On the 18th episode of Enterprise Software Defenders, hosts Evan Reiser and Mike Britton, both executives at Abnormal Security, talk with Stephen Harrison, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer at MGM Resorts International. MGM Resorts International is a global hospitality and entertainment leader, operating some of the most iconic destinations in Las Vegas and beyond. MGM boasts an annual revenue of over $16 billion and employs more than 70,000 people worldwide. In this conversation, Stephen shares his thoughts on cybersecurity complexities in the entertainment sector, the deployment of AI – in both safeguarding systems and enhancing attack methods, and the escalation of automated attacks targeting human error.

Quick hits from Stephen:

On the rapid pace of technology change and AI: “It's hard when we're at a period of time where there's never been faster acceleration of technology. And whatever you thought was cutting-edge AI last week, well, just check Twitter this week. You're probably wrong.”

On adapting to rapid technological change: “If you’re running an enterprise security and you’re sort of putting up this gridiron fence saying, ‘No, our company is not going to use AI at a professional knowledge worker level.’ I think you’re probably doing a disservice.”

On the evolving threat landscape: “Every innovation that comes out is also empowering threat actors…you have ransomware as a service right now. And I would expect by next year, sometime to see ransomware as a service evolve and become more like AI as a service for threat actors.”

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Enterprise Software Defenders is a show where top security executives share how moves to the cloud have created an evolved threat landscape that requires new tools to protect against cybercrime. Find more great lessons from tech leaders and enterprise software experts at https://www.enterprisesoftware.blog/

Enterprise Software Defenders is produced by Josh Meer.

On the 17th episode of Enterprise Software Defenders, host Evan Reiser (Abnormal Security) talks with Mark Ferguson, Chief Information Security Officer at Bombardier. Bombardier is a Canadian multinational aircraft company best known for producing premium business jets. It has over 17,000 employees and over $8 billion in annual revenue. In this conversation, Mark shares his thoughts on Bombardier's impressive scale, the complexities of cybersecurity in the aviation industry, and the role of AI in enhancing security operations.

Quick hits from Mark:

On cybercriminals using generative AI: “Cybercriminals’ work is all about volume. So it's about keeping the cost as low as possible and spreading the threat to the biggest volume possible. That's where AI will help them because it's going to enable them to widen the net for potential targets they can go after.”

On the rise of sophistication in cybercrime: “The most sophisticated criminals are using company’s own people and IT systems. It's way easier now to trick someone and log in to a corporate system, versus break through the firewall or hack a satellite.”

On AI Copilot’s ability to assist with cybersecurity: “Copilot came back within seconds and said this change happened by this person to this end point on this date and we were able to narrow in on what the change was and who made the change.”

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Like what you hear? Leave us a review and subscribe to the show on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Enterprise Software Defenders is a show where top security executives share how moves to the cloud have created an evolved threat landscape that requires new tools to protect against cybercrime. Find more great lessons from tech leaders and enterprise software experts at https://www.enterprisesoftware.blog/

Enterprise Software Defenders is produced by Josh Meer.

On the 16th episode of Enterprise Software Defenders, host Evan Reiser (Abnormal Security) and special guest host Steve Ward (Former CISO at The Home Depot and TIAA) talk with Roland Cloutier, former Global Chief Security Officer at TikTok. Roland is a seasoned cybersecurity expert who has led security programs at major organizations, including EMC, ADP, and, most recently, TikTok. Roland's journey from military aerospace defense to becoming a top CISO offers valuable insights into the evolving landscape of cybersecurity and the critical role of AI in enhancing security operations. In this conversation, Roland shares his thoughts on the evolution of cybersecurity in the AI era, the transformative impact of AI on security operations, and a glimpse into the future of converged security programs.

Quick hits from Roland:

On AI’s ability to assist enterprise security posture management: “Why do I have really smart people doing things like writing scripts that go across logs? That is insanity. We're going to get to deeper insight faster through AI. So as a practitioner, we're going to have better weapons to understand what's going on to apply defensive postures quicker.”

On AI copilot’s enabling safer code creation: “There's massive hope in the use of AI around code defense. Code is going to be created differently and it'll be created with AI and with constructs. Therefore we have the opportunity to put security control capabilities or quality measures in capabilities at the time of code. It's going to automatically do privacy by design and security by design in a way we’ve never seen before. So from a compliance perspective, we're going to be able to operate as businesses in a much better way.”

On the true impact of auto defense capabilities: “AI is going to now show up and code is going to be generated by the time someone thinks about it. But it doesn't have to go in a queue for us to check. We don't have to wait till something gets checked in. We can instrument the AI with our capabilities that says to automatically remove any OS pipe turning, and tell us what you did. Think about the modeling capabilities on a per second basis it can provide when it evaluates code.”

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Like what you hear? Leave us a review and subscribe to the show on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Enterprise Software Defenders is a show where top security executives share how moves to the cloud have created an evolved threat landscape that requires new tools to protect against cybercrime. Find more great lessons from tech leaders and enterprise software experts at https://www.enterprisesoftware.blog/

Enterprise Software Defenders is produced by Josh Meer.