Data Security Decoded

In this RSAC Conference recap, Dave Bittner, Host of The CyberWire Daily, joins Data Security Decoded host Caleb Tolin from the guest seat to unpack the biggest theme dominating the conference: artificial intelligence, and, more specifically, agentic AI.

From wall-to-wall AI messaging across San Francisco to in-depth conversations with security leaders and analysts, one thing became clear: the industry has moved past debating whether AI will take hold. It already has. Now, the focus has shifted to making it safe.

Dave shares insights from discussions with vendors, researchers, and intelligence professionals, highlighting a growing consensus around the need for strong guardrails, identity controls, and governance frameworks. As organizations begin deploying AI agents capable of acting autonomously, concerns around misuse, manipulation, and “machine-speed” attacks are accelerating.

The conversation also explores the rise of “shadow AI,” where employees use AI tools outside official oversight, and why banning these tools may backfire. Instead, organizations must embrace visibility and collaboration to manage risk effectively.

Ultimately, this episode captures a pivotal moment for cybersecurity: a transition from experimentation to operational reality. The tools are powerful, the risks are real, and the path forward requires balancing innovation with control while, as Dave puts it, doing everything possible to “limit the blast radius.”

What You’ll Learn


Why AI adoption in cybersecurity has shifted from optional to inevitable


What “agentic AI” means and why it’s a game changer


How identity is becoming the core security layer for AI systems


Why “machine speed” is forcing defenders to rethink workflows


The real risks of AI misuse, including manipulation and prompt injection


How “shadow AI” is emerging inside organizations—and why it matters


Practical ways companies are thinking about AI guardrails and governance

Episode Highlights

[00:00] – Role Reversal at RSA Dave steps into the interviewee seat and kicks things off with a lighthearted karaoke discussion.

[02:15] – RSA Energy Check Why this year’s conference felt more optimistic despite industry uncertainty.

[04:10] – AI Everywhere From billboards to conversations—AI dominates RSA.

[06:00] – Agentic AI Arrives Why autonomous AI agents are no longer theoretical.

[08:30] – Guardrails & Identity How security leaders are thinking about controlling AI behavior.

[11:15] – When AI Goes Wrong A real-world example of AI being manipulated—and what it reveals.

[14:00] – Machine-Speed Threats Why defenders must move faster than ever before.

[17:30] – The Big Shift AI is inevitable—now the focus is containment.

[19:30] – Shadow AI Risk Why employees using AI outside oversight is a growing concern.

Security teams spend enormous effort chasing the latest threats, yet often overlook one of the most revealing sources of truth already in their environment: backups. In this episode of Data Security Decoded, host Caleb Tolin sits down with Kyle Fiehler, Transformation Analyst at Rubrik Zero Labs, to explore why backup data has become a critical — and largely ignored — form of security telemetry.

Kyle explains how secure, immutable backups act as a historical record of attacks that evaded traditional detection tools, capturing digital fingerprints left behind by sophisticated adversaries. From hypervisor-level threats to long-dwell state-backed actors, backups often reveal what endpoint and network tools miss. And attackers know it. As Kyle outlines, ransomware groups like Evil Corp and Storm-0501 deliberately target backups and identity infrastructure to maximize leverage and accelerate payouts.

The conversation also challenges how organizations think about recovery and Mean Time to Response (MTTR). Rather than treating MTTR as a single metric, Kyle advocates breaking recovery into phases — scoping compromise, validating clean recovery, and restoring identity — to pinpoint where resilience actually breaks down. The result is a more actionable, operational view of cyber readiness.

This episode offers a clear message for security and IT leaders alike: resilience isn’t just about preventing attacks. It’s about using every available signal, drilling recovery before incidents occur, and recognizing that backups are no longer passive insurance — they’re active intelligence.

What You’ll Learn


Why secure backups function as a record of threats other tools miss


How ransomware groups deliberately target backups and identity systems


Where organizations commonly fail to extract security value from backup data


How to rethink MTTR by breaking recovery into measurable phases


Why identity infrastructure is central to modern recovery strategies


Three concrete steps to operationalize backup intelligence today

Episode Highlights

[00:00] Backups as Digital Fingerprints Why immutable backups reveal threats that evade traditional security tools.

[04:30] The Telemetry Everyone Ignores How organizations overlook backups as a source of threat intelligence.

[07:45] Who Owns Backup Security? The growing shift from IT ownership to security accountability.

[10:30] MTTR Is Broken Why recovery metrics fail — and how phased recovery fixes that.

[12:45] Threat Actors Targeting Backups How groups like Evil Corp and Storm-0501 maximize leverage.

[15:00] Three Actions Security Teams Can Take Today Practical steps to extract real value from backup data.

AI promises speed, scale, and efficiency—but it also magnifies privacy risk in ways many organizations aren’t prepared for. In this episode, Caleb Tolin welcomes Ojas Rege of OneTrust 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 aren’t in place. From agentic AI systems that dynamically repurpose data to general-purpose models that blur traditional notions of “intended use,” the challenge isn’t just compliance—it’s 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 for—or 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 ever—and 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 You’ll 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 consent—and when it doesn’t


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 Good—and 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.

As enterprises race to adopt AI, many are discovering that traditional security models no longer hold. In this episode of Data Security Decoded, host Caleb Tolin is joined by Camille Stewart-Gloster, CEO of CAS Strategies 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 You’ll 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 augment—not replace—security 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 ethics–security connection

[00:15:30] Why AI governance can’t be an afterthought

Russian-aligned hacktivist groups are increasingly targeting industrial control systems and OT environments—and sometimes it’s shockingly easy. In this episode, Daniel dos Santos, VP of Research at Forescout, walks through how his team used a honeypot to observe an attack against a simulated water treatment facility. We explore attacker motivations, common entry points, and what defenders must prioritize now.

What You’ll Learn


How honeypots can uncover real-world hacktivist tactics and behaviors


Why exposed HMIs remain one of the weakest entry points in OT environments


How Telegram has become a primary platform for hacktivist attack claims


The evolving motivations behind Russian-aligned hacktivist groups


Why visibility across all networked devices is critical to defense


How opportunistic attacks differ from targeted nation-state operations


Practical steps to avoid becoming “easy prey” for attackers

Episode Highlights

00:02:30 – How the Attack Was Discovered Spotting the honeypot activity through Telegram claims00:04:00 – The Entry Point Explained Default credentials and exposed HMIs00:06:45 – Hacktivist Motivation Shift From activism to geopolitics and profit00:10:50 – Why OT Attacks Are Hard to Eradicate Hidden devices and lateral movement

00:14:20 – The Core Defensive Takeaway Don’t ignore opportunistic threats

Episode Resources

Forescout Research ReportsTelegram (hacktivist communications platform)Canadian Government OT Security Alert

Shodan (internet-exposed asset scanning tool)