In this episode of the Be Fearless Podcast, Gautam "Gotham" Sharma, Executive Director, Cybersecurity Education and Training at AccessCyber, sits down with SquareX Field CISO John Carse to discuss why cybersecurity education and hiring are broken. The conversation explores nontraditional cyber career paths, why certifications alone don’t get candidates hired, and how hands-on projects prepare people for real-world security roles. Gautam breaks down browser security, SaaS sprawl, zero trust, a...
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In this episode of the Be Fearless Podcast, Gautam "Gotham" Sharma, Executive Director, Cybersecurity Education and Training at AccessCyber, sits down with SquareX Field CISO John Carse to discuss why cybersecurity education and hiring are broken. The conversation explores nontraditional cyber career paths, why certifications alone don’t get candidates hired, and how hands-on projects prepare people for real-world security roles. Gautam breaks down browser security, SaaS sprawl, zero trust, a...
Field CISO John Carse of SquareX sits down with Jeremy Ladner of The CISO Signal to discuss the critical art of storytelling in cybersecurity leadership. In this episode of Be Fearless podcasts, Jeremy reveals why facts alone fail in the boardroom and how AI is rewriting the rules of social engineering and fraud. The conversation covers why hackers operate like aggressive marketing teams and the dangers of "almost secure" infrastructure. 00:00 Why the cybersecurity industry is actually...
Host John Carse, Field CISO of SquareX sits down with James W., Valens Global Analyst and creator of the Smoke Signal Newsletter and Burn Signal Podcast. In this episode of The Be Fearless podcast, they discuss the concept of "digital exhaust" and how invisible data trails are weaponized into "weapons of mass disruption". James shares insights from his FBI career, discussing the intersection of human psychology and cybersecurity. They explore the unique challenges CISOs face with employees' c...
Host John Carse, Field CISO at SquareX, sits down with Andrew Crotty aka GingerHacker. In this episode of the Be Fearless podcast, Andrew provides insights into his role advising Army commanders, the evolving security landscape regarding AI agents and hallucinations, and the specific vulnerabilities found in web browsers. Andrew details the mission behind the Ginger Hacker Initiative, a non-profit helping newcomers get certified for free, and his involvement with DEF CON. He also dives into t...
Host John Carse, Field CISO at SquareX, sits down with Patrick Gorman, Founder of InfosecPat. In this episode of The Be Fearless podcast, they discuss Patrick's incredible journey from a rough upbringing in Queens and working in construction to becoming a renowned cybersecurity educator with over 100,000 YouTube subscribers. Patrick gets real about the misconceptions of the industry, specifically regarding entry-level salaries and the "get rich quick" mentality. He also shares deep insights o...
Frost & Sullivan’s Swetha Krishnamoorthi joins Audrey Adeline from SquareX Founder's Office to unpack emerging browser-based threats, including AI-driven phishing, encrypted last-mile exploits, malicious digital assets, and the rise of autonomous AI agents. She explains how Zero Trust browsers evolve beyond isolation, what organizations overlook today, and the security capabilities that will soon be table-stakes. She also shares how she moved to cybersecurity after multiple pivots, includ...
In this episode of Be Fearless, Aleksandra Melnikova from the SquareX founder’s office speaks with Jim Rutt, CIO and CISO of the Dana Foundation. Jim traces his 25-year journey from marketing to data analytics to leading technology strategy in a major nonprofit, sharing how cybersecurity has shifted from HIPAA compliance to tackling AI-driven threats, why the decision to go all-in on cloud migration became a turning point for resilience, and what leaders should consider when balancing outsour...
Host Aleksandra Melnikova of Founder's Office at SquareX sits down with John Rojas, Vice President, IT, of Air Lease. In this episode of The Fearless Podcast, they discuss John's fascinating transition from Marine Corps communications to managing cybersecurity for one of the world's largest aircraft leasing companies. John shares insights on protecting billions in assets, the unique challenges of securing global business travelers, and his pragmatic approach to managing AI risks within the en...
In this episode of the Be Fearless podcast, SquareX Field CISO John Carse sits down with Girard Kavelines and discusses how starting out on the help desk gave him fresh perspectives and practical insights that later shaped his work as a Network/Security Engineer. Girard also elaborates on other topics, schaas how blogging and content creation at TechHouse570 helped him build an engaged audience, how excited he is about the potential of SquareX and its ability to fill critical gaps left ...
In this episode of Be Fearless podcast, Adcubum AG Group CISO Michael Ruppe sits down with Aleksandra Melnikova from SquareX Founder's Office and shares how he moved from law and business into cybersecurity and became a CISO in his twenties. He breaks down how industry certifications (of which he has 30) helped him bridge theory and practice, stand out to recruiters, and accelerate into leadership roles. Michael explains what it means to secure a core health insurance software platform, manag...
