Podcasts

Byron Acohido · Securing browser users at the control plane

Fireside Chat: Enterprise browsers arise to align security with the modern flow of work

By Byron V. Acohido

A quiet but consequential shift is underway in enterprise workspace security. The browser has effectively become the new operating system of business.

It didn’t happen all at once. But as SaaS took over, remote work went mainstream, and generative AI entered the picture, the browser quietly assumed a central role.

Today, it’s where employees access cloud data, navigate core workflows, and — increasingly — interact with powerful AI agents. Traditional file systems are fading. The endpoint is scattered. And the network perimeter, once the centerpiece of security strategy, has become an afterthought.

The security implications are significant. Endpoint tools can’t see what’s happening inside encrypted browser sessions. Identity platforms validate who you are — but they don’t follow what you do next. And network defenses often miss the fact that sensitive data is now exchanged entirely outside the corporate WAN.

At RSAC 2025, I spoke with Amir Ben-Efraim, CEO of , about this shift and how it’s forcing a rethink of control strategies. Menlo’s view is clear: if the browser is now the front door to everything, it needs to be treated as a first-class security layer.

Byron Acohido · How MDR reinforces cyber resilience

Fireside Chat: Shift left, think forward — why MDR is emerging as cyber’s silver bullet

By Byron V. Acohido

With RSAC kicking off next week, the conversation is shifting—literally. Cybersecurity pros are rethinking how “shift left” applies not just to code, but to enterprise risk.

In this Fireside Chat, I spoke with John DiLullo, CEO of Deepwatch, who makes a compelling case for how Managed Detection and Response (MDR) is filling that role.

DiLullo frames MDR as a three-part continuum. First, there’s proactive risk reduction—identifying configuration gaps, dormant tools, and soft spots in your stack before they’re exploited. Second is real-time detection and mitigation when something slips through. And third, when it hits the fan—full-scale incident response, already trained and ready.

This layered approach has broad appeal. DiLullo notes that roughly 25% of companies currently use MDR, and that number is expected to climb to 75–90% by 2030. Why? Because MDR delivers something rare: sharper visibility, reduced staffing strain, and—in his view—“instant ROI.”

Byron Acohido · The storage security component of resiliency

RSAC Fireside Chat: Enterprise storage security – ground zero for protecting data, preserving resilience

By Byron V. Acohido

It’s no secret that cyber criminals go after data. What’s often overlooked is shoring up direct protection where that data typically resides: in enterprise storage systems. That’s beginning to change.

Related: The data storage economy

Enterprise storage security has moved to the front burner. The emerging best practice is to approach it as a core component of disaster recovery—integrating perimeter and cloud detection with forensic mechanisms at the storage layer itself.

That’s my big takeaway visiting with Eric Herzog, Chief Marketing Officer at Infinidat, as the pilgrimage of security pros and senior to RSAC 2025 gets underway. Attackers are no dummies; they’ve been evolving their tactics to exploit this often-neglected tier, Herzog told me.

Herzog notes that 95 percent of high-end enterprise data lives on enterprise-grade storage—and sophisticated threat actors know exactly how to get to it.

Despite heavy investment in endpoint and network defenses, storage security remains a dangerous blind spot at many organizations.

To address this, Infinidat a few years ago introduced InfiniSafe, a built-in suite of tools that includes immutable snapshots, logical air gapping, and fenced forensic environments. Integrated into broader SOC workflows or SIEM/SOAR systems, these controls shrink the threat window and enable precision recovery.

“Storage is the home of your golden nuggets,” Herzog told me. “By securing storage the right way, you’re strengthening your entire cyber resiliency posture.”

•Listen to the full podcast interview to hear how Infinidat is helping organizations modernize storage security as part of end-to-end cyber defense.

Acohido

Pulitzer Prize-winning business journalist Byron V. Acohido is dedicated to fostering public awareness about how to make the Internet as private and secure as it ought to be.

(LW provides consulting services to the vendors we cover.)

Byron Acohido · The mainstreaming of microsegmentation

RSAC Fireside Chat: Zero Networks harnesses automation, zero trust to advance microsegmentation

By Byron V. Acohido

Cybercriminals are moving faster than ever, exploiting implicit trust within networks to spread ransomware and execute supply chain attacks.

In response, microsegmentation is gaining momentum as a key cybersecurity strategy—one that could take center stage as RSAC 2025 gets underway next week at San Francisco’s Moscone Center.

