Future of Threat Intelligence

What does it take to transform a traditional event-driven SOC into an intelligence-driven operation that actually moves the needle? At T. Rowe Price , it meant abandoning the "spray and pray" approach to threat detection and building a systematic framework that prioritizes threats based on actual business risk rather than industry hype. PJ Asghari, Team Lead for Cyber Threat Intelligence Team, wal...

Most security leaders position themselves as guardians against risk, but Aimee Cardwell , CISO in Residence at Transcend and Board Member at WEX, built her reputation on a different approach: balancing risk to accelerate business growth. Her unconventional path from Fortune 5 CIO to CISO of a 1,200-person security team at UnitedHealth Group showcases how technical leaders can become true business...

The economics of ransomware reveal a sophisticated criminal enterprise that most security leaders dramatically underestimate. Steve Baer , Field CISO at Digital Asset Redemption , operates at the intersection of cybercrime and legitimate business, where his team's human intelligence gathering in Dark Web communities provides early warning systems that traditional security infrastructure cannot mat...

Most security leaders are fighting yesterday's ransomware war while today's attackers have moved to data exfiltration and reputation destruction. Manisha Agarwal-Shah , Deputy CISO at McAfee , brings 18 years of cybersecurity experience from consulting through AWS to explore why traditional ransomware defenses miss the mark against modern threat actors. Her framework for building security teams pr...

Team Cymru's threat researchers have spent years developing an almost psychological understanding of cybercriminals, tracking their behavioral patterns alongside technical infrastructure to predict where attacks will emerge before they happen. Josh and Abigail share with David how their multi-year tracking of Russian cybercrime groups enabled critical contributions to Operation Endgame. Their work...

Jonathan Jaffe , CISO at Lemonade , has built what he predicts will be "the perfect AI system" using agent orchestration to automate vulnerability management at machine speed, eliminating the developer burden of false positive security alerts. His unconventional approach to security combines lessons learned from practicing law against major tech companies with a systematic strategy for partnering...

The security industry's obsession with cutting-edge threats often overshadows a more pressing reality: the vast majority of organizations are still mastering basic AI implementation. Vivek Menon , CISO & Head of Data at Digital Turbine , brings his insights from the RSA expo floor to share why the agentic AI security rush may be premature, while highlighting the genuine opportunities AI presen...

Most organizations approach ransomware as a technical problem, but Steve Baer , Field CISO at Digital Asset Redemption , has built his career understanding it as fundamentally human. His team's approach highlights why traditional cybersecurity tools fall short against motivated human adversaries and how proactive intelligence gathering can prevent incidents before they occur. Steve's insights from...

The cybersecurity industry has talked extensively about burnout, but Mark Alba , Managing Director of Cybermindz , is taking an unprecedented scientific approach to both measuring and treating it. In this special RSA episode, Mark tells David how his team applies military-grade psychological protocols originally developed for PTSD treatment to address the mental health crisis in security operation...

The cybersecurity industry has witnessed numerous technology waves, but AI's integration at RSA 2025 signals something different from past hype cycles. Howard Holton , Chief Technology Officer at GigaOm , observed AI adoption across virtually every vendor booth, yet argues this represents genuine transformation rather than superficial marketing. His analyst perspective, backed by GigaOm's practiti...

The cybersecurity industry has long operated on fear-based selling and vendor promises that rarely align with practical implementation needs. Jeff Man , Sr. Information Security Evangelist at Online Business Systems , brings a pragmatic perspective after years of navigating compliance requirements and advising organizations from Fortune 100 enterprises to small e-commerce operators. His cautious o...

The criminal underground is experiencing its own version of startup disruption, with massive ransomware-as-a-service operations fragmenting into smaller, more agile groups that operate like independent businesses. John Fokker , Head of Threat Intelligence at Trellix , brings unique insights from monitoring hundreds of millions of global sensors, revealing how defenders' success in EDR detection is...

In this special RSA episode of Future of Threat Intelligence, Martin Naydenov , Industry Principal of Cybersecurity at Frost & Sullivan , offers a sobering perspective on the disconnect between AI marketing and implementation. While the expo floor buzzes with "AI-enabled" security solutions, Martin cautions that many security teams remain reluctant to use these features in their daily operatio...

