Cyber909

About Cyber909

The 909Exec Podcast Hosted by Den Jones, CEO of 909Cyber, this podcast dives into real-world leadership with insights from top execs across industries. From startups to global giants, Den brings wit, wisdom, and his signature Scottish flair to every episode—helping you lead smarter, grow faster, and avoid the pitfalls.

Publisher

909Exec Podcast

Category

education

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

12 Sept 2024

Latest episode

31 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

70 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   31 Oct 2026

   Episode 70: The Hiring Revolution: Fraud, AI, and the Future of Talent Acquisition with Justin Dixon

   Join 909 Exec host Den Jones in conversation with Justin Dixon, founder of Hire Tomorrow, as they explore how AI is transforming talent acquisition—from automating recruitment workflows to enabling sophisticated interview fraud. Discover why deepfakes, proxy interviews, and AI-generated resumes are creating unprecedented hiring risks, and learn practical strategies for protecting your organization while maintaining a human-centered candidate experience. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: - The Evolution of Recruitment and AI's Disruptive Impact Justin traces his 20-year career from pre-LinkedIn era to founding Hire Tomorrow, explaining how each technological innovation was predicted to eliminate recruiters but instead amplified their importance Key quote: "Every innovation was supposed to crush the recruiter and make us irrelevant, and it's only made us more important." - AI's Double-Edged Sword in Talent Acquisition Discussion of how AI enables both recruiter efficiency and candidate-side manipulation The resulting flood of applications has overwhelmed hiring managers Key quote: "They're competing with other AI generated resumes and fake people. And it's just a less personal human to human process." - The Risks of AI-Powered Interviewing Justin explains why some companies use AI bots for first-round interviews and the significant legal and brand risks involved AI interviews create potential discrimination liability when candidates reveal protected information that's recorded and stored Key quote: "You can control what an AI bot asks... but you're dealing with a human on the other side of the line, so you really can't control what they respond with." - The Real Story Behind Tech Layoffs and AI Analysis of how post-COVID overhiring, macroeconomic pressures, and interest rate hikes & AI are driving workforce restructuring Companies now mandate AI replacement attempts before rehiring departed roles, and outsourcing to lower-cost regions compounds the trend Key quote: "If this person leaves, I want you to show me that you tried to replace that person and/or some of their responsibilities using AI." - Interview Fraud: From Deepfakes to Proxy Candidates Justin details sophisticated fraud schemes: North Korean laptop farms, deepfake technology substituting different people across interview rounds, real-time AI assistance during technical assessments, and friends completing math/coding tests Key quote: "One person shows up to the actual recruiter interview... and then another person shows up to that interview and they're using deep fake technology so it looks like the same person." - Reputational Risk and Responsibility in Recruitment Discussion of shared accountability between recruiting firms and hiring organizations when fraudulent candidates slip through Key quote: "If I would have supplied a candidate that turned out to be a nefarious actor... that is obviously not something that I want as my reputation." - The "Hire the Hacker" Threat Vector Den Jones introduces a critical cybersecurity perspective: interview fraud as an insider threat vector that traditional defense strategies never considered Key quote: "I don't need to hack the company. I just get a job now." - Endurance, Discipline, and First-Time CEO Challenges Justin shares his Ironman journey (2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, 26.2-mile run) and parallels between extreme athletic discipline and executive leadership Discussion of founder-to-CEO transitions and why different leaders thrive at different company stages Launch of Growth Capital Podcast's third year covering startup founders, investors, and scaled CEOs - Candidate Experience as Brand Imperative Justin's closing wisdom on treating hiring and firing as brand-defining moments that cascade through professional networks Key quote: "Candidate experience is the best kind of branding you can think about because if you have a bad candidate experience, that candidate's going to tell all their friends about how poor it was."

2. 

   27 Sept 2026

   Episode 69: Built Wrong: Why Cybersecurity Is Failing and What We Must Do About It with Richard Bird