At its core, microsegmentation isolates assets within a network, limiting the blast radius of an intrusion. The approach has long been recognized as a security best practice, yet widespread adoption has lagged due to complexity and operational challenges.

However, with automation and zero trust principles reshaping cybersecurity, organizations are now revisiting microsegmentation as a critical defense mechanism.

I had the chance to sit down with Albert Estevez, Field CTO at Zero Networks, to discuss the next evolution of microsegmentation, emphasizing the role of automation in making it scalable and frictionless.

Byron Acohido · Going beyond 'SBOM' to secure software supply chains

Black Hat Fireside Chat: Why grasping the context of code is a recipe for keeping software secure

By Byron V. Acohido

President Biden’s call for the mainstreaming of Software Bill of Materials (SBOMs) is a major step forward.

Related: Europe mandates resiliency

Requiring a formal inventory of all components, libraries and modules in all business applications can help lock down software supply chains, especially in light of the SolarWinds and Colonial Pipeline attacks.

Yet SBOMs will take us only so far. I had a deep discussion about this at Black Hat USA 2024 with Saša Zdjelar, Chief Trust Officer at ReversingLabs (RL). He drew a vivid parallel between food safety and software security. For a full drill down, please give the accompanying podcast a listen.

An SBOM is like an ingredients list, not a recipe for a gourmet dish, Zdjelar argues. Similarly, SBOMs in and of themselves do little to flush out anomalies arising in the wild. In short, SBOMs do not take context into account, he noted.

Context is fast becoming king in cybersecurity. Contextual solutions are more like recipes for securing business networks in a cloud-centric, hyper-interconnected operating environment – without unduly taxing efficiency or user experience.

Byron Acohido · How Active ASPM augments application security

Black Hat Fireside Chat: Here’s how ‘Active ASPM’ is helping to triage and remediate coding flaws

By Byron V. Acohido

Application Security Posture Management (ASPM) arose a few years ago as a strategy to help software developers and security teams continually improve the security of business applications.

At Black Hat USA 2024, an iteration called Active ASPM is in the spotlight. I had the chance to visit with Neatsun Ziv, CEO and co-founder of Tel Aviv-based OX Security, a leading Active ASPM solutions provider.

I learned all about how Active ASPM emphasizes continuous, real-time monitoring and proactive remediation, thereby augmenting more passive ASPM methods, if you will, that focus on data aggregation and periodic assessments, Ziv told me. For a full drill down, please give the accompanying podcast a listen.

For its part, OX Security does this by going the extra mile to provide rich, detailed context that enables security teams to do triage more effectively – and CISOs to justify, with hard evidence, why

MY TAKE: Black Hat USA 2024’s big takeaway – GenAI factors into the quest for digital resiliency

By Byron V. Acohido

LAS VEGAS – Here’s what I discovered last week at Black Hat USA 2024: GenAI is very much in the mix as a potent X-factor in cybersecurity.

I spoke with over three dozen cybersecurity solution providers. Some of the more intriguing innovations had to do with leveraging GenAI/LLM-equipped chatbots as proprietary force multipliers.

This is all part of Generative AI and Large Language Models igniting the next massive technological disruption globally. In the next five years, GenAI/LLM deployments are expected to add $2.6 to $4.4 trillion annually across more than 60 use cases, according to a recent McKinsey study; a recent AWS survey predicts that over 93% of employers will use GenAI/LLM to increase innovation and creativity, automate repetitive tasks and boost learning.

Part of this tech revolution will play out in the cybersecurity sector as vendors perfect ways to assign GenAI/LLM to the task of helping companies get a better grip on data sprawl.

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The Last Watchdog

Podcasts

Fireside Chat: Enterprise browsers arise to align security with the modern flow of work

By Byron V. Acohido

Fireside Chat: Shift left, think forward — why MDR is emerging as cyber’s silver bullet

By Byron V. Acohido

RSAC Fireside Chat: Enterprise storage security – ground zero for protecting data, preserving resilience

By Byron V. Acohido

RSAC Fireside Chat: Zero Networks harnesses automation, zero trust to advance microsegmentation

By Byron V. Acohido

Black Hat Fireside Chat: Why grasping the context of code is a recipe for keeping software secure

By Byron V. Acohido

Black Hat Fireside Chat: Here’s how ‘Active ASPM’ is helping to triage and remediate coding flaws

By Byron V. Acohido

MY TAKE: Black Hat USA 2024’s big takeaway – GenAI factors into the quest for digital resiliency

By Byron V. Acohido