Fighting Back with John Hubbard | 15

In this episode, Ciaran and James are joined by Senior SANS instructor John Hubbard to discuss the ever-changing threat landscape and how SOC teams can stay ahead. John shares his expertise on spotting threats early, how to test your defenses before the real attackers show up, and why he’s on a mission to simplify cybersecurity operations for the next generation of defenders.

Guest Bio:

John Hubbard is a SOC consultant, speaker, Senior SANS instructor, and author of SANS SEC450: Blue Team Fundamentals and LDR551: Building and Leading Security Operations Centers. With a background as a SOC Manager for a large pharmaceutical company, John brings real-world experience in threat hunting, incident response, and security operations team management. He focuses on helping organizations improve their SOC teams, training the next generation of defenders, and making teams more effective and resilient against modern threats.

Highlights:

Breaking into Cybersecurity

• • FOR610: Reverse Engineering Malware Training | Malware Tools & Techniques | SANS Institute
  • SEC560: Enterprise Penetration Testing Course | SANS Institute
  • SEC511: Cybersecurity Engineering: Advanced Threat Detection and Monitoring | SANS Institute
  • Cyber Defense Training & Resources | SANS Institute
  • SEC450: Blue Team Fundamentals: Security Operations and Analysis | SANS Institute
  • John Hubbard - YouTube | The Blueprint Blog

Understanding SOCs

• • Building a Security Operations Centre (SOC) - NCSC.GOV.UK
  • What is a Security Operations Center (SOC)? | Definition from TechTarget.
  • Cybersecurity First Principles: A Reboot of Strategy and Tactics | Wiley
  • EDR, XDR, MDR: Making Sense Of Threat Detection And Response Acronyms

Lessons from the SolarWinds Breach

• • SolarWinds: Why the Sunburst hack is so serious - BBC News
  • What You Need To Know About the SolarWinds Supply-Chain Attack | SANS Institute
  • Transparency, Information-Sharing, and Collaboration Make the Software
  • Industry More Secure. We Must Not Risk Our Progress. - SolarWinds Blog
  • Dealing with the SolarWinds Orion compromise - NCSC.GOV.UK

Industry Insights from Mandiant

• • M-Trends 2025 Report
  • M-Trends 2025: Data, Insights, and Recommendations From the Frontlines | Google Cloud Blog

Additional Resources

• Security Now | A Podcast Covering Hot Topics in Tech Security

Contact:

• Have questions or comments? Email us at cyberleaderspodcast@sans.org