Voices of the Vigilant podcast: humanizing cybersecurity
with candid tales from cyberspace and beyond
About the Voices of the Vigilant podcast
Voices of the Vigilant is a cybersecurity podcast about the humans behind the work — their stories, their pivots, their hard-earned lessons. Each episode is a candid conversation with practitioners, leaders, and thinkers doing meaningful things in the field.
New episodes drop monthly. Find the full catalog below or on all major podcast platforms and YouTube.
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Voices of the Vigilant reaches a targeted audience of cybersecurity professionals, career changers, and security leaders. If your product or service belongs in that conversation, let’s talk about a sponsorship.
Voices of the Vigilant episode catalog
Voices of the Vigilant S2 EP3 | Built to Defend, Wired to Lead.
This episode features Shira Shamban, cybersecurity entrepreneur, former officer in Israel’s elite Unit 8200, and co-founder of Solvo, the cloud security startup acquired by CYE in 2025. Shira unpacks what it really takes to move from deep technical research to the CEO seat—how to “shift left” in cloud security without losing developer trust, raise $3M over Zoom during a global pandemic, and build a company strong enough to exit. But this conversation goes beyond product and playbooks. We talk about power. Influence. The soft skill that quietly becomes your greatest weapon. And why diversifying the tech landscape isn’t charity, it’s critical infrastructure. From elite intelligence operations to global mentorship through her Security Diva mission, Shira is redefining what modern cyber leadership looks like. If you care about cloud security, founder grit, or building rooms where more women win—this episode is for you.
Voices of the Vigilant S2 EP2 | Protecting What Matters: Disney, Diversity, and Doing the Work
This episode features Rob “Bowtie Security Guy” Whetstine, Director of Information Security at a Fortune 500 company.
What if the fastest way into cybersecurity isn’t another cert, but a soldering iron, a home lab, and the courage to say “I don’t know”? In this episode, we sit down with Rob “Bowtie Security Guy” Whetstine—prop builder, mentor, and former Disney security leader—who went from dumpster diving for tech to leading teams at the highest levels. Rob makes the case that tinkering beats test prep, calm beats chaos, and passion plus proof beats pedigree. From cracking high-pressure interviews to building teams that don’t burn out, this is a roadmap for anyone who wants to build a real, durable career in cyber.
Voices of the Vigilant EP13 | Muted to Unmuted: Finding Your Voice in Cybersecurity
This episode features Akira Brand, a cybersecurity leader, educator, and technologist
If you’ve ever felt like the odd one out in tech, this conversation will feel like oxygen. Akira joins us to share how a shy kid, bullied for being different, found sanctuary in two unlikely rooms—the choir room and the computer lab—and turned that mix of voice and logic into a career leading application security. We map the path from opera training to DevRel to AppSec leadership, and dig into the moments that change everything: the first terminal command that touched the internet, the DEF CON night when community said “you belong,” and the leadership shift from heroic bursts to steady, compounding wins.
We get tactical without losing the human thread. Akira explains why AppSec works best as enablement, not enforcement, and how a good leader “tailors” security into the SDLC instead of tearing it apart. Threat modeling becomes the star—recast from checkbox to business engine. We talk metrics that matter, risk you intentionally accept, and where compensating controls deliver the most value. You’ll hear pragmatic guidance on keeping velocity without sacrificing security, building credibility with developers, and designing programs teams actually use.
We also explore AI’s double edge. For seasoned engineers, AI can boost secure development and documentation at speed. For beginners, it can hide missing fundamentals and import flawed patterns. Akira shares how to keep human review in the loop, vet model provenance, and use agentic AI to ship real tools faster—without skipping security basics. The episode closes with a message for outsiders: keep your integrity, find your people, and let your craft be both voice and shield.
Voices of the Vigilant EP12 | Fear into Fluency: Building Real Cyber Literacy
This episode features Craig Taylor, Co-Founder and CEO of Cyberhoot, a cybersecurity training company.
Panic is not a security strategy. Craig Taylor—co-founder of CyberHoot and longtime virtual CISO—shares a people-first approach to security that swaps fear for positive reinforcement and simple, repeatable habits. With his psychology background, he explains how short, gamified exercises build real muscle memory against urgent scams and deepfake-driven attacks.
Craig highlights the highest-ROI steps leaders can take now: MFA on every external account and an easy path to passkeys. He breaks down how FIDO2 passkeys tie identity to both device and site, eliminating phishing and password reuse without added friction.
We also zoom out to the essentials most teams miss—complete asset inventories, verified patching, least privilege, and clean entitlements—along with monthly email analysis drills to counter AI-enhanced phishing. The result: empowered users, fewer incidents, and lower support costs.
Special Offer:
Get 20% off CyberHoot for one year with code UnHacked.
The human side of tech
As a gifted speaker and connector, Jess is super excited to share this project with you! Each episode features a candid conversation with folks in the infosec space on a specific topic and is designed to educate and inspire you to take action on your own terms.
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Apply to be a guest
Know someone, or are someone, with a story worth hearing? We’re always looking for practitioners, leaders, and unconventional voices from across the security landscape.