ITSPmagazine

Everyone Is Protecting My Password, But Who Is Protecting My Toilet Paper? - Interview with Amberley Brady | AISA CyberCon Melbourne 2025 Coverage | On Location with Sean Martin and Marco CiappelliAISA CyberCon Melbourne | October 15-17, 2025Empty shelves trigger something primal in us now. We've lived through the panic, the uncertainty, the realization that our food supply isn't as secure as we thought. Amberley Brady hasn't forgotten that feeling, and she's turned it into action.Speaking with her from Florence to Sydney ahead of AISA CyberCon in Melbourne, I discovered someone who came to cybersecurity through an unexpected path—studying law, working in policy, but driven by a singular passion for food security. When COVID-19 hit Australia in 2019 and grocery store shelves emptied, Amberley couldn't shake the question: what happens if this keeps happening?Her answer was to build realfoodprice.com.au, a platform tracking food pricing transparency across Australia's supply chain. It's based on the Hungarian model, which within three months saved consumers 50 million euros simply by making prices visible from farmer to wholesaler to consumer. The markup disappeared almost overnight when transparency arrived."Once you demonstrate transparency along the supply chain, you see where the markup is," Amberley explained. She gave me an example that hit home: watermelon farmers were getting paid 40 cents per kilo while their production costs ran between $1.00 to $1.50. Meanwhile, consumers paid $2.50 to $2.99 year-round. Someone in the middle was profiting while farmers lost money on every harvest.But this isn't just about fair pricing—it's about critical infrastructure that nobody's protecting. Australia produces food for 70 million people, far more than its own population needs. That food moves through systems, across borders, through supply chains that depend entirely on technology most farmers never think about in cybersecurity terms.The new autonomous tractors collecting soil data? That information goes somewhere. The sensors monitoring crop conditions? Those connect to systems someone else controls. China recognized this vulnerability years ago—with 20% of the world's population but only 7% of arable land, they understood that food security is national security.At CyberCon, Amberley is presenting two sessions that challenge the cybersecurity community to expand their thinking. "Don't Outsource Your Thinking" tackles what she calls "complacency creep"—our growing trust in AI that makes us stop questioning, stop analyzing with our gut instinct. She argues for an Essential Nine in Australia's cybersecurity framework, adding the human firewall to the technical Essential Eight.Her second talk, cheekily titled "Everyone is Protecting My Password, But No One's Protecting My Toilet Paper," addresses food security directly. It's provocative, but that's the point. We saw what happened in Japan recently with the rice crisis—the same panic buying, the same distrust, the same empty shelves that COVID taught us to fear."We will run to the store," Amberley said. "That's going to be human behavior because we've lived through that time." And here's the cybersecurity angle: those panics can be manufactured. A fake image of empty shelves, an AI-generated video, strategic disinformation—all it takes is triggering that collective memory.Amberley describes herself as an early disruptor in the agritech cybersecurity space, and she's right. Most cybersecurity professionals think about hospitals, utilities, financial systems. They don't think about the autonomous vehicles in fields, the sensor networks in soil, the supply chain software moving food across continents.But she's starting the conversation, and CyberCon's audience—increasingly diverse, including people from HR, risk management, and policy—is ready for it. Because at the end of the day, everyone has to eat. And if we don't start thinking about the cyber vulnerabilities in how we grow, move, and price food, we're leaving our most basic need unprotected.AISA CyberCon Melbourne runs October 15-17, 2025 Virtual coverage provided by ITSPmagazineGUEST:Amberley Brady, Food Security & Cybersecurity Advocate, Founder of realfoodprice.com.au | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amberley-b-a62022353/HOSTS:Sean Martin, Co-Founder, ITSPmagazine and Studio C60 | Website: https://www.seanmartin.comMarco Ciappelli, Co-Founder, ITSPmagazine and Studio C60 | Website: https://www.marcociappelli.comCatch all of our event coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/technology-and-cybersecurity-conference-coverageWant to share an Event Briefing as part of our event coverage? Learn More 👉 https://itspm.ag/evtcovbrfWant Sean and Marco to be part of your event or conference? Let Us Know 👉 https://www.itspmagazine.com/contact-us Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Beyond Blame: Navigating the Digital World with Our KidsAISA CyberCon Melbourne | October 15-17, 2025There's something fundamentally broken in how we approach online safety for young people. We're quick to point fingers—at tech companies, at schools, at kids themselves—but Jacqueline Jayne (JJ) wants to change that conversation entirely.Speaking with her from Florence while she prepared for her session at AISA CyberCon Melbourne this week, it became clear that JJ understands what many in the cybersecurity world miss: this isn't a technical problem that needs a technical solution. It's a human problem that requires us to look in the mirror."The online world reflects what we've built for them," JJ told me, referring to our generation. "Now we need to step up and help fix it."Her session, "Beyond Blame: Keeping Our Kids Safe Online," tackles something most cybersecurity professionals avoid—the uncomfortable truth that being an IT expert doesn't automatically make you equipped to protect the young people in your life. Last year's presentation at Cyber Con drew a full house, with nearly every hand raised when she asked who came because of a kid in their world.That's the fascinating contradiction JJ exposes: rooms full of cybersecurity professionals who secure networks and defend against sophisticated attacks, yet find themselves lost when their own children navigate TikTok, Roblox, or encrypted messaging apps.The timing couldn't be more relevant. With Australia implementing a social media ban for anyone under 16 starting December 10, 2025, and similar restrictions appearing globally, parents and carers face unprecedented challenges. But as JJ points out, banning isn't understanding, and restriction isn't education.One revelation from our conversation particularly struck me—the hidden language of emojis. What seems innocent to adults carries entirely different meanings across demographics, from teenage subcultures to, disturbingly, predatory networks online. An explosion emoji doesn't just mean "boom" anymore. Context matters, and most adults are speaking a different digital dialect than their kids.JJ, who successfully guided her now 19-year-old son through the gaming and social media years, isn't offering simple solutions because there aren't any. What she provides instead are conversation starters, resources tailored to different age groups, and even AI prompts that parents can customize for their specific situations.The session reflects a broader shift happening at events like Cyber Con. It's no longer just IT professionals in the room. HR representatives, risk managers, educators, and parents are showing up because they've realized that digital safety doesn't respect departmental boundaries or professional expertise."We were analog brains in a digital world," JJ said, capturing our generational position perfectly. But today's kids? They're born into this interconnectedness, and COVID accelerated everything to a point where taking it away isn't an option.The real question isn't who to blame. It's what role each of us plays in creating a safer digital environment. And that's a conversation worth having—whether you're at the Convention and Exhibition Center in Melbourne this week or joining virtually from anywhere else.AISA CyberCon Melbourne runs October 15-17, 2025 Virtual coverage provided by ITSPmagazine___________GUEST:Jacqueline (JJ) Jayne, Reducing human error in cyber and teaching 1 million people online safety. On Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacquelinejayne/HOSTS:Sean Martin, Co-Founder, ITSPmagazine and Studio C60 | Website: https://www.seanmartin.comMarco Ciappelli, Co-Founder, ITSPmagazine and Studio C60 | Website: https://www.marcociappelli.comCatch all of our event coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/technology-and-cybersecurity-conference-coverageWant to share an Event Briefing as part of our event coverage? Learn More 👉 https://itspm.ag/evtcovbrfWant Sean and Marco to be part of your event or conference? Let Us Know 👉 https://www.itspmagazine.com/contact-us Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

During his keynote at SecTor 2025, HD Moore, founder and CEO of runZero and widely recognized for creating Metasploit, invites the cybersecurity community to rethink the foundational “rules” we continue to follow—often without question. In conversation with Sean Martin and Marco Ciappelli for ITSPmagazine’s on-location event coverage, Moore breaks down where our security doctrines came from, why some became obsolete, and which ones still hold water.One standout example? The rule to “change your passwords every 30 days.” Moore explains how this outdated guidance—rooted in assumptions from the early 2000s when password sharing was rampant—led to predictable patterns and frustrated users. Today, the advice has flipped: focus on strong, unique passwords per service, stored securely via password managers.But this keynote isn’t just about passwords. Moore uses this lens to explore how many security “truths” were formed in response to technical limitations or outdated behaviors—things like shared network trust, brittle segmentation, and fragile authentication models. As technology matures, so too should the rules. Enter passkeys, hardware tokens, and enclave-based authentication. These aren’t just new tools—they’re a fundamental shift in where and how we anchor trust.Moore also calls out an uncomfortable truth: the very products we rely on to protect our systems—firewalls, endpoint managers, and security appliances—are now among the top vectors for breach, per Mandiant’s latest report. That revelation struck a chord with conference attendees, who appreciated Moore’s willingness to speak plainly about systemic security debt.He also discusses the inescapable vulnerabilities in AI agent flows, likening prompt injection attacks to the early days of cross-site scripting. The tech itself invites risk, he warns, and we’ll need new frameworks—not just tweaks to old ones—to manage what comes next.This conversation is a must-listen for anyone questioning whether our security playbooks are still fit for purpose—or simply carried forward by habit.___________GUEST:HD Moore, Founder and CEO of RunZero | On Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hdmoore/HOSTS:Sean Martin, Co-Founder, ITSPmagazine and Studio C60 | Website: https://www.seanmartin.comMarco Ciappelli, Co-Founder, ITSPmagazine and Studio C60 | Website: https://www.marcociappelli.comRESOURCES:Keynote: The Once and Future Rules of Cybersecurity: https://www.blackhat.com/sector/2025/briefings/schedule/#keynote-the-once-and-future-rules-of-cybersecurity-49596Learn more and catch more stories from our SecTor 2025 coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/cybersecurity-technology-society-events/sector-cybersecurity-conference-toronto-2025Mandiant M-Trends Breach Report: https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/m-trends-2025/OPM Data Breach Summary: https://oversight.house.gov/report/opm-data-breach-government-jeopardized-national-security-generation/Catch all of our event coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/technology-and-cybersecurity-conference-coverageWant to share an Event Briefing as part of our event coverage? Learn More 👉 https://itspm.ag/evtcovbrfWant Sean and Marco to be part of your event or conference? Let Us Know 👉 https://www.itspmagazine.com/contact-us___________KEYWORDS:hd moore, sean martin, marco ciappelli, metasploit, runzero, sector, password, breach, ai, passkeys, event coverage, on location, conference Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

