Data Security Decoded provides actionable, vendor-agnostic insights to reduce data security risk and improve resilience outcomes. Designed for cybersecurity and IT professionals who want practical insights on preparing for attacks before they happen, so they can respond effectively when they inevitably do. Episodes feature insights from researchers, crafters of public policy, and senior cybersecurity leaders, to help organizations reduce risk and improve resilience. Data Security Decoded provides practical advice, proven strategies, and in-depth discussions on the latest trends and challenges in data security, helping listeners strengthen their organizations' defenses and recovery plans.
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Downtime in Healthcare is Fatal: Achieving Resilience in Health & Life Sciences
Season 1 ¡ Episode 49
Tuesday, September 29, 2026 ⢠Duration 25:10
Please enjoy this encore of Data Security Decoded.
Cybersecurity in healthcare is undergoing a critical shift. What was once viewed as a back-office IT concern is now directly tied to patient safety and clinical outcomes. In this episode of Data Security Decoded, host Caleb Tolin sits down with John Fokker, Vice President of Threat Intelligence Strategy at Trellix, to explore new findings that reveal a significant increase in inpatient mortality rates following cyberattacks on hospitals, reframing cybersecurity as a life-or-death issue.
The conversation dives into how attackers infiltrate healthcare environments, often through familiar entry points like email, before moving laterally across interconnected systems. From HVAC units to supply chain logistics, even nonclinical systems can disrupt care delivery when compromised. The discussion highlights how adversaries blend into hospital networks using legitimate tools, making detection increasingly difficult.
We also examine the alarming dwell times seen in healthcare environments and what defenders can do to identify subtle anomalies before they escalate. The episode outlines practical strategies, including stronger email defenses, network segmentation, and proactive threat hunting.
Finally, we confront two uncomfortable truths: apolitical healthcare and humanitarian organizations remain prime targets, and AI introduces both powerful defenses and new risks. The takeaway is clear. Cyber resilience is not optional. It is essential to maintain trust, ensure continuity, and ultimately save lives.
What Youâll Learn
Why cyberattacks in healthcare directly impact patient mortality
How nonclinical systems can disrupt critical care delivery
What long dwell times reveal about attacker behavior
How threat actors use legitimate tools to evade detection
The most effective ways to reduce healthcare attack surfaces
Why email remains the primary entry point for attackers
How to reframe cybersecurity as a patient safety priority
Episode Highlights
00:00 â A Shocking Statistic A 29 percent increase in mortality reframes cyber risk
02:30 â From IT to Patient Safety Why CISOs now have a stronger voice at the board level
05:10 â The Backdoor Problem Nonclinical systems and third parties as attack vectors
09:00 â Living in the Network Understanding long dwell times and stealthy attackers
13:45 â Spotting the Signals Key behavioral indicators defenders should watch
18:20 â Three Steps to Resilience Email security, segmentation, and attack surface reduction
23:10 â Two Inconvenient Truths AI risk and the myth of healthcare immunity
27:00 â Final Takeaway Cybersecurity as operational resilience
The Terrorist Designation: A New Red Line for Ransomware with Cynthia Kaiser
Season 1 ¡ Episode 52
Tuesday, September 15, 2026 ⢠Duration 29:05
Please enjoy this encore of Data Security Decoded.
In this episode, hostâ â â Caleb Tolinâ â â explores the battlefield of enterprise defense, which has moved from simple data theft to ultra heinous crimes that put patient outcomes at risk. Guestâ â â Cynthia Kaiserâ â â shares Battlefield Stories from her time at the FBI and her current work as SVP of the Ransomware Research Center atâ â â Halcyonâ â â , illustrating how the industrialization of cybercrime has reached a tipping point. They dive into the alarming reality of modern dwell times, specifically looking at how groups like Akira move from initial access to full encryption in as little as one hour.
The conversation challenges the industry to face the inconvenient truths of cybercrime and ransomware. Kaiser shares case studies of how modern cybercriminals are adopting multilateral techniques to gain access to and exploit your network. By adopting an Assume Breach mindset, elite defenders can build the defense in depth required to combat malicious threat actors who follow their own rules to cause disruption and destruction.
