In this episode of Code and Country, Ian L. Paterson speaks with Craig Newmark, Craigslist founder and philanthropist, about his $200 million commitment to U.S. cybersecurity. Craig outlines his vision for "cyber civil defense"—a World War II-style mobilization where every American helps protect against nation-state threats like China's Salt Typhoon and Volt Typhoon campaigns targeting critical infrastructure. The discussion covers urgent vulnerabilities in small water systems, the Cyber Resilience Corps, and initiatives like PauseTakeNine.org. This episode offers security leaders and policymakers a roadmap for collective defense against today's cyber threats.

In this episode of Code and Country, Michael Daniel, President and CEO of the Cyber Threat Alliance and former White House Cybersecurity Coordinator, shares lessons from the frontlines of national cyber policy.

From shaping early government cyber budgets to confronting incidents like the Sony hack and OPM breach, Daniel reflects on how U.S. policy thinking matured in real time.

He outlines the evolution of ransomware, structural flaws in how cybersecurity risk is distributed, and why the future of cyber resilience depends on smarter collaboration between public and private actors.

Essential insights for CISOs, systems architects, and IT leaders facing today’s complex threat landscape.

In this episode of Code and Country, Ian Paterson continues his conversation with Dmitri Alperovitch, CrowdStrike co-founder, Silverado Policy Accelerator executive chairman, and author of World on the Brink. Dmitri explains how China’s Volt Typhoon campaign marks a shift from espionage to battlefield preparation by infiltrating water utilities, small telecom providers, and local power grids.

The discussion explores why Taiwan has become the central flashpoint in U.S.-China competition, and how cyber could shape the opening moves of a conflict. From disrupting mobilization to targeting sustainment systems like the F-35’s ODIN platform, cyber’s impact on logistics and readiness could prove decisive.

With candid insights on deterrence, logistics, and overlooked vulnerabilities in small utilities, this episode gives CISOs, IT leaders, and national security executives a front-row seat to the strategies shaping the future of nation-state cyber conflict.

In this episode of Code and Country, Ian Paterson sits down with Dmitri Alperovitch, CrowdStrike co-founder, Silverado Policy Accelerator executive chairman, and author of World on the Brink.

Dmitri shares his journey from teenage encryption entrepreneur to leading some of the most consequential cyber investigations in history, including Operation Aurora. He discusses the evolution of cyber threats from spam to state-backed espionage, China’s Volt Typhoon campaign, and why Taiwan may be the “new Berlin” in a looming geopolitical standoff.

With candid insights on deterrence, offensive cyber operations, and the role of private companies on the front lines, this conversation offers CISOs, IT leaders, and security architects a front-row seat to the strategies shaping national security in the 21st century.

Ollie Whitehouse, CTO of the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), joins Code and Country to unpack what it really takes to secure a nation in the age of AI, ransomware, and quantum threats. Drawing from three decades of experience across public and private sectors, Whitehouse offers a candid assessment of the broken cybersecurity market, why the incentives are misaligned, and what meaningful defense should look like. He explores how governments and enterprises can better collaborate, the urgent need to catalog cryptographic dependencies, and why resilience must be built into business, not bolted on. Essential listening for CISOs, IT leaders, and architects navigating the new frontier of national-scale cyber defense.

Katie Moussouris, founder and CEO of Luta Security, joins Code and Country to trace her path from MIT to pioneering vulnerability disclosure and launching “Hack the Pentagon.” She dives deep into the economics of the exploit market, the dangers of vulnerability disclosure laws, and how AI is shifting the dynamics of cybersecurity offense and defense. Katie also shares first-hand stories from her time shaping Microsoft's bug bounty program and working with the Pentagon. A must-listen for CISOs, IT leaders, and architects navigating the geopolitics of cyber risk.

In this episode of Code and Country, host Ian Paterson is joined by Robert Young Pelton, renowned war correspondent and author of Licensed to Kill and The World's Most Dangerous Places. Pelton shares firsthand accounts from his time embedded with the Taliban, Special Forces in Afghanistan, and rebel groups in Chechnya. He discusses the evolution of cyber warfare, the dark intersections of state and non-state actors in financial fraud, and how cyber tactics mirror battlefield strategy.

Pelton also explores the chilling implications of compromised digital hygiene, from sat phone targeting to political hacks. A must-listen for CISOs, IT leaders, and architects concerned about the global cyber threat landscape.

What do spies, skateboarders, and startups have in common? Security.

In this episode of Code and Country, former CSIS technical ops lead Andrew Amaro shares how his background in physical infiltration and cyber operations shaped his approach to enterprise security.

We cover why insider threats remain the most overlooked risk, how physical access is still a cyber problem, and why org charts are failing security leaders.

Andrew also explains how intelligence tactics can improve security posture, and why collaboration between cyber, physical, and executive teams isn’t optional anymore.

If you’re thinking about supply chain risk, insider threats, or how to align security with business growth, this episode is for you.