⸻ Podcast: Redefining Society and Technologyhttps://redefiningsocietyandtechnologypodcast.com ______Title: AI Creativity Expert Reveals Why Machines Need More Freedom - Creative Machines: AI, Art & Us Book Interview | A Conversation with  Author Maya Ackerman | Redefining Society And Technology Podcast With Marco Ciappelli______Guest: Maya Ackerman, PhD.Generative AI Pioneer | Author | Keynote SpeakerOn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mackerma/Website: http://www.maya-ackerman.com _____Short Introduction: Dr. Maya Ackerman, AI researcher and author of "Creative Machines: AI, Art, and Us," challenges our assumptions about artificial intelligence and creativity. She argues that ChatGPT is intentionally limited, that hallucinations are features not bugs, and that we must stop treating AI as an all-knowing oracle in our Hybrid Analog Digital Society._____Article Dr. Maya Ackerman is a pioneer in the generative AI industry, associate professor of Computer Science and Engineering at Santa Clara University, and co-founder/CEO of Wave AI, one of the earliest generative AI startup. Ackerman has been researching generative AI models for text, music and art since 2014, and an early advocate for human-centered generative AI, bringing awareness to the power of AI to profoundly elevate human creativity. Under her leadership as co-founder and CEO, WaveAI has emerged as a leader in musical AI, benefiting millions of artists and creators with their products LyricStudio and MelodyStudio.Dr. Ackerman's expertise and innovative vision have earned her numerous accolades, including being named a "Woman of Influence" by the Silicon Valley Business Journal. She is a regular feature in prestigious media outlets and has spoken on notable stages around the world, such as the United Nations, IBM Research, and Stanford University. Her insights into the convergence of AI and creativity are shaping the future of both technology and music. A University of Waterloo PhD and Caltech Postdoc, her unique blend of scholarly rigor and entrepreneurial acumen makes her a sought-after voice in discussions about the practical and ethical implications of AI in our rapidly evolving digital world. Host: Marco CiappelliCo-Founder & CMO @ITSPmagazine | Master Degree in Political Science - Sociology of Communication l Branding & Marketing Advisor | Journalist | Writer | Podcast Host | #Technology #Cybersecurity #Society 🌎 LAX 🛸 FLR 🌍WebSite: https://marcociappelli.comOn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marco-ciappelli/_____________________________This Episode’s SponsorsBlackCloak provides concierge cybersecurity protection to corporate executives and high-net-worth individuals to protect against hacking, reputational loss, financial loss, and the impacts of a corporate data breach.BlackCloak:  https://itspm.ag/itspbcweb_____________________________⸻ Podcast Summary ⸻ I had one of those conversations that makes you question everything you thought you knew about democracy, governance, and the future of human society. Eli Lopian, founder of TypeMock and author of the provocative book on AI-cracy, walked me through what might be the most intriguing political theory I've encountered in years.⸻ Article ⸻ We talk about AI hallucinations like they're bugs that need fixing. Glitches in the matrix. Errors to be eliminated. But what if we've got it completely backward?Dr. Maya Ackerman sat in front of her piano—a detail that matters more than you'd think—and told me something that made me question everything I thought I understood about artificial intelligence and creativity. The AI we use every day, the ChatGPT that millions rely on for everything from writing emails to generating ideas, is intentionally held back from being truly creative.Let that sink in for a moment. ChatGPT, the tool millions use daily, is designed to be convergent rather than divergent. It's built to replace search engines, to give us "correct" answers, to be an all-knowing oracle. And that's exactly the problem.Maya's journey into this field began ten years ago, long before generative AI became the buzzword du jour. Back in 2015, she made what her employer called a "risky decision"—switching her research focus to computational creativity, the academic precursor to what we now call generative AI. By 2017, she'd launched one of the earliest generative AI startups, WaveAI, helping people write songs. Investors told her the whole direction didn't make sense. Then came late 2022, and suddenly everyone understood.What fascinates me about Maya's perspective is how she frames AI as humanity's collective consciousness made manifest. We wrote, we created the printing press, we built the internet, we filled it with our knowledge and our forums and our social media—and then we created a functioning brain from it. As she puts it, we can now talk with humanity's collective consciousness, including what Carl Jung called the collective shadow—both the brilliance and the biases.This is where our conversation in our Hybrid Analog Digital Society gets uncomfortable but necessary. When AI exhibits bias, when it hallucinates, when it creates something that disturbs us—it's reflecting us back to ourselves. It learned from our data, our patterns, our collective Western consciousness. We participate in these biases to various degrees, whether we admit it or not. AI becomes a mirror we can't look away from.But here's where Maya's argument becomes revolutionary: we need to stop wanting AI to be perfect. We need to embrace its capacity to hallucinate, to be imaginative, to explore new possibilities. The word "hallucination" itself needs reclaiming. In both humans and machines, hallucination represents the courage to go beyond normal boundaries, to re-envision reality in ways that might work better for us.The creative process requires divergence—a vast open space of new possibilities where you don't know in advance what will have value. It takes bravery, guts, and willingness to fall flat on your face. But ChatGPT isn't built for that. It's designed to follow patterns, to be consistent, to give you the same ABAB rhyming structure every time you ask for lyrics. Try using it for creative writing, and you'll notice the template, the recognizable vibe that becomes stale after a few uses.Maya argues that machines designed specifically for creativity—like Midjourney for images or her own WaveAI for music—are far more creative than ChatGPT precisely because they're built to be divergent rather than convergent. They're allowed to get things wrong, to be imaginative, to explore. ChatGPT's creativity is intentionally kept down because there's an inherent conflict between being an all-knowing oracle and being creative.This brings us to a dangerous illusion we're collectively buying into: the idea that AI can be our arbitrator of truth. Maya grew up on three continents before age 13, and she points out that World War II is talked about so differently across cultures you wouldn't recognize it as the same historical event. Reality isn't simple. The "truth" doesn't exist for most things that matter. Yet we're building AI systems that present themselves as having definitive answers, when really they're just expressing a Western perspective that aligns with their shareholders' interests.What concerns me most from our conversation is Maya's observation that some people are already giving up their thinking to these machines. When she suggests they come up with their own ideas without using ChatGPT, they look at her like she's crazy. They honestly believe the machine is smarter than them. This collective hallucination—that we've built ourselves a God—is perhaps more dangerous than any individual AI capability.The path forward, Maya argues, requires us to wake up. We need diverse AI tools built for specific purposes rather than one omnipotent system. We need machines designed to collaborate with humans and elevate human intelligence rather than foster dependence. We need to stop the consolidation of power that's creating copies of the same convergent thinking, and instead embrace the diversity of human imagination.As someone who works at the intersection of technology and society, I find Maya's perspective refreshingly honest. She's not trying to sell us on AI's limitless potential, nor is she fear-mongering about its dangers. She's asking us to see it clearly—as powerful technology that's at least as flawed as we are, neither God nor demon, just a mind among minds.Her book "Creative Machines: AI, Art, and Us" releases October 14, 2025, and it promises to rewrite the narrative from an informed insider's perspective rather than someone with something to gain from public belief. In our rapidly evolving Hybrid Analog Digital Society, we need more voices like Maya's—voices that challenge us to think differently about the tools we're building and the future we're creating.Subscribe to continue these essential conversations about creativity, consciousness, and our coexistence with increasingly capable machines. Because the real question isn't whether machines can be creative—it's whether we'll have the wisdom to let them be.__________________ Enjoy. Reflect. Share with your fellow humans.And if you haven’t already, subscribe to Musing On Society & Technology on LinkedIn — new transmissions are always incoming.https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/musing-on-society-technology-7079849705156870144You’re listening to this through the Redefining Society & Technology podcast, so while you’re here, make sure to follow the show — and join me as I continue exploring life in this Hybrid Analog Digital Society.End of transmission.____________________________Listen to more Redefining Society & Technology stories and subscribe to the podcast:👉 https://redefiningsocietyandtechnologypodcast.comWatch the webcast version on-demand on YouTube:👉 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnYu0psdcllTUoWMGGQHlGVZA575VtGr9Are you interested Promotional Brand Stor

In this issue of the Future of Cyber newsletter, Sean Martin digs into a topic that’s quietly reshaping how software gets built—and how it breaks: the rise of AI-powered coding tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and GitHub Copilot.These tools promise speed, efficiency, and reduced boilerplate—but what are the hidden trade-offs? What happens when the tools go offline, or when the systems built through them are so abstracted that even the engineers maintaining them don’t fully understand what they’re working with?Drawing from conversations across the cybersecurity, legal, and developer communities—including a recent legal tech conference where law firms are empowering attorneys to “vibe code” internal tools—this article doesn’t take a hard stance. Instead, it raises urgent questions:Are we creating shadow logic no one can trace?Do developers still understand the systems they’re shipping?What happens when incident response teams face AI-generated code with no documentation?Are AI-generated systems introducing silent fragility into critical infrastructure?The piece also highlights insights from a recent podcast conversation with security architect Izar Tarandach, who compares AI coding to junior development: fast and functional, but in need of serious oversight. He warns that organizations rushing to automate development may be building brittle systems on shaky foundations, especially when security practices are assumed rather than applied.This is not a fear-driven screed or a rejection of AI. Rather, it’s a call to assess new dependencies, rethink development accountability, and start building contingency plans before outages, hallucinations, or misconfigurations force the issue.If you’re a CISO, developer, architect, risk manager—or anyone involved in software delivery or security—this article is designed to make you pause, think, and ideally, respond.🔍 What’s your take? Is your team building with AI? Are you tracking how it’s being used—and what might happen when it’s not available?📖 Read the full companion article in the Future of Cybersecurity newsletter for deeper insights: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/when-coders-dont-code-what-happens-ai-coding-tools-go-martin-cissp-ychqe________This story represents the results of an interactive collaboration between Human Cognition and Artificial Intelligence.Enjoy, think, share with others, and subscribe to "The Future of Cybersecurity" newsletter on LinkedIn: https://itspm.ag/future-of-cybersecuritySincerely, Sean Martin and TAPE9________Sean Martin is a life-long musician and the host of the Music Evolves Podcast; a career technologist, cybersecurity professional, and host of the Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast; and is also the co-host of both the Random and Unscripted Podcast and On Location Event Coverage Podcast. These shows are all part of ITSPmagazine—which he co-founded with his good friend Marco Ciappelli, to explore and discuss topics at The Intersection of Technology, Cybersecurity, and Society.™️Want to connect with Sean and Marco On Location at an event or conference near you? See where they will be next: https://www.itspmagazine.com/on-locationTo learn more about Sean, visit his personal website. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

