Cyber Smokehouse

Take your security program, board reporting, and risk management strategies to the next level with tactical insights on cyber risk quantification, agentic AI deployment, and enterprise governance. It’s time to stop relying on subjective traffic-light risk matrices and start speaking the language of financial impact that boardrooms understand. Who better to guide you through this transition than retired Air Force lieutenant co...

Take your cybersecurity leadership and operational strategy to the next level with practical insights on AI-driven planning, risk-based zero trust, and framework execution. It’s time to stop chasing unachievable 100% security and start building resilient, business-aligned security programs that maximize risk tolerance and protect core operations. Who better to guide you through this transition than CISO and Director of Cybers...

Take your enterprise Microsoft architecture and AI strategy to the next level with practical insights on Copilot deployment, agentic governance, and modern cloud security. It’s time to slow down, eliminate data sprawl, and secure your foundational permission structures before turning loose generative AI across your organization. Who better to guide you through it than 13-time Microsoft MVP, Cloud Architects co-host, and princ...

Take your technology risk and compliance strategies to the next level with powerful insights on independent control validation, third-party risk management, and the evolving audit ecosystem. It’s time to move past rubber-stamp compliance, navigate the alphabet soup of IT frameworks, and understand how AI is transforming sampling into full-population testing. Who better to guide you through it than retired EY partner, Americas...

Take your application security strategy to the next level with powerful insights on securing fast-paced agentic development, navigating abstracted SaaS platforms, and bridging the gap between engineers and security teams. It’s time to move past rigid no-saying, embrace "vibe coding" as a shared collaborative workspace, and build resilient security systems that stand the test of time. Who better to guide you through it than De...

Take your cybersecurity program to the next level with powerful insights on structuring security reporting lines, combating shadow risk, and building an engaged, transparent team culture from scratch. It’s time to move past organizational blind spots, establish top-down AI guardrails, and align vulnerability management directly with business priorities. Who better to guide you through it than Fortune 100 security leader, form...

Take your cybersecurity strategy to the next level with powerful insights on securing modern healthcare delivery, bridging the digital divide, and translating complex security tech into executive business language. It’s time to rethink patient care availability, move beyond legacy castle-and-moat models, and adopt platform-based zero trust architectures. Who better to guide you through it than U.S. Marine Corps veteran, publi...

Take your understanding of cybersecurity risk, organizational alignment, and executive career pivots to the next level with powerful insights from a 30-year industry veteran! It’s time to rethink the evolving personal liability of CISOs, how to effectively communicate cyber risk to non-technical business leaders, and what it really takes to walk away and build a successful second-act venture. Who better to guide you through i...

Take your cybersecurity operations to the next level with powerful insights on managing high-volume vulnerability patches, securing healthcare IT/OT environments, and applying deep reinforcement learning to autonomous defense. It’s time to move beyond reactive security measures and build resilient, zero-downtime systems in live, life-safety environments. Who better to guide you through it than healthcare CISO, critical infras...

Get ready to challenge everything you assume about AI's role in cybersecurity. Shannon Garcia, founder of Strategic Defense and a veteran red team leader with stops at Trustwave, SecureWorks, IBM, and Kudelski Security, joins the Cyber Smokehouse to break down why manual, human-led penetration testing still outperforms automated AI tools, and why that might not last forever.

You'll learn how shadow IT quietly drains company budgets,...

Strong cybersecurity programs aren't built through quick fixes, they're built through thoughtful leadership, patient execution, and investing in people.

In this episode of Cyber Smokehouse, Ernie Anderson and Graeme Payne sit down with Ward Balcerzak, Field CISO at Sentra, to discuss what effective security leadership looks like in today's rapidly evolving landscape. Ward shares lessons from building security programs, mentoring fut...

Most security programs are built around understanding what has already happened, but what if organizations could begin anticipating cyber threats before they materialize? In this episode of Cyber Smokehouse, Ernie Anderson and Graeme Payne welcome Tim and Suzanne O'Neil, founders of AigisPoint Predictive Intelligence. Drawing on decades of experience spanning enterprise security architecture, military leadership, entrepreneurship, ...

Cybersecurity leaders today face a challenge that extends far beyond technology: keeping pace with constant change. In this episode of Cyber Smokehouse, Ernie Anderson and Graeme Payne sit down with John Rogers, Chief Information Security Officer and Head of Technology Risk at MSCI. Drawing on experience spanning consulting, financial services, and executive security leadership, John shares his perspective on AI governance, third-p...

Most cybersecurity conversations start with technology. Michael Myint starts with the foundation. In this episode of Cyber Smokehouse, Ernie Anderson and Graeme Payne sit down with Michael Myint, a cybersecurity executive whose thirty year career spans Big Four consulting, global enterprises, and high growth healthcare startups. He has built programs from scratch, led organizations through public incidents, and mentored security le...

Cybersecurity careers are rarely linear, and building effective security leadership requires more than technical expertise alone. In this episode of Cyber Smokehouse, Ernie Anderson and Graeme Payne sit down with Mea Clift, CISO at Cengage, for a conversation about cybersecurity career growth, leadership, curiosity, and risk management.

Mea shares insights on how professionals can find their place within the cybersecurity industry, ...

What happens when organizations scale rapidly through acquisition while simultaneously navigating AI adoption and evolving cyber risk?

In this episode of Cyber Smokehouse, Ernie Anderson and Graeme Payne sit down with Matthew Mudry, CISO at Alera Group, to discuss the operational realities of securing large-scale acquisitions, integrating fragmented environments, and managing cybersecurity risk during periods of aggressive growth.

Ma...

Cybersecurity is evolving faster than ever, and leaders are being forced to rethink how they approach risk, resilience, and modern defense strategies. In this episode of Cyber Smokehouse, Ernie Anderson and Graeme Payne sit down with Mike Salem to discuss today’s rapidly changing cyber landscape and the growing influence of AI on both attackers and defenders.

Throughout the conversation, Mike shares insights on emerging cyber ...

Tired of the buzzword bingo flooding the cybersecurity industry? So is Zlatko Unger. In this episode of Cyber Smokehouse, Ernie Anderson and Graeme Payne welcome Zlatko Unger, CISO Expert at Wiz, for a no-nonsense conversation that cuts straight through the AI noise and gets back to what actually matters in security. With over 18 years of experience spanning security, risk, privacy, and compliance, Zlatko brings the kind of hard-ea...

How is AI changing both the threat landscape and the way security teams operate? Today’s guest is a seasoned cybersecurity leader navigating these changes at scale. Introducing David Cross, CISO at Atlassian. David joins Ernie Anderson and Graeme Payne to share how AI is reshaping cybersecurity, from attacker capabilities to internal defense strategies.

He discusses how AI is lowering the barrier for attackers, why security te...