In our latest episode of The Future of Threat Intelligence, recorded at RSA Conference 2025, AJ Nash , Founder & CEO, Unspoken Security , provides a sobering assessment of AI's transformation of cybersecurity. Rather than focusing solely on hype, AJ examines the double-edged nature of AI adoption: how it simultaneously empowers defenders while dramatically lowering barriers to entry for sophis...

In this special RSA 2025 episode of The Future of Threat Intelligence, David speaks with Jawahar Sivasankaran , President of Cyware , about their partnership with Team Cymru to democratize threat intelligence. Jawahar outlines how their CTI program in a box approach enables organizations to implement comprehensive threat intelligence capabilities in weeks rather than months.  Jawahar offers a uniq...

In a world obsessed with cutting-edge security technology, Lonnie Best , Senior Manager of Detection & Response Services at Rapid7 , makes a compelling case for mastering the fundamentals. After transitioning from craft beer journalism through nuclear security to cybersecurity, Lonnie witnessed the evolution of ransomware attacks from "spray and pray" tactics to sophisticated credential theft...

From cleaning up after an insider theft of the notorious Pegasus spyware to safeguarding billions in payment transactions, Nir Rothenberg brings battlefield-tested security leadership to his role as CISO/CIO at Rapyd , and joins David on this episode of The Future of Threat Intelligence to share all his lessons learned.  In this no-holds-barred conversation , Nir delivers a wake-up call to securit...

Jill Rhodes , SVP & CISO at Option Care Health , shares her unconventional journey from international development lawyer stationed in Bolivia and Moscow to healthcare leader, where she built the security program from the ground up as the organization's first CISO. Jill outlines for David how a transformative assignment at an intelligence agency sparked her cybersecurity passion before she help...

In this episode of The Future of Threat Intelligence, Dmitri Alperovitch , Co-founder & Executive Chairman at Silverado Policy Accelerator and Author of World on the Brink: How America Can Beat China in the Race for the 21st Century , delivers a stark warning about the second Cold War with China that's unfolding, from military and nuclear arms races to space competition and technological rival...

What happens when Microsoft's on-premises security falls behind while cloud innovation accelerates? In this episode of The Future of Threat Intelligence, Wes Miller , Research Analyst for Microsoft Identity, Security, and Management at Directions on Microsoft , pulls back the curtain on Microsoft's fragmented security landscape.  Having survived the historic Windows security push during his 7 year...

In this episode of The Future of Threat Intelligence, Jeffrey Caruso , Senior Analyst at Wikistrat & Author of Inside Cyber Warfare , shares examples of how teams with minimal budgets achieved kinetic effects through OT system manipulation — from destroying missile research facilities to compromising subway systems and burning down FSB-affiliated banks. His findings, based on two years documen...

Deral Heiland ’s research has uncovered critical vulnerabilities across the IoT spectrum, from office printers to medical devices, revealing how seemingly isolated devices can compromise entire networks. In one investigation, he discovered active credentials for five major hospital systems still present on secondhand medical equipment.  With extensive experience, including his current role as Prin...

What happens when you combine market research expertise with cybersecurity strategy? On this episode of The Future of Threat Intelligence, Frank Dickson , Group VP of Security & Trust at IDC , shares his journey from market research to leading a team of 20 cybersecurity analysts advising organizations on security strategy.  Frank walks David through the industry's shift from reactive security...

Jeff Orr , Director of Research & IT Technologies at ISG , brings over three decades of technology experience to his discussion with David about transforming enterprise security approaches. On this episode of The Future of Threat Intelligence, Jeff shares his explanation for why traditional security investments focused primarily on protection are leaving organizations vulnerable, with 98% expe...

Where is the balance between data accessibility and protection in today's interconnected digital landscape? Oded Anderman , Privacy Lead at Meta , has plenty of insights on this question and more from his journey from financial services to protecting user data at one of the world's largest social platforms.  His conversation with David on this episode of The Future of Threat Intelligence explores...