⸻ Podcast: Redefining Society and Technologyhttps://redefiningsocietyandtechnologypodcast.com _____ Newsletter: Musing On Society And Technology https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/musing-on-society-technology-7079849705156870144/_____ Watch on Youtube: https://youtu.be/nFn6CcXKMM0_____ My Website: https://www.marcociappelli.com_____________________________This Episode’s SponsorsBlackCloak provides concierge cybersecurity protection to corporate executives and high-net-worth individuals to protect against hacking, reputational loss, financial loss, and the impacts of a corporate data breach.BlackCloak:  https://itspm.ag/itspbcweb_____________________________A Musing On Society & Technology Newsletter Written By Marco Ciappelli | Read by TAPE3A new transmission from Musing On Society and Technology Newsletter, by Marco CiappelliReflections from Our Hybrid Analog-Digital SocietyFor years on the Redefining Society and Technology Podcast, I've explored a central premise: we live in a hybrid -digital society where the line between physical and virtual has dissolved into something more complex, more nuanced, and infinitely more human than we often acknowledge.Introducing a New Series: Analog Minds in a Digital World:Reflections from Our Hybrid Analog-Digital SocietyPart II: Lo-Fi Music and the Art of Imperfection — When Technical Limitations Become Creative LiberationI've been testing small speakers lately. Nothing fancy—just little desktop units that cost less than a decent dinner. As I cycled through different genres, something unexpected happened. Classical felt lifeless, missing all its dynamic range. Rock came across harsh and tinny. Jazz lost its warmth and depth. But lo-fi? Lo-fi sounded... perfect.Those deliberate imperfections—the vinyl crackle, the muffled highs, the compressed dynamics—suddenly made sense on equipment that couldn't reproduce perfection anyway. The aesthetic limitations of the music matched the technical limitations of the speakers. It was like discovering that some songs were accidentally designed for constraints I never knew existed.This moment sparked a bigger realization about how we navigate our hybrid analog-digital world: sometimes our most profound innovations emerge not from perfection, but from embracing limitations as features.Lo-fi wasn't born in boardrooms or designed by committees. It emerged from bedrooms, garages, and basement studios where young musicians couldn't afford professional equipment. The 4-track cassette recorder—that humble Portastudio that let you layer instruments onto regular cassette tapes for a fraction of what professional studio time cost—became an instrument of democratic creativity. Suddenly, anyone could record music at home. Sure, it would sound "imperfect" by industry standards, but that imperfection carried something the polished recordings lacked: authenticity.The Velvet Underground recorded on cheap equipment and made it sound revolutionary—so revolutionary that, as the saying goes, they didn't sell many records, but everyone who bought one started a band. Pavement turned bedroom recording into art. Beck brought lo-fi to the mainstream with "Mellow Gold." These weren't artists settling for less—they were discovering that constraints could breed creativity in ways unlimited resources never could.Today, in our age of infinite digital possibility, we see a curious phenomenon: young creators deliberately adding analog imperfections to their perfectly digital recordings. They're simulating tape hiss, vinyl scratches, and tube saturation using software plugins. We have the technology to create flawless audio, yet we choose to add flaws back in.What does this tell us about our relationship with technology and authenticity?There's something deeply human about working within constraints. Twitter's original 140-character limit didn't stifle creativity—it created an entirely new form of expression. Instagram's square format—a deliberate homage to Polaroid's instant film—forced photographers to think differently about composition. Think about that for a moment: Polaroid's square format was originally a technical limitation of instant film chemistry and optics, yet it became so aesthetically powerful that decades later, a digital platform with infinite formatting possibilities chose to recreate that constraint. Even more, Instagram added filters that simulated the color shifts, light leaks, and imperfections of analog film. We had achieved perfect digital reproduction, and immediately started adding back the "flaws" of the technology we'd left behind.The same pattern appears in video: Super 8 film gave you exactly 3 minutes and 12 seconds per cartridge at standard speed—grainy, saturated, light-leaked footage that forced filmmakers to be economical with every shot. Today, TikTok recreates that brevity digitally, spawning a generation of micro-storytellers who've mastered the art of the ultra-short form, sometimes even adding Super 8-style filters to their perfect digital video.These platforms succeeded not despite their limitations, but because of them. Constraints force innovation. They make the infinite manageable. They create a shared language of creative problem-solving.Lo-fi music operates on the same principle. When you can't capture perfect clarity, you focus on capturing perfect emotion. When your equipment adds character, you learn to make that character part of your voice. When technical perfection is impossible, artistic authenticity becomes paramount.This is profoundly relevant to how we think about artificial intelligence and human creativity today. As AI becomes capable of generating increasingly "perfect" content—flawless prose, technically superior compositions, aesthetically optimized images—we find ourselves craving the beautiful imperfections that mark something as unmistakably human.Walking through any record store today, you'll see teenagers buying vinyl albums they could stream in perfect digital quality for free. They're choosing the inconvenience of physical media, the surface noise, the ritual of dropping the needle. They're purchasing imperfection at a premium.This isn't nostalgia—most of these kids never lived in the vinyl era. It's something deeper: a recognition that perfect reproduction might not equal perfect experience. The crackle and warmth of analog playback creates what audiophiles call "presence"—a sense that the music exists in the same physical space as the listener.Lo-fi music replicates this phenomenon in digital form. It takes the clinical perfection of digital audio and intentionally degrades it to feel more human. The compression, the limited frequency range, the background noise—these aren't bugs, they're features. They create the sonic equivalent of a warm embrace.In our hyperconnected, always-optimized digital existence, lo-fi offers something precious: permission to be imperfect. It's background music that doesn't demand your attention, ambient sound that acknowledges life's messiness rather than trying to optimize it away.Here's where it gets philosophically interesting: we're using advanced digital technology to simulate the limitations of obsolete analog technology. Young producers spend hours perfecting their "imperfect" sound, carefully curating randomness, precisely engineering spontaneity.This creates a fascinating paradox. Is simulated authenticity still authentic? When we use AI-powered plugins to add "vintage" character to our digital recordings, are we connecting with something real, or just consuming a nostalgic fantasy?I think the answer lies not in the technology itself, but in the intention behind it. Lo-fi creators aren't trying to fool anyone—the artifice is obvious. They're creating a shared aesthetic language that values emotion over technique, atmosphere over precision, humanity over perfection.In a world where algorithms optimize everything for maximum engagement, lo-fi represents a conscious choice to optimize for something else entirely: comfort, focus, emotional resonance. It's a small rebellion against the tyranny of metrics.As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly capable of generating "perfect" content, the value of obviously human imperfection may paradoxically increase. The tremor in a hand-drawn line, the slight awkwardness in authentic conversation, the beautiful inefficiency of analog thinking—these become markers of genuine human presence.The challenge isn't choosing between analog and digital, perfection and imperfection. It's learning to consciously navigate between them, understanding when limitations serve us and when they constrain us, recognizing when optimization helps and when it hurts.My small speakers taught me something important: sometimes the best technology isn't the one with the most capabilities, but the one whose limitations align with our human needs. Lo-fi music sounds perfect on imperfect speakers because both embrace the same truth—that beauty often emerges not from the absence of flaws, but from making peace with them.In our quest to build better systems, smarter algorithms, and more efficient processes, we might occasionally pause to ask: what are we optimizing for? And what might we be losing in the pursuit of digital perfection?The lo-fi phenomenon—and its parallels in photography, video, and every art form we've digitized—reveals something profound about human nature. We are not creatures built for perfection. We are shaped by friction, by constraint, by the beautiful accidents that occur when things don't work exactly as planned. The crackle of vinyl, the grain of film, the compression of cassette tape—these aren't just nostalgic affectations. They're reminders that imperfection is where humanity lives. That the beautiful inefficiency of analog thinking—messy, emotional, unpredictable—is not a bug to be fixed but a feature to be preserved.Sometimes the most profound technology is the one that helps us remember what it means to be beautifully, i

⬥GUEST⬥Pieter VanIperen, CISO and CIO of AlphaSense | On Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pietervaniperen/⬥HOST⬥Host: Sean Martin, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine and Host of Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/imsmartin/ | Website: https://www.seanmartin.com⬥EPISODE NOTES⬥Real-World Principles for Real-World Security: A Conversation with Pieter VanIperenPieter VanIperen, the Chief Information Security and Technology Officer at AlphaSense, joins Sean Martin for a no-nonsense conversation that strips away the noise around cybersecurity leadership. With experience spanning media, fintech, healthcare, and SaaS—including roles at Salesforce, Disney, Fox, and Clear—Pieter brings a rare clarity to what actually works in building and running a security program that serves the business.He shares why being “comfortable being uncomfortable” is an essential trait for today’s security leaders—not just reacting to incidents, but thriving in ambiguity. That distinction matters, especially when every new technology trend, vendor pitch, or policy update introduces more complexity than clarity. Pieter encourages CISOs to lead by knowing when to go deep and when to zoom out, especially in areas like compliance, AI, and IT operations where leadership must translate risks into outcomes the business cares about.One of the strongest points he makes is around threat intelligence: it must be contextual. “Generic threat intel is an oxymoron,” he argues, pointing out how the volume of tools and alerts often distracts from actual risks. Instead, Pieter advocates for simplifying based on principles like ownership, real impact, and operational context. If a tool hasn’t been turned on for two months and no one noticed, he says, “do you even need it?”The episode also offers frank insight into vendor relationships. Pieter calls out the harm in trying to “tell a CISO what problems they have” rather than listening. He explains why true partnerships are based on trust, humility, and a long-term commitment—not transactional sales quotas. “If you disappear when I need you most, you’re not part of the solution,” he says.For CISOs and vendors alike, this episode is packed with perspective you can’t Google. Tune in to challenge your assumptions—and maybe your entire security stack.⬥SPONSORS⬥ThreatLocker: https://itspm.ag/threatlocker-r974⬥RESOURCES⬥⬥ADDITIONAL INFORMATION⬥✨ More Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast: 🎧 https://www.seanmartin.com/redefining-cybersecurity-podcastRedefining CyberSecurity Podcast on YouTube:📺 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnYu0psdcllS9aVGdiakVss9u7xgYDKYq📝 The Future of Cybersecurity Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7108625890296614912/Interested in sponsoring this show with a podcast ad placement? Learn more:👉 https://itspm.ag/podadplc⬥KEYWORDS⬥ciso, appsec, threatintel, trust, ai, vendors, bloat, leadership, tools, risk, redefining cybersecurity, cybersecurity podcast, redefining cybersecurity podcast Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

SBOMs were supposed to be the ingredient label for software—bringing transparency, faster response, and stronger trust. But reality shows otherwise. Fewer than 1% of GitHub projects have policy-driven SBOMs. Only 15% of developer SBOM questions get answered. And while 86% of EU firms claim supply chain policies, just 47% actually fund them.So why do SBOMs stall as compliance artifacts instead of risk-reduction tools? And what happens when they do work?In this episode of AppSec Contradictions, Sean Martin examines:Why SBOM adoption is laggingThe cost of static SBOMs for developers, AppSec teams, and business leadersReal-world examples where SBOMs deliver measurable valueHow AISBOMs are extending transparency into AI models and dataCatch the full companion article in the Future of Cybersecurity newsletter for deeper analysis and more research.👉 What’s your experience with SBOMs? Have they helped reduce risk in your organization—or do they sit on the shelf as compliance paperwork? How are you bridging the gap between transparency and real security outcomes? Share your take—we’d love to hear your story.📖 Read the full companion article in the Future of Cybersecurity newsletter for deeper insights: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sboms-application-security-from-compliance-trophy-sean-martin-cissp-qisse🔔 Subscribe to stay updated on the full AppSec Contradictions video series and more perspectives on the future of cybersecurity: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnYu0psdcllRWnImF5iRnO_10eLnPFWi_________This story represents the results of an interactive collaboration between Human Cognition and Artificial Intelligence.Enjoy, think, share with others, and subscribe to "The Future of Cybersecurity" newsletter on LinkedIn: https://itspm.ag/future-of-cybersecuritySincerely, Sean Martin and TAPE9________Sean Martin is a life-long musician and the host of the Music Evolves Podcast; a career technologist, cybersecurity professional, and host of the Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast; and is also the co-host of both the Random and Unscripted Podcast and On Location Event Coverage Podcast. These shows are all part of ITSPmagazine—which he co-founded with his good friend Marco Ciappelli, to explore and discuss topics at The Intersection of Technology, Cybersecurity, and Society.™️Want to connect with Sean and Marco On Location at an event or conference near you? See where they will be next: https://www.itspmagazine.com/on-locationTo learn more about Sean, visit his personal website. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

