It’s mid-February, but somehow, we’ve already been through what feels like a year's worth of change in the cybersecurity and regulation world. Beyond the standard incidents, outages, and attacks… there have been obvious impacts that have downstream effects. Regardless of regulatory changes, which we’ll cover as those impact our space, AZT brought together a few minds who have thoughts on the year ahead.

To properly kick off season four, we have the privilege of chatting with two wonderful guests:

Lawrence Pingree, VP of Technical Marketing at Dispersive, but you are more likely to know his name from his time at Gartner. However, he has a varied background ranging from CTO to security engineer, so don’t let that marketing line in his title fool you.

Oliver Plante, VP of Support at ThreatLocker, has around 15-20 years of IT under his belt. He also has seen a thing or two when it comes to implementing new cybersecurity strategies

03:21 Predictions for the Year Ahead

04:06 Zero Trust and Least Privilege

05:40 The Future of Cyber Defense

07:21 AI and Cybersecurity

08:41 Threat Intelligence and Preemptive Defense

09:50 Challenges and Innovations in Cybersecurity

14:23 The Role of AI in Cyber Attacks

26:18 Quantum Computing: Threat or Savior?

29:31 Passwordless Security: The Future

30:57 Challenges of Deepfake Technology and Passwordless Security

33:03 Blockchain and Its Applications in Security

35:33 Debate on Password Management Practices

38:03 User Responsibility and Security Automation

47:50 Government's Role in Cybersecurity

57:14 Future of Cybersecurity and Zero Trust

Catch this episode on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, or Amazon. You can read the show notes here.

Neal and I are excited to welcome you back to AZT as we kick off our fourth season. After four years of trying out different formats and episodes, including at least an entire season terrorizing vendors for slapping Zero Trust on their box as if it were something you could buy, we’re ready to narrow our focus a bit.

In this episode of 'Adopting Zero Trust (AZT)', host Neal Dennis and producer Elliot Volkman delve into the often-overlooked realm of soft or 'non-tech' skills in cybersecurity.

This week, we chat with Courtney Hans, VP of Cyber Services at AmTrust Financial Services, and Evgeniy Kharam, author of Architecting Success: The Art of Soft Skills, who help us explore how non-technical skills are vital in shaping the careers of cybersecurity professionals.

Our guests share the importance of effective communication, emotional intelligence, and adaptability. The hosts and guests share personal anecdotes, training tips, and the necessity of bridging technical prowess with essential soft skills to improve stakeholder engagement and career advancement. The episode emphasizes the value of being comfortable with discomfort and soliciting feedback to enhance one’s professional journey in cybersecurity.