No Password Required Podcast Episode 75 - Philipp Leo

Philipp Leo — Swiss cyber expert, diplomat, and military officer, always two steps ahead of the storm No Password Required Season 7: Episode 7 - Philipp Leo Philipp Leo co-founded Leo & Muhly Cyber Advisory, a strategic advisory firm specializing in cyber risk, resilience, and geopolitics. Now consulting with governments and private firms in Switzerland and abroad, Philipp has served as a UN observer on the Korean DMZ, trained the next generation of Swiss Armed Forces cyber specialists, and taught at the University of Glasgow. He is also part of Europol's network of experts in data protection and cybercrime and has published stateside in MIT Sloan Management Review. In this episode, Philipp shares his journey from a Swiss bank he couldn't wait to leave to the Korean border, and eventually to the boardrooms of executives who still think cyber risk is someone else's problem. He breaks down the three most dangerous misconceptions executives have about cyber risk, why the CISO is too often a poster child rather than a decision-maker, and the challenges to cyber insurance in Europe. Cyber attorney Jack Clabby and co-host Kayley Jerrell talk with Philipp about his live crisis simulation that nobody can win, how to train cyber warriors, and how nation-state cyber conflict is looking more and more like the age of Caribbean pirates. In the Lifestyle Polygraph, Philipp reveals his favorite book, his eye-opening, go-to celebratory drink, and the weight of his luxury umbrella. He also shares his favorite escape when the complexity of modern life gets to be too much and introduces us to a Zurich commuting tradition that involves swimming home through a river.   In this episode: Philipp's journey from a Swiss bank he couldn't wait to leave to the Korean DMZ and eventually the boardrooms of Fortune 500 executives (00:27 - 02:22) The three most dangerous misconceptions executives have about cyber risk and why cyber risk is a corporate problem, not a technology problem (04:19 - 05:30) How Philipp's live crisis simulation works, why nobody can win it, and why that's exactly the point (05:49 - 08:47) Why cyber crisis teams have improved dramatically but leadership boards remain the weakest link (06:30 - 08:47) The CISO poster child problem: why most CISOs have the accountability without the authority (09:54 - 11:00) Why cyber insurance in Europe has largely failed to deliver and what happens when attackers find your policy before you do (11:17 - 13:44) The OFAC twist: what happens mid-exercise when a Swiss bank decides to pay and then learns the attackers are on the sanctions list (18:38 - 19:31) Training Swiss Armed Forces cyber specialists and why the first lesson is that the other side plays by no rules (19:47 - 21:37) Whether nation states can ever beat the cyber threat and why the east side of Vienna tells you everything you need to know (21:54 - 23:25) Why nation-state cyber conflict has become remarkably similar to the age of Caribbean pirates (23:46 - 24:23) The Lifestyle Polygraph: Endurance, Campari Red Bull, a three-ounce umbrella, a cabin in the Alps, and swimming home through a Zurich river (00:04 - 12:03)   Timestamp Highlights: (00:27) From Swiss banker to UN observer on the Korean DMZ (04:19) The three misconceptions executives have about cyber risk (05:49) The crisis simulation nobody can win and why that's the whole point (09:54) Why the CISO is too often a poster child without real power (11:17) Why cyber insurance in Europe has largely failed (18:38) The OFAC twist that stopped a Swiss bank mid-exercise (19:47) Training Swiss cyber warriors to understand the other side plays by no rules (21:54) Nation states vs. cyber threats: are defenders always outpaced? (23:46) How nation-state cyber conflict mirrors the age of Caribbean pirates (07:25) Always prepared: the three-ounce umbrella that nobody sees   Resources & Links: Leo & Muhly Cyber Advisory  Philipp Leo on LinkedIn ThreatLocker — Presenting sponsor DerScanner — Supporter of this podcast Cyber Florida — The Mother Ship