Thomas Richard talks to Mike Wilkes, Enterprise CISO at Aikido Security
The Cyber Security Recruiter PodcastShow Notes
Mythos, Autonomous Pen Testing, and the Future of Self-Securing Software, with Mike Wilkes, Enterprise CISO at Aikido Security. On the Cyber Security Recruiter podcast, Mike Wilkes discusses a busy week of CISO events at Google (Mythos/Glasswing gathering), the Harvard Club, and Meta’s OSAC cybersecurity committee, plus an NYSE TV interview about Aikido Security’s Series B and growth. He explains Mythos Preview’s implications, including rapid vulnerability discovery (citing Firefox fixing 271 issues vs 20–30 historically), Anthropic’s restrictions, and the need for prioritization (EPSS) rather than chasing raw CVE volume. Mike describes autonomous pen testing where a $7,000, two-week API test was replicated for $4 in 80 minutes, arguing the “harness” and orchestration matter most. He emphasizes soft skills, listening, and translating security into business impact for boards, warns about privacy erosion, token-cost waste, supply-chain/model risks, and advocates small local models for privacy and resilience.
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00:00 Welcome and introductions 00:39 Lindsay career snapshot 01:41 Threat intel at Human 02:37 New book launch 03:33 Malware needs context 04:42 Spotting real people online 08:25 AI as attack amplifier 09:45 Phishing at scale 11:50 Democratized hacking risks 15:18 Path to VP leadership 20:00 AI proof risk communication 21:53 Time boxing MIT MBA grind 23:13 Writing a book discipline 23:49 Small wins and purpose 25:15 Book writing deepens mastery 26:39 Communication skills through practice 29:15 Behind the scenes struggles 32:02 Mentors versus sponsors 34:41 Security community collaboration 35:48 Whats next and book teaser 37:46 Boat go faster mantra 39:49 Final thanks and wrap up