WE'RE IN!

In this episode of WE'RE IN , Josh Mason sits down with SRT member Austin, a rising star on the Synack Red Team. Austin shares his hacker origin story and pulls back the curtain on what it takes to break into elite researcher programs. He also deep-dives into his recent "heavy hitter" win: using a JSON Web Token inspection to completely demolish the authorization schema of a U.S. financial service...

On this episode of WE'RE IN, Josh Mason sits down with Ty Bross, Offensive Security Lead for Sidekick Security and Researcher for the Synack Red Team. Ty discusses his teenage hacking origins, how he broke into the cybersecurity profession, his favorite hacks, and advice to aspiring penetration testers.   Chapters : 00:00 Introduction 01:50 Understanding Business Logic Vulnerabilities 03:44 Hacker...

In this episode, host Josh Mason chats with Synack Red Team Legend Ozgur Alp, who shares his offensive security journey from university to big four consulting to full-time Synack Red Team researcher. Ozgur gives his unique take on where AI excels (and falls short), which roles AI will replace, and whether the cost of AI is sustainable in the long-term.   Chapters : 00:00 Introduction: Meet Ozgur 0...

Josh Mason sits down with Tim Nordvedt, Synack's Senior Manager of North American Solutions Architects, to discuss his unique cybersecurity origin story, the power of networking, automating attack surface discovery, and why "falling in love with learning" is the only way to survive an AI-driven security landscape. Chapter Timestamps 00:00 Introduction: Meet Tim Nordvedt 01:05 Security Origin Story...

In this episode of WE'RE IN, host Josh Mason sits down with Teri Green , VP of Technology at Elevate and CIO/CISO at Light Technology Solutions. Teri breaks down her proprietary TEST Framework (Touch, Execute, Store, Trust) -a practical toolset for CISOs to evaluate AI risk beyond simple vulnerabilities. They discuss why humans remain the greatest vector in the age of AI, how to teach digital citi...

In this episode of WE’RE IN, Josh Mason sits down with Sayaan Alam, a Level 5 Synack Red Team (SRT) member who started his hacking journey at 14 years old. Sayaan shares his story of how he became the second-youngest researcher onboarded to the SRT and how he climbed the ranks to become recognized on the Synack Acropolis. Timestamps: 00:54 Meet Sayaan: Starting Bug Bounties at 14 01:33 Joining the...

This conversation explores how AI is transforming the offensive security landscape, focusing on the rise of AI-driven vulnerabilities, the evolution of pen testing, and the integration of human and AI efforts in cybersecurity. The discussion highlights the importance of adapting to new threats and the role of Synack's Autonomous Red Agent in enhancing vulnerability detection and remediation proces...

Synack Red Team member Bloodtyper reveals his journey from the DMZ to discovering critical AI prompt injection vulnerabilities. Learn how he creates bug bounty reports that get accepted, as well as other golden nuggets of advice to learn and grow your penetration testing skills. CHAPTERS: 0:00 Introduction 01:03 Military Origins & The DMZ 01:58 Hacker Origin Story 04:06 Transitioning from Infantry...

Adam Logue, Independent Security Researcher and Synack Red Teamer, discusses his experiences with responsible disclosure and bug bounty programs, and provides a fascinating technical deep dive into a vulnerability he found in Microsoft 365 Copilot during a client-facing engagement. Timestamps: 00:49 - Adam's background with responsible disclosure and bug bounty programs 04:33 - Description of M365...

Blake and Cynthia take an in-depth look at the evolving ransomware threat landscape, the interplay between government and private sector in cybersecurity, and the challenges and opportunities presented by new technologies like AI. Timestamps:  00:19 - Halcyon’s Ransomware Research Center 07:24 - Actors behind ransomware campaigns 11:22 - Will AI help offense or defense?  17:29 - Known vulnerabilit...

Rob and Blake discuss vulnerability and exploit discover in the age of AI and increasingly intelligent cyber threats.  Rob Lee is the Chief of Research and Head of Faculty at SANS Institute and runs his own consulting business specializing in information security, incident response, threat hunting, and digital forensics. With more than 20 years of experience in digital forensics, vulnerability and...

In this bonus episode, Blake, Sharon Mandell and Mark Kuhr have a discussion about the impact of agentic AI in cybersecurity, focusing on both threats and opportunities. They touch on the rise of AI-enabled cyberattacks and how adversarial and generative AI are being leveraged by attackers, as well as the dual-use nature of AI. How can it can be both a threat and a tool for defenders? Hosted by Si...

