Purple Teaming Is the New Job Security with Maril Vernon

Purple Teaming Is the New Job Security with Maril Vernon

Cybersecurity isn’t just red or blue anymore... it’s purple, white, and deeply human. Maril Vernon, award-winning ethical hacker and Senior Solutions Architect at NetSPI, returns to the Hacker Valley Studio to discuss purple teaming as the most future-proof career path in cyber. She opens up about mentorship, burnout, compensation realities, and how we’re still failing the fundamentals.

Together, Ron and Maril dig into what purple teaming really is (and isn’t), why soft skills matter more than ever, and how defenders are the frontline signal source for law enforcement. From guiding her mom into IR to co-founding Mind Over Cyber, Maril embodies what it means to show up for the cyber community and demand more from the culture itself.

Impactful Moments

00:00 - Introduction 01:01 - Maril’s role at NetSPI 03:00 - Why purple skills are future-proof 05:19 - Salary truths in purple teaming 08:30 - Know your value, negotiate wisely 13:07 - How defenders enable law enforcement 16:22 - The real meaning of purple teaming 18:39 - Common misconceptions debunked 24:45 - People are always the soft spot 26:01 - The two security stack must-haves 29:00 - Mom made it to incident response 30:48 - Maril’s mentorship philosophy 34:09 - Why you need to post anyway 36:35 - What Mind Over Cyber is really about 40:00 - CISOs are burning out silently 41:31 - Closing thoughts

Links:

Connect with our guest, Maril Vernon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marilvernon

Check out our upcoming events: https://www.hackervalley.com/livestreams

Join our creative mastermind and stand out as a cybersecurity professional:

https://www.patreon.com/hackervalleystudio

Love Hacker Valley Studio? Pick up some swag: https://store.hackervalley.com

Continue the conversation by joining our Discord: https://hackervalley.com/discord

Become a sponsor of the show to amplify your brand: https://hackervalley.com/work-with-us/

Episoder(410)

Why MFA Isn’t the Safety Net You Think It Is with Yaamini Barathi Mohan

Why MFA Isn’t the Safety Net You Think It Is with Yaamini Barathi Mohan

Phishing didn’t get smarter, it got better at looking normal. What used to be obvious scams now blend directly into the platforms, workflows, and security controls people trust every day. In this epi...

29 Jan 32min

When Cybercrime Learned How to Make Money and Never Looked Back with Graham Cluley

When Cybercrime Learned How to Make Money and Never Looked Back with Graham Cluley

Cybersecurity didn’t start as a billion-dollar crime machine. It started as pranks, ego, and curiosity. That origin story explains almost everything that’s breaking today. Ron sits down with Graham C...

25 Jan 37min

When Automation Outruns Control with Joshua Bregler

When Automation Outruns Control with Joshua Bregler

AI doesn’t break security, it exposes where it was already fragile. When automation starts making decisions faster than humans can audit, AppSec becomes the only thing standing between scale and catas...

18 Jan 37min

The Day AI Stopped Asking for Permission with Marcus J. Carey

The Day AI Stopped Asking for Permission with Marcus J. Carey

AI didn’t quietly evolve, it crossed the line from recommendation to execution. Once agents stopped advising humans and started acting inside real systems, trust replaced experimentation and consequen...

15 Jan 33min

When AI Ships the Code, Who Owns the Risk with Varun Badhwar and Henrik Plate

When AI Ships the Code, Who Owns the Risk with Varun Badhwar and Henrik Plate

AI isn’t quietly changing software development… it’s rewriting the rules while most security programs are still playing defense. When agents write code at machine speed, the real risk isn’t velocity, ...

8 Jan 35min

Think Like a Hacker Before the Hack Happens with John Hammond

Think Like a Hacker Before the Hack Happens with John Hammond

What if the most dangerous hackers are the ones who never touch a keyboard? The real threat isn't just about stolen credentials or ransomware; it's about understanding how attackers think before they ...

1 Jan 28min

Breaking Into Banks and Bypassing Modern Security with Greg Hatcher and John Stigerwalt

Breaking Into Banks and Bypassing Modern Security with Greg Hatcher and John Stigerwalt

Three banks in four days isn't just a bragging right for penetration testers. It's a wake-up call showing that expensive security tools and alarm systems often fail when tested by skilled operators wh...

18 Des 202533min

Defending Your Cyber Systems and Your Mental Attack Surface with Chris Hughes

Defending Your Cyber Systems and Your Mental Attack Surface with Chris Hughes

When your firewall forgets to buckle up, the crash doesn’t happen in the network first, it happens in your blindspots. In this episode, Ron is joined by returning guest Chris Hughes, Co-Founder of Aqu...

11 Des 202534min

Populært innen Fakta

fastlegen
dine-penger-pengeradet
relasjonspodden-med-dora-thorhallsdottir-kjersti-idem
treningspodden
foreldreradet
merry-quizmas
dopet
sovnlos
jakt-og-fiskepodden
rss-strid-de-norske-borgerkrigene
sinnsyn
podme-bio-3
rss-kull
gravid-uke-for-uke
hverdagspsyken
rss-kunsten-a-leve
tomprat-med-gunnar-tjomlid
fryktlos
level-up-med-anniken-binz
rss-var-forste-kaffe