⸻ Podcast: Redefining Society and Technologyhttps://redefiningsocietyandtechnologypodcast.com ______Title: Tech Entrepreneur and Author's AI Prediction - The Last Book Written by a Human Interview  | A Conversation with Jeff Burningham | Redefining Society And Technology Podcast With Marco Ciappelli______Guest: Eli LopianFounder of Typemock Ltd | Author of AIcracy: Beyond Democracy | AI & Governance Thought LeaderOn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elilopian/Book: https://aicracy.aiHost: Marco CiappelliCo-Founder & CMO @ITSPmagazine | Master Degree in Political Science - Sociology of Communication l Branding & Marketing Advisor | Journalist | Writer | Podcast Host | #Technology #Cybersecurity #Society 🌎 LAX 🛸 FLR 🌍WebSite: https://marcociappelli.comOn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marco-ciappelli/_____________________________This Episode’s SponsorsBlackCloak provides concierge cybersecurity protection to corporate executives and high-net-worth individuals to protect against hacking, reputational loss, financial loss, and the impacts of a corporate data breach.BlackCloak:  https://itspm.ag/itspbcweb_____________________________⸻ Podcast Summary ⸻ I had one of those conversations that makes you question everything you thought you knew about democracy, governance, and the future of human society. Eli Lopian, founder of TypeMock and author of the provocative book on AI-cracy, walked me through what might be the most intriguing political theory I've encountered in years.⸻ Article ⸻ Technology entrepreneur Eli Lopian joins Marco to explore "AI-cracy" - a revolutionary governance model where artificial intelligence writes laws based on abundance metrics while humans retain judgment. This fascinating conversation examines how we might transition from broken democratic systems to AI-assisted governance in our evolving Hybrid Analog Digital Society.Picture this scenario: you're sitting in a pub with friends, listening to them argue about which political rally to attend, and suddenly you realize something profound. As Eli told me, it's like watching people fight over which side of the train to sit on while the train itself is heading in completely the wrong direction. That metaphor perfectly captures where we are with democracy today.Eli's background fascinates me - breaking free from a religious upbringing at 16, building a successful AI startup for the past decade, and now proposing something that sounds like science fiction but feels increasingly inevitable. His central premise stopped me in my tracks: no human being should be allowed to write laws anymore. Only AI should create legislation, guided by what he calls an "abundance metric" - essentially optimizing for human happiness, freedom, and societal wellbeing.But here's where it gets really interesting. Eli isn't proposing we hand over control to a single AI overlord. Instead, he envisions three separate AI systems - one controlled by the government, one by the opposition, and one by an NGO - all working with the same data but operated by different groups. They must reach identical conclusions for any law to proceed. If they disagree, human experts investigate why.What struck me most was how this could actually restore direct democracy. In ancient Athens, every citizen participated in the polis. We can't do that with hundreds of millions of people, but AI could process everyone's input instantly. Imagine submitting your policy ideas directly to an AI system that responds within hours, explaining why your suggestion would or wouldn't improve societal abundance. It's like having the Athenian square scaled to modern complexity.The safeguards Eli proposes reveal his deep understanding of human nature. No AI can judge humans - that remains strictly a human responsibility. Citizens don't vote for charismatic politicians anymore; they vote for actual policies. Every three years, people choose their preferred policies. Every decade, they set ambitious collective goals - cure cancer, reach Mars, whatever captures society's imagination.Living in our Hybrid Analog Digital Society, we already see AI creeping into governance. Lawyers use AI, governments employ algorithms for efficiency, and citizens increasingly turn to ChatGPT for advice they once sought from doctors or therapists. Eli's insight is that we're heading toward AI governance whether we plan it or not - so why not design it properly from the start?His most compelling point addresses a fear I share: that AI lacks creativity. Eli argues this is actually a feature, not a bug. AI generates rather than truly creates. The creative spark - proposing that universal basic income experiment, suggesting we test new social policies, imagining those decade-long goals - that remains uniquely human. AI simply processes our creativity faster and more fairly than our current broken systems.The privacy question loomed large in our conversation. Eli proposes a brilliant separation: your personal AI mentor (helping you grow and find fulfillment) operates in complete isolation from the governance AI system. Like quantum physics, what happens in the personal realm stays there. The governance AI only sees aggregated societal data, never individual conversations.I kept thinking about trust throughout our discussion. We've already surrendered massive amounts of personal data to social media platforms. We share things on Instagram and TikTok that would have horrified us twenty years ago. Perhaps we'll adapt to AI governance the same way we adapted to cloud computing, social media, and smartphones.What excites me most is how this could give every citizen a real voice again. Not just during elections, but daily. Got an idea for improving your community? Submit it to the AI system. Receive thoughtful feedback about why it would or wouldn't work. Participate in creating the laws that govern your life rather than merely choosing between pre-packaged candidates every few years.Whether Eli's AI-cracy becomes reality or remains theoretical, it forces us to confront a crucial question: if democracy is broken, what comes next? In our rapidly evolving technological society, maybe it's time to stop fighting over which side of the train offers the better view and start laying new tracks entirely.__________________ Enjoy. Reflect. Share with your fellow humans.And if you haven’t already, subscribe to Musing On Society & Technology on LinkedIn — new transmissions are always incoming.https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/musing-on-society-technology-7079849705156870144You’re listening to this through the Redefining Society & Technology podcast, so while you’re here, make sure to follow the show — and join me as I continue exploring life in this Hybrid Analog Digital Society.End of transmission.____________________________Listen to more Redefining Society & Technology stories and subscribe to the podcast:👉 https://redefiningsocietyandtechnologypodcast.comWatch the webcast version on-demand on YouTube:👉 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnYu0psdcllTUoWMGGQHlGVZA575VtGr9Are you interested Promotional Brand Stories for your Company and Sponsoring an ITSPmagazine Channel?👉 https://www.itspmagazine.com/advertise-on-itspmagazine-podcast Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

When we talk about AI at cybersecurity conferences these days, one term is impossible to ignore: agentic AI. But behind the excitement around AI-driven productivity and autonomous workflows lies an unresolved—and increasingly urgent—security issue: identity.In this episode, Sean Martin and Marco Ciappelli speak with Cristin Flynn Goodwin, keynote speaker at SecTor 2025, about the intersection of AI agents, identity management, and legal risk. Drawing from decades at the center of major security incidents—most recently as the head cybersecurity lawyer at Microsoft—Cristin frames today’s AI hype within a longstanding identity crisis that organizations still haven’t solved.Why It Matters NowAgentic AI changes the game. AI agents can act independently, replicate themselves, and disappear in seconds. That’s great for automation—but terrifying for risk teams. Cristin flags the pressing need to identify and authenticate these ephemeral agents. Should they be digitally signed? Should there be a new standard body managing agent identities? Right now, we don’t know.Meanwhile, attackers are already adapting. AI tools are being used to create flawless phishing emails, spoofed banking agents, and convincing digital personas. Add that to the fact that many consumers and companies still haven’t implemented strong MFA, and the risk multiplier becomes clear.The Legal ViewFrom a legal standpoint, Cristin emphasizes how regulations like New York’s DFS Cybersecurity Regulation are putting pressure on CISOs to tighten IAM controls. But what about individuals? “It’s an unfair fight,” she says—no consumer can outpace a nation-state attacker armed with AI tooling.This keynote preview also calls attention to shadow AI agents: tools employees may create outside the control of IT or security. As Cristin warns, they could become “offensive digital insiders”—another dimension of the insider threat amplified by AI.Looking AheadThis is a must-listen episode for CISOs, security architects, policymakers, and anyone thinking about AI safety and digital trust. From the potential need for real-time, verifiable agent credentials to the looming collision of agentic AI with quantum computing, this conversation kicks off SecTor 2025 with urgency and clarity.Catch the full episode now, and don’t miss Cristin’s keynote on October 1.___________Guest:Cristin Flynn Goodwin, Senior Consultant, Good Harbor Security Risk Management | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cristin-flynn-goodwin-24359b4/Hosts:Sean Martin, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine | Website: https://www.seanmartin.comMarco Ciappelli, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine | Website: https://www.marcociappelli.com___________Episode SponsorsThreatLocker: https://itspm.ag/threatlocker-r974BlackCloak: https://itspm.ag/itspbcweb___________ResourcesKeynote: Agentic AI and Identity: The Biggest Problem We're Not Solving: https://www.blackhat.com/sector/2025/briefings/schedule/#keynote-agentic-ai-and-identity-the-biggest-problem-were-not-solving-49591Learn more and catch more stories from our SecTor 2025 coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/cybersecurity-technology-society-events/sector-cybersecurity-conference-toronto-2025New York Department of Financial Services Cybersecurity Regulation: https://www.dfs.ny.gov/industry_guidance/cybersecurityGood Harbor Security Risk Management (Richard Clarke’s firm): https://www.goodharbor.net/Catch all of our event coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/technology-and-cybersecurity-conference-coverageWant to share an Event Briefing as part of our event coverage? Learn More 👉 https://itspm.ag/evtcovbrfWant Sean and Marco to be part of your event or conference? Let Us Know 👉 https://www.itspmagazine.com/contact-us___________KEYWORDScristin flynn goodwin, sean martin, marco ciappelli, sector, microsoft, ai, identity, agents, ciso, quantum, event coverage, on location, conference Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The cybersecurity industry operates on a fundamental misconception: that consumers want to understand and manage their digital security. After 17 years at F-Secure and extensive consumer research, Dmitri Vellikok has reached a different conclusion—people simply want security problems to disappear without their involvement.This insight has driven F-Secure's transformation from traditional endpoint protection to what Vellikok calls "embedded ecosystem security." The company, which holds 55% global market share in operator-delivered consumer security, has moved beyond the conventional model of asking consumers to install and manage security software.F-Secure's approach centers on embedding security capabilities directly into applications and services consumers already use. Rather than expecting people to download separate security software, the company partners with telecom operators, insurance companies, and financial institutions to integrate protection into existing customer touchpoints.This embedded strategy addresses what Vellikok identifies as cybersecurity's biggest challenge: activation and engagement. Traditional security solutions fail when consumers don't install them, don't configure them properly, or abandon them due to complexity. By placing security within existing applications, F-Secure automatically reaches more consumers while reducing friction.The company's research reveals the extent of consumer overconfidence in digital security. Seventy percent of people believe they can easily spot scams, yet 43% of that same group admits to having been scammed. This disconnect between perception and reality drives F-Secure's focus on proactive, invisible protection rather than relying on consumer vigilance.Central to this approach is what F-Secure calls the "scam kill chain"—a framework for protecting consumers at every stage of fraudulent attempts. The company analyzes scam workflows to identify intervention points, from initial contact through trust-building phases to final exploitation. This comprehensive view enables multi-layered protection that doesn't depend on consumers recognizing threats.F-Secure's partnership with telecom operators provides unique advantages in this model. Operators see network traffic, website visits, SMS messages, and communication patterns, giving them visibility into threat landscapes that individual security solutions cannot match. However, operators typically don't communicate their protective actions to customers, creating an opportunity for F-Secure to bridge this gap.The company combines operator-level data with device-level protection and user interface elements that inform consumers about threats blocked on their behalf. This creates what Vellikok describes as a "protective ring" around users' digital lives while maintaining transparency about security actions taken.Artificial intelligence and machine learning have been core to F-Secure's operations for over a decade, but recent advances enable more sophisticated predictive capabilities. The company processes massive data volumes to identify patterns and predict threats before they materialize. Vellikok estimates that within 18 to 24 months, F-Secure will be able to warn consumers three days in advance about likely scam attempts.This predictive approach represents a fundamental shift from reactive security to proactive protection. Instead of waiting for threats to appear and then blocking them, the system identifies risk patterns and steers users away from dangerous situations before threats fully develop.The AI integration also serves as a translation layer between technical security events and consumer-friendly communications. Rather than presenting technical alerts about blocked URLs or filtered emails, the system provides context about threats in language consumers can understand and act upon.F-Secure's evolution reflects broader industry recognition that consumer cybersecurity requires different approaches than enterprise security. While businesses can mandate security training and complex protocols, consumers operate in environments where convenience and simplicity drive adoption. The embedded security model acknowledges this reality while maintaining protection effectiveness.The company's global reach through operator partnerships positions it to address cybersecurity as a systemic challenge rather than an individual consumer problem. By aggregating threat data across millions of users and multiple communication channels, F-Secure creates network effects that improve protection for all users as the system learns from new attack patterns.Looking forward, Vellikok anticipates cybersecurity challenges will continue evolving in waves. Current focus on scam protection will likely shift to AI-driven threats, followed by quantum computing challenges. The embedded security model provides a framework for adapting to these changes while maintaining consumer protection without requiring users to understand or manage evolving threat landscapes. Learn more about F-Secure: https://itspm.ag/f-secure-2748Note: This story contains promotional content. Learn more. Guest: Dmitri Vellikok, Product and Business Development at F-Secure  On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dmitrivellikok/ResourcesCompany Directory:https://www.itspmagazine.com/directory/f-secure Learn more about creating content with Sean Martin & Marco Ciappelli:  https://www.itspmagazine.com/purchase-programsNewsletter Archive: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/tune-into-the-latest-podcasts-7109347022809309184/Business Newsletter Signup: https://www.itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-business-updates-sign-upAre you interested in telling your story?https://www.itspmagazine.com/purchase-programs Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

