Cyber Smokehouse

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...

How do you secure an environment when the technology is evolving faster than teams can keep up? Today’s guest is a cybersecurity leader operating at the intersection of AI, product security, and enterprise scale. Introducing Jason Loomis, CISO at Freshworks. Jason joins Ernie Anderson and Graeme Payne to share why the speed of AI innovation is becoming one of the biggest challenges in cybersecurity today.

He dives into how AI ...

Why do organizations still struggle with cybersecurity despite more tools and innovation than ever before? Today’s guest is a seasoned cybersecurity executive with deep experience across enterprise and public sector environments. Introducing Merlin Namuth, CISO for the City and County of Denver. Merlin joins hosts Ernie Anderson and Graeme Payne to share why foundational security practices continue to be the biggest challenge...

How do you translate cybersecurity from a technical function into a true business priority? Today’s guest is a seasoned cybersecurity leader with deep enterprise experience. Introducing Chris Correia, CEO of CGS CyberDefense. Chris joins hosts Ernie Anderson and Graeme Payne to share how cybersecurity leaders must evolve from technologists into business storytellers who can align security with organizational priorities.

He div...

How do you secure environments that are constantly changing, distributed, and increasingly difficult to see? Today’s guest is a forward-thinking cybersecurity leader focused on tackling modern visibility and infrastructure challenges. Introducing Clete Taylor, Senior Security Architect at Frost. Clete joins hosts Ernie Anderson and Graeme Payne to explore how evolving environments are reshaping the way organizations approach ...

How do organizations stay secure when identity, access, and infrastructure are more distributed than ever before? Today’s guest is a seasoned cybersecurity leader focused on modern identity and cloud security challenges. Introducing Joe Mendygral, Senior Director at TBD Cyber. Joe joins hosts Ernie Anderson and Graeme Payne to explore how identity has become the core battleground in cybersecurity. He also delves into how clou...