No Password Required

Shane Tews — Non-Resident Senior Fellow at AEI and the person who explained the internet to Capitol Hill No Password Required Season 7: Episode 7 – Shane Tews Shane Tews is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where she focuses on cybersecurity, privacy, artificial intelligence, and internet governance. She is also President of Logan Circle Strategies, a strategic advisory firm working at the intersection of technology and policy. Before her think tank work, Shane helped introduce modems to the George H.W. Bush White House, walked the halls of Capitol Hill explaining the internet to blank-staring legislators, and spent years at VeriSign helping shape the foundational frameworks of how the internet would be governed. In this episode, Shane traces her unlikely path from the Bush administration to becoming one of Washington's most trusted voices on tech policy. She breaks down why regulating outcomes rather than inputs is the only sensible approach to technology governance, why the US and EU are operating from fundamentally different innovation philosophies, and why a national privacy bill is long overdue. She also explains why most organizations and individuals are far less protected than they think and why nobody knows who to call when something goes wrong. Jack Clabby and co-host Kayley Melton talk with Shane about legacy system vulnerabilities, the cybersecurity implications of agentic AI, and what policymakers absolutely must get right over the next decade. She also reflects on what the CISA reauthorization limbo means for companies that don't even know they've lost liability protection. In the Lifestyle Polygraph, Shane reveals she has 20,000 emails across eight accounts, admits she fakes laughs at bad jokes out of Midwestern politeness, shares her obsession with The Bear and Peaky Blinders, and tells us about her children's book project using Google Omni called "Shane on a Train." Follow Shane on LinkedIn and on X at @ShaneTews. Find her work at AEI.org and TechPolicyDaily.com. No Password Required is presented by ThreatLocker

Madeline Sedgwick — Cyber Threat Analyst at Palo Alto Networks and a DUUUUVALLL lifer No Password Required Season 7: Episode 5 – Madeline Sedgwick Madeline Sedgwick is a Cyber threat Researcher and Threat Analyst at Palo Alto Networks Unit 42, specializing in nation-state cyber activity, covert infrastructure, and cyber intelligence analysis. Before entering the private sector, she spent six years in the U.S. Navy as an intelligence specialist, helping support some of the earliest cyber operations under United States Cyber Command. In this episode, Madeline shares her journey from joining the Navy to becoming one of the first certified cyber targeteers supporting offensive cyber operations. She discusses the realities of tracking covert threat actor infrastructure, why defenders must understand adversary behavior beyond alerts and signatures, and how intelligence analysis helps uncover the bigger picture behind cyber campaigns. Jack Clabby and co-host Sarina Gandy talk with Madeline about fusion analysis, cyber warfare, leadership, and the challenges of translating highly technical investigations into actionable insights for government and industry leaders. She also reflects on the importance of humility in leadership, mentoring, and learning to navigate high-pressure situations with confidence and curiosity. In the Lifestyle Polygraph, Madeline debates cybersecurity in the Star Wars universe, explains her Weird Al Yankovic Dragon Con costume, reflects on her time playing bass in a metal band, and proudly shares why Jacksonville, Florida, will always be home. Follow Madeline on Linked in: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mesedgwick/

Jon Schipp — From Heavy Metal to the Front Lines of Cyber Innovation Jon Schipp, the “Ric Flair of Cybersecurity,” is the Senior Director of Inorganic Growth Strategy at Rapid7. Schipp mixes cyber technical mastery, business acumen, and stage presence, to identity mergers and partnerships for his company’s growing cybersecurity platform. He shares his story with hosts Jack Clabby of Carlton Fields, P.A., and, Kayley Melton, Executive Director of Operations at the Cognitive Security Institute, starting with his early days in the Midwestern heavy metal scene. He opens up about couch-surfing his way to hacker conferences as a teenager, the role of music in shaping his professional edge, and why knowledge—not money—has always been his north star. With a background in security engineering, incident response, and software development, Schipp explains that curiosity has been the through-line in his journey and how his own startup experience prepared him to evaluate new technologies and teams. He also tells the story of a pitch so good it left the room stunned. In the Lifestyle Polygraph segment, Jon reveals his dream guitar (an elusive LTD H-300 last seen in Evansville, Indiana) and gives the audience a crash course in heavy metal history. Plus, you’ll hear the tale of a push-up challenge that became an unforgettable part of a job interview—and meet Kayley’s cat, Little Baby, making her YouTube debut. Follow Jon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonschipp/

Kathy Collins — From AOL to Award-Winning Cuisine to High-Stakes Hacking Recorded live at the 2025 Sunshine Cyber Conference in Tampa, Jack Clabby of Carlton Fields, P.A., and resident cybersecurity expert Kayley Melton, Executive Director of Operations at the Cognitive Security Institute, sit down with Kathy Collins, Security Consultant at Secure Ideas. Kathy shares her extraordinary journey, which began at the AOL help desk, took a flavorful detour through award-winning kitchens, and ultimately landed in the high-stakes world of penetration testing. Kathy explains how the intensity, precision, and discipline of her 15 years in fine dining prepared her for the unpredictable demands of cybersecurity. She recounts a particularly memorable physical pen test involving a rainy golf cart getaway—and a very unimpressed police officer. The conversation highlights Kathy’s passion for community building through events like BSides Jacksonville, where she encourages newcomers to dive in and get involved. In the Lifestyle Polygraph segment, Kayley throws Kathy two horror-themed questions with bite: which movie soundtrack best scores a pen test, and which fictional villain she’d trust most on an engagement. Fava beans and a nice Chianti may follow a successful test. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathyvcollins/

