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PODCAST

Simply Defensive

Simply Cyber Media Group

Join us for Simply Defensive, a podcast dedicated to exploring the world of defensive cybersecurity through the lens of real-world experts. In each episode, we"ll interview leading professionals from the cybersecurity industry, delving into their experiences, challenges, and innovative solutions. Whether you"re a seasoned cybersecurity veteran or just starting to learn about the field, Simply Defensive offers valuable insights and practical advice to help you stay ahead of the curve. Tune in as we

technology careers

All Episodes

39:38

From Pre-Law to FLARE: How Josh Stroschein Became...

Simply Defensive ·

2025/12/01

In this episode of Simply Defensive, Josh Mason and Wade Wells sit down with Josh Stroschein — aka The Cyber Yeti — a former professor turned reverse engineer now working on one of the largest malware analysis teams in the world.Josh shares his unconventional path through .NET development, credit card processing security, and academia before landing at Google. He opens up about teaching reverse engineering while learning it himself, building educational CTFs, and the realities of making it

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36:28

Building Zero Trust Tools: Inside ThreatLocker with...

Simply Defensive ·

2025/11/24

In this episode of Simply Defensive, hosts Josh Mason and Wade Wells welcome Yuriy Tsibere, Product Manager at ThreatLocker, for a behind-the-scenes look at how security products actually get built.Yuriy's path to cybersecurity started in Ukraine, where he worked in telecom during sophisticated APT campaigns that lasted over a year. Now at ThreatLocker, he shapes the tools defenders use daily—from allow listing to compliance automation.Episode Highlights:What product managers actually do at

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32:54

Cyber Insurance Explained: What Blue Teams Need to...

Simply Defensive ·

2025/11/17

From teaching AP art history to brokering cyber insurance deals. 🎓➡️🛡️In this episode of Simply Defensive, Josh Mason and Wade Wells sit down with Andy Runyan from Yukon to break down everything blue teamers need to know about cyber insurance — before an incident happens. Andy shares his unconventional journey from fourth-generation educator and baseball coach to becoming a cyber insurance specialist, and explains why understanding your policy is just as important as your incident

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31:40

Building Forensics Tools That Last | Brian Carrier...

Simply Defensive ·

2025/11/10

Josh Mason and Wade Wells sit down with Brian Carrier, the creator of Sleuth Kit and Autopsy, two of the most widely used digital forensics tools in the world. They dig into how Brian got his start in the early days of computer forensics, how open source shaped his career, and what he’s building now with Cyber Triage.From stories about government funding and tool rewrites to the evolving balance between open source and commercial software, this episode is packed with insight for blue

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31:50

Balancing Education and Real-World Cybersecurity with...

Simply Defensive ·

2025/11/03

In this episode of Simply Defensive, host Josh Mason and co-host discuss their experiences and challenges in cybersecurity, along with guest Victoria, a student and SOC analyst at UNLV.The conversation covers the complexities of building a Security Operations Center (SOC) and compares academic learning with real-world applications. Victoria shares insights from her studies and practical work, including developing a SOC program at UNLV and addressing common cybersecurity misconceptions.The

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29:40

From Help Desk to SOC: How KevTech Broke Into...

Simply Defensive ·

2025/10/20

What happens when you go from fixing executives’ laptops at Goldman Sachs to defending against cyber threats in a SOC?In this episode of Simply Defensive, hosts Josh Mason and Wade Wells sit down with Kevin Apolinario — better known as KevTech — to unpack his journey from IT support to cybersecurity analyst, all without a single certification.Kev gets real about what it’s actually like to land your first SOC role: the flood of alerts, the burnout, learning Excel the hard way, and relying on

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34:44

Detection Engineering Tutorial: Cloud Security,...

Simply Defensive ·

2025/10/13

In this episode of Simply Defensive, we sit down with JB, a Senior Cybersecurity Engineer working in detection engineering. JB shares his journey from SOC analyst to detection engineer, diving deep into the challenges of cloud-native security, Kubernetes logging, and building a sustainable career in cybersecurity.What We Cover:What detection engineering actually means in 2025Working with dual-cloud environments (AWS + GCP)The challenges of Kubernetes logging and ephemeral containersSANS

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30:31

Hands-On Defense: Markus Schober on DFIR, Labs, and...

Simply Defensive ·

2025/10/06

In this episode of Simply Defensive, Josh Mason and Wade Wells sit down with Markus Schober, founder of Blue Cape Security, to talk all things digital forensics, incident response (DFIR), and why hands-on training beats theory every time.We dig into: 🔹 The hidden value of building your own cyber range 🔹 How IR pros train using real attacks (and why they need red team skills) 🔹 Eric Zimmerman's forensics tools and practical lab setups 🔹 Ransomware war stories from Fortune 100 response 🔹

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32:50

Cyber Threat Intelligence for Blue Teams with Jordan...

Simply Defensive ·

2025/09/15

From Army recon missions to building Morado, COO Jordan Kalm reveals how military intelligence tactics translate into modern cyber threat intelligence. In this Simply Defensive episode, Josh Mason and Wade Wells dive into what really works for blue teams and SOC analysts — and what’s just noise.👉 If you’ve ever wondered how to turn raw intel into actionable defense, this conversation is packed with practical takeaways you can use right away.⏱ Timestamps 0:00 – Intro & Jordan’s

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36:02

How a Detective Became the Ginger Hacker: SOC Life,...

Simply Defensive ·

2025/09/08

From the streets to the SOC. 💻In this episode of Simply Defensive, Josh Mason and Wade Wells talk with Andrew Crotty — aka Ginger Hacker. A former detective turned Tier 3 SOC analyst and Army reservist, Andrew shares his journey into cyber, the struggles of breaking in, and the lessons he’s learned (including the rookie mistake that accidentally dosed the DMV 👀).What you’ll hear:🔹 Andrew’s pivot from law enforcement to cybersecurity🔹 SOC life, schedules, and fighting burnout🔹 Job

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32:43

Automating the Blue Team | Kevin Mata (Swimlane) on...

