Louis Nyffenegger is the founder and CEO of PentesterLab. On this episode of No Password Required, Louis shares how he built his penetration-testing training company, why empathy is crucial to application security, and what can be learned from having hobbies you’re not good at. He also tells us his favorite pen testing story, explains the early days of smartwatch security, and describes his journey from France to Australia. The entire No Password Required team (Ernie, Jack, Rex, Devin, and Sarina) celebrate Ernie’s final episode by participating in a game show challenge about his life. Learn how many tattoos he has, how many countries he’s been to, and more juicy facts that we’ve all been dying to know.
You can connect with Louis on Twitter here: @snyff
Joey deVilla is a Senior R&D Content Engineer at Auth-Zero, a division of Okta. After hours, Joey is known as the Accordion Guy and spends his time playing music and sharing his nerdy takes on his two personal blogs. In this episode, Joey joins Jack and guest-host Tashya Denose (host of the Do We Belong Here podcast) to talk about his love for the tech community, his unique assortment of passions, hobbies, and jobs, and how he continues to trust the serendipity of his life even when the path seems unclear. Tashya and Jack talk about DoNotPay’s $1 million offer to lawyers to let AI take their place before the Supreme Court and what this kind of technology could mean for the future.
General (Ret.) Frank McKenzie — former Commander, United States Central Command, Executive Director of Cyber Florida and an appreciator of battlefield beef enchiladas
General (Ret.) Frank McKenzie is the Executive Director of the Global and National Security Institute at the University of South Florida and the Executive Director of Cyber Florida. In April 2022, General McKenzie retired from the Marine Corps after completing over 42 years of service. He joins the No Password Required team to discuss the evolution of his leadership style over time, a typical morning for a four-star military general, and his preference for Star Trek over Star Wars. In honor of the holidays, Ernie and Jack discuss one of the most iconic (and shocking) Christmas movies of all time – Gremlins.
Rex Wilson2022-12-28T11:07:55-05:00December 28, 2022|
Hannah Sutor - a Senior Product Manager at GitLab with an Instagram alter ego that puts her in privacy superhero territory
Hannah Sutor is the Senior Product Manager at GitLab and Digital Privacy Advocate at The Privacy Chick. Hannah joins the No Password Required team to talk about how she discovered privacy and cybersecurity in college, what she expects for the future of usernames and passwords, and her adventures while traveling in an RV with her family for a year. Bonus: she also reveals her recipe for the best pumpkin spice latte. Ernie and Jack discuss the proposed U.S. labeling program for IoT consumer devices and some potential cyber and privacy implications.
Rex Wilson2022-11-15T09:36:09-05:00November 15, 2022|
Charles Shirer - the custom t-shirt wearing CEO who went from Nintendo to Network Security
Charles Shirer is the Chief Executive Officer of GlobalWave Consulting, an IT and cybersecurity consultancy. Known as the @bsdbandit to his 20,000+ Twitter followers, Charles is often considered the most positive person in cybersecurity (and for good reason!). In this episode, Charles joins the No Password Required team to tell us about how his childhood love for video games led to his passion for everything computer-related, what inspires him to share motivational messages on Twitter, and the importance of striving for a positive mindset in life. Jack and Ernie discuss the United Kingdom’s potential privacy enforcement against TikTok, and the regulatory regime for collecting the personal data of minors.
Rex Wilson2022-11-14T18:27:30-05:00October 25, 2022|
Kayley Melton - the Bob Ross of infosec, whose secretive job at KnowBe4 solves cybersecurity’s most-urgent issues with creativity
Kayley Melton is the Vice President of Security Awareness Company Courseware and Labs at KnowBe4. Although she can’t share too much about what the “labs” portion of her job entails, let’s face it, the secrecy makes her even cooler. Kayley joins the No Password Required team to tell us about her journey from an Appalachian farm to fine arts major at a self-described “bougie” college, and from there to VP at a leading security awareness company and the challenges that she overcame to get there. Kayley also shares the story of how a Craigslist ad changed her life, who the Chewbacca is to her Han Solo, and the lessons she’s had to learn as a woman in this industry. Ernie, Jack, and Pablo discuss something likely to shock 90s babies; the cybercriminal “TarTarX” has stolen the data of 69 million Neopets users.
Rex Wilson2022-09-07T12:30:40-04:00September 7, 2022|
Serge Jorgensen - the sailing CTO of Sylint Group who routinely defends against nation-state attacks on critical infrastructure
Serge Jorgensen is a founding partner and CTO at Sylint Group, where he provides response and remediation guidance on international espionage incidents, cyber-security attacks, and counter cyber-warfare. An engineer by training, he has a bias for action over theory. In this episode, Serge joins the No Password Required team to talk about his time in the industry, his experience coaching sailing at the Paralympic Games, and his favorite childhood toy. Ernie, Jack, and Pablo discuss the cybercriminals that are posing as Twitter employees and journalists to breach academic and Middle East policy data. In the Technologue segment, Pablo teaches the team the history of the world’s largest hacking competition, DEF CON.
Rex Wilson2022-08-25T12:02:56-04:00August 17, 2022|
Episode 24: Dr. Melissa Dark – a cybersecurity education specialist, whose passions include the forest, DIY, and deviled eggs
Dr. Melissa Dark is the Founder of DARK Enterprises, a non-profit organization dedicated to developing and supporting cybersecurity education at the secondary level. Before that, Dr. Dark worked in graduate and college cybersecurity education for over 20 years, as a professor at Purdue University. In this episode, Dr. Dark joins the No Password Required team to discuss her career in “training the trainers,” the early days of cybersecurity education as an academic subject, and how to encourage cybersecurity awareness among today’s students. Ernie and Jack discuss the Pinellas Park, Florida, cybersecurity analyst alleged to have stolen almost $600,000 in cryptocurrency and how he supposedly did it.
Episode 23: Larry Whiteside Jr. - the motorcycle-riding founder of Cyversity who values mentorship and inclusivity above all else
Larry Whiteside Jr. is the President and Director of Cyversity, an organization whose mission is to achieve consistent representation of women and underrepresented minorities in the cyber industry through programs designed to diversify, educate, and empower. As someone who has experienced the value of mentorship firsthand throughout his life, both as a child and an adult, Larry is passionate about creating a space in the cyber field where everyone is valued and heard. In this episode, Larry joins the No Password Required team to discuss the mentors who helped turn his life around as a teen, the coolest motorcycle-riding character of all time, and the value of honoring every person’s individual perspective in life. Ernie, Jack, and Pablo discuss the potential cyber consequences of the Ukraine conflict. In the Technologue segment, Pablo breaks down the Cloud and its benefits.
Episode 22: Thomas Vaughn - the philosopher CISO of Tallahassee who lives to help other people
Thomas Vaughn is the current Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) of the City of Tallahassee and the former CISO of Florida. A kindhearted introvert who began his career in the Army and then the U.S. Coast Guard, Thomas thrives on helping other people however he can, whether it’s with cybersecurity practices or serving as a volunteer fireman in his spare time. In this episode, Thomas joins the No Password Required team to talk about his journey from the military to cybersecurity, the top-tier candy that he can’t live without, and the philosophical lessons that he carries with him throughout his life. Ernie, Jack, and Pablo discuss the UCF student who created an algorithm to track Elon Musk’s private jet. In the Technologue segment, Pablo explains web tracking and what it means for the everyday internet user.