Resources
House Homeland Security Committee Testimony: â â Online Scams, Crypto Fraud, and Digital Extortionâ â
Halcyon Analysis: â â Akira Ransomware Attacks in Under an Hourâ â
Halcyon: â â Sicarii Ransomware Encryption Key Handling Defectâ â
Previous Episode Referenced: â â Downtime in Healthcare is Fatal: Achieving Resilience in Health & Life Sciencesâ
What Youâll Learn
Why designating ransomware as terrorism helps influence adversary target selection.
The impact of Akira's accelerated dwell time on traditional incident response.
How AI enables clumsy amateur "wannabes" to conduct messy attacks.
The critical role of phishing resistant MFA in securing the identity perimeter.
Why Assume Breach necessitates deep defense in depth strategies.
The overestimation of readiness among CISOs compared to actual red team performance
Episode Highlights
[00:00] - The Case for Designating Ransomware as Terrorism
[04:20] - Modern Extortion and the Shortening of Dwell Time
[08:30] - Ransomware Recovery in Interconnected Cloud Environments
[11:45] - The Impact of AI on the "Wannabe" Attacker
[17:45] - Three Actionable Steps for Modern Defenders
[21:30] - Inconvenient Truths for Government and Private Sector
Agentic AI and Identity Sprawl
Season 1 ¡ Episode 39
Tuesday, September 8, 2026 ⢠Duration 24:39
Please enjoy this encore of Data Security Decoded.
In this episode of â Data Security Decodedâ , join host â Caleb Tolinâ as he welcomes back â Joe Hladikâ , Head of Rubrik Zero Labs, to unpack the findings from their new report, Identity Crisis: Understanding & Building Resilience Against Identity-Driven Threats, Joe breaks down how the explosion of non-human identities, from API keys to AI agents, is rewriting the threat landscape and forcing security leaders to rethink the perimeter itself.
He explains why identity resilience is the new foundation of cyber defense, how to prioritize recovery when every system matters, and what steps teams can take now to stay ahead of emerging agentic AI-driven attacks.
What You'll Learn:
Why identity has replaced the network as the modern security perimeter
How non-human identities outnumber humans 82 to 1, and what that means for control and monitoring
Practical steps to build recovery plans around dependency mapping and minimal viable operations
Why ransom payments remain high and how better resilience planning can reverse that trend
How threat actors exploit backup systems to gain total business leverage
What agentic AI really means for cyber defense and how to prepare for its impact
The episode offers a clear framework for leaders to transform identity resilience from a reactive measure into a proactive pillar of enterprise security.
Episode Highlights:
[05:13] The 82:1 Ratio: Why Non-Human Identities Now Define Risk
[07:03] Prioritizing Recovery: Building for Minimal Viable Operations
[10:53] Declining Recovery Confidence and the Rise of Ransom Payments
[15:46] Backups Under Attack: How Threat Actors Seize Business Control
[16:32] Agentic AI and the Shifting Nature of Cyber Threats
[25:32] What Defenders Can Do Now to Build Identity Resilience
Episode Resources
Caleb Tolin on â LinkedInâ
Joe Hladik on â LinkedInâ
Rubrik Zero Labs report, â Identity Crisis: Understanding & Building Resilience Against Identity-Driven Threatsâ
AI Moves Fast. Privacy Has to Move Faster.
Season 1 ¡ Episode 46
Tuesday, August 25, 2026 ⢠Duration 25:28
Enjoy this encore of Data Security Decoded.
AI promises speed, scale, and efficiencyâbut it also magnifies privacy risk in ways many organizations arenât prepared for. In this episode, â Caleb Tolinâ welcomes â Ojas Regeâ of â OneTrustâ for a practical, wide-ranging conversation on how data privacy and governance must evolve alongside enterprise AI adoption.
Ojas explains why AI fundamentally changes the privacy conversation: the same systems that enable organizations to move faster can also cause harm faster when guardrails arenât in place. From agentic AI systems that dynamically repurpose data to general-purpose models that blur traditional notions of âintended use,â the challenge isnât just complianceâitâs trust.
