The Cyber Security Matters Podcast

In episode 78 of Cyber Security Matters, hosts Matt Rose and Harry Baldwin are joined by Lee Sult, Chief Investigator at Binalyze, for a fascinating discussion on the realities of modern incident response and the evolving role of cybersecurity investigators.

Drawing on a career that spans law enforcement, digital forensics, incident response, entrepreneurship and product development, Lee explains why understanding attackers is just as important as understanding technology, and why incident response must evolve as cyber threats become faster, more sophisticated and increasingly AI-assisted.

The conversation explores Lee's journey from investigating cybercrime within law enforcement to leading investigations into some of the world's most complex cyber incidents, before diving into how Binalyze is helping democratize digital forensics for security teams worldwide. Along the way, Lee shares practical frameworks for incident response, explains why evidence collection remains one of cybersecurity's hardest problems, and offers candid advice for aspiring investigators looking to build successful careers in the industry.

Key Topics Covered
● From law enforcement to cybersecurity: How Lee's early experience as a police dispatcher and digital forensic investigator shaped his perspective on incident response and crisis management.
● Thinking like an investigator: Why curiosity, authenticity and understanding attacker behaviour are the most valuable qualities for anyone pursuing a career in incident response.
● Democratizing digital forensics: How Binalyze is making enterprise-grade investigations accessible beyond elite incident response teams by simplifying evidence collection and forensic analysis.
● The four questions every investigation must answer: Lee's practical framework for determining whether attackers remain in an environment, identifying affected systems, understanding initial compromise and assessing data exposure.
● AI as a force multiplier for attackers: Why artificial intelligence isn't necessarily creating more sophisticated attacks, but dramatically lowering the barrier to entry for less experienced threat actors.
● Using AI responsibly in cyber defense: Where AI genuinely accelerates investigations, where human expertise remains essential, and why accountability can never be delegated to machines.
● Why organisations over-invest in prevention: How the industry's focus on detection and prevention has left many organisations underprepared for responding effectively when attacks inevitably succeed.
● Building high-performing security teams: The importance of diversity of thought, mentoring future leaders and creating environments where curiosity drives innovation.
● Breaking into cybersecurity in 2026: Lee's practical advice on building a home lab, showcasing technical ability and demonstrating genuine passion to stand out during the hiring process.

About Lee Sult
Lee Sult is the Chief Investigator at Binalyze, where he helps organisations improve their incident response capabilities through scalable digital forensics and investigative technology. His career began in law enforcement, where he worked in digital forensics before moving into incident response, ultimately spending more than a decade investigating some of the world's most complex cyber incidents. Along the way, Lee has held roles spanning consulting, product development and entrepreneurship, including serving as a founding Forward Deployed Security Engineer at Palantir and co-founding Huirangi. Today, his focus is on helping organisations investigate cyber incidents faster, empowering security teams with better forensic capabilities, and making advanced incident response accessible beyond specialist experts.

This episode is brought to you by neuco.

In episode 77 of the Cyber SecurityMatters podcast, hosts Matt Rose and Harry Baldwin sit down with Scott Gainey, Chief Marketing Officer at Checkmarx, for a wide-ranging conversation on marketing transformation, leadership, and the seismic shift AI is forcing onapplication security. With nearly three decades leading marketing at companies like Cisco, Palo Alto Networks and SentinelOne, Scott brings a rare blend of go-to-market craft and deep security-category expertise and a clear-eyed viewof why AppSec has suddenly become one of the most urgent problems in cyber.
Key topics covered:
How Scott fell into security, marketing, and leadership, none of which he originally set out to do
The leadership lessons that shaped him: Chris Young, West Point's Thayer program, and ROI rigour under private-equity ownership at KKR
Why conference marketing is won before the event, not on the show floor
The "go local" community trend emerging alongside the big conferences
How the CMO role has changed: AI, frontier models, and a buying committee that's - 70% through its decision before sales is involved
What separates great marketers: intellectual curiosity, self-drive, and field credibility
The biggest shift in application security: AI's "two-front problem": more code and more vulnerabilities on one side, adversaries weaponising those same models on the other
What Checkmarx does, and why deterministic and probabilistic (AI) scanning need to work together
Career advice for anyone entering cybersecurity

Guest bio:
Scott Gainey is Chief Marketing Officer at Checkmarx, the application security company. He brings over twodecades of marketing leadership across Palo Alto Networks, SentinelOne, Cisco Security, NetApp and Nile, and has studied leadership at Stanford GSB and West Point's Thayer Leadership Development Group. Connect with Scott on LinkedIn
About neuco: 
neuco is a Global Specialist Recruitment and Executive Search firm based in Brighton, UK. We help recruit for mid-seniorhard-to-fill roles in Cyber Security, Satellite, Space & Defence and Media & Sports Technology sectors. If hiring or talent is on the radar now or in the future, get in touch for an initial conversation today via hello@neuco-group.com.

In episode EP 76 of Cyber Security Matters, hosts Harry Baldwin and Matt Rose are joined by Matthew Holland, Founder and CEO of Field Effect, for a masterclass in building mission-driven cybersecurity companies. Matt takes us from his early days at Canada's Communications Security Establishment (CSE), where a summer job turned into a seven-year career in Tailored Access Operations, through co-founding and selling Linchpin Labs to L3 Harris, to his current mission: making enterprise-grade managed detection and response (MDR) accessible and affordable to small and medium-sized businesses.

