In this episode of The New CISO, host Steve is joined by guest Sándor Incze, CISO at CM.com.

Today, Sándor shares his untraditional path to a dual career in the Infosec and law enforcement industries. Through diligence, initiative, and automation, Sándor has been able to balance both of his life’s passions. Listen to the episode to learn more about Sándor’s extensive professional journey, the benefits of automation, and how personal interactions can shape your perspective on a crisis.

Listen to Steve and Sándor discuss what a police officer and a CISO have in common and when it’s appropriate to be “lazy”:

Meet Sándor (1:33)

Sándor has been passionate about tech since he was eleven years old. After tinkering around with an old computer at school, he became his school’s first administrator.

He credits this experience as his professional origin story.

An Opportunity With Law Enforcement (6:21)

Sándor shares that he has been interested in law enforcement professionally since his youth. Although this path didn’t initially work out, he was able to eventually combine his two passions into the dual career he has today.

Young and Successful (12:40)

By eighteen years old, Sándor was already establishing a successful career and saw the financial benefits alongside that. Amusingly, he would buy a new motorcycle every six months, an impressive luxury for his youthful age.

A Man In a Suit (14:03)

After finishing his computer science degree, Sándor tried to move into a law enforcement career. This attempt didn’t work out as intended, so Sándor had to go to a job wearing a suit rather than a preferred police officer’s uniform.

The Benefits of Laziness (16:18)

Sándor jokingly admits he is lazy because of his love for automating repetitive tasks. However, this method has proven effective, revealing much about Sándor’s perspective on work.

Lessons For the Listener (19:13)

After his third opportunity, Sándor successfully transitioned into a law enforcement role. He initially started as a volunteer, but he was able to use his automation skills to gain respect, leading him to become a police officer finally.

Life In the Academy (24:50)

Sándor reveals the age at which he joined the police academy and what being a security leader and officer have in common. A deep understanding of people and an accurate perspective on life are crucial mindsets to carry into both fields.

In this episode of The New CISO, host Steve is joined again by guest Ash Hunt, Global CISO at Apex Group Ltd.

Today, Ash shares how he transitioned from his career as a jazz musician into the vastly different world of cyber security. He also reveals his tips as a leader and a decision-maker. Listen to the episode to learn more about Ash’s unique professional journey, how security leaders inhibit their candidate search, and the secrets behind an empowered staff.

Listen to Steve and Ash discuss the power of delegation and how to determine the best time to find a new role:

Ash’s Return (1:39)

Ash returns to the podcast to share how he achieved his cyber security start. Initially touring as a jazz musician in London, Ash acknowledges how his past has helped him with his current career.

Fresh Challenges (10:13)

Ash explains when to seek new challenges to avoid professional stagnation.

He believes that when a company gets more out of him than he is out of that company, it is time to move on. This mentality has helped him decide when to leave an opportunity for a fresh one.

Being Creative (17:21)

Steve and Ash discuss the impact that they can have on others early in their careers. Ash tries to expose his interns to the industry as much as possible because there are so many exciting things to do in tech.

He believes leaders should be more creative when judging and developing talent. For Ash, creative compromise, persuasion, stakeholder management, and communication are skills that he considers when evaluating potential candidates.

Ownership and Delegation (22:01)

While discussing the importance of enabling your staff, Ash asserts what makes an effective leader. Allowing your team to own their work and delegating tasks creates an empowered and productive company culture.

Evaluating Loss (26:37)

Steve presses Ash on how he handles approaching inefficiencies at work, such as issues with AI, to the executive team. Ash’s answer is to follow the money and expose what people think is true, but it turns out to be the opposite.

Loss is rarely tracked, but pinpointing those causes can benefit your organization.

The Cost of a Breach (33:19)

Staying on the topic of loss, Steve and Ash reflect on the vast cost of a data breach and inefficient client management. Although Ash acknowledges that technology will be able to solve these issues over time, there is no harm in prioritizing clear data reports now.

New CISO (38:01)

To Ash, being a new CISO means converging cyber with technology. Ultimately, it is about working smarter, not harder, as a team.

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In this episode of The New CISO, Steve is joined by guest Ash Hunt, Global CISO at Apex Group Ltd.

Today, Steve and Ash dive into the action of M&A (mergers and acquisitions) and how to conduct it well. As a CISO at one of the world’s largest administrators, Ash shares his valuable insight on loss, risk, and revenue generation in a constantly changing IT environment. Tune in to learn more about what causes loss during a merger, why decision management and risk management are one and the same, and the cultural changes in the security industry.

Listen to Steve and Ash discuss how to quantify loss and what jaywalking and cyber security have in common.

Meet Ash (1:34)

Ash shares that he is proud to work for a fast-moving organization that has expanded worldwide. This growth has led to an exciting time from a technology and cybersecurity perspective.

Successful M&A (5:16)

Steve presses Ash on how to conduct M&A successfully. What hurts a business during an acquisition is when there are breaks in infrastructure that get overlooked.

Luckily for Ash, he has a strong team that prioritizes infrastructure integration to avoid loss and increase revenue.

Things in Common (12:25)

Ash reveals what jaywalking and risk have in common. For example, everyone in London jaywalks, but like in cyber security, there is a degree of risk.

Risk Management (15:10)

According to Ash, risk management is decision management. Decision science is a critical part of Ash’s approach to security.

Psychological barriers in the workplace halt optimal investment decisions that can generate revenue.

Adding Value (25:36)

Ash acknowledges that his most significant contribution toward his company is successfully integrating their infrastructure into one operating platform. He knows it will rationalize his tool stacks and clean up his budget, amongst other benefits.

He has seen other companies experience operation inefficiency, access control failure, and inadvertent data disclosure, which he actively prevents.

Changing the Operation Process (30:48)

Steve and Ash marvel at the operational changes that need to be done in security. For example, many people still default to email versus a more secure portal for data exchange.

In order to mitigate risk, cultural changes need to be made to operational processes.

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