The discussion dives deep into purpose limitation under GDPR and the EU AI Act, clarifying where organizations commonly misunderstand consent and where AI training introduces entirely new risks. Ojas emphasizes a simple but powerful test: are you using personal data for the same purpose you originally received consent forâor has AI quietly expanded that purpose?
The conversation then shifts to cloud and data sovereignty, particularly for European organizations navigating geopolitical uncertainty. Ojas outlines why data mapping, prioritization, and software supply chain visibility matter more than everâand why perfection is less realistic than smart prioritization.
Ultimately, this episode reframes governance as an enabler. When privacy and data governance are embedded early, organizations can innovate faster, build lasting trust, and deploy AI with confidence in an increasingly complex global environment.
What Youâll Learn
Why AI scales privacy risk just as fast as business value
How purpose limitation breaks down with general-purpose AI models
When AI use requires new consentâand when it doesnât
Why transparency is foundational to long-term customer trust
How data sovereignty concerns extend beyond cloud providers
Where software supply chains create hidden privacy blind spots
How good governance can accelerate, not block, AI deployment
Episode Highlights
[00:02:00] AI Scales the Goodâand the Bad How AI accelerates both innovation and privacy harm.
[00:04:00] Purpose Limitation Meets AI Reality Why general-purpose models challenge traditional consent frameworks.
[00:06:30] Trust as a Business Risk Why transparency matters as much as legal compliance.
[00:07:30] Cloud & Data Sovereignty Explained What European organizations can do today to reduce risk.
[00:10:30] The Software Supply Chain Blind Spot Why third parties make sovereignty harder in the AI era.
[00:12:30] Data as Economic Power How nations now view citizen data as an AI asset.
[00:14:00] Governance That Enables Speed Why governing early helps organizations move faster later.
The Real Risks of Agentic AI in the Enterprise
Season 1 ¡ Episode 45
Tuesday, August 18, 2026 ⢠Duration 27:30
Please enjoy this encore of Data Security Decoded.
As enterprises race to adopt AI, many are discovering that traditional security models no longer hold. In this episode of Data Security Decoded, host â Caleb Tolinâ is joined by â Camille Stewart-Glosterâ , CEO of â CAS Strategies â and former Deputy National Cyber Director, to unpack how AI is redefining cyber risk at every layer of the organization.
Camille explains why identity-based attacks are so effective and how non-human identities (from APIs to AI agents) are quietly expanding the attack surface. She emphasized how critical MFA is for organizations to enable as they scale up AI operations., and why conditional access and governance must be foundational, not optional.
The conversation also tackles ethical AI head-on. Camille argues that AI ethics and AI security are inseparable, and that removing humans from the loop introduces both legal and operational risk. From shadow AI to agent autonomy, she offers a clear-eyed framework for deploying AI systems that augment human teams rather than replace them.
This episode is a practical guide for security leaders and learners navigating AI adoption, focused on resilience, trust, and long-term enterprise readiness.
What Youâll Learn
Why identity has become the dominant attack surface
How AI agents and non-human identities increase risk
Where EDR falls short in Identity-driven attacks
Why AI ethics is foundational to AI security
How governance enables secure AI deployment
When AI should augmentânot replaceâsecurity teams
Episode Highlights
[00:03:00] Cyber offense and the evolving national strategy
[00:07:30] Identity eclipses malware as the primary threat
[00:10:00] AI systems as high-value targets
[00:12:30] Human judgment vs. automated response
[00:14:00] The ethicsâsecurity connection
[00:15:30] Why AI governance canât be an afterthought
Top CISO Priorities and Global Digital Trust with Morgan Adamski
Season 1 ¡ Episode 40
Tuesday, August 11, 2026 ⢠Duration 23:55
Please enjoy this encore of Data Security Decoded.
Welcome to â Data Security Decodedâ . Join host â Caleb Tolinâ in conversation with â Morgan Adamskiâ who leads Cyber, Data, and Tech Risk at PwC and is a former US national security leader who spent 16 years tracking nation-state threats inside the US government. Coming out of a career spent inside secure facilities without windows or phones and working to address Chinaâs prepositioning in US critical infrastructure, Morgan shares a direct view of how geopolitics is now shaping cyber risk decisions in boardrooms.
