No Password Required Podcast Episode 70 - Madhav Nakar

About this episode

Madhav Nakar discusses his career in AI security, the importance of mathematical thinking in cybersecurity, and his philosophy of 'serious play'.

Madhav Nakar — AI Security Researcher and Documentarian of Spirituality and Play No Password Required Season 7: Episode 3 - Madhav Nakar Madhav Nakar is a Security Researcher at BeyondTrust specializing in identity threats, endpoint security, and cloud attack paths. With a background in theoretical mathematics, his current research focuses on analyzing attacker behavior to build practical systems of detection. In this episode, Madhav shares the pivotal moments that shaped his career, including his first experience witnessing a nation-state attack unfold in real time from his seat in a SOC. He explains how mathematical thinking sharpens security strategy and why strong research is rooted in exploration, not predetermined outcomes. Jack Clabby of Carlton Fields, joined by co-host Kayley Melton of the Cognitive Security Institute, welcomes Madhav for a conversation on modern cyber defense. From AI-driven attacks and agentic systems to privilege escalation risks in role-based access environments, Madhav breaks down what teams are getting wrong about AI and why defending against AI increasingly requires AI-powered tools. The conversation turns to Madhav’s philosophy of “serious play,”…

People in this episode

Hosts: Jack Clabby, Kayley Melton

Guest: Madhav Nakar

Topics covered

• AI Security
• Identity Threats
• Endpoint Security
• Cloud Attack Paths
• Cyber Defense
• AI-driven Attacks
• Privilege Escalation
• Serious Play
• Consciousness
• Philosophy

Keywords

• cybersecurity
• research
• exploration
• resilience

Mentioned in this episode

Products: BeyondTrust

Books & works: No Password Required, The Fire of Knowing

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