   Richard Bird, a 25-year cybersecurity veteran and former Global Head of Identity at JP Morgan Chase, joins Den Jones to deliver a frank, data-driven indictment of how cybersecurity has been measuring the wrong things for decades. They explore why increased spending hasn't made organizations safer, what three metrics actually matter, and how to rebuild on outcomes over activity. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Richard Bird's Career JourneyRichard describes his accidental entry into identity at JP Morgan Chase, managing a global function before moving to startups and VC.Key quote: "I'm in the third stage of my career. I'm learning something new every day... none of which were things that I was ever exposed to prior to about 2018, 2019." Announcing the Book: Built WrongRichard introduces Built Wrong: Why Cybersecurity is Failing and How We Can Rebuild It, a systemic diagnosis backed by over 110 citations.Key quote: "The most important thing that I'm trying to answer with this book is are we getting safer today versus where we were yesterday?" The Hacker in a Hoodie IndexA presentation sparked the metaphor comparing adversary ROI against defender spending.Key quote: "The bad guys are doing six times better on the invested dollars that they're using to attack things than we're doing on the dollars that we're spending to protect things." Measuring Activity Instead of OutcomesCybersecurity fails to measure performance in financial terms. FBI IC3 data shows losses grew from $800M to over $21B in ten years alongside rising security spend.Key quote: "We're spending more money and losing more money. This is not a business that anybody would invest in." The Myth of the Sophisticated AdversaryMost breaches are not novel or sophisticated; the same problems recur yearly.Key quote: "We can't even fix the problems that we know about... hundreds of thousands of breaches and exploits every single year, and we haven't improved on a single one." Stop Using the Word "Risk"Risk is a financial term. Allowing excessive standing privileges that lead to a breach is a bad decision, not risk.Key quote: "Risk is what is left over when you have done what you are able to... none of that was risk. That was all self-chosen." Self-Perpetuating Mythology30 years of wrong metrics reinforce bad behavior and defeatist narratives.Key quote: "We are literally the only profession in the corporate world that gets up in the morning and goes, I'm going to go to work and get my ass kicked." The Three Metrics That MatterCurrent practice lacks three vital measures: Exposure (attack surface), Interdiction (stopping exploitation), and Consequence (containing blast radius).Key quote: "There are only three things that need to be measured in security, and these manifest virtually nowhere on the planet currently today." Compliance Frameworks & Outdated ControlsNIST, CMMC, and ISO frameworks create a self-sustaining revenue machine without reducing risk. The IT Operations Origin StorySecurity metrics originated from 1980s IT ops, treating security like uptime rather than safety. How to Fix It: Aviation & Safety EngineeringRemediation requires safety engineering, day-over-day safety tracking, and NTSB-style forensic disclosure. Business Economics & CybersecurityApplying unit costing and performance compensation to integrate security into business operations. Stewardship & Digital TrustOrganizations have a core obligation to protect customer data to restore broader digital trust.

3. 

   10 Sept 2026

   Episode 68: From Burnout to Breakthrough: Leading with Energy, Security, and Purpose with Eric Reiners

   In this episode, Den Jones sits down with Eric Reiners, CTO of Aprive, executive coach, and author of The Energy Edge, for a wide-ranging conversation on technical leadership, executive burnout, personal security, and the enterprise future of AI. Eric shares the raw story of collapsing from exhaustion during a cybersecurity incident and how that transformed his approach to leadership, health, and purpose. -> Introduction and Guest Overview Den introduces Eric, who outlines his roles at Aprive and Be Well Mind.Key quote: "We're digital bodyguards for executives. Think of us as applying enterprise-grade technology to the individual and the family." -> From Farm Kid to Silicon Valley Raised on a farm, Eric taught himself to code on a Commodore 64. After studying physics and musical acoustics, he moved to San Francisco in 1999 to become a C++ developer.Key quote: "I found out that you can make money as a programmer. I didn't even know that really." -> Transitioning from Contributor to Manager Eric reflects on struggling as a manager for three years by clinging to technical work until a mentor helped him master delegation.Key quote: "People need autonomy... You're responsible for growing that team faster than the business needs them to." -> Burnout, Morale, and Loyalty A discussion on post-layoff morale, highlighting four drivers of motivation: autonomy, curiosity, mastery, and purpose.Key quote: "Having low standards is condescending. If you don't expect a lot from your team, you're not going to get a lot." -> Managing Chronic Stress Eric likens unresolved stress to buzzing electrical wires, warning against long-term accumulation.Key quote: "Biology will always win in the end... if you keep doing that, it's going to accumulate." -> Leaving Rapid7 for Entrepreneurship Realizing his motivation had faded, Eric transitioned to coaching, completing 850+ free sessions that built the foundation for Be Well Mind.Key quote: "I was successful on paper but miserable inside." -> Aprive: Security Beyond the Perimeter Aprive targets the security vulnerabilities created when executives leave corporate networks and use personal devices.Key quote: "The corporate perimeter stops and you go on vacation... and occasionally you need to transact business." -> "The Energy Edge" Book Eric introduces his book covering nine science-backed practices to manage stress and decision fatigue.Key quote: "I wish I would've had this before I responded to my first security incident." -> Stress as a Signal, Not an Enemy Challenging work-life balance tropes, they discuss how passion and stress intertwine.Key quote: "The term work-life balance pisses me off a little bit because if you're passionate about something... you're going to fall asleep thinking about it." -> Deep Work and Meeting Culture Tactics for team productivity, including "No Meeting Fridays" and purging recurring calendar invites.Key quote: "There's no research that backs up the idea that working longer hours makes you more productive." -> AI, Executive Readiness, and ROI Examining the gap between AI hype and real ROI, including shadow AI usage and token costs.Key quote: "If they don't have a policy, that just means everybody's using AI in shadow versions." -> Closing Advice Final guidance for high-stress leadership.Key quote: "Your body is telling you something and you can listen and learn from it... you are not alone."

Who has been a guest on Cyber909

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Chase Cunningham
• Rana Salman
• Tyler Farrar

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

729

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 38 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

49

Social presence

0

YouTube

66

Engagement

0

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Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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