Jim Langevin, former chair of the Congressional Cyber Caucus and Democratic Congressman from Rhode Island, reflects on his belief that cybersecurity remains a bipartisan issue. He emphasizes the importance of collaboration between government and the private sector, and the potential of artificial intelligence in enhancing cybersecurity. Timestamps: 01:05 - About Rep. Langevin 04:08 - Building a ha...

Paul Mote, Vice President, Solutions Architects at Synack, discusses if we're ready to embrace AI in a world of ever-evolving threats. Who will AI help more, attackers or defenders? TIMESTAMPS: 00:35 - What is a solutions architect? 02:56 - Advancing threats 13:32 - Are we ready to embrace AI?  20:58 - What’s real, what’s not? 25:03 - Find Paul Mote on LinkedIn   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz c...

 Lea Kissner, CISO of LinkedIn, describes the dangers of perverse metrics, the importance of phishing-resistant technologies, and the ongoing challenge of recruiting and retaining top talent in the field. Lea also explains how  they deal with complex privacy issues at scale every day. Lea and Blake also touch on LinkedIn's efforts to balance security with user privacy preferences, and the evolving...

Mike Witt, NASA's Senior Agency Information Security Officer and Chief Information Security Officer for Cybersecurity and Privacy, has a long history of public service. In addition to serving 10 years in the U.S. Army, Mike was the director of the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) at the Department of Homeland Security and a key cybersecurity official at the IRS. Now, he’s...

Lieutenant General Lori Reynolds' (Ret., USMC) career journey from a Naval Academy graduate to a key figure in cybersecurity and information warfare illustrates the progression of military communications and cyber operations. Initially commissioned as a Marine Corps communications officer in 1986, Lori’s career took her from managing traditional radio communications to leading the Marine Corps Cyb...

The Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center (DC3) operates a Vulnerability Disclosure Program (VDP) that handles critical cybersecurity issues reported by the public, including using an actual red phone for urgent matters. In the latest episode of WE’RE IN!, Melissa Vice, director of DC3’s VDP, describes how they respond to cyberthreats and collaborate with other groups within the center, such as...

Hear from this season’s guests for their thoughts and predictions on AI and cybersecurity. We took sound bites from a range of WE’RE IN! interviewees, whose opinions on AI vary from thinking it’s overblown to being cautiously curious. Tune into this episode to better understand AI’s seismic effects on the infosec industry. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for informati...

Bill Dunnion, chief information security officer at global telecommunications company Mitel, is well-versed in the critical nature of telecom infrastructure and the devices that support it. He’s also keenly aware of how his role as CISO is under increasing scrutiny from regulators around the world and in Canada, where Mitel is based.  In this episode of WE’RE IN!, Bill expresses skepticism about A...

Jen, a former military professional turned hacker, shares her journey into cybersecurity and her experiences with the Synack Red Team in the latest episode of WE’RE IN! She transitioned from fixing security issues to actively seeking vulnerabilities, inspired by her brother and motivated by her experiences at the storied hacker conference, DEF CON. Jen emphasizes the importance of skill developmen...

Sara Mosley, technical director for the Bureau of Diplomatic Security's Cybersecurity and Technology Services, works with the U.S. State Department to help identify threats and potential compromises. In her role, she advocates for a Zero Trust approach that focuses on protecting critical data rather than trying to secure everything equally. She recommends balancing security measures with mission n...

Cybersecurity has a complexity problem. A tangled web of technical, psychological, economic and geopolitical factors enable and motivate malicious actors. Michael Daniel, CEO and president of the Cyber Threat Alliance, is helping public and private organizations decode these complex motivations with information sharing, including the Ransomware Task Force.  In this episode of WE’RE IN!, Michael el...

Anand Prakash on cloud security startups and next-gen hacking  Anand Prakash, founder of startup PingSafe, shares his insights on building a successful cybersecurity business and his experience as a top bug bounty hunter. He emphasizes the importance of fast execution, accountability and learning from mistakes when growing the company acquired by SentinelOne, where he’s now a senior director of pr...

Ads Dawson, release lead and founding member for the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) Top 10 for Large Language Model Applications project, has no shortage of opinions on securing generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and LLMs. With rapid adoption across the tech industry, GenAI and LLMs are dominating the conversation in the infosec community. But Ads says the security approach...