Episode 149: Human Error, AI Missteps, and Other VM Risks

In episode 149 of Cybersecurity Where You Are, Sean Atkinson is joined by Chris McCullar, Director of Sales, Cloud Security, at the Center for Internet Security® (CIS®); and Mishal Makshood, Sr. Cloud Security Account Executive at CIS. Together, they discuss how to navigate human error, artificial intelligence (AI) missteps, and other landmarks in a new frontier of virtual machine (VM) risks. Here are some highlights from our episode:

• 00:50. Introductions with Chris and Mishal
• 02:20. The ongoing need to address the risk of human error when configuring VMs
• 04:55. The value of building trusted security into a VM image by design
• 07:28. A reality check of what the shared responsibility model means to an organization
• 13:06. How the integration of AI into DevOps accelerates both automation and mistakes
• 15:21. The importance of a secure foundation in the cloud on which you can build with AI
• 18:19. Automated enforcement and AI's role in complementing human judgment
• 21:03. Two examples how CIS resources can drive governance and policy integration
• 28:05. Cybersecurity as a community-driven team sport
• 30:33. Lifecycle management as a way of addressing organizations' security needs

Resources

• Keep the Cloud Secure with CIS after Migrating to the Cloud
• Automated Compliance: The Byproduct of Holistic Hardening
• Meet the Shared Responsibility Model with New CIS Resources
• Episode 135: Five Lightning Chats at RSAC Conference 2025
• 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report

If you have some feedback or an idea for an upcoming episode of Cybersecurity Where You Are, let us know by emailing [e-mail].