The Core Strength

Yaron Levi: Security continues to be about the basics

In this episode of the Core Strength Podcast, we sit down with Yaron Levi, CISO of Dolby, to explore one of the most overlooked realities in cybersecurity: most companies don’t get breached because they lack the most advanced tools or controls, they get breached because of the lack of operational discipline. Yaron breaks down why the majority of security incidents still come down to the same foundational issues they did decades ago - misconfigurations, weak access controls, unpatched systems, and network complexity - despite endless innovation across the security industry. We discuss why concepts like inventory management, configuration management, change control, patching, and segmentation remain the backbone of security, even as the industry constantly chases new technologies and shiny objects. The conversation dives deep into the operational realities behind modern enterprise security. Yaron explains how cloud, identity systems, SaaS, and AI have not eliminated networks or perimeters, but instead multiplied them exponentially, creating an explosion of complexity that organizations struggle to manage. We explore why operational rigor often loses out to speed and efficiency, how technical debt compounds over time, and why many security tools still overwhelm teams with endless lists of problems without helping them take meaningful action. Yaron also shares his perspective on the future of AI in security - not as a replacement for humans, but as a way to process massive amounts of context, automate operational discipline, and help security teams make better decisions at scale while keeping humans in control.

Daniel Cohen: past, present, and future of network security

In this episode of the Core Strength Podcast, we sit down with Daniel Cohen, former SVP of Security Architecture at Paramount, to discuss how network security has evolved over the past two decades, and why it’s becoming harder, not easier. From the early days of unencrypted traffic and manual port management to today’s world of encrypted flows, identity-based controls, and cloud-native architectures, Daniel walks through the major shifts that have changed the field. We explore how innovations like App-ID and identity-aware policies improved flexibility, but also introduced new layers of abstraction that make it harder to truly understand what’s happening inside the network. The conversation dives into the operational reality behind modern network security: overworked teams, constant infrastructure churn, and a reactive approach driven by lack of time and resources. Daniel explains why network security is still treated as an afterthought in many organizations, how the split between cloud and traditional environments creates fragmentation, and why networks remain the invisible foundation everyone depends on but few fully understand. We also discuss the future - how AI can help reduce manual toil, why network engineers must expand beyond silos, and what it takes to turn network security into a proactive, strategic function rather than a constant firefight.

Assaf Keren: Network security in the modern era

In this inaugural episode of the Core Strength Podcast, we sit down with Assaf Keren, CISO of Qualtrics, to discuss the reality of modern network security and why it’s far from a solved problem. Assaf shares how the industry has drifted away from foundational network knowledge as cloud and SaaS abstractions took over, leading to a dangerous gap in understanding how data actually flows. We explore why many security teams treat network security as a checkbox exercise, how responsibility for network security has shifted to network teams and vendors, and why truly mature implementations remain rare despite decades of tooling innovation. The conversation dives into what it really takes to build strong network security in a hybrid world, from understanding topology and segmentation to aligning controls with real threat models. Assaf explains why attackers are about to gain a massive advantage with AI-driven reconnaissance, making proactive network visibility and control more critical than ever. We also cover practical steps to improve maturity, the importance of asset awareness, and why going back to fundamentals rather than chasing shiny tools may be the most important move security leaders can make in the years ahead.