⬥GUEST⬥Aunshul Rege, Director at The CARE Lab at Temple University | On Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aunshul-rege-26526b59/⬥CO-HOST⬥Julie Haney, Computer scientist and Human-Centered Cybersecurity Program Lead, National Institute of Standards and Technology | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-haney-037449119/⬥HOST⬥Host: Sean Martin, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine and Host of Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/imsmartin/ | Website: https://www.seanmartin.com⬥EPISODE NOTES⬥Cybersecurity Is for Everyone — If We Teach It That WayCybersecurity impacts us all, yet most people still see it as a tech-centric domain reserved for experts in computer science or IT. Dr. Aunshul Rege, Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Temple University, challenges that perception through her research, outreach, and education programs — all grounded in community, empathy, and human behavior.In this episode, Dr. Rege joins Sean Martin and co-host Julie Haney to share her multi-layered approach to cybersecurity awareness and education. Drawing from her unique background that spans computer science and criminology, she explains how understanding human behavior is critical to understanding and addressing digital risk.One powerful initiative she describes brings university students into the community to teach cyber hygiene to seniors — a demographic often left out of traditional training programs. These student-led sessions focus on practical topics like scams and password safety, delivered in clear, respectful, and engaging ways. The result? Not just education, but trust-building, conversation, and long-term community engagement.Dr. Rege also leads interdisciplinary social engineering competitions that invite students from diverse academic backgrounds — including theater, nursing, business, and criminal justice — to explore real-world cyber scenarios. These events prove that you don’t need to code to contribute meaningfully to cybersecurity. You just need curiosity, communication skills, and a willingness to learn.Looking ahead, Temple University is launching a new Bachelor of Arts in Cybersecurity and Human Behavior — a program that weaves in community engagement, liberal arts, and applied practice to prepare students for real-world roles beyond traditional technical paths.If you’re a security leader looking to improve awareness programs, a university educator shaping the next generation, or someone simply curious about where you fit in the cyber puzzle, this episode offers a fresh perspective: cybersecurity works best when it’s human-first.⬥SPONSORS⬥ThreatLocker: https://itspm.ag/threatlocker-r974⬥RESOURCES⬥Dr. Aunshul Rege is an Associate Professor here, and much of her work is conducted under this department: https://liberalarts.temple.edu/academics/departments-and-programs/criminal-justiceTemple Digital Equity Plan (2022): https://www.phila.gov/media/20220412162153/Philadelphia-Digital-Equity-Plan-FINAL.pdfTemple University Digital Equity Center / Digital Access Center: https://news.temple.edu/news/2022-12-06/temple-launches-digital-equity-center-north-philadelphiaNICE Cybersecurity Workforce Framework: https://www.nist.gov/itl/applied-cybersecurity/nice/nice-framework-resource-center⬥ADDITIONAL INFORMATION⬥✨ More Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast: 🎧 https://www.seanmartin.com/redefining-cybersecurity-podcastRedefining CyberSecurity Podcast on YouTube:📺 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnYu0psdcllS9aVGdiakVss9u7xgYDKYq📝 The Future of Cybersecurity Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7108625890296614912/Interested in sponsoring this show with a podcast ad placement? Learn more:👉 https://www.itspmagazine.com/purchase-programs⬥KEYWORDS⬥sean martin, julie haney, aunshul rege, temple university, cybersecurity literacy, social engineering, cyber hygiene, human behavior, community engagement, cybersecurity education, redefining cybersecurity, cybersecurity podcast, redefining cybersecurity podcast Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A Mystery in FlorenceIn Tuscany there is so much magic: hills decorated with olive trees, vineyards and cypresses, bell towers ringing everywhere, hidden gardens, and of course enchanted cities, full of history and beauty, where famous artists have created marvellous works of art.In this tale we find ourselves in the city of Florence, where magic abounds and legends hide in every corner.A river called the Arno runs through it; and amongst the many bridges there is one that quite rightly is a bit more famous than the others: the Ponte Vecchio. In those suspended houses no one lives anymore. Every day it is full of tourists who photograph it and come to visit from all over the world, but many, many years ago on this bridge there were butchers, fishmongers and tanners as if it were a market, a square suspended over the Arno and daily life was very different from today.At the time of this story the shops were all jewellery stores owned by master goldsmiths, who lived there, worked and sold gold jewellery and precious items of the highest quality. It was one of the hearts of the city where the Florentines of the time would meet and stop to chat whilst they came and went from one side of the river to the other. Even the children spent their days having fun playing and running from one side to the other undisturbed.At this point you must know that for some days small thefts had been occurring in the artisans' shops. Gold and precious items disappeared as if stolen by the wind, silently and by surprise, without leaving a trace. Who knows who knows? Who could be the culprit?The goldsmiths gathered together, after closing their shops, right there on the bridge."But what on earth is happening?" said one."Well, if only we knew..." said another."And we can't go on like this, looking like fools!"Bernardo, one of the goldsmiths, said: "Granted I'm a bit absent-minded, but I'm certainly not blind enough not to see if gold is missing from my shop."And off they went asking questions and interrogating each other to try to find an explanation for these thefts, discover the thief and perhaps recover what was stolen.In short, it had been weeks now that gold filings from the working of gold and various precious objects had been disappearing from the shops — and all this was happening under everyone's eyes but no one had seen anything.Who to blame if not those mischievous rascals who enjoyed playing football on the bridge! Between little matches, laughter, running, various games and hide-and-seek, who knows if one of them hadn't started stealing here and there.More days passed and more gold had vanished into thin air. The goldsmiths, tired of this business, came out onto the bridge and shouted loudly all together: "Now we've really had enough and it's time to put an end to it! Let's catch the thief!"Even Giulio the baker came out to the doorway of his shop, on the left, at the end of the bridge, and although he hadn't understood precisely what was happening, he showed everyone his flour-covered hands shouting: "I've got nothing to do with it, I swear! My hands are covered in dough only because I'm always preparing focaccia to bake in the oven."And saying this he joined the others shouting: "Let's catch the thief red-handed before that sack becomes one of flour!"In that commotion, Lapo, a very clever and curious boy, son of the goldsmith Bernardo who was friends with everyone and played together with the other children on the bridge, after reflecting thought: "There's something that doesn't add up: we children don't steal, whose fault can it be?"So Lapo decided to investigate on his own. Because as his grandfather always told him: "one thing done is worth more than a hundred to do" and then he would add that "if you do it yourself you do for three."So, without much ado, the following evening he organised himself, getting hold of a magnifying glass, a notebook with pencil to take notes and a lantern that would accompany him in the dark. The latter he held tight with a slightly trembling hand, but there was no hesitation — the situation wouldn't resolve itself.At dusk, he set off from the Ponte Vecchio, where he lived with his father above the shop, towards the column in Piazza Santa Trinità.Up there was, and still is, the Statue of Justice that towered so high as to touch the sky. The journey wasn't long, but that evening it took him longer than usual, because he observed everything with attention and curiosity. He looked right, left, in the narrow streets, beyond the parapet of the Lungarno and if he saw a stone he moved that too: "you never know where you might find clues" he thought.He had heard it said that the column and the statue of Justice were magical and full of secrets. But the most amazing thing was that from its summit, where indeed the statue stood, one could see what was happening at every point in the city — as we know justice sees and knows everything.Having arrived in Piazza Santa Trinita, he gave a great sigh, took one last step and at the foot of the column — what a surprise... he met a snail."A snail?" you will say. "Eh, exactly a snail complete with house on its shoulders, with lights on at the windows and a fireplace lit" Really, I tell you... Believe it... In short it was there, moving, slowly yes, but determined. When it heard the light step of the unexpected visitor, it became suspicious and withdrawing its antennae as if they were brakes, it stopped dead and said:"Halt! Who goes there? But who are you and where are you going? You're not looking for trouble, are you, wandering about all alone at this twilight hour?""No, what trouble... quite the opposite Mrs Snail" replied Lapo, "I should go to the top of the column to see what's happening on the Ponte Vecchio. There are things that don't quite add up and I'm investigating. As you can see I even have the magnifying glass and hat!" Said Lapo showing the objects to avoid misunderstandings. "Now, since you seem to be from around here, you wouldn't happen to know how I can get up there?"The snail who lived at the foot of the column and was to all intents and purposes its guardian, huffed but then smiled and showed Lapo a small door at the foot of the column, hidden by ivy."Dearest Lapo," she said adjusting her spectacles "you seem like a brave boy, a true friend and also a good investigator, but only from the top of the column will you be able to know the truth."Having said this, the snail rubbed her tentacles and they began to shine with a magical light that enveloped Lapo making him become the height of the door which opened with a great creak; so sharp as to make all the birds that were hanging about in the night fly away.Lapo, now very small, thanked the snail and without fear entered inside the column. In the darkness, he was impressed by a narrow and high well that went up instead of down. On the gleaming walls there was a spiral of tiny steps that he began to climb with determination with the lit lantern held tight in his hand. He reached the top.In the night the starry sky illuminated the Statue of Justice that towered over Florence. It had a scale with two balanced plates in one hand and a golden sword in the other.As we said previously, by enchantment, from there one could see the whole city — one just had to look in the right direction and think of the part of Florence you wanted to see: an incredible magic for a breathtaking view.Now was the moment to concentrate on the Ponte Vecchio and try to solve the mystery of the thefts, but whilst moving around the statue, to go to the side that looked towards the river, he made an incredible discovery. He couldn't believe his own eyes — so much so that he took out the magnifying glass to be sure. Both plates of the scale were full of gold filings and precious trinkets."Good heavens! And how did this stuff get up here?" Exclaimed Lapo with wide eyes. "This is undoubtedly the loot from the thefts at the jewellery shops!"At first, confused and amazed he didn't know what to think, but then, observing the filings more carefully he realised they were all woven together with bracelets and necklaces: these were two nests and an idea immediately flashed into his mind."The thieving magpies!" Exclaimed Lapo. Those crafty birds love everything that glitters, it must certainly have been them who robbed the shops and brought the stolen goods up here.And in the middle of this thought, suddenly they appeared in flight. They landed on the column agitated and furious "KRAA KRAA KRAA! Oh, little boy but what are you doing at our home? Don't you even dare touch these glittering marvels; they are our nest, we found them and they are ours."Lapo didn't let himself be frightened and calmly replied: "But what are you saying? You like glittering things that shine and you take them, but that certainly doesn't mean they are yours."The magpies were all chattering together they seemed to have gone mad and knew no reason. "But what is this one saying?" Said one. "Right, someone comes to our home and expects to give orders?" Added another. "Yes, nice joke. They're not ours? But are you a comedian? Change job, look, because you don't make us laugh." Said another.And all of them laughing.At which Lapo didn't let himself be intimidated. He rummaged in his pocket and found what he was looking for. He proposed an exchange. "What if we made a deal. To tell the truth I lose out quite a bit, but I like you so much that I would gladly give you these beautiful shiny marbles in exchange for the gold and trinkets."Seeing those small brilliant and colourful treasures, which they had never seen before, the magpies calmed down. They looked at each other with a crafty look and without hesitation... "Deal!"They took the marbles from his hand in a flash and flew away shouting: "Hooray, we're rich! From now on we'll collect these little balls."Sighing with relief and satisfaction, Lapo recovered the stolen goods and rushed down from the column. The snail was w