What You'll Learn:
Why only 24% invest in proactive defense, even while 60% call cyber a top priority
How AI agents are cutting breach timelines to under 80 days
Why cyber insurance is now a hygiene scorecard, not just financial protection
The real reason leaders lack confidence in resilience
Where legacy systems and supply chain dependencies expose blind spots
How publicâprivate collaboration changed the response to Chinaâs infrastructure campaign
What CISOs must confront now to avoid being blindsided by the next crisis
The conversation gives security leaders and decision-makers a clear view of where current strategies fall short and the choices required to build real resilience before the next crisis forces it.
Episode Highlights:
[03:43] Why China prepositions inside US critical infrastructure to trigger disruption and panic in a crisis
[04:20] Collective defense in action: how victims and industry exposed the campaign
[09:27] The truth behind cyber budgets: only 24% invest in proactive defense
[11:57] How AI agents are shortening breach lifecycles to under 80 days
[13:07] Why cyber insurance is now a security scorecard, not a safety net
Episode Resources
Caleb Tolin on â LinkedInâ
Morgan Adamski on â LinkedInâ
PwCâs â 2026 Global Digital Trust Insightsâ report
Building Automation Frameworks and Tackling Cloud Archiving with Fred Lhoest
Season 1 ¡ Episode 60
Tuesday, July 28, 2026 ⢠Duration 17:14
This episode delivers operational insights from the frontlines of global telecommunications, drawing on Fred Lhoest's experience managing IT infrastructure across 60 countries at PCCW Global. The discussion begins with the realities of consolidating an environment that previously relied on more than 10 disparate backup tools into a single, unified data protection platform. Fred details his journey as a self-described automation junkie, explaining how he developed an open-source PHP and GraphQL framework to query APIs, detect unprotected virtual machines, and streamline automated recovery tasks.
The conversation transitions into the operational boundaries of automation and cyber resilience. Fred warns against unvetted, fully autonomous failover triggers, emphasizing that false positives can lead to catastrophic outages if fallback systems are out of sync. He advocates for a human-in-the-loop validation model to maintain control over critical infrastructure decisions.
Looking toward future infrastructure shifts, Fred examines the risks of migrating complex systems to hybrid cloud environments. He highlights the necessity of strict data residency compliance across global jurisdictions, including the European Union and the United States. Finally, Fred raises a critical warning regarding long-term digital archiving. He challenges the industry to solve the file format and hypervisor obsolescence trap, where compliance regulations require holding data for 30 years, but modern software renders the underlying files unreadable.
What You'll Learn
Strategies for consolidating fragmented backup tools into a single management interface.
Methods for leveraging GraphQL APIs to build custom security automation frameworks.
Risks of false positive automated failovers and human in the loop requirements.
Key data residency considerations for migrating workloads across international jurisdictions.
Practical guardrails for controlling employee and developer interaction with AI models.
Uncovering software obsolescence risks hidden inside long term digital data archives.
Why continuous recovery testing is essential to validating enterprise incident response plans.
Securing Research Infrastructure and Managing Shadow AI with Kevin Mortimer
Season 1 ¡ Episode 59
Tuesday, July 21, 2026 ⢠Duration 29:11
This episode explores the technical hurdles of protecting academic research environments and navigating the shift to automated cloud architectures, drawing on Kevin Mortimer's twenty five years of technical leadership experience. The dialogue focuses on how higher education institutions face escalating threat profiles, moving from initial denial of service events to targeted supply chain compromises aimed at extracting student records. Kevin details how his team rapidly deployed mandatory multi factor authentication overnight and altered storage topologies by isolating valuable research data inside protected cloud vaults.
The discussion pivots to the operational reality of managing generative artificial intelligence across distributed campus networks. Kevin breaks down the friction between supporting early stage vibe coding for rapid proof of concept deployment and preventing shadow AI data exposure. He highlights the engineering required to build agent to agent communication platforms where firewall alerts automatically interface with backup systems to trigger live mounts and dynamic network segmentation.
In addition to addressing autonomous agent architectures, Kevin challenges the prevalence of vendor AI washing, emphasizing the need for technical leaders to scrutinize underlying mathematical models and prepare for shifting OpEx financial models driven by tokenization.
