Libsyn Directory

5 Key Cybersecurity Elements with Kelly Hood

Release Date: 01/15/2025

Easy Prey

Some scams are so convincing, they’re almost impossible to spot. With phishing emails that look like they’re from your bank, deep fake videos that mimic real people, and AI-generated messages that feel personal, it’s getting harder to know what’s real and what’s a trap. In this episode, I sit down with Gabrielle Hempel, a security operations specialist at Exabeam and a current law student at Purdue University. Gabrielle brings a sharp perspective shaped by years in cybersecurity, a master’s in cybersecurity and global affairs from NYU, and hands-on experience navigating everything...

Child Exploitation Cyber Investigations

Easy Prey

Technology is a double-edged sword. It can empower us, connect us, and solve problems, but it can also be used to exploit, manipulate, and harm. When it comes to protecting children online, that line gets especially thin. Digital forensics, AI-powered image classification, and global law enforcement collaboration are now essential tools for keeping families safe in a world that moves faster than most of us can keep up. Debbie Garner knows this world intimately. She’s a retired Special Agent in charge with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and former commander of the state’s Internet...

Reclaiming the Internet

Easy Prey

We may not always understand the evolution of the internet and how tech monopolies exist, but having digital freedom fighters is vital to making conscious change. Today's guest is Cory Doctorow. Cory is a science fiction author, activist, and journalist. He is the author of many books and most recently, Picks and Shovels, The Bezel, and The Lost Cause, a solar punk science fiction novel of hope amidst the climate change emergency. His most recent nonfiction book is the internet con How to Seize the Means of Corruption, a big tech disassembly manual. Other recent books include Red Team...

Security Gaps Hackers Exploit

Easy Prey

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Cyber Warfare

Easy Prey

Cyber warfare is no longer something that happens behind closed doors or in some far-off digital corner. It's happening now—and reshaping the rules of conflict in real time. Drone strikes controlled by apps, ransomware attacks on hospitals—today's battleground is just as likely to be online as on the ground. That science fiction scenario is now a critical, constant threat-the kind that affects us all globally. I'm really excited to introduce you to Dr. Chase Cunningham. He's a retired Navy chief cryptologist with a wealth of experience in cyber operations for the NSA, CIA, FBI—and more....

DDoS Attacks

Easy Prey

Scammers are getting smarter, understanding the psychology behind social engineering and the challenges companies face every day can help keep networks secure. This episode will show how to anticipate these threats and secure networks against ever-changing vulnerabilities. We’ll focus on practical, real-world solutions to protect data and trust. Dr. Jared Smith joins us to share his insights from his role leading research and development at SecurityScorecard. He also co-founded UnCat, a B2B accounting technology company serving thousands of customers and teaches as an adjunct professor at...

Safe AI Implementation

Easy Prey

Red models associated with AI technologies highlight real-world vulnerabilities and the importance of proactive security measures. It is vital to educate users about how to explore the challenges and keep AI systems secure. Today’s guest is Dr. Aditya Sood. Dr. Sood is the VP of Security Engineering and AI Strategy at Aryaka and is a security practitioner, researcher, and consultant with more than 16 years of experience. He obtained his PhD in computer science from Michigan State University and has authored several papers for various magazines and journals. In this conversation, he will shed...

The Art of Espionage

Easy Prey

What makes someone betray their country? It’s rarely just about money. In this episode, you’ll hear from a retired CIA officer who spent 25 years recruiting foreign spies by tapping into something deeper than greed. Jim Lawler shares real stories from his career in human intelligence, where persuasion was built on empathy, trust, and understanding what truly drives people. From failed pitches to high-stakes successes, he explains the psychology behind espionage, how personal stress becomes a powerful leverage point, and why most people who commit treason believe they’ve been betrayed...

Understanding Ransomware and Defense Strategies

Easy Prey

When it comes to cybersecurity, most people think about firewalls, passwords, and antivirus software. But what about the attackers themselves? Understanding how they operate is just as important as having the right defenses in place. That’s where Paul Reid comes in. As the Vice President of Adversary Research at AttackIQ, Paul and his team work to stay one step ahead of cybercriminals by thinking like them and identifying vulnerabilities before they can be exploited. In this episode, we dive into the world of cyber threats, ransomware, and the business of hacking. Paul shares insights...

Privacy and Surveillance

Easy Prey

Ever had that creepy feeling someone's watching you online? Now imagine if that feeling was actually your reality, not just your browsing history being tracked, but cameras following your every move on the street, your conversations being monitored, your payments scrutinized. For our guest Josh Summers, this wasn't some dystopian nightmare, it was his daily life. Josh isn't your typical privacy advocate. As the creator behind All Things Secured (both a website and YouTube channel), his passion for digital privacy was forged through nearly 20 years living abroad, much of it in China. There, he...

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How do phishing scams, AI-powered attacks, and strategic governance intersect? Together, they're redefining the future of cybersecurity. Organizations are navigating a mix of challenges and implementing innovative solutions to proactively address today's threats.

Today's guest is Kelly Hood. She is the EVP and cybersecurity engineer at Optics Cyber Solutions. She is a CISSP who specializes in implementing cybersecurity and privacy best practices to manage risks and to achieve compliance. She supports the NIST cybersecurity framework and serves as a CMMC registered practitioner, helping organizations strengthen their cybersecurity posture and develop effective risk management strategies.

Show Notes:

[01:06] - Kelly is a cyber security engineer at Optic Cyber Solutions. It's her job to help companies protect themselves.
[02:17] - Don't be embarrassed if you fall for a phishing scam.
[03:01] - These attempts are getting more realistic. Kelly shares how she was briefly fooled by a phishing scam that looks like an email from her mother.
[05:25] - The NIST Cybersecurity Framework is a voluntary framework for defining cybersecurity. An update was put out in February of 2024. They also added a new function.
[06:01] - The five functions that organize a cybersecurity program have been to identify, protect, detect, respond, and recover. They recently added the govern function.
[06:38] - The govern function is about defining your business objective and then putting protections in place that makes sense for those objectives.
[09:01] - The identify function is focused on knowing what we have.
[09:40] - Protect includes everything from identity management, authentication, training, data security, and platform security.
[10:12] - Detect is looking at what's happening around us. It's continuous monitoring and knowing what happens if something goes wrong.
[11:00] - Respond is knowing what the plan is when something does happen.
[12:01] - Recover is about getting back to normal after something happens.
[16:22] - Data centers want to make sure that they have redundant power supplies.
[17:33] - We discuss some of the things that people might forget when identifying cybersecurity assets. Data and people need to be thought about as well as systems and hardware.
[21:00] - We need to write things down and understand what systems and data connections we have.
[23:10] - We talk about the importance of being aware of the physical space and who is actually supposed to be there.
[24:46] - Data is one of the assets that often gets overlooked for protection. There are many new requirements that require data to be protected.
[27:54] - Monitoring to understand what traffic you should expect and what is and isn't normal activity is also important.
[31:10] - Transparency and communication are paramount for creating trust.
[33:51] - Sometimes recovery doesn't mean 100%. Get up and running and prioritize the systems that matter most.
[36:56] - With governance, you really want to look at what you're trying to do with the business and then translate cybersecurity to fit that objective.
[37:27] - Have guidance documentation in place and have oversight.

Thanks for joining us on Easy Prey. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave a nice review.

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