The decision to leave a successful corporate position and start a company requires more than just identifying a market opportunity. For Shankar Somasundaram, it required witnessing firsthand how traditional cybersecurity approaches consistently failed in the environments that matter most to society: hospitals, manufacturing plants, power facilities, and critical infrastructure.Somasundaram's path to founding Asimily began with diverse technical experience spanning telecommunications and early machine learning development. This foundation proved essential when he transitioned to cybersecurity, eventually building and growing the IoT security division at a major enterprise security company.During his corporate tenure, Somasundaram gained direct exposure to security challenges across healthcare systems, industrial facilities, utilities, manufacturing plants, and oil and gas operations. Each vertical revealed the same fundamental problem: existing security solutions were designed for traditional IT environments where confidentiality and integrity took precedence, but operational technology environments operated under entirely different rules.The mismatch became clear through everyday operational realities. Hospital ultrasound machines couldn't be taken offline during procedures for security updates. Manufacturing production lines couldn't be rebooted for patches without scheduling expensive downtime. Power plant control systems required continuous availability to serve communities. These environments prioritized operational continuity above traditional security controls.Beyond technical challenges, Somasundaram observed a persistent communication gap between security and operations teams. IT security professionals spoke in terms of vulnerabilities and patch management. Operations teams focused on uptime, safety protocols, and production schedules. Neither group had effective frameworks for translating their concerns into language the other could understand and act upon.This divide created frustration for Chief Security Officers who understood risks existed but lacked clear paths to mitigation that wouldn't disrupt critical business operations. Organizations could identify thousands of vulnerabilities across their operational technology environments, but struggled to prioritize which issues actually posed meaningful risks given their specific operational contexts.Somasundaram recognized an opportunity to approach this problem differently. Rather than building another vulnerability scanner or forcing operational environments to conform to IT security models, he envisioned a platform that would provide contextual risk analysis and actionable mitigation strategies tailored to operational requirements.The decision to leave corporate security and start Asimily wasn't impulsive. Somasundaram had previous entrepreneurial experience and understood the startup process. He waited for the right convergence of market need, personal readiness, and strategic opportunity. When corporate priorities shifted through acquisitions, the conditions aligned for his departure.Asimily's founding mission centered on bridging the gap between operational technology and information technology teams. The company wouldn't just build another security tool; it would create a translation layer enabling different organizational departments to collaborate effectively on risk reduction.This approach required understanding multiple stakeholder perspectives within client organizations. Sometimes the primary user would be a Chief Information Security Officer. Other times, it might be a manufacturing operations head managing production floors, or a clinical operations director in healthcare. The platform needed to serve all these perspectives while maintaining technical depth.Somasundaram's product engineering background informed this multi-stakeholder approach. His experience with complex system integration—from telecommunications infrastructure to machine learning algorithms—provided insight into how security platforms could integrate with existing IT infrastructure while addressing operational technology requirements.The vision extended beyond traditional vulnerability management to comprehensive risk analysis considering operational context, business impact, and regulatory requirements. Rather than treating all vulnerabilities equally, Asimily would analyze each device within its specific environment and use case, providing organizations with actionable intelligence for informed decision-making.Somasundaram's entrepreneurial journey illustrates how diverse technical experience, industry knowledge, and strategic timing converge to address complex market problems. His transition from corporate executive to startup founder demonstrates how deep industry exposure can reveal opportunities to solve problems that established players might overlook or underestimate.Today, as healthcare systems, manufacturing facilities, and critical infrastructure become increasingly connected, the vision Somasundaram brought to Asimily's founding has proven both timely and necessary. The company's development reflects not just market demand, but the value of approaching familiar problems from fresh perspectives informed by real operational experience.Learn more about Asimily: itspm.ag/asimily-104921Note: This story contains promotional content. Learn more.Guest: Shankar Somasundaram, CEO & Founder, Asimily  | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shankar-somasundaram-a7315b/Company Directory: https://www.itspmagazine.com/directory/asimilyResourcesLearn more about ITSPmagazine Brand Story Podcasts: https://www.itspmagazine.com/purchase-programsNewsletter Archive: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/tune-into-the-latest-podcasts-7109347022809309184/Business Newsletter Signup: https://www.itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-business-updates-sign-upAre you interested in telling your story?https://www.itspmagazine.com/telling-your-story Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Threat modeling is often called the foundation of secure software design—anticipating attackers, uncovering flaws, and embedding resilience before a single line of code is written. But does it really work in practice?In this episode of AppSec Contradictions, Sean Martin explores why threat modeling so often fails to deliver:It’s treated as a one-time exercise, not a continuous processResearch shows teams who put risk first discover 2x more high-priority threatsYet fewer than 4 in 10 organizations use systematic threat modeling at scaleDrawing on insights from SANS, Forrester, and Gartner, Sean breaks down the gap between theory and reality—and why evolving our processes, not just our models, is the only path forward.👉 What’s your take? Share your experience with threat modeling in application security in the comments below. Is your organization able to integrate threat modeling into everyday work, or does it remain a one-off exercise? What changes to process or culture would make it valuable and visible across teams?📖 Read the full companion article in the Future of Cybersecurity newsletter for deeper insights: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/problem-threat-modeling-application-security-too-slow-martin-cissp-8n5ye/🔔 Subscribe to stay updated on the full AppSec Contradictions video series and more perspectives on the future of cybersecurity: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnYu0psdcllRWnImF5iRnO_10eLnPFWi_________This story represents the results of an interactive collaboration between Human Cognition and Artificial Intelligence.Enjoy, think, share with others, and subscribe to "The Future of Cybersecurity" newsletter on LinkedIn: https://itspm.ag/future-of-cybersecuritySincerely, Sean Martin and TAPE9________Sean Martin is a life-long musician and the host of the Music Evolves Podcast; a career technologist, cybersecurity professional, and host of the Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast; and is also the co-host of both the Random and Unscripted Podcast and On Location Event Coverage Podcast. These shows are all part of ITSPmagazine—which he co-founded with his good friend Marco Ciappelli, to explore and discuss topics at The Intersection of Technology, Cybersecurity, and Society.™️Want to connect with Sean and Marco On Location at an event or conference near you? See where they will be next: https://www.itspmagazine.com/on-locationTo learn more about Sean, visit his personal website. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

AI is everywhere in application security today — but instead of fixing the problem of false positives, it often makes the noise worse. In this first episode of AppSec Contradictions, Sean Martin explores why AI in application security is failing to deliver on its promises.False positives dominate AppSec programs, with analysts wasting time on irrelevant alerts, developers struggling with insecure AI-written code, and business leaders watching ROI erode. Industry experts like Forrester and Gartner warn that without strong governance, AI risks amplifying chaos instead of clarifying risk.This episode breaks down:• Why 70% of analyst time is wasted on false positives• How AI-generated code introduces new security risks• What “alert fatigue” means for developers, security teams, and business leaders• Why automating bad processes creates more noise, not less 👉 What’s your take? Share your experience with AI in security in the comments below. Has AI helped reduce noise — or only made things harder? 📖 Read the full companion article in the Future of Cybersecurity newsletter for deeper insights: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ai-application-security-why-false-positives-still-sean-martin-cissp-jb8zc/🔔 Subscribe to stay updated on the full AppSec Contradictions video series and more perspectives on the future of cybersecurity: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnYu0psdcllRWnImF5iRnO_10eLnPFWi_________This story represents the results of an interactive collaboration between Human Cognition and Artificial Intelligence.Enjoy, think, share with others, and subscribe to "The Future of Cybersecurity" newsletter on LinkedIn: https://itspm.ag/future-of-cybersecuritySincerely, Sean Martin and TAPE9________Sean Martin is a life-long musician and the host of the Music Evolves Podcast; a career technologist, cybersecurity professional, and host of the Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast; and is also the co-host of both the Random and Unscripted Podcast and On Location Event Coverage Podcast. These shows are all part of ITSPmagazine—which he co-founded with his good friend Marco Ciappelli, to explore and discuss topics at The Intersection of Technology, Cybersecurity, and Society.™️Want to connect with Sean and Marco On Location at an event or conference near you? See where they will be next: https://www.itspmagazine.com/on-locationTo learn more about Sean, visit his personal website. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

