Nevada Air National Guard's Nikita Belikov on Real-World Cyber Defense at Scale

In this episode of Ahead of the Breach, host Casey Cammilleri sits down with Nikita Belikov of the Nevada Air National Guard to explore what cybersecurity looks like inside a military and critical-infrastructure environment. Nikita shares insight into defending high-stakes systems where availability, resilience, and mission readiness are non-negotiable. The conversation covers how military cyber teams think about risk, how defensive priorities differ from traditional enterprise security, and what it takes to operate effectively in an environment shaped by real-world threats and strict operational constraints. From translating security strategy into actionable defense to preparing for incidents where failure isn’t an option, this episode offers a grounded look at cyber defense from the perspective of someone protecting systems that truly matter.