Behind the Shield - A Virtual Guardian Podcast

Behind the Shield - February 2026

Expert panelists and host Marco Estrela brings you behind our shield to discuss current cybersecurity topics ripped from the headlines.
This month, we welcomed a very special guest: Jay Suggs, Founder of Suggcess Consulting Services and crisis leadership specialist. Jay joined our panelists Patrick Naoum, Bill Strub, Toby Penn, and host Marco Estrela for an insightful and dynamic discussion.
Hot Topics:
AI Scam: Moltbot, now rebranded as OpenClaw, and the latest surge of AI-driven scams• Outlook Add‑In vulnerability leading to stolen credentials• Copilot Spills the Beans — what you need to know

Behind the Shield – December 2025

Expert panelists and host Marco Estrela brings you behind our shield to discuss current cybersecurity topics ripped from the headlines.
This month we had a special guest! Elisa Mula, Founder of EM Designs, joined our panelists. Elisa and Marco went toe to toe, would Marco’s physical penetration prowess hold its own or would Elisa’s physical security tactics crush Marco like a bug! Listen to find out!
Hot Topics: Major Privacy Hack in South Korea, Australia’s Social Media Ban, and Threat Landscape Grows Increasingly Dangerous for Manufacturers.

Behind the Shield – October 2025

Expert panelists and host Marco Estrela brings you behind our shield to discuss current cybersecurity topics ripped from the headlines.
Hot Topics: Cybercriminals Leveraging ChatGPT, AI’s “Lethal Trifecta”, F5 Networks Source Code Theft, SharePoint Vulnerability Update, Disrupting Malicious Uses of AI, AI-Powered Password Guessing Threat
 

Behind the Shield September 2025 - Summer Recap

Expert panelists and host Marco Estrela bring you behind our shield to discuss current cybersecurity topics ripped from the headlines.
This episode's Hot Topics include: The city of St. Paul's ransomware shutdown, Canada joins the EU in a cybersecurity pact, Palo Alto acquires CyberArk, SharePoint hack vulnerability, the Uberization of hacking, WhatsApp and Telegram banned in Russia
 
Sources:
Topic 1: Bill #1
Article title: St. Paul cyberattack//Group behind St. Paul cyberattack alleges posting 43 gigabytes of stolen data online, mayor says
Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/melvin-carter-st-paul-cyberattack-update-august-11/
 
Topic 2: Patrick #1
Article title: Canada signs deal deepening European defence and security partnership
Source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-rearm-europe-deal-1.7567162
 
Topic 3: Toby #1
Article title: Palo Alto Networks Q4 Earnings Surge 16%, Eyes $25B CyberArk Deal
Source: https://www.webpronews.com/palo-alto-networks-q4-earnings-surge-16-eyes-25b-cyberark-deal/
 
Topic 4: Bill #2
Article title: What we know about the Microsoft SharePoint attacks
Source: https://www.cybersecuritydive.com/news/what-we-know-microsoft-sharepoint-attacks/753961/
 
Topic 5: Patrick #2
Article title: The Uber of the underworld
Source: https://www.economist.com/international/2025/05/29/the-uber-of-the-underworld
 
Topic 6: Toby #2
Article title: Russia restricts WhatsApp and Telegram, alleging apps used for fraud and terrorism
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/13/russia-clamps-down-on-whatsapp-and-telegram-over-data-sharing

Behind the Shield May 2025

Expert panelists and host Marco Estrela bring you behind our shield to discuss current cybersecurity topics ripped from the headlines.
In this special episode, we hear from panelists Patrick Naoum, Bill Strub, and new to the panel, Toby Penn about their experience at the 2025 edition of RSA. Tune in to hear about some of this year's trending topics, most popular booths, and puppies at the conference?!

Behind the Shield - March 2025

This month we welcome guest and sponsor Julia Furst Morgado of Veeam for her spotlight topic "The Critical Nature of Incident Readiness and Response" and to chat about this month’s biggest cyber headlines with our panelists Marco Estrela, Patrick Naoum, and Bill Strub.
 
Topic 1: Patrick
Article title: Statement on People's Republic of China reconnaissance of Canadian systems
Source: https://www.cyber.gc.ca/en/news-events/statement-peoples-republic-china-reconnaissance-canadian-systems
 
Topic 3: Bill
Article title: Oracle customers confirm data stolen in alleged cloud breach is valid
Source: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/oracle-customers-confirm-data-stolen-in-alleged-cloud-breach-is-valid/  
 
Topic 4: Julia
Article title: FBI Says Backup Now—Advisory Warns Of Dangerous Ransomware Attacks
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2025/02/22/new-fbi-warning-backup-today-as-dangerous-attacks-ongoing/

Behind the Shield February 2025

Expert panelists and host Marco Estrela bring you behind our shield to discuss current cybersecurity topics ripped from the headlines.
In this special episode, the team interviews one of Virtual Guardian's top SOC managers Tommy Koorevaar. Their discussion dives into what a day in the life of a SOC manager entails and common misconceptions about the inner workings of SOC teams. Our panelists also share their hot topics including how the new presidency in the US is affecting the cybersecurity landscape and how AI is increasing the effectiveness of social engineering attacks.
 
