InSecurity Podcast: Ira Winkler - You CAN Stop Stupid
“Goose-stepping morons like yourself should try reading books instead of BURNING them.”
~ Henry Jones, Sr – Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
“If you like my opinions, you'll love my latest book. If you don't like my opinions, I encourage you to buy three copies of the book, so you can have the satisfaction of burning them.”
~ Ira Winkler - LinkedIn
On this week’s InSecurity podcast, host Matt Stephenson speaks with Ira Winkler, President of Secure Mentem and author of multiple books, including You CAN Stop Stupid: Stopping Losses from Accidental and Malicious Actions and Security Awareness for Dummies. We take a frank look at the people and systems involved in the world of cybersecurity and point out what can be done to stop stupid behavior and fix stupid systems.
About Ira Winkler
Ira Winkler (@irawinkler) is President of Secure Mentem and author of the forthcoming books, You CAN Stop Stupid and Security Awareness for Dummies. He is considered one of the world’s most influential security professionals and was named “The Awareness Crusader” by CSO magazine when receiving their CSO COMPASS Award. Ira is one of the foremost experts in the human elements of cybersecurity and is known for the extensive espionage and social engineering simulations that he has conducted for Fortune 500 companies globally.
He continues to perform these espionage simulations, as well as assisting organizations in developing cost-effective security programs. Ira and his work have been featured in a variety of media outlets including CNN, The Wall St. Journal, USA Today, San Francisco Chronicle, and Forbes, among other outlets throughout the world.
Ira began his career at the National Security Agency, where he served as an Intelligence and Computer Systems Analyst. After leaving government service, he went on to serve as President of the Internet Security Advisors Group, Chief Security Strategist at HP Consulting, and Director of Technology of the National Computer Security Association. He has also served on the graduate and undergraduate faculties of the Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland.
About Matt Stephenson
Insecurity Podcast host Matt Stephenson (@packmatt73) is the regular host of the InSecurity podcast and video series at events around the globe. Matt has spent the last 10 years in the world of data protection and cybersecurity. Since 2016, he has been with Cylance (acquired by BlackBerry in 2019), extolling the virtues of artificial intelligence and machine learning and how, when applied to network security, this cutting edge technology can wrong-foot the bad guys.
Prior to the COVID-19 shutdown, Matt was on the road over 100 days a year doing live malware demonstrations for audiences from San Diego, to DC, to London, to Abu Dhabi, to Singapore, to Sydney. He says that one of the funniest things he’s ever been a part of was blowing up a live instance of the notorious ransomware NotPetya just six hours after the news broke, in Washington DC, directly across the street from the FBI headquarters. As soon as he detonated the malware (on a VM, of course) a parade of police cars with sirens blaring roared past the building he was in. Matt is pretty sure they weren't there for him, but you never know...
Every week on the InSecurity Podcast, Matt gets to interview interesting people doing interesting things all over the world of cybersecurity and in the extended world of hacking. Sometimes, that means talking about hacking elections, or the coffee supply chain... other times, that means delving deep into the world of social manipulation or the sovereign wealth fund of a national economy.
The InSecurity podcast is about talking with the people who build, manage or wreck the systems that we have put in place to make the world go round. We hope you enjoy the show.