Knowing your incidence response playbook is one thing, but is it ingrained deeply enough in your team for execution when disaster strikes? Tiffiny Bryant, Co-Host of the Stats on Stats Podcast and Information Security Analyst at Shipt, shares her powerful journey from the military into cybersecurity, and how she now raises awareness about the field through her podcast. In this episode, Tiffiny shares her experience being inside the Pentagon at 9/11 and how it shaped her approach to inc...
Vriti Magee, Founder and Principal of Mawa:ga Consulting, sits down with John Carse to explore the collision between AI innovation and enterprise security. In this episode, Vriti and John discuss the journey toward autonomous SOCs, the real risks of new browser AI agents like OpenAI's Atlas, and how innovation and governance mature each other instead of being at odds. 0:00 How Vriti uses the Zachman Framework in enterprise architecture 18:17 On automation replacing traditional security...
Tim Anderson shares two decades of cybersecurity expertise — starting with business continuity work to his current role protecting millions of digital identities as Deputy CISO of ID.me. In this episode, he breaks down why identity has become the new perimeter in security architecture, why browser security remains mission-critical for enterprise environments, and how decomposing problems—not just solutions—accelerates your career. 0:00 Building security programs and technical governance 14:5...
Mohana Balakrishnan, Chief Technology Officer at Schools Insurance Authority, shares his remarkable journey as a geophysicist discovering chromite deposits in Canada to leading technology and security for California schools. In this conversation, Mo opens up about why he transitioned from CISO to CTO, shares his philosophy on AI adoption and discusses why security leaders should be peers to CTOs, not subordinates. 0:00 Breaking into a new field field, even without qualification 17:00 Working...
Adrian Sanabria, Principal Researcher at The Defenders Initiative joins Field CISO John Carse to dissect why security keeps failing despite massive investments in tools and compliance frameworks. In this episode, John turns the tables and puts Adrian (also the Main Host of Enterprise Security Weekly) in the hot seat — discussing why focusing on checklists keeps defenders perpetually behind, how cyber insurance might force real change and why AI has become the attacker's number one accomplice ...
Royce Markose, CISO at Vistrada, shares his journey from breaking apart computers as a kid to leading cybersecurity for billion-dollar organizations. He dives into why hackers are shifting from endpoints to SaaS and browser attacks, how AI is transforming security risks, and how vendors should best pitch to CISOs and pull them into the conversation. 00:00 Leading a security team with limited resources 10:21 The mistake vendors make when selling to CISOs 16:07 Building cybersecurity strategie...
Alfredo Ramirez IV, Senior Director Analyst, Emerging Technologies & Trends at Gartner, sits with Audrey Adeline from the SquareX Founder’s Office to discuss the latest market trends from his vantage point: “agent washing” where vendors rebrand simple automation as AI agents, why machine identities are becoming the fastest-growing attack surface, and how both deepfakes and deepfake detection are rapidly evolving. 0:00 Lessons from the metaverse bust 13:41 When AI agents become insider th...
Bithal Bhardwaj, CEO at Gramax, spent over two decades as a cybersecurity leader across GE and GMR Group before making the leap to CEO. In this conversation, he reveals why the transition was surprisingly seamless, shares war stories from managing a 48-hour coordinated attack on critical infrastructure, and explains why security vendors shouldn't rely on marketing jargon. 0:00 Making the leap from CISO to CEO 15:13 "Contextualize cyber threats from a geography standpoint" 23:35 Why cri...
Marian Newsome, Founder of Ethical Tech Matters and an IEEE CertifAIEd Lead Assessor (Top 100 Globally), sits down with SquareX Field CISO John Carse to unpack why most organizations are dangerously unprepared for AI governance. They dive into real-world failures, discuss the three fundamental principles for AI governance, and why browser security should be on your threat model right now. 0:00 AI innovation should not outpace governance 12:25 Three principles for AI governance 21:55 Co...
J Wolfgang Goerlich, CISO for Oakland County Michigan Government, shares his unconventional path from wanting to be a hacker after watching the movie "Hackers" to leading government cybersecurity. In this conversation, Wolfgang breaks down why LLMs are surprisingly easy to manipulate using the same social engineering tactics that work on humans, why he believes good security starts with people not technology, and his fascinating approach to building security culture one conversation at a time...
Kane Narraway, Head of Enterprise Security at Canva, shares how he went from digital forensics in UK law enforcement to protecting millions of users' creative workflows today. He breaks down why marketing and sales teams are more vulnerable than engineers to attacks, his framework for balancing security with velocity and culture, and why security awareness training should “only do the required amount, and then tailor that to the individuals”. 0:00 Every country’s cybersecurity quirks a...
In this episode of the Be Fearless Podcast, Gautam "Gotham" Sharma, Executive Director, Cybersecurity Education and Training at AccessCyber, sits down with SquareX Field CISO John Carse to discuss why cybersecurity education and hiring are broken. The conversation explores nontraditional cyber career paths, why certifications alone don’t get candidates hired, and how hands-on projects prepare people for real-world security roles. Gautam breaks down browser security, SaaS sprawl, zero trust, a...
