This episode features Dr. Chase Cunningham, Chief Strategy Officer at Demo-Force.com.
Widely known as “Dr. Zero Trust”, he’s the creator of the Zero Trust Extended Framework and former Forrester principal analyst. With decades of experience supporting the NSA, U.S. Navy, FBI Cyber, and other government missions, Chase brings deep expertise on how nation-states wage digital conflict.
In this episode, Chase explains how China, Russia, and North Korea use cyber operations to advance long-term strategic goals, why critical infrastructure has become a silent battlefield, and why attribution makes retaliation so difficult. He shares practical guidance for hardening defenses, outpacing common attackers, and avoiding becoming the “slowest gazelle in the herd.”
This is a sobering look at how geopolitics fuels cyber risk, and the urgent realities every security leader must prepare for now.
Guest Bio
Creator of the Zero Trust eXtended framework and a cybersecurity expert with decades of operational experience in NSA, US Navy, FBI Cyber, and other government mission groups, Chase is responsible for ZTEdge's overall strategy and technology alignment. Chase was previously VP and Principal Analyst at Forrester Research; Director of Threat Intelligence for Armor; Director of Cyber Analytics for Decisive Analytics; and Chief Cryptologic Technician, US Navy. He's the author of the Cynja series and Cyber Warfare: Truth, Tactics, and Strategies.
Guest Quote
" Putin has even been noted as saying that chaos is the goal. You do that via cyber. You don't do that by putting boots on ground anymore. That is very important for everybody that's connected or digital to understand, you are operating in a live fire battlefield environment. You're not just on the internet.”
Time stamps
01:04 Meet Dr. Chase Cunningham: Dr. Zero Trust 02:47 The Fifth Horseman: Cyber Threats 04:24 Geopolitical Implications of Cyber Warfare 09:05 Understanding China's Approach to Cyber 17:27 Breaking Down Defensive Cyber 20:17 Understanding North Korea's Approach to Cyber 22:25 Russia's Cyber Chaos Tactics 24:35 Cyber Leadership Gaps in the U.S. Government 27:22 Final Thoughts and Advice
Sponsor
The HIP Podcast is brought to you by Semperis, the leader in identity-driven cyber resilience for the hybrid enterprise. Trusted by the world’s leading businesses, Semperis protects critical Active Directory environments from cyberattacks, ensuring rapid recovery and business continuity when every second counts. Visit semperis.com to learn more.
Links
Connect with Chase on LinkedIn
Learn more about Demo-Force.com
Chase’s HIPConf 2024 Talk: Cyber Threat: The Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse
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