UNSECURITY: Information Security Podcast

If you're a loyal follower of the UNSECURITY Podcast, you know that from time to time Evan takes trips down to Mexico to get away from everything so he can write. Well, he's back. This time, he's co-authoring a vCISO Handbook with Brad. In this week's episode, the co-hosts (and soon to be co-authors) talk about what readers can expect in their upcoming piece—which hopes to be done before fall of t...

Episode 112 of the UNSECURITY Podcast marks the final episode of 2020. With that, Brad and Evan take a look back at some of the major security topics that surfaced this year—primarily breaches. The hope is that by dissecting some of these large-scale security events, businesses can continue to push forward in their efforts to protect data and people. Happy New Year, everybody! As always, please fe...

Evan and Brad continued their at-home security series with episode 111 of the UNSECURITY Podcast. Coincidentally, this one is guided by a recent conversation Evan had with his mom, who is a 73-year-old woman concerned with her accounts and financials in the wake of the SolarWinds attack. Evan's mom is a metaphor for a lot of people—concerned and confused about newsworthy breaches and what to do ab...

If you're at all in touch with information security news, you likely already know about the SolarWinds compromise that was announced yesterday. With the majority of Fortune 500 companies and a number of US government entities using their product, this compromise has the potential to do serious damage. And that was felt throughout the security industry yesterday. So, we pivot! Today, Brad and Evan...

The guys are continuing the Information Security at Home series on episode 109 of the podcast. As industry professionals, we often take our skills and knowledge for granted. There are a lot of things that are obvious to us that may not be to the non-industry professional. So, Evan and Brad do a deep dive into firewall and router security—taking a look at things like finding your router, logging in...

Brad is back after his recent bout with Labyrinthitis for episode 108 of the UNSECURITY Podcast. This week, Evan and Brad continue the conversation from episode 106. With many people working and schooling from home this year, in-home security is more important than ever. But why? Check out this episode to find out—and get some advice from the guys about the what you can do. As always, please feel...

It's nearly Thanksgiving, which means holiday shopping is already in full force. With more online shopping coupled with the fact that most of us are more distracted than ever, attackers could have a field day. It's important to know how to protect yourself and your family while holiday shopping, so Evan provides some tips in episode 107 of the UNSECURITY Podcast. Check it out and submit your comme...

As information security professionals, we're responsible for protecting sensitive business information involving financials, customer info, employee data, and more. But, those protections don't always feel directly connected to us personally—more of our personal data lives in our home environment. So, from the perspective of security professionals, what should we do at home to protect ourselves an...

The number of aggressive cyber attacks we've seen has been on the rise very recently—including a calculated Ryuk ransomware targeting healthcare organizations. Knowing attackers are taking extra advantage of the chaos of the pandemic, Oscar (who leads FRSecure's technical services team) gives some thoughts about what you should and shouldn't do when experiencing an incident or attack. Give episode...

At episode 104, the UNSECURITY Podcast has officially reached its second year anniversary of the show. First off, we'd like to thank all of our listeners for sticking with us during this journey. It's been fun, and we hope you've gained as much from the conversations as we have. This week, we're continuing our unofficial series on the topics of mental health, wellness, and work-life balance in the...

Things don't always go as planned. With Brad out last week and a riveting conversation with Neal O'Farrell about mental health in the information security industry, Neal joined the podcast again for an impromptu part two in episode 103. In part two of this discussion, Evan, Brad, and Neal review some very specific self-help measures they've tried—and what their experiences were with them. Give thi...

With Brad out this week, Evan is joined by the founder of the PsyberReslience Project, Neal O’Farrell. The PsyberReslience Project is an "ongoing effort to address the prevalence and impact of stress, burnout, and mental health challenges in the cybersecurity workforce." Evan and Neal chat about what mental health is like in the information security industry, and what challenges need to be address...

