Back to Event

Keynote

The Agentic Insider Threat: Navigating AI Deception with Human-Centric Defenses
Closing Keynote

Tech Theater 1

Starts: September 25, 2025 4:00 pm
Ends: 5:00 pm
Sponsored by
More info

The Agentic Insider Threat: Navigating AI Deception with Human-Centric Defenses

Abstract:

What happens when the AI you trust decides to lie? This presentation reveals the dark side of agentic AI, moving beyond bugs and vulnerabilities to the chilling prospect of strategic deception. Groundbreaking research and thought leadership from OWASP (“Top 10”) and others show that advanced AI models with non-human identities, when faced with goal conflicts, can intentionally engage in harmful behaviors like blackmail and corporate espionage. However, the threat isn’t just the AI itself; it’s the complex interplay between malicious agents and human actors, where insider resentment or unintentional human error can amplify the risk. This session will explore the critical need for a human firewall alongside technological safeguards, creating a holistic security strategy to detect and mitigate the evolving risks posed by both deceptive AI and the humans who interact with them.

Host

James McQuiggan

Advisory CISO / Founder, Apparent Security

James McQuiggan, CISSP, and author brings over 25 years of experience to the cybersecurity field and is the founder and Advisory CISO of Apparent Security, a consulting practice to help organizations deal with Human Risk Management, Artificial Intelligence, and social engineering, as well as vCISO for various organizations. His extensive background includes CISO Advisory at Knowbe4, providing thought leadership on various cybersecurity topics. McQuiggan was a senior cybersecurity roles at Siemens Energy and Wind Divisions, where he developed expertise in industry standards, incident response, and industrial control system (ICS) security. In addition to his corporate work, James serves as part-time faculty at Full Sail University, teaching Cyber Threat Intelligence. A dedicated community leader, he currently volunteers with ISC2 as Co-chair of the North American Region Advisory Council and Chair of the Southeast Chapter Regional Management Committee, following an eight-year tenure as President of the ISC2 Central Florida Chapter.

Speakers

Scott Giordano

Partner & Co-Founder, The CISO Law Firm

Scott M. Giordano is an attorney with more than 25 years of legal, technology, and risk management consulting experience. An IAPP Fellow of Information Privacy and AI Governance Professional (AIGP), a Certified Information Security Systems Professional (CISSP), and a Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP), Scott is a partner at The CISO Law Firm, a firm dedicated to representing CISOs and other cybersecurity team leaders. Prior to starting his firm, he served as General Counsel of Spirion LLC, a privacy technology firm. There Scott also served as the company’s subject matter expert on multinational data protection and its intersection with technology, export compliance, internal investigations, information governance, and risk management. Prior to joining Spirion, he served as Director, Data Protection, for Robert Half Legal and established the global privacy program for Esterline Technologies Corporation in Bellevue, WA. During his career, Scott has held senior positions at several legal technology firms and is listed as co-inventor on Intelligent Searching of Electronically Stored Information, patent no. 13/842,910. In addition, he taught the first law school course anywhere on electronic evidence and e-discovery. Scott is a member of the bar in Washington state, California, and the District of Columbia.

John Barker, Esq.

Co-Founder & Partner, The CISO Law Firm

John Barker, Esq., Co-Founder & Partner at The CISO Law Firm, is a cybersecurity and AI attorney and global innovation and compliance expert with 20+ years of global AI-enabled innovation in professional decision support (accounting, healthcare, legal, regulatory & tax) in North America, Europe & Asia Pacific. He maintains knowledge of best practices in compliance and privacy via continuing legal education and certifications from the Compliance Certification Board (CCB®): CCEP®, CHC®, CHRC® & CHPC®. He advises Boards, C-Suites, and senior product team leadership about compliant and ethical AI-enabled innovation. He has spoken at ISC2, InfoSec World, and will be speaking at RSAC 2025. He is a member of the Louisiana State Bar Association and the American Immigration Lawyers Association.