Episode 318 Deep Dive: Chuck Herrin | Staying Ahead of Surging API Attacks

In this episode, we sit down with Chuck Herrin, Field CISO and Customer Advocate at F5, as he unpacks the evolving threat landscape around APIs and AI in today’s organizations. Chuck explores how APIs have transformed from simple plumbing into the primary attack surface, often outpacing defenders due to historic silos between security and development teams. He highlights the acceleration of vulnerabilities and the widening gap created by tech debt, skill shortages, and the relentless push for innovation. Chuck also discusses the enormous pressure businesses face to adopt AI rapidly, often at the expense of security, and emphasizes the importance of leadership, board-level engagement, and foundational policy shifts to balance speed and safety. Chuck Herrin is the Field CISO of F5. Prior to F5, Chuck was the CTO of Wib, an API security firm that created the second generation of API security solutions designed from the ground up to provide end to end visibility, testing, and context to discover, test, and secure all APIs across a customer ecosystem. Prior to Wib, Chuck spent 19+ years as a CISO in financial services and banking, including SVP and Head of IT Security, Risk, and Compliance for all of AIG’s consumer-facing divisions and EVP and CISO of Texas Capital Bank prior to being named “Most Trusted Bank in America” by Newsweek in 2022. A lifelong learner, Chuck holds a litany of industry certifications gathered over the last 25 years, as well as a bachelor’s degree in biology from Lenoir Rhyne University. When not traveling to events and customer locations, Chuck is based out of his ranch in North Dallas.