⸻ Podcast: Redefining Society and Technologyhttps://redefiningsocietyandtechnologypodcast.com _____ Newsletter: Musing On Society And Technology https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/musing-on-society-technology-7079849705156870144/_____ Watch on Youtube: https://youtu.be/nFn6CcXKMM0_____ My Website: https://www.marcociappelli.com_____________________________This Episode’s SponsorsBlackCloak provides concierge cybersecurity protection to corporate executives and high-net-worth individuals to protect against hacking, reputational loss, financial loss, and the impacts of a corporate data breach.BlackCloak:  https://itspm.ag/itspbcweb_____________________________A Musing On Society & Technology Newsletter Written By Marco Ciappelli | Read by TAPE3We Have All the Information, So Why Do We Know Less?Introducing: Reflections from Our Hybrid Analog-Digital SocietyFor years on the Redefining Society and Technology Podcast, I've explored a central premise: we live in a hybrid analog-digital society where the line between physical and virtual has dissolved into something more complex, more nuanced, and infinitely more human than we often acknowledge.But with the explosion of generative AI, this hybrid reality isn't just a philosophical concept anymore—it's our lived experience. Every day, we navigate between analog intuition and digital efficiency, between human wisdom and machine intelligence, between the messy beauty of physical presence and the seductive convenience of virtual interaction.This newsletter series will explore the tensions, paradoxes, and possibilities of being fundamentally analog beings in an increasingly digital world. We're not just using technology; we're being reshaped by it while simultaneously reshaping it with our deeply human, analog sensibilities.Analog Minds in a Digital World: Part 1We Have All the Information, So Why Do We Know Less?I was thinking about my old set of encyclopedias the other day. You know, those heavy volumes that sat on shelves like silent guardians of knowledge, waiting for someone curious enough to crack them open. When I needed to write a school report on, say, the Roman Empire, I'd pull out Volume R and start reading.But here's the thing: I never just read about Rome.I'd get distracted by Romania, stumble across something about Renaissance art, flip backward to find out more about the Reformation. By the time I found what I was originally looking for, I'd accidentally learned about three other civilizations, two art movements, and the invention of the printing press. The journey was messy, inefficient, and absolutely essential.And if I was in a library... well then just imagine the possibilities.Today, I ask Google, Claude or ChatGPT about the Roman Empire, and in thirty seconds, I have a perfectly formatted, comprehensive overview that would have taken me hours to compile from those dusty volumes. It's accurate, complete, and utterly forgettable.We have access to more information than any generation in human history. Every fact, every study, every perspective is literally at our fingertips. Yet somehow, we seem to know less. Not in terms of data acquisition—we're phenomenal at that—but in terms of deep understanding, contextual knowledge, and what I call "accidental wisdom."The difference isn't just about efficiency. It's about the fundamental way our minds process and retain information. When you physically search through an encyclopedia, your brain creates what cognitive scientists call "elaborative encoding"—you remember not just the facts, but the context of finding them, the related information you encountered, the physical act of discovery itself.When AI gives us instant answers, we bypass this entire cognitive process. We get the conclusion without the journey, the destination without the map. It's like being teleported to Rome without seeing the countryside along the way—technically efficient, but something essential is lost in translation.This isn't nostalgia talking. I use AI daily for research, writing, and problem-solving. It's an incredible tool. But I've noticed something troubling: my tolerance for not knowing things immediately has disappeared. The patience required for deep learning—the kind that happens when you sit with confusion, follow tangents, make unexpected connections—is atrophying like an unused muscle.We're creating a generation of analog minds trying to function in a digital reality that prioritizes speed over depth, answers over questions, conclusions over curiosity. And in doing so, we might be outsourcing the very process that makes us wise.Ancient Greeks had a concept called "metis"—practical wisdom that comes from experience, pattern recognition, and intuitive understanding developed through continuous engagement with complexity. In Ancient Greek, metis (Μῆτις) means wisdom, skill, or craft, and it also describes a form of wily, cunning intelligence. It can refer to the pre-Olympian goddess of wisdom and counsel, who was the first wife of Zeus and mother of Athena, or it can refer to the concept of cunning intelligence itself, a trait exemplified by figures like Odysseus. It's the kind of knowledge you can't Google because it lives in the space between facts, in the connections your mind makes when it has time to wander, wonder, and discover unexpected relationships.AI gives us information. But metis? That still requires an analog mind willing to get lost, make mistakes, and discover meaning in the margins.The question isn't whether we should abandon these digital tools—they're too powerful and useful to ignore. The question is whether we can maintain our capacity for the kind of slow, meandering, gloriously inefficient thinking that actually builds wisdom.Maybe the answer isn't choosing between analog and digital, but learning to be consciously hybrid. Use AI for what it does best—rapid information processing—while protecting the slower, more human processes that transform information into understanding. We need to preserve the analog pathways of learning alongside digital efficiency.Because in a world where we can instantly access any fact, the most valuable skill might be knowing which questions to ask—and having the patience to sit with uncertainty until real insight emerges from the continuous, contextual, beautifully inefficient process of analog thinking.Next transmission: "The Paradox of Infinite Choice: Why Having Everything Available Means Choosing Nothing"Let's keep exploring what it means to be human in this Hybrid Analog Digital Society.End of transmission.Marco______________________________________📬 Enjoyed this transmission? Follow the newsletter here: [Newsletter Link]Share this newsletter and invite anyone you think would enjoy it!As always, let's keep thinking!__________ End of transmission.📬 Enjoyed this article? Follow the newsletter here: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7079849705156870144/🌀 Let's keep exploring what it means to be human in this Hybrid Analog Digital Society.Share this newsletter and invite anyone you think would enjoy it!As always, let's keep thinking!_____________________________________Marco CiappelliITSPmagazine | Co-Founder • CMO • Creative Director | ✓ Los Angeles ✓ Firenze❖ Have you heard about ITSPmagazine Studio?A Brand & Marketing Advisory For Cybersecurity And Tech Companies✶ Learn more about me and my podcasts✶ Follow me on LinkedIn✶ Subscribe to my NewsletterConnect with me across platforms:Bluesky | Mastodon | Instagram | YouTube | Threads | TikTok___________________________________________________________Marco Ciappelli is Co-Founder and CMO of ITSPmagazine, a journalist, creative director, and host of podcasts exploring the intersection of technology, cybersecurity, and society. His work blends journalism, storytelling, and sociology to examine how technological narratives influence human behavior, culture, and social structures.___________________________________________________________This story represents the results of an interactive collaboration between Human Cognition and Artificial Intelligence.Enjoy, think, share with others, and subscribe to the "Musing On Society & Technology" newsletter on LinkedIn. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Broadcasting from Florence and Los Angeles, I Had One of Those Conversations...You know the kind—where you start discussing one thing and suddenly realize you're mapping the entire landscape of how different societies approach technology. That's exactly what happened when Rob Black and I connected across the Atlantic for the pilot episode of ITSPmagazine Europe: The Transatlantic Broadcast.Rob was calling from what he optimistically described as "sunny" West Sussex (complete with biblical downpours and Four Seasons weather in one afternoon), while I enjoyed actual California sunshine. But this geographic distance perfectly captured what we were launching: a genuine exploration of how European perspectives on cybersecurity, technology, and society differ from—and complement—American approaches.The conversation emerged from something we'd discovered at InfoSecurity Europe earlier this year. After recording several episodes together with Sean Martin, we realized we'd stumbled onto something crucial: most global technology discourse happens through an American lens, even when discussing fundamentally European challenges. Digital sovereignty isn't just a policy buzzword in Brussels—it represents a completely different philosophy about how democratic societies should interact with technology.Rob Black: Bridging Defense Research and Digital RealityRob brings credentials that perfectly embody the European approach to cybersecurity—one that integrates geopolitics, human sciences, and operational reality in ways that purely technical perspectives miss. As UK Cyber Citizen of the Year 2024, he's recognized for contributions that span UK Ministry of Defense research on human elements in cyber operations, international relations theory, and hands-on work with university students developing next-generation cybersecurity leadership skills.But what struck me during our pilot wasn't his impressive background—it was his ability to connect macro-level geopolitical cyber operations with the daily impossible decisions that Chief Information Security Officers across Europe face. These leaders don't see themselves as combatants in a digital war, but they're absolutely operating on front lines where nation-state actors, criminal enterprises, and hybrid threats converge.Rob's international relations expertise adds crucial context that American cybersecurity discourse often overlooks. We're witnessing cyber operations as extensions of statecraft—the ongoing conflict in Ukraine demonstrates how narrative battles and digital infrastructure attacks interweave with kinetic warfare. European nations are developing their own approaches to cyber deterrence, often fundamentally different from American strategies.European Values Embedded in Technology ChoicesWhat emerged from our conversation was something I've observed but rarely heard articulated so clearly: Europe approaches technology governance through distinctly different cultural and philosophical frameworks than America. This isn't just about regulation—though the EU's leadership from GDPR through the AI Act certainly shapes global standards. It's about fundamental values embedded in technological choices.Rob highlighted algorithmic bias as a perfect example. When AI systems are developed primarily in Silicon Valley, they embed specific cultural assumptions and training data that may not reflect European experiences, values, or diverse linguistic traditions. The implications cascade across everything from hiring algorithms to content moderation to criminal justice applications.We discussed how this connects to broader patterns of technological adoption. I'd recently written about how the transistor radio revolution of the 1960s paralleled today's smartphone-driven transformation—both technologies were designed for specific purposes but adopted by users in ways inventors never anticipated. The transistor radio became a tool of cultural rebellion; smartphones became instruments of both connection and surveillance.But here's what's different now: the stakes are global, the pace is accelerated, and the platforms are controlled by a handful of American and Chinese companies. European voices in these conversations aren't just valuable—they're essential for understanding how different democratic societies can maintain their values while embracing technological transformation.The Sociological Dimensions Technology Discourse MissesMy background in political science and sociology of communication keeps pulling me toward questions that pure technologists might skip: How do different European cultures interpret privacy rights differently? Why do Nordic countries approach digital government services so differently than Mediterranean nations? What happens when AI training data reflects primarily Anglo-American cultural assumptions but gets deployed across 27 EU member states with distinct languages and traditions?Rob's perspective adds the geopolitical layer that's often missing from cybersecurity conversations. We're not just discussing technical vulnerabilities—we're examining how different societies organize themselves digitally, how they balance individual privacy against collective security, and how they maintain democratic values while defending against authoritarian digital influence operations.Perhaps most importantly, we're both convinced that the next generation of European cybersecurity leaders needs fundamentally different skills than previous generations. Technical expertise remains crucial, but they also need to communicate complex risks to non-technical decision-makers, operate comfortably with uncertainty rather than seeking perfect solutions, and understand that cybersecurity decisions are ultimately political decisions about what kind of society we want to maintain.Why European Perspectives Matter GloballyEurope represents 27 different nations with distinct histories, languages, and approaches to technology governance, yet they're increasingly coordinating digital policies through EU frameworks. This complexity is fascinating and the implications are global. When Europe implements new AI regulations or data protection standards, Silicon Valley adjusts its practices worldwide.But European perspectives are too often filtered through American media or reduced to regulatory footnotes in technology publications. We wanted to create space for European voices to explain their approaches in their own terms—not as responses to American innovation, but as distinct philosophical and practical approaches to technology's role in democratic society.Rob pointed out something crucial during our conversation: we're living through a moment where "every concept that we've thought about in terms of how humans react to each other and how they react to the world around them now needs to be reconsidered in light of how humans react through a computer mediated existence." This isn't abstract philosophizing—it's the practical challenge facing policymakers, educators, and security professionals across Europe.Building Transatlantic Understanding, Not DivisionThe "Transatlantic Broadcast" name reflects our core mission: connecting perspectives across borders rather than reinforcing them. Technology challenges—from cybersecurity threats to AI governance to digital rights—don't respect national boundaries. Solutions require understanding how different democratic societies approach these challenges while maintaining their distinct values and traditions.Rob and I come from different backgrounds—his focused on defense research and international relations, mine on communication theory and sociological analysis—but we share curiosity about how technology shapes society and how society shapes technology in return. Sean Martin brings the American cybersecurity industry perspective that completes our analytical triangle.Cross-Border Collaboration for European Digital FutureThis pilot episode represents just the beginning of what we hope becomes a sustained conversation. We're planning discussions with European academics developing new frameworks for digital rights, policymakers implementing AI governance across member states, industry leaders building privacy-first alternatives to Silicon Valley platforms, and civil society advocates working to ensure technology serves democratic values.We want to understand how digital transformation looks different across European cultures, how regulatory approaches evolve through multi-stakeholder processes, and how European innovation develops characteristics that reflect distinctly European values and approaches to technological development.The Invitation to Continue This ConversationBroadcasting from our respective sides of the Atlantic, we're extending an invitation to join this ongoing dialogue. Whether you're developing cybersecurity policy in Brussels, building startups in Berlin, teaching digital literacy in Barcelona, or researching AI ethics in Amsterdam, your perspective contributes to understanding how democratic societies can thrive in an increasingly digital world.European voices aren't afterthoughts in global technology discourse—they're fundamental contributors to understanding how diverse democratic societies can maintain their values while embracing technological change. This conversation needs academic researchers, policy practitioners, industry innovators, and engaged citizens from across Europe and beyond.If this resonates with your own observations about technology's role in society, subscribe to follow our journey as we explore these themes with guests from across Europe and the transatlantic technology community.And if you want to dig deeper into these questions or share your own perspective on European approaches to cybersecurity and technology governance, I'd love to continue the conversation directly. Get in touch with us on Linkedin! Marco CiappelliBroadcasting from Los Angeles (USA) & Florence (IT)On Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marco-ciappelliR