Simply Defensive ·

2025/09/02

Automation is changing the way defenders work. In this episode of Simply Defensive, we sit down with Kevin Mata, Director of Cloud Operations at Swimlane, to talk about his journey from flipping burgers at In-N-Out to flipping SOC alerts with automation, SOAR, and AI.Kevin shares how he got started in cybersecurity, how Swimlane helps Blue Teams save time and reduce alert fatigue, and where AI is already making a difference in the SOC. Along the way, he and Wade swap stories about early

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29:27

Inside Hack Defender Academy: Gamified Malware...

Simply Defensive ·

2025/08/25

Ready to level up your defensive cybersecurity skills? In this episode of Simply Defensive, Josh Mason and Wade Wells sit down with Dan Regalado and Belem — the founders of Hack Defender Academy — to explore how they’re using CTF-style challenges, real malware cases, and gamification to prepare the next generation of defenders.💡 We cover:Why gamified, CTF-style learning works better than traditional trainingHow Hack Defender Academy helps beginners grow into skilled malware analystsThe

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25:27

Rob Allen (ThreatLocker) on Zero Trust, Proactive...

Simply Defensive ·

2025/08/18

In Season 4, Episode 4 of Simply Defensive, hosts Josh Mason and Wade Wells sit down with Rob Allen, Chief Product Officer at ThreatLocker, to dive deep into the world of Zero Trust security, proactive cybersecurity strategies, and ransomware prevention.Rob shares expert insights on:Proactive vs. Reactive cybersecurity — why a balanced security stack mattersHow Zero Trust infrastructure can stop cyber attacks before they startThreatLocker’s "Deny by Default" approach to endpoint and

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34:09

Why Your CISO Needs a “Shut Up, Boss” Button

Simply Defensive ·

2025/08/04

What if GitHub sucks for security detections—and AI is finally good enough to replace it?Join Josh Mason and Wade Wells as they sit down with Aaron Mog, the outspoken founder of Detections.ai, to unpack why detection engineering is broken—and how his new platform signed up 4,000+ users in just two weeks.Aaron doesn’t hold back. From ranting about GitHub’s failures to sharing how AI is now actually useful for real-world detections, this episode goes deep into:Why most teams still build

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29:58

Why Jack in the Box Might Have the Best Security Team...

Simply Defensive ·

2025/07/28

How does a Navy fire control tech who once wrangled a six-barrel death robot become the head of security operations at Jack in the Box? In this episode of Simply Defensive, we sit down with Chris Julio — SOC Manager, veteran, and self-proclaimed lover of both metrics and munchie meals.Chris shares his journey from Windows NT and dot-matrix printers to modern InfoSec leadership, explains what he actually looks for when hiring blue teamers (hint: it's not your certs), and drops tactical

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28:56

Coffee Is Your Top Supply Chain Risk: A Conversation...

Simply Defensive ·

2025/07/21

SOC analysts, detection engineers, and pentesters—you’re not imagining it: software supply chain security is a dumpster fire 🔥. In this episode of Simply Defensive, we sit down with Kyle Kelly, engineering manager at GitHub and author of Crime Hacks, to unpack the chaos.We cover:- Why malicious packages are sneaking past defenders- The truth about SBOMs (and what most orgs are doing wrong)- How to spot typo-squatting and backdoored build scripts- What defenders can do—even if you're not

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27:21

S3 E8: Innovations in Cybersecurity: A Conversation...

Simply Defensive ·

2025/06/02

In the final episode of Season 3 on Simply Defensive, hosts Josh Mason and Wade Wells welcome John Liliston, the Product Director at ThreatLocker.John shares his journey into cybersecurity, his role at ThreatLocker, and his thoughts on the evolution of security solutions. He discusses ThreatLocker's approach to zero trust, the impact of AI on cybersecurity, and the unique integration of application control and threat detection in their offerings.The episode also covers John's experiences

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38:06

S3 E7: Cybersecurity Chat with Chuck Sapp | From...

Simply Defensive ·

2025/05/19

Join hosts Josh and Wade as they sit down with Charles (Chuck) Sapp, a seasoned cybersecurity expert and security awareness specialist. In this episode, Chuck shares his unique journey from serving in the Marine Corps to becoming an influencer in the cybersecurity community.Gain insights into his military background, his passion for educating others about cybersecurity, and engaging stories from his experiences. Chuck also previews his upcoming talk for BSides Tampa 2025, offering valuable

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44:37

S3 E6: From Submarines to Cybersecurity - Navigating...

Simply Defensive ·

2025/05/12

Welcome to another episode of Simply Defensive! In this installment, hosts Josh Mason and Wade Wells are joined by cybersecurity expert James Bierly.James shares his unique journey from a submarine sonar technician in the Navy to founding his own security firm, Secure Point Solutions, which specializes in helping small businesses tackle cybersecurity threats. They discuss the vital steps and strategies for implementing robust security measures in small companies, the importance of patch

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48:33

S3 E5: The Ultimate Guide to Detection as Code and...

Simply Defensive ·

2025/05/05

Join hosts Josh Mason and Wade Wells as they sit down with David French for an insightful episode of Simply Defensive.Discover David's journey from coding CCTV systems to becoming a staff security engineer at Google Cloud. Explore their discussion on detection as code, automation, detection testing, and relevant tools like Dorothy and Atomic Red Team.Learn why coding skills are crucial for modern cybersecurity professionals, and get tips on leveraging AI in the field.Whether you're a

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40 results

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