Podcasts

Kurt Suhs, Founder and CEO of Concierge Cyber, unpacks why cyber insurance adoption remains low and what businesses are actually doing instead. Learn how businesses think about risk when they don’t have coverage and why complexity and policy structure are major barriers.

Cyber risk management is often framed as a choice between prevention and insurance. In reality, the most resilient organizations combine both. In this episode of The SafeHouse, Jeff Edwards speaks with Michael Phillips, Global Head of Cyber at Coalition, about how insurers evaluate cyber risk and why mitigation and insurance must work together. Building on a previous discussion about the elements of risk management, the conversation explores how underwriters think about cyber exposure, what signals insurers look for when assessing organizations, and why operational resilience is becoming central to modern cyber insurance. The result is a practical discussion about how businesses should approach cyber risk today.

Cyber risk management is often discussed in technical language. But at its core, risk is financial. In this episode of The SafeHouse Podcast, Jeff Edwards interviews Davis Hake of Venable to break down how cyber risk should be measured, communicated, and quantified inside organizations. For CISOs, risk managers, brokers, underwriters, and resilience professionals, this episode provides a practical framework for thinking about cyber exposure beyond compliance checklists. If you want to understand cyber risk in terms that boards and CFOs actually respond to, this conversation is essential listening.

Federal cybersecurity responsibility has shifted to the states. What happens next? In this episode of The SafeHouse Podcast, Jeff Edwards welcomes James Saunders, Chief Information Security Officer for the State of Maryland, for a deep conversation on state-level cybersecurity, resilience, and leadership. James walks through his path from early technical support roles to federal cybersecurity leadership and now to protecting Maryland’s digital ecosystem. He explains Maryland’s IT Master Plan, the state’s five-pillar cybersecurity strategy, and how partnerships, talent, and resilience come together in practice. This episode offers a behind-the-scenes look at how cybersecurity decisions are made at scale, how states collaborate with one another, and why taking care of people matters as much as taking care of systems.

Kirsten Bay, CEO and co-founder of Cysurance, explains why warranties are becoming a critical layer in cyber risk management. Bay explains how AI-driven cyber certification can help organizations predict where risk is most likely to surface, prevent disruption before it becomes a claim, and protect both insureds and carriers by creating clear, defensible signals of cyber maturity.

Ryan Ettridge, CEO of CyberCert, tackles a problem many organizations struggle with - cybersecurity frameworks that look good on paper but feel overwhelming or unusable in practice. Ryan explains how AI-driven cyber certification can help organizations predict where risk is most likely to surface, prevent disruption before it becomes a claim, and protect both insureds and carriers by creating clear, defensible signals of cyber maturity. Chart a clear path from path from compliance to real-world readiness with fundamentals covered in this episode.

Charlotte Hooper, Co-Founder and Head of Operations at The Cyber Helpline, shares how a deeply personal experience with cyberstalking led her from policing into building one of the most practical cyber victim support models in operation today.

Keith Gologorsky, Head of Public Sector at Hack the Box, shares his personal journey from computer science graduate to government analyst, recounting pivotal moments in military operations, threat analysis, and international collaboration. The discussion explores the limitations of traditional certifications, the importance of hands-on training, and the need for regularly updated, gamified learning experiences. Keith also addresses the cybersecurity skills gap, the evolving role of AI, and offers actionable advice for organizations of all sizes: prioritize cross-training and real-world practice to build resilient teams.

Sarah Flukes, CTO at Admeritia, explains cyber decision diagrams that capture how OT/ICS environments actually operate. This podcast covers origins in water utilities, why function modeling beats asset lists, cognitive effectiveness, and how these diagrams power risk assessments, incident response, and security-by-design.

Cyber & AI authority Chuck Brooks joins Jeff Edwards to give SMBs a no-nonsense playbook. Learn how agentic AI turbocharges phishing, why unmanaged IoT/OT opens doors, and the exact first steps—MFA, segmentation, backups, IR plan—that raise your resilience fast. We also cover using NIST and CMMC as practical roadmaps and when to rely on an MSP.

Erik Cernak of the Hanover Insurance Group, breaks down the myths, the market, and the must-dos of why only 4% of SMBs carry standalone cyber insurance.

Our Cyber Insurance Summer Series wraps with the biggest lessons learned, surprising insights, and actionable advice from our expert guests. This episode ties everything together for the SMB with concrete steps that can be taken today to protect your business.