Today Michael and Sam are catching up with DevSecOps manager and 2023 HOU.SEC.CON. speaker, Christopher Pope. They discuss the importance of integrating security from the beginning of the development process, the need for building relationships and understanding between developers and security professionals to create secure applications, and the si…

Every year HOU.SEC.CON. partners with local universities to involve cybersecurity students at the conference. Today Michael and Sam are sitting down with Samir Saber, Dean of Digital & Information Technology at Houston Community College and long-time champion of HOU.SEC.CON. They discuss Samir's journey in cybersecurity education, the importance of…

In today’s show Michael and Sam are joined by Cybersecurity Executive and Adjunct Faculty Member, Dr. Branden Williams. They discuss Branden’s journey into cybersecurity and how those looking to enter the field can get started. They also dive into his 2023 HOU.SEC.CON. talk on automation and bot attacks and the issues organizations and customers ar…

Co-hosts Michael and Sam are joined by co-speakers Mak Foss and Rachel Schwalk to discuss their HOU.SEC.CON. presentation on business email compromise. In this episode they talk about their individual journey’s into cyber, the complexities of detecting business email compromise, and the significance of monitoring email rules. Things Mentioned: · Te…

Your favorite co-founders and co-hosts Michael Farnum and Sam Van Ryder are reunited for the latest edition of HOU.SEC.CAST. with special guest David Balcar! In today’s episode they discuss: · The evolving landscape of insider threats and the vulnerabilities they exploit. · The importance of vigilance in monitoring outbound traffic and the need for…

Co-Host Sam Van Ryder flies solo for this episode with Executive Industry Consultant, Roya Gordon! They share insights on SBOMs and their significance in OT security, discuss what current security conferences are doing right (and where they could improve!), and the importance of building local cybersecurity communities. Things Mentioned: · Southern…

In this episode, hosts Michael and Sam pull HOU.SEC.CON. Program Director (and HOU.SEC.CAST. producer) Lauren Lynch in front of the camera to share her perspective as HSC’s first full time employee! They chat about her start in marketing and cyber, other cybersecurity communities she’s engaging with to level up, and why it’s important to get involv…

In this episode, hosts Michael and Sam meet with Arthi Vasudevan, a cybersecurity product line leader at GE Vernova and the author of the popular children's book "Cyberama." They delve into the recent legislative developments extending online protections for children, Arthi’s journey into cybersecurity, and how her experience at HOU.SEC.CON. inspir…

We have a special episode today featuring EXEC.SEC.CON. hosts Marc Crudgington and Kyle Lai! They’ll talk a bit about their backgrounds and what qualifies them to host an event of this caliber, how they started the CISO Track that lead to this stand-alone event, and what to expect at the conference. Things Mentioned: · Marc’s Books - https://www.am…

In this episode hosts Michael and Sam talk to HOU.SEC.CON. speaker and CEO and Founder Dan Gunter. They discuss his career journey from the Air Force to founding Insane Forensics, insights on threat hunting in industrial networks, and the importance of adaptability in operational technology. Things Mentioned: · US disabled Chinese hacking network t…

In today’s episode Michael and Sam chat with HOU.SEC.CON. speaker and Deputy CTO of Tenable, Marty Edwards. Their conversation revolves around the need for collaboration between IT and OT teams, the importance of implementing cybersecurity fundamentals before investing in products and solutions, and the real-life consequences that result from not p…

About this episode: In our first episode of 2024 Michal and Sam chat with Principal Industrial Hunter John Burns to talk about his presentation “The Distinct Imperatives of Threat Hunting in OT Environments”. In this conversation John also touches on his interesting industrial IT origin story, shares insights into his role as a principal industrial…

About this episode: We’re back with our regularly scheduled programming! This week our hosts sat down with Tony Turner, CEO of Opswright and HSC Speaker, to discuss his talk “Leveraging Historical Software Failures to Strengthen Cybersecurity: The Nexus Between Catastrophe and Cyber Resilience”. They also dig into OT infrastructure, how security fi…

We’re back with another episode from HOU.SEC.CON 2023! In the second part of this series Michael and Sam are joined on stage by Tom Cline, Sales Director with Skybox Security and past guest Phillip Wylie, Security Director at Alias Cybersecurity. The guys discuss how cybersecurity posture management tools have exploded due to the extensible and ubi…

Did you miss HOU.SEC.CON 2023? No worries! We recorded two episodes of HOU.SEC.CAST on stage just for you! In our first episode Michael and Sam are joined on stage by Kent Noyes, Senior Director of AI Security at WWT and Brad Green, Cortex Systems Engineer at Palo Alto to discuss everyone’s favorite topic – Artificial Intelligence. This episode was…

We’re just over 2 weeks away from this year’s conference and we’re bringing you another episode featuring one of our upcoming speakers, Thomas Pace! Tom chats with Michael and Sam about the relevance of college degrees in the cybersecurity industry, the big gap he saw in industrial control systems leading to the founding of Netrise, building a star…

We’re back with another HOU.SEC.CON speaker! Justin “Hutch” Hutchens met with Michael and Sam to discuss some of the latest black hat tools powered by AI, Hutch’s new book that is scheduled for 2024, and of course talk for this year’s conference. Things Mentioned: You can read the Article “New AI Tool 'FraudGPT' Emerges, Tailored for Sophisticated …

This week Michael and Sam are joined by ReliaQuest VP, CISO, Office of the CISO Rick Holland to chat about his upcoming talk “Cybercrime finds a way”. Tune in for today's top cybercrime trends, the latest on ransomware, and how cybercriminals are using artificial intelligence. Things Mentioned: Check out the article “How disjoined threat intelligen…

Workshops are back at HouSecCon! In this special bonus episode Michael and Sam chat with Professor Deniz Gurkan to discuss her move from University of Houston, her ongoing projects, and what to expect in her October 11th workshop. Things Mentioned: Sign up for Deniz’s workshop “In-Network Defense: Detection and Mitigation of Layer 2 and Layer 3 Att…

This week Sam and Michael sit down with Allthenticate CEO & founder - and returning HOU.SEC.CON. speaker - Chad Spensky! They discuss why he moved his company halfway across the country to Houston (and why more startups should consider Houston!), the need for less passwords, and his talk at this year’s conference. Things Mentioned: Check out the ar…

About this episode: To support an organization’s ability to react to incidents you need a few key elements: strong security staffing, defined repeatable processes, and the right tools. This week Michael and Sam sit down with Cisco’s Global Advisory CISO and HOU.SEC.CON closing keynote Dave Lewis to discuss his security article and his upcoming talk…

Mark Weatherford has led a unique and impressive career. He’s been a CISO in both the public and private sector, sits on advisory boards for some of the latest and greatest technology, works with multiple venture capital firms, and will be kicking off HOU.SEC.CON 2023 as our opening keynote! Michael and Sam sat down with Mark to discuss his wealth …

When it comes to your organization cybersecurity is not limited to a single person or division – all business units need to understand best practices. At this year’s conference international speaker/best-selling author/podcast host/tech evangelist/top ethical hacker Phillip Wylie will break down the difference in offensive security concepts to help…

By Lauren