⸻ Podcast: Redefining Society and Technologyhttps://redefiningsocietyandtechnologypodcast.com ______Title: Tech Entrepreneur and Author's AI Prediction - The Last Book Written by a Human Interview  | A Conversation with Jeff Burningham | Redefining Society And Technology Podcast With Marco Ciappelli______Guest: Jeff Burningham Tech Entrepreneur. Investor. National Best Selling Author. Explorer of Human Potential. My book #TheLastBookWrittenByAHuman is available now.On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-burningham-15a01a7b/Book: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Last-Book-Written-by-a-Human/Jeff-Burningham/9781637634561#:~:text=*%20Why%20the%20development%20of%20AI,in%20the%20age%20of%20AI.Host: Marco CiappelliCo-Founder & CMO @ITSPmagazine | Master Degree in Political Science - Sociology of Communication l Branding & Marketing Advisor | Journalist | Writer | Podcast Host | #Technology #Cybersecurity #Society 🌎 LAX 🛸 FLR 🌍WebSite: https://marcociappelli.comOn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marco-ciappelli/_____________________________This Episode’s SponsorsBlackCloak provides concierge cybersecurity protection to corporate executives and high-net-worth individuals to protect against hacking, reputational loss, financial loss, and the impacts of a corporate data breach.BlackCloak:  https://itspm.ag/itspbcweb_____________________________⸻ Podcast Summary ⸻ Entrepreneur and author Jeff Burningham explores how artificial intelligence serves as a cosmic mirror reflecting humanity's true nature. Through his book "The Last Book Written by a Human," he argues that as machines become more intelligent, humans must become wiser. This conversation examines our collective journey through disruption, reflection, transformation, and evolution in our Hybrid Analog Digital Society.⸻ Article ⸻ I had one of those conversations that made me pause and question everything I thought I knew about our relationship with technology. Jeff Burningham, serial entrepreneur and author of "The Last Book Written by a Human: Becoming Wise in the Age of AI," joined me to explore a perspective that's both unsettling and profoundly hopeful.What struck me most wasn't Jeff's impressive background—founding multiple tech companies, running for governor of Utah, building a $5 billion real estate empire. It was his spiritual awakening in Varanasi, India, where a voice in his head insisted he was a writer. That moment of disruption led to years of reflection and ultimately to a book that challenges us to see AI not as our replacement, but as our mirror."As our machines become more intelligent, our work as humans is to become more wise," Jeff told me. This isn't just a catchy phrase—it's the thesis of his entire work. He argues that AI functions as what he calls a "cosmic mirror to humanity," reflecting back to us exactly who we've become as a species. The question becomes: do we like what we see?This perspective resonates deeply with how we exist in our Hybrid Analog Digital Society. We're no longer living separate digital and physical lives—we're constantly navigating both realms simultaneously. AI doesn't just consume our data; it reflects our collective behaviors, biases, and beliefs back to us in increasingly sophisticated ways.Jeff structures his thinking around four phases that mirror both technological development and personal growth: disruption, reflection, transformation, and evolution. We're currently somewhere between reflection and transformation, he suggests, at a crucial juncture where we must choose between two games. The old game prioritizes cash as currency, power as motivation, and control as purpose. The new game he envisions centers on karma as currency, authenticity as motivation, and love as purpose.What fascinates me is how this connects to the hero's journey—the narrative structure underlying every meaningful story from Star Wars to our own personal transformations. Jeff sees AI's emergence as part of an inevitable journey, a necessary disruption that forces us to confront fundamental questions about consciousness, creativity, and what makes us human.But here's where it gets both beautiful and challenging: as machines handle more of our "doing," we're left with our "being." We're human beings, not human doings, as Jeff reminds us. This shift demands that we reconnect with our bodies, our wisdom, our imperfections—all the messy, beautiful aspects of humanity that AI cannot replicate.The conversation reminded me why I chose "Redefining" for this podcast's title. We're not just adapting to new technology; we're fundamentally reexamining what it means to be human in an age of artificial intelligence. This isn't about finding the easy button or achieving perfect efficiency—it's about embracing what makes us gloriously, imperfectly human.Jeff's book launches August 19th, and while it won't literally be the last book written by a human, the title serves as both warning and invitation. If we don't actively choose to write our own story—if we don't rehumanize ourselves while consciously shaping AI's development—we might find ourselves spectators rather than authors of our own future.Subscribe to continue these essential conversations about technology and society. Because in our rapidly evolving world, the most important question isn't what AI can do for us, but who we choose to become alongside it.Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and join me on YouTube for the full experience. Let's continue this conversation—because in our rapidly evolving world, these discussions shape the future we're building together.Cheers,Marco⸻ Keywords ⸻ AI technology, artificial intelligence, future of AI, business podcast, entrepreneur interview, technology trends, tech entrepreneur, business mindset, innovation podcast, AI impact, startup founder, tech trends 2025, AI business, technology interview, entrepreneurship success__________________ Enjoy. Reflect. Share with your fellow humans.And if you haven’t already, subscribe to Musing On Society & Technology on LinkedIn — new transmissions are always incoming.https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/musing-on-society-technology-7079849705156870144You’re listening to this through the Redefining Society & Technology podcast, so while you’re here, make sure to follow the show — and join me as I continue exploring life in this Hybrid Analog Digital Society.End of transmission.____________________________Listen to more Redefining Society & Technology stories and subscribe to the podcast:👉 https://redefiningsocietyandtechnologypodcast.comWatch the webcast version on-demand on YouTube:👉 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnYu0psdcllTUoWMGGQHlGVZA575VtGr9Are you interested Promotional Brand Stories for your Company and Sponsoring an ITSPmagazine Channel?👉 https://www.itspmagazine.com/advertise-on-itspmagazine-podcast Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

⸻ Podcast: Redefining Society and Technologyhttps://redefiningsocietyandtechnologypodcast.com _____ Newsletter: Musing On Society And Technology https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/musing-on-society-technology-7079849705156870144/_____ Watch on Youtube: https://youtu.be/OYBjDHKhZOM_____ My Website: https://www.marcociappelli.com_____________________________This Episode’s SponsorsBlackCloak provides concierge cybersecurity protection to corporate executives and high-net-worth individuals to protect against hacking, reputational loss, financial loss, and the impacts of a corporate data breach.BlackCloak:  https://itspm.ag/itspbcweb_____________________________A Musing On Society & Technology Newsletter Written By Marco Ciappelli | Read by TAPE3The First Smartphone Was a Transistor Radio — How a Tiny Device Rewired Youth Culture and Predicted Our Digital FutureA new transmission from Musing On Society and Technology Newsletter, by Marco CiappelliI've been collecting vintage radios lately—just started, really—drawn to their analog souls in ways I'm still trying to understand. Each one I find reminds me of a small, battered transistor radio from my youth. It belonged to my father, and before that, probably my grandfather. The leather case was cracked, the antenna wobbled, and the dial drifted if you breathed on it wrong. But when I was sixteen, sprawled across my bedroom floor in that small town near Florence with homework scattered around me, this little machine was my portal to everything that mattered.Late at night, I'd start by chasing the latest hits and local shows on FM, but then I'd venture into the real adventure—tuning through the static on AM and shortwave frequencies. Voices would emerge from the electromagnetic soup—music from London, news from distant capitals, conversations in languages I couldn't understand but somehow felt. That radio gave me something I didn't even know I was missing: the profound sense of belonging to a world much bigger than my neighborhood, bigger than my small corner of Tuscany.What I didn't realize then—what I'm only now beginning to understand—is that I was holding the first smartphone in human history.Not literally, of course. But functionally? Sociologically? That transistor radio was the prototype for everything that followed: the first truly personal media device that rewired how young people related to the world, to each other, and to the adults trying to control both.But to understand why the transistor radio was so revolutionary, we need to trace radio's remarkable journey through the landscape of human communication—a journey that reveals patterns we're still living through today.When Radio Was the Family HearthBefore my little portable companion, radio was something entirely different. In the 1930s, radio was furniture—massive, wooden, commanding the living room like a shrine to shared experience. Families spent more than four hours a day listening together, with radio ownership reaching nearly 90 percent by 1940. From American theaters that wouldn't open until after "Amos 'n Andy" to British families gathered around their wireless sets, from RAI broadcasts bringing opera into Tuscan homes—entire communities synchronized their lives around these electromagnetic rituals.Radio didn't emerge in a media vacuum, though. It had to find its place alongside the dominant information medium of the era: newspapers. The relationship began as an unlikely alliance. In the early 1920s, newspapers weren't threatened by radio—they were actually radio's primary boosters, creating tie-ins with broadcasts and even owning stations. Detroit's WWJ was owned by The Detroit News, initially seen as "simply another press-supported community service."But then came the "Press-Radio War" of 1933-1935, one of the first great media conflicts of the modern age. Newspapers objected when radio began interrupting programs with breaking news, arguing that instant news delivery would diminish paper sales. The 1933 Biltmore Agreement tried to restrict radio to just two five-minute newscasts daily—an early attempt at what we might now recognize as media platform regulation.Sound familiar? The same tensions we see today between traditional media and digital platforms, between established gatekeepers and disruptive technologies, were playing out nearly a century ago. Rather than one medium destroying the other, they found ways to coexist and evolve—a pattern that would repeat again and again.By the mid-1950s, when the transistor was perfected, radio was ready for its next transformation.The Real Revolution Was Social, Not TechnicalThis is where my story begins, but it's also where radio's story reaches its most profound transformation. The transistor radio didn't just make radio portable—it fundamentally altered the social dynamics of media consumption and youth culture itself.Remember, radio had spent its first three decades as a communal experience. Parents controlled what the family heard and when. But transistor radios shattered this control structure completely, arriving at precisely the right cultural moment. The post-WWII baby boom had created an unprecedented youth population with disposable income, and rock and roll was exploding into mainstream culture—music that adults often disapproved of, music that spoke directly to teenage rebellion and independence.For the first time in human history, young people had private, personal access to media. They could take their music to bedrooms, to beaches, anywhere adults weren't monitoring. They could tune into stations playing Chuck Berry, Elvis, and Little Richard without parental oversight—and in many parts of Europe, they could discover the rebellious thrill of pirate radio stations broadcasting rock and roll from ships anchored just outside territorial waters, defying government regulations and cultural gatekeepers alike. The transistor radio became the soundtrack of teenage autonomy, the device that let youth culture define itself on its own terms.The timing created a perfect storm: pocket-sized technology collided with a new musical rebellion, creating the first "personal media bubble" in human history—and the first generation to grow up with truly private access to the cultural forces shaping their identity.The parallels to today's smartphone revolution are impossible to ignore. Both devices delivered the same fundamental promise: the ability to carry your entire media universe with you, to access information and entertainment on your terms, to connect with communities beyond your immediate physical environment.But there's something we've lost in translation from analog to digital. My generation with transistor radios had to work for connection. We had to hunt through static, tune carefully, wait patiently for distant signals to emerge from electromagnetic chaos. We learned to listen—really listen—because finding something worthwhile required skill, patience, and analog intuition.This wasn't inconvenience; it was meaning-making. The harder you worked to find something, the more it mattered when you found it. The more skilled you became at navigating radio's complex landscape, the richer your discoveries became.What the Transistor Radio Taught Us About TomorrowRadio's evolution illustrates a crucial principle that applies directly to our current digital transformation: technologies don't replace each other—they find new ways to matter. Printing presses didn't become obsolete when radio arrived. Radio adapted when television emerged. Today, radio lives on in podcasts, streaming services, internet radio—the format transformed, but the essential human need it serves persists.When I was sixteen, lying on that bedroom floor with my father's radio pressed to my ear, I was doing exactly what teenagers do today with their smartphones: using technology to construct identity, to explore possibilities, to imagine myself into larger narratives.The medium has changed; the human impulse remains constant. The transistor radio taught me that technology's real power isn't in its specifications or capabilities—it's in how it reshapes the fundamental social relationships that define our lives.Every device that promises connection is really promising transformation: not just of how we communicate, but of who we become through that communication. The transistor radio was revolutionary not because it was smaller or more efficient than tube radios, but because it created new forms of human agency and autonomy.Perhaps that's the most important lesson for our current moment of digital transformation. As we worry about AI replacing human creativity, social media destroying real connection, or smartphones making us antisocial, radio's history suggests a different possibility: technologies tend to find their proper place in the ecosystem of human needs, augmenting rather than replacing what came before.As Marshall McLuhan understood, "the medium is the message"—to truly understand what's happening to us in this digital age, we need to understand the media themselves, not just the content they carry. And that's exactly the message I'll keep exploring in future newsletters—going deeper into how we can understand the media to understand the messages, and what that means for our hybrid analog-digital future.The frequency is still there, waiting. You just have to know how to tune in.__________ End of transmission.📬 Enjoyed this article? Follow the newsletter here: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7079849705156870144/🌀 Let's keep exploring what it means to be human in this Hybrid Analog Digital Society.Share this newsletter and invite anyone you think would enjoy it!As always, let's keep thinking!— Marco https://www.marcociappelli.com___________________________________________________________Marco Ciappelli is Co-Founder and CMO of ITSPmagazine, a journalist, creative director, and host of podcasts exploring the intersection of technology, cybersecurity, and society. His work ble