Cyber Leaders

Late August was a wild stretch for frontier AI and cyber security, capped by more than 100 companies, led by OpenAI, warning of "a limited window to strengthen cyber defenses." In this special hosts-only episode, Ciaran and James take stock. Ciaran walks through how we got here, James asks who is actually going to do all this defending, and Ciaran calls a 4,000-year-old witness on who should answer for the actions of AI agents. They close on the harder question: is trust between the AI labs and the security community fraying, and can it be repaired?
Contact:
Have questions or comments? Email us at cyberleadersnetwork@sans.org

In this episode, Ciaran and James are joined for a second time by investigative journalist and author Geoff White to discuss the extraordinary story of the Conti ransomware gang. Ahead of the latest BBC podcast series Cyber Hack, Geoff shares his expertise on Conti’s emergence as one of the original big game ransomware groups, the catastrophic attacks that brought them global attention, and the dramatic and acrimonious collapse that tore the gang apart.
Contact:
Have questions or comments? Email us at cyberleadersnetwork@sans.org

In this episode, Ciaran and James speak with Chris Cochran, Field CISO and Vice President of AI Security at SANS Institute, to discuss AI and cyber defense. Chris shares his perspective on the rise of AI-driven attacks, why community matters for security leaders under pressure, and what it will take to keep AI safe.
Contact:
Have questions or comments? Email us at cyberleadersnetwork@sans.org

In this episode, Ciaran and James sit down with Katie Moussouris, Founder of Luta Security and one of the pioneers of vulnerability research and bug bounties, to discuss how the industry has changed over time. Katie shares her expertise on vulnerability disclosure programmes, researcher protection and equity, and why she still bets on people in an AI-driven world.
Contact:
Have questions or comments? Email us at cyberleadersnetwork@sans.org

In this episode, Ciaran and James sit down with Simon Vernon, Head of Research and Development at SANS Institute, to discuss cloud and AI security. As a practitioner in the field, Simon shares his experience building hands-on training, where cloud security still goes wrong, and how AI is changing attacker behaviour and creating new risks.
Contact:
Have questions or comments? Email us at cyberleadersnetwork@sans.org