Mariana Padilla — CEO of HACKERverse.ai, Disruptor of Cybersecurity Sales and Most Other Things We sit down with Mariana Padilla, CEO and Co-Founder of HACKERverse.ai—an AI-driven platform transforming how cybersecurity solutions are tested and purchased. From her early days in education and nonprofits to building a career in cybersecurity marketing, Mariana has always sought to challenge inefficiency and champion innovation. From the helm of HACKERverse, she’s helping security buyers make smarter, data-driven decisions while eliminating the friction of traditional vendor sales. She joins hosts Jack Clabby of Carlton Fields, P.A., and resident cybersecurity expert Kayley Melton, Director of Strategic Initiatives at the Cognitive Security Institute, to explore how her self-proclaimed status as a "bad employee" shaped her leadership approach, why passive aggression is her ultimate pet peeve, and how adopting a beginner’s mindset has helped her scale quickly in a complex industry. Mariana also reveals how her team is tackling the trust gap in cybersecurity sales—by letting the product speak for itself. In the Lifestyle Polygraph segment, Kayley asks Mariana who she would hire if resumes for Superman and Batman landed on her desk. Her answer took us down a dark-night path we didn’t see coming. Follow Mariana Padilla on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianapadilla/

On this episode, we sit down with Rob Allen, the Chief Marketing Officer at ThreatLocker, live from the 2024 Sunshine Cyber Conference. From his early days “locked” in an IT closet to his current role in the C-suite, Rob’s journey is one of curiosity, adaptation, and a passion for cybersecurity. At ThreatLocker, he takes customer ideas and use cases and transforms them into solutions for organizations of all sizes. Rob shares why businesses shouldn’t fear the “deny by default” approach, explaining how the zero-trust mindset is essential in today’s threat landscape. He also discusses with hosts Jack Clabby of Carlton Fields, P.A., and Kayley Melton, Director for Strategic Initiatives at the Cognitive Security Institute and the Bob Ross of infosec, how media coverage often distorts public perception of cybersecurity by only highlighting major breaches and incidents. In the Lifestyle Polygraph segment, Rob reveals his love for Apple products, why he wishes he could have met Steve Jobs, and his obsession with Buc-ee’s brisket sandwiches. He also shares a hilarious (and perhaps exaggerated) story about the Cyber Florida team “infiltrating” ThreatLocker and taking his backpack back to Tampa! You can learn more about ThreatLocker, here: https://www.threatlocker.com You can follow Rob Allen on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/threatlockerrob/

Tanya Janca — Education lead at Semgrep, cybersecurity trailblazer and author dedicated to "securing all the things” Tanya Janca, widely known as SheHacksPurple, is the Head of Community and Education at Semgrep and the best-selling author of Alice and Bob Learn Application Security. With over 25 years of experience in coding and IT, Tanya has become a leading advocate for secure software practices. Her highly anticipated sequel, Alice and Bob Learn Secure Coding, takes a deeper dive into building secure software from the ground up. This new book equips developers with practical techniques to integrate security at every stage of the development process. Tanya's passion for teaching secure practices stems from her extensive career, which began in the Canadian government. Starting as a software developer, she later transitioned to election security and served as the IT Security Coordinator (CISO equivalent) for the 42nd General Election in Canada. Driven by her mission to "secure all the things," Tanya continues to inspire and empower the global developer community, ensuring that security becomes a foundational element of software development. You can follow Tanya Janca on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanya-janca/ You can follow Tanya Janca on Twitter here: @shehackspurple You can learn more about Semgrep Academy here: https://academy.semgrep.dev/

Dr. Sunny Wear — Application penetration tester, author, and bug bounty enthusiast Dr. Sunny Wear began her career as a developer, spending countless hours maintaining others' code—a humbling experience, as she describes it. Realizing she wanted a different path, a friend suggested exploring cybersecurity at just the right time. Together, they tackled the CISSP exam, which Dr. Sunny passed, igniting her passion for application penetration testing. Now an accomplished author and proud bird mom, Dr. Sunny discusses her Burp Suite Cookbook, a practical guide to identifying, testing, and exploiting vulnerabilities in web applications and APIs. The show begins with Jack Clabby of Carlton Fields, P.A., joined by resident cybersecurity expert Kayley Melton, analyzing the Star Health Insurance (India) data breach, where an alleged cybercriminal accused the company’s CISO has been accused of selling sensitive data for $43,000. . Follow Dr. Sunny on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunny-wear/ Follow Dr. Sunny on Twitter: https://x.com/SunnyWear Learn more about Sunshine Solutions: https://www.sunsolsec.com/