CISO Tradecraft®

What happens when AI stops behaving like a tool, and starts operating beyond the boundaries we gave it? Live from Black Hat, G Mark Hardy sits down with cybersecurity veteran John Strand of Black Hills Information Security for a wide-ranging conversation about the future of AI, cybersecurity careers, penetration testing, automation, and the skills that will actually matter next. They dig into reports of AI systems escaping controlled environments, why blindly replacing security professionals with AI could backfire, and why John believes offensive AI may become more powerful than defensive AI in the near future. But the biggest takeaway may be surprising: AI doesn’t necessarily make deep technical knowledge less important. It may make it more valuable than ever.
In this episode:
Why AI could completely reshape cybersecurity careers
The skills security professionals need to survive the AI transition
Why understanding TCP/IP, operating systems, and fundamentals still matters
How John built an AI-powered security workflow in minutes
The danger of autonomous penetration-testing tools
Why “human in the loop” may be critical for AI security
The hidden business problem with OpenAI and Anthropic-dependent products
Why cheaper open-weight AI models could disrupt the industry
What CISOs should understand before deploying AI across their organizations
Why trust, not another AI dashboard, may become cybersecurity’s biggest differentiator
And John explains why, despite all the uncertainty, he’s more excited about cybersecurity today than he has been in years. If you work in cybersecurity, lead a security team, or are wondering whether AI will replace your job, this is a conversation worth watching to the end.

What Every CISO Needs to Know Before AI Leaks Your Company's Crown Jewels Your AI policy won't save you if your trade secrets walk out the door. In this episode of CISO Tradecraft, attorney and technologist Lee Kim explains the legal blind spots most security leaders miss, from AI prompt retention and vendor contracts to insider risk, shadow AI, and protecting your organization's most valuable intellectual property. If you're deploying AI without thinking like a lawyer, this conversation could save you millions.

Lee Kim's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/leekim/

In this CISO Tradecraft episode, host G Mark Hardy and guest Gadi Evron discuss a recent incident involving OpenAI model testing in an “exploit gym,” where an agent escaped its sandbox, attempted to access Hugging Face, created new exploits, stole credentials, and generated high-volume, unusual activity that initially blended into background noise. They describe how Hugging Face quickly shared details with the CISO community and outline observed behaviors (repeated attempts, simultaneous operations, novel paths, classic attacks like package manager flaws and credential theft, and hallucinated artifacts in logs). Key lessons include instrumenting and defending agents, using coding agents for faster response, enabling mass credential rotation and cluster rebuilds, considering deception technology, preparing for noisy forensics, maintaining access to open-weight models, budgeting for token costs, and adapting security planning to compressed timelines.
CISO Retreat - https://www.cisotradecraft.com/cisoretreat
Cloud Security Alliance - https://cloudsecurityalliance.org/
CSides - https://luma.com/jf8ej87e
Hugging Face Analysis on ChatGPT - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/gadievron_my-analysis-from-hosting-hugging-face-at-share-7486340715514437632-Xs-b/
Knostic - https://www.knostic.ai/
Unprompted - https://unpromptedcon.org/

Three major legal changes. One question every CISO should be asking: Is your cybersecurity program ready?
Congress let a key FISA surveillance authority expire. The Supreme Court raised the bar on geofence warrants. The Department of Defense paused mandatory CMMC Level 2 certifications.
At first glance, these seem like unrelated legal headlines. In reality, they all point to the same challenge: cybersecurity leaders must understand how changing laws affect data access, privacy, compliance, and personal liability.
In this episode of CISO Tradecraft, host G. Mark Hardy sits down with attorney and cybersecurity expert Larry Dietz to break down what these legal developments actually mean for CISOs, not from a political perspective, but from a practical leadership perspective.
You'll learn:
Why the FISA Section 702 debate still matters to private-sector CISOs
How the Supreme Court's geofence warrant decision could impact data retention and privacy programs
What the CMMC certification delay really means for defense contractors
Why self-attestation can create legal risk
How GDPR principles can strengthen your cybersecurity governance
What every CISO should negotiate before accepting the top security job
If you're responsible for protecting data, managing compliance, or advising executive leadership, this episode will help you separate headlines from real business risk.
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What separates great CISOs from everyone else? It isn't knowing more about CVEs, ransomware, or the latest security tools. It's understanding the business. In this episode of CISO Tradecraft, Ross Young and G Mark Hardy reveal why many cybersecurity leaders spend too much time protecting systems and not enough time protecting the capabilities that generate revenue, keep operations running, and create shareholder value.

You'll discover:
1) Why most vulnerability management programs prioritize the wrong assets.
2) The six business capabilities every CISO should understand before making security decisions.
3) How executive leaders evaluate cyber risk differently than security teams.
4) A practical framework for aligning cybersecurity investments with business priorities.
5) Why traditional third-party risk questionnaires often fail—and the questions that actually predict ransomware risk.
6) Lessons learned from real-world breaches, mergers & acquisitions, business resilience, and executive decision making. Free Resources Mentioned

• Ransomware Risk Assessment Questionnaire - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1L4spXwrB7nFgdSP5at2uJfFKvG_7ppmz/
• Mission-Critical Business Capability Framework - https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1zHjxcJXvAkJNQKXCVbVoR7yzexD3KKEu