Ep 8 | 8.31.21

The Risk Episode: Black Swans, Grey Rhinos, Angels & Demons

Show Notes

Risk is a funny thing – our minds are constantly looking for risk, scanning our environments and our available choices. And sometimes we do a great job at anticipating and avoiding risky situations. But that doesn’t mean that we are universally good at dealing with risk. In fact, we can be downright appalling at considering and avoiding risk.

In this episode, we explore the concept of risk, why we're so bad at understanding it, and the steps we can take to improve. Perry speaks with four risk experts who will help us understand the ups and downs of how we evaluate risk. We’ll touch on everything from Black Swans to Grey Rhinos to risk frameworks, risk equations, inbuilt risk in the design of computing interfaces, and more. Featuring Michele Wucker (author of The Grey Rhino and You Are What You Risk), Christian Hunt (Founder of Human Risk), Dr. Arun Vishwanath (Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Avant Research Group), and Matt Stamper (Chief Information Security Officer and Executive Advisor at EVOTEK and co-author of the CISO Desk Reference Guides vol1 & vol2).

Guests:

Resources & Books:

Black Swan Theory
Grey Rhino Events
Various Risk Equations
Risk Perception Equation, Freakonomics
20 Cognitive Biases That Affect Risk Decision Making, SafetyRisk.net
Factor Analysis of Information Risk (FAIR) Framework
The Gray Rhino: How to Recognize and Act on the Obvious Dangers We Ignore, by Michele Wucker
You Are What You Risk: The New Art and Science of Navigating an Uncertain World, by Michele Wucker
Why are Humans Bad at Calculating Risk?, Cogency
Why You're Probably Not So Great at Risk Assessment, NY Times
Why the Human Brain is a Poor Judge of Risk, Wired
Humans are Terrible at Assessing Risk, by Kimberly Forsythe
Why We're Awful at Assessing Risk, USA Today
CISO Desk Reference Guides vol1 & vol2, by Bill Bonney, Gary Hayslip, Matt Stamper

Music and Sound Effects by Blue Dot Sessions, Envato Elements, & Storyblocks.

Artwork by Chris Machowski.

8^th Layer Insights

Podcast Info

HOST(S):

Perry Carpenter currently serves as Chief Evangelist and Strategy Officer for KnowBe4, the world's most popular security awareness and simulated phishing platform. He's an award-winning author, security researcher, and behavior science enthusiast. Previously, Perry led security awareness, security culture management, and anti-phishing behavior management research at Gartner, in addition to covering areas of IAM strategy, CISO Program Management mentoring, and Technology Service Provider success strategies.

Schedule: Tuesdays (biweekly)

Creator: Perry Carpenter

KnowBe4

What really makes a “strong” password? And why are your end-users tortured with them in the first place? How do hackers crack your passwords with ease? And what can/should you do about your authentication methods? Password complexity, length, and rotation requirements are the bane of your end-user experience and literally the cause of thousands of data breaches. But it doesn't have to be that way! Join Roger Grimes, KnowBe4's Data-Driven Defense Evangelist, for a live webinar to find out what your password policy should be and learn about the common mistakes organizations make when creating password policy. Register today.