has long partnered with NCF to be a part of the solution and has helped to identify the roots of the problem so that others can gain an understanding of the broader issue at hand....

Happy new year! To start off 2024, we are resolving to think more critically about all of the info we share online before we share it! To do that, we're re-listening to our first ever #CyberChats Podcast episode with Dr. Eliot Jardines. We'll see you back in a couple of weeks with new episodes and new challenges. In the meantime, let us know -- how are you resolving to stay safe online in...

In this special episode of the #CyberChats podcast, we’re celebrating the halfway point of Season 2 by featuring our guests from throughout the season. Get ready to hear all of their tips for being cyber smart in a collection of this season’s Fast Five responses.  --------- Register here for our FREE episode challenges: ⁠https://metactf.com/join/cyberchats2⁠ Learn more about our challenges on our...

Cybersecurity is a team sport and one of our values as an organization is to help elevate those who are working with us to spread awareness about data care and cyber careers. We also want to provide you with reliable resources if you are looking to help in our mission to educate others about taking care of their data. This episode highlights some of our invaluable partners: MetaCTF (our challenge...

The start of the winter season means quality time with friends, family, and loved ones, which means it's the perfect time to talk to the people we care for about staying safe online. A new school year is upon us, and many of our routines are changing to adapt. But what are you doing to take better care of your data this school year? Do you know what information you're sharing? If you don&#...

Imagine working hard, finally starting a job, and hating it all while being cyberstalked. Would you know what to do? Our guest this episode shares how to approach these challenges so you can get the best outcome but also keep moving forward in a new career. Our guest Kennedy Taylor is a Senior Technology Risk Consultant for Ernst & Young, where she supports our Department of Defense. Kennedy w...

Our teenage guest will talk about a very well known competition called CyberPatriot. Because the team he helped build has yielded such great success in competition, he’s passionate about giving back and helping others find a space in the cyber community. You’ll enjoy hearing about the content of his blog post concerning CyberPatriot, and we’ll go over inside tips on how to make and maintain ANY hi...

Happy Cybersecurity Awareness Month! Cyber crime can seem like something that only the most technically advanced people could pull off. But with the recent MGM hack, attackers basically had the door held open for them as they logged in with valid credentials they engineered someone to give them, stole company data and demanded payment. In this episode, we’ll learn how to protect ourselves and our...

Getting more cyber ed opportunities in the K12 space is a difficult problem to troubleshoot. In this episode, we’ll show how solutions can come from the students themselves! Take note from our enthusiastic and motivated teen guest as they share how they navigated creating and managing a school cyber club and got jobs in tech before college. Our guest Sully Vickers is an intern at Markel, is the fo...

A new school year is upon us, and many of our routines are changing to adapt. But what are you doing to take better care of your data this school year? Do you know what information you're sharing? If you don't know much about your data, and want to be empowered so you can know what steps to take, this is the place to start! Our guest Hannah Sutor is a Principal Product Manager at GitLab an...

Welcome back to Season 2 of #CyberChats! We have lots in store for this season. To start off, we have a quick introduction to your host and some info and updates about our show. Then, a sneak peek at some of this season's guests! Be sure to follow us on Instagram @ncfcyber and sign up for updates on our website to get news about when episodes drop, when challenges open and close, and submit yo...