What You'll Learn
Core strategies for securing academic research data within isolated cloud topologies.
Methodologies for implementing emergency multi factor authentication policies across large user bases.
Identifying supply chain vulnerabilities in third party student data record providers.
Engineering autonomous agent to agent communication models between firewalls and recovery platforms.
Frameworks for governing shadow AI usage and evaluating Model Context Protocol platforms.
Utilizing vibe coding techniques for rapid scaffolding and proof of concept application development.
Evaluating vendor transparency regarding underlying mathematical models to eliminate artificial intelligence washing.
Shifting Security and Protecting the Pharma Supply Chain with Andy Hillis
Season 1 ¡ Episode 58
Tuesday, July 14, 2026 ⢠Duration 34:47
This episode provides a technical exploration of security engineering within highly scrutinized life sciences environments, drawing on Andy Hillis' decades of operational history at The Almac Group. The discussion centers on the practical realities of shifting security left. Andy explains how his organization integrated rigorous info security reviews directly into the initial request for information and request for proposal stages, effectively establishing an unyielding baseline of evidence for third party vendors.
Listeners will gain access to battlefield stories regarding the navigation of sudden structural oversight from global regulatory bodies, including the FDA, EMA, and the post Brexit MHRA. The narrative moves past high level compliance abstractions to focus on the technical enforcement of GXP principles, least privilege role based access control, and centralized configuration change management across distributed international networks.
Andy challenges conventional industry perspectives on cloud adoption and rapid automation, outlining a calculated, use case driven approach to infrastructure management. The conversation covers critical recovery metrics, defining the architecture required to build a provable, immutable backup position capable of supporting a minimum viable company operational state during an incident. Finally, the dialogue addresses the integration of automated security operations centers and the governance frameworks needed to control decentralized citizen development.
What You'll Learn
Core methodologies for integrating security teams into early procurement and RFI cycles.
Operational frameworks required to support over 200 diverse compliance audits annually.
Tactical application of GXP guidelines to digital data retention workflows.
Engineering immutable backup states to secure a minimum viable company position.
Governance mechanisms for regulating generative AI and managing rogue asset development.
Automated SOC implementation techniques designed to suppress alert noise effectively.
Value of network discovery tools in mapping complex assets internationally.
Defending the Authentication Flow: Device Code Phishing with Selena Larson
Season 1 ¡ Episode 57
Tuesday, June 30, 2026 ⢠Duration 28:16
This episode delivers critical battlefield stories regarding the operational reality of modern identity based threats. Selena Larson, Staff Threat Researcher and Lead, Intelligence Analysis and Strategy at Proofpoint and Host of the DISCARDED podcast and the Only Malware in the Building podcast, joins host â Caleb Tolinâ to detail the specific mechanics of device code phishing campaigns, revealing how adversaries exploit legitimate communication structures to capture administrative and enterprise access. The discussion centers on the rapid commercialization of cybercrime, highlighting the leak of specialized kits in late 2025 that catalyzed the democratization of sophisticated technical exploits.
The conversation unpacks the behavioral patterns of specific threat groups, analyzing the intersection of business email compromise, credential harvesting, and account takeover jumping. Selena explains how opportunistic targeting allows threats to pivot horizontally through trusted external supplier networks and specific industry verticals.
Rather than focusing solely on defensive theory, the dialogue transitions into hard technical controls, challenging the long-term viability of traditional security awareness programs. Defenders are provided with direct architectural recommendations, including the precise deployment of conditional access policies and rigid device compliance frameworks designed to stop unauthorized authentication attempts before execution.
What You'll Learn
Core operational mechanics behind the exploitation of Microsoft OAuth authentication workflows.
Historical transition from early red team utility testing to commercialized phishing platforms.
Impact of leaked cyber criminal source code on the current volume of identity attacks.
Analytical methods to distinguish between intentional industry targeting and opportunistic account jumping.
Strategic deployment of conditional access policies to terminate unauthorized authentication capabilities.
Technical constraints of legacy security awareness training against modern behavioral engineering.
Structural integration of strict device compliance validation within identity perimeters.
Data Security Decoded, a podcast by Rubrik - Stats, Episodes and Rankings - My Podcast Data