Sources:
Topic 1: Bill
Article title: What A New Presidency Means For Global Cybersecurity—And For SMEs
Source: https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbestechcouncil/2025/02/19/what-a-new-presidency-means-for-global-cybersecurity-and-for-smes/
 
Topic 2: Patrick
Article title: AI-Powered Social Engineering: Ancillary Tools and Techniques
Source: https://thehackernews.com/2025/02/ai-powered-social-engineering-ancillary.html

Behind the Shield - January 2025

Happy New Year Behind the Shield listeners! This month we welcome back guest Tom Tovar, CEO and Co-Creator of our sponsor Appdome to reflect on the biggest cybersecurity headlines of 2024 and share predictions for 2025! Our guest is joined by host Marco Estrela and expert panelists Patrick Naoum, Bill Strub, and Jason Williams.

Behind the Shield November 2024

This month we welcome guest Tom Tovar, CEO and Co-Creator of our sponsor Appdome to chat about this month’s biggest cyber headlines with our panelists Marco Estrela, Patrick Naoum, Bill Strub and Jason Williams.
 
To learn more about Appdome's consumer survey on mobile security mentioned in this episode visit: https://www.appdome.com/mobile-consumer-cyber-security-survey-2024/
 
Hot Topics:
 
Topic 1: Jason
Article title: 5 BCDR Oversights That Leave You Exposed to Ransomware
Source: https://thehackernews.com/2024/11/5-bcdr-oversights-that-leave-you-exposed-to-ransomware.html
 
Topic 2: Tom
Article title: FTC Announces Crackdown on Deceptive AI Claims and Schemes
Source: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/09/ftc-announces-crackdown-deceptive-ai-claims-schemes
 
Topic 3: Patrick
Article title: November 2024 Patch Tuesday: Four Critical and Three Zero-Days Among 158 Vulnerabilities Patched
Source: https://www.crowdstrike.com/en-us/blog/patch-tuesday-analysis-november-2024/?srsltid=AfmBOoq9S5iR8ldC-N4ax9j6Unz_18KPZZAuzULZHlnG8iqQt6YiuZAU
 
Topic 4: Bill
Article title: Rethinking Cybersecurity From Cost Center To Value Driver
Source: https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbesfinancecouncil/2024/11/18/rethinking-cybersecurity-from-cost-center-to-value-driver/
 
Topic 5: Jason
Article title: New Google Pixel AI feature analyzes phone conversations for scams
Source: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/google/new-google-pixel-ai-feature-analyzes-phone-conversations-for-scams/
 
Topic 6: Patrick
Article title: Autonomous Discovery of Critical Zero-Days
Source: https://zeropath.com/blog/0day-discoveries

Behind the Shield - October 2024

This month we're joined by Mike Melo, CISO of Ontario’s Life Labs, for a Q&A about his CISO role, what keeps him up at night and the pitfalls of trying to achieve cyber-resilience. If you’re interested in having a sneak peek into the daily life of a CISO, you won’t want to miss this interview.
Hot Topics segment includes: Utilities getting attacked (again!), is quantum computing threatening Bitcoin, vulnerable API headaches and we will see if collaboration is achievable in the face of rising cyberthreats. 
 
Sources:
Topic 1: Jason #1
Article title: Vulnerable APIs and Bot Attacks Costing Businesses Up to $186 Billion Annually
Source: https://thehackernews.com/2024/10/vulnerable-apis-and-bot-attacks-costing.html
Topic 2: Bill #1
Article title: America's largest water utility hit by cyberattack at time of rising threats against U.S. infrastructure
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2024/10/08/american-water-largest-us-water-utility-cyberattack.html
Topic 3: Jason #2
Article title: Chinese researchers crack military-grade encryption: is bitcoin safe?
Source: https://cybernews.com/crypto/quantum-crack-military-grade-encryption-bitcoin-danger/
Topic 4: Bill #2
Article title: Escalating Cyber Threats Demand Stronger Global Defense and Cooperation
Source: https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2024/10/15/escalating-cyber-threats-demand-stronger-global-defense-and-cooperation/