The conversation explores what it takes to compete against billion-dollar incumbents with a team of 165, why small high-performing teams consistently outperform bureaucratic giants, and the real story behind AI in cybersecurity - separating genuine innovation from marketing hype. Matt shares hard-won lessons on customer focus, the power of consistency across a 25-year career, and why solving "insanely hard problems" is both the challenge and the reward of entrepreneurship.

Key Topics Covered:
• From PhD plans to CSE: How a summer job at Canada's Communications Security Establishment changed Matt's career trajectory and introduced him to operating system internals and intelligence tradecraft
• The Matrix generation: Early 2000s security research, breaking security boundaries, and building deep technical expertise before Google existed
• The power of small teams: Why focus, mission-driven culture, and removing barriers consistently beat bureaucracy and layers of management
• Building Linchpin Labs: Co-founding and scaling a privatised intelligence company, the "beer and pizza problem-solving method," and competing against Lockheed Martin and British Aerospace
• Field Effect's mission: Making enterprise-grade MDR accessible and affordable to SMBs and mid-market organisations — "an insanely hard problem"
• Competing with giants: Strategic lessons from going up against NSA, multi-billion dollar defence contractors, and today's trillion-dollar cybersecurity vendors

About Matthew Holland:
Matthew Holland is the Founder and CEO of Field Effect, a Canadian cybersecurity company headquartered in Ottawa that delivers managed detection and response (MDR) services to small and medium-sized businesses and mid-market organisations. Matt's career began at the Communications Security Establishment (CSE), Canada's national cryptologic agency, where he spent seven years in the Tailored Access Operations Group as a leading security researcher specialising in intelligence tradecraft and technology for top-secret Five Eyes projects.

In 2007, Matt co-founded Linchpin Labs, growing it into a leader in the privatised intelligence industry before its acquisition by L3 Harris in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has built a reputation for tackling complex technical challenges, competing successfully against much larger competitors, and building high-performing teams united by mission focus and work ethic. Today, Field Effect operates with approximately 165 employees, delivering enterprise-grade cybersecurity to underserved markets at scale.

About neuco:
neuco is a global specialist recruitment and executive search firm, helping organisations find senior and specialist talent across Satellite, Space & Defence; Media & Sports Technology; and Cyber Security. Find out more at www.neuco-group.com, or explore our Cyber Security sector.

Valentina Flores, Co-Founder and CEO of Red Sentry, joins hosts Harry Baldwin and Matt Rose for another fantastic edition of The Cyber Security Matters Podcast. Valentina shares her unconventional journey from cybercrime detective investigating human trafficking and child exploitation cases to building a penetration testing company focused on real-world attacker simulation and practical risk reduction.
The conversation dives into why cybersecurity is fundamentally about people and psychology rather than just tools, the critical importance of diversity of thought and background in building effective security teams, and how organisations can move beyond checkbox compliance to proactive, human-centred security practices. Valentina emphasises starting simple, prioritising real risks, and fostering a culture where security is everyone’s responsibility.
Key Topics Covered
Valentina’s path from SVU detective to cybercrime investigations and the surprising normalcy of hacker motivations
Why cybercrime is “just like every other crime” - victim psychology, criminal psychology, and real-world attacker behaviour
Building Red Sentry: pivots, funding, and a non-sales-focused approach centred on teaching and simplification
Diversity beyond gender/race: the value of neurodiversity, unique backgrounds (including carnival life and law enforcement), and curiosity-driven hiring
Human-led penetration testing, tabletop exercises, and why third-party ethical hackers uncover what internal teams miss
Security culture in practice: integrating security into every department, honest adoption of tools, and avoiding tool fatigue
Advice for new cybersecurity professionals: avoid putting yourself in a box and learn every side of the business
About Valentina Flores
Valentina Flores is the Co-Founder and CEO of Red Sentry, a penetration testing and vulnerability management company that delivers human-led offensive security services to help organisations identify and remediate real risks before attackers exploit them. With a background as a cybercrime detective on a federal task force, she gained firsthand insight into how real-world attackers operate. Valentina is a regular speaker on hacker psychology, security culture, neurodiversity, and why organisations must prioritise understanding risk over simply buying more tools. She is also a TEDx speaker.
This episode is brought to you by neuco.

Join hosts Harry Baldwin and Matt Rose in episode 74 of Cyber Security Matters as they sit down with Marlow Bryant, co-founder and CEO of Reflex Security. This engaging conversation explores the evolution from static tabletop exercises to dynamic, AI-powered crisis simulations that adapt in real-time to team decisions.

Marlow brings a unique perspective to cybersecurity, having spent nearly a decade in venture capital as VP at Marsh Capital and Clear Sky Security Fund, where he invested in cybersecurity and AI companies including XL, Spy Cloud, Mitigate, Accurate, and Together AI. His diverse background includes an unexpected stint in stand-up comedy, providing valuable insights into reading audiences and adapting communication styles.

Key Topics Covered:
• The journey from venture capital to founding a cybersecurity startup
• Building early-stage teams and adapting roles as companies grow
• Why organizational response matters as much as technical prevention
• The limitations of traditional tabletop exercises and simulation gaps
• How AI is transforming incident response and crisis preparation
• The future evolution of the tabletop exercise market
• Career advice for cybersecurity industry newcomers

About Marlow Bryant:
Marlow Bryant is co-founder and CEO of Reflex Security, an adaptive crisis simulation platform that replaces static tabletop exercises with AI agent-driven simulations. Before founding Reflex, he spent nearly a decade in venture capital, investing in cybersecurity and AI companies. He brings a unique perspective to the industry, combining technical expertise with experience in comedy and audience engagement.

This episode is brought to you by neuco.