Hack Dissection

What actually happens at the world’s biggest hacker conference—and why are thousands of cybersecurity professionals volunteering their time to break things?

In this special bonus episode of Hack Dissection, Maltek Solutions’ Mike Lisi is joined by Click Stream Studios Founder Matt Masur, who traveled with Mike to Las Vegas for DEF CON 2026. Together, they look back on their experience documenting the conference and...

In this episode of Hack Dissection, Mike Lisi sits down with Tony Martino, a longtime digital forensics expert whose work has crossed law enforcement, the Secret Service, corporate investigations, incident response, and even true crime documentaries.

Tony shares how a homicide investigation in Utica helped launch his path into computer crime, what early digital forensics looked like before the tools became more automated, and why un...

In this episode of Hack Dissection, Mike Lisi sits down with Wayne Koback from NRECA to talk about the cybersecurity challenges facing electric cooperatives and rural utilities across the country.

Wayne shares what makes the co-op utility space so unique, from massive organizations with nuclear assets to small-town teams where one person may be handling IT, utility operations, and town management all at once. Mike and Wayne dig into...

In Episode 12 of Hack Dissection, Mike Lisi sits down with longtime friend and respected security educator Phillip Wylie — Chief Security Evangelist and Senior Consultant at Suzu Labs, and host of the Simply Offensive and The Phillip Wylie Show podcasts. Together, they look back on their early days pursuing the OSCP, discuss how offensive security has evolved over the last decade, and break down the changing realities of pene...

In Episode 11 of Hack Dissection, Mike Lisi and Graham O’Donnell reunite in person after a brutal Q4 to break down what they’re seeing across penetration testing, external assessments, web apps, and internal networks heading into 2026.

The conversation dives into why Q4 is always chaos in cybersecurity, how compliance deadlines shape client behavior, and why traditional external pen tests may be giving way to continuous ...

In this episode of Hack Dissection, Mike Lisi sits down with Josh Cutting, a young software engineer who did what many cybersecurity students struggle to do — land a job immediately after graduating.

Josh shares his journey from learning to code as a kid and studying at SUNY Poly to completing multiple internships, earning his master’s degree, and transitioning seamlessly into the workforce. Together, Mike and Josh unpac...

In Episode 0x9 of Hack Dissection, host Mike Lisi flips the perspective from offense to defense with guest Cody Spooner, Principal Sales Engineer at Corelight.

While Mike spends his days breaking into networks, Cody helps organizations defend them. Together they unpack how visibility, monitoring, and mindset intersect in modern cybersecurity — from the SOC Triad (SIEM, EDR, NDR) to the realities of MDR services, threat hunting...

In this episode of Hack Dissection, host Mike Lisi welcomes back Graham O’Donnell, Penetration Tester at Maltek Solutions, to pull back the curtain on what really happens during external and internal network assessments.

From OSINT and subdomain enumeration to Nmap quirks and the chaos of inconsistent vulnerability data, Graham shares his raw, unfiltered process for finding weaknesses in the wild — plus the unexpected hu...

In this episode of Hack Dissection, host Mike Lisi sits down with Brandon Finton, MS, CISSP, CISM, President of Orion Secure, to unpack the evolving landscape of cybersecurity for businesses. From the early days of Cyber Defense Institute to the launch of Orion Secure, Brandon shares his journey and the shift from training to professional services. Together, Mike and Brandon dive into: 🔒 Why Written Information Security Policies (...

In this episode of Hack Dissection, Mike Lisi is joined by cyber operations expert Paul Marco for a deep dive into the true purpose—and power—of tabletop exercises. From crisis simulations that reveal communication breakdowns to the uncomfortable truths leaders often overlook, Paul shares real-world stories that highlight the human factor in cybersecurity.

You’ll hear why most organizations get tabletop exercises w...

In this episode of Hack Dissection, hosts Mike Lisi and Graham O'Donnell sit down with red teamer, educator, and co-author of Redefining Hacking — Wesley Thurner. What starts as a light-hearted conversation about soldering badges at Cactus Con quickly dives deep into red team tactics, AI exploitation, and the culture of CTF (Capture the Flag) competitions.

Wesley shares real-world stories from his time in the military, his rol...

In this episode of Hack Dissection, Mike Lisi is joined once again by ethical hacker Graham O’Donnell to unpack a memorable internal penetration test at a K-12 school district. What started with a forgotten, outdated Windows machine in a bus garage quickly escalated into full domain compromise—and revealed just how fragile infrastructure can be when one unpatched endpoint gets plugged back in.

Mike and Graham walk throug...

In this episode, Mike Lisi sits down with Graham O'Donnell, a penetration tester at Maltek Solutions, to explore the mindset and methods behind physical security testing. From the art of blending in with a Carhartt jacket to the thrill of mapping out buildings like real-life Hitman levels, Graham shares his journey from curious wanderer to professional pen tester. Topics covered in this episode:

🔹 The thrill of exploring abandoned...

🚨 Welcome to the very first episode of Hack Dissection! 🚨 In this premiere episode, Mike Lisi, founder of Maltek Solutions, dives into the hidden cybersecurity threats that businesses across industries face—but rarely see. From real-world penetration testing stories to the biggest mistakes companies make, this episode breaks down: 🔍 The unseen security gaps that leave businesses wide open to attacks 💻 How ethical hackers ...