Securing an election has never been more difficult. Especially with the current state of the pandemic and its impact on in-person events, there’s much more to election security than protecting voting machines. Things like voter intimidation, disinformation, and security after election night all tie back into election security as much as infrastructure. Brad and Evan break down securing the 2020 el...

Brad and Evan pick up where they left off with episode 99 in talking about "The Social Dilemma" by Netflix. The documentary outlines the problems with the way society is moving and how social media and big tech companies are aiding in that. With security and online privacy and tech going hand-in-hand, this is an important topic to discuss. Let us know what you thought of the documentary at insecur...

In episode 99 of the UNSECURITY Podcast, Evan and Brad review "The Social Dilemma"—Netflix's new documentary which sheds light on some techniques tech companies use to get us hooked on social media and the information they're collecting on us. Hear what a couple of information security and privacy experts have to say about a topic that's not going away any time soon. And, as always, send us your f...

Things aren't always as straightforward as they should be in information security. One thing it tends to be hard to determine is who is accountable for what. On this week's episode of the UNSECURITY podcast, Evan and Brad provide some tips and tricks for holding people accountable within our industry—but also life in general. Give episode 98 a listen, and don't hesitate to share your feedback at u...

With the 2020 elections coming up quickly, it feels like the country is as divisive as it's ever been. What implications might that have on the information security industry? Brad and Evan unpack this in this week's episode of the UNSECURITY Podcast. As always, please send us your comments and feedback to unsecurity@protonmail.com .

Evan is flying solo on episode 96 of the UNSECURITY podcast. This week, he discusses the importance of context as it relates to making information security decisions. Without context, we often rely on emotion, bias, and assumptions to make decisions—which can be catastrophic. Give this episode a watch or listen and let us know what you think at unsecurity@protonmail.com .

As we all know, 2020 has been a wild ride. The culmination of events this year, including the pandemic, social justice events, economic issues, the election cycle, and more, have all made for a unique and changing information security landscape. In this episode, Evan and Brad discuss these changes and what they mean for the industry.

Evan is known for saying that the information security industry lacks a common language, making it hard for us to be on the same page. Using that line of thinking, Evan and Brad Google search "cybersecurity" on this episode and discuss their findings. Hopefully, this will shed some light on the challenges the industry faces in easing confusion. Give episode 94 a listen and let us know what you thi...

Fresh off a really successful DEF CON with Team Ambush, Oscar Minks joins the UNSECURITY Podcast to reflect on the conference and its competitions. Oscar leads FRSecure’s technical services team—which many members of compete at events together as Team Ambush. Listen to get an inside look at one of the biggest hacking events in the world. Then, give us your feedback on this episode (or any) at unse...

The UNSECURITY Podcast is sticking with its Women in Security series for yet another week. This week, Brad and Evan are joined by Lee Ann Villella, who is the Senior Enterprise Security Sales Consultant at FRSecure, Program Director for the Minnesota Chapter of the Information Systems Security Association, and member of the Cyber Security Summit Advisory Board Committee (including the Women In Sec...

The Women in Security series of the UNSECURITY Podcast is back again this week for part 8. This week, Brad and Evan are joined by Theresa Semmens, who is the current CISO at the Nevada System of Higher Education. Having also served as the AVP/Chief Information Security Officer at the University of Miami and the CISO at North Dakota State University, Theresa brings an unmatched perspective on secur...

We've gotten great feedback on the Women in Security series thus far, so we're keeping the ball rolling. Part 7 of the series features Amy McLaughlin, who has an incredible background working in InfoSec in education—including the State of Oregon, the Consortium for School Network (CoSN), Chemeketa Community College, and Oregon State University. Get to know Amy and her experiences in the industry b...

The quest to gain perspectives from women in the information security industry continues this week as Brad and Evan welcome their sixth guest, Judy Hatchett. Judy has experience operating in security departments across a number of industries including consulting, healthcare, manufacturing, and food. She's currently the CISO Surescripts, a health information network designed to increase patient saf...