In this episode of Modern Cyber, host Jeremy sits down with Rich Mogull, the Chief Analyst at the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA). Jeremy and Rich dive straight into the realities of AI-powered engineering, dissecting the risks and rewards of developer tool integrations like code copilots.

They walk through the core architectures of Large Language Models (LLMs), outlining how non-determinism and the collapse of traditional control and data planes trigger modern security threats like indirect prompt injection. Rich offers a detailed breakdown of the high-profile AWS Amazon Q outage, analyzing how over-automation and over-provisioned privileges can lead to catastrophic environment tear-downs when the "human-in-the-loop" goes for coffee.

Finally, the conversation shifts to Rich’s recent concept of "Core Collapse"—an astrophysics analogy for how AI-fueled offensive velocity creates a math problem of combinatorial complexity that human defenders cannot match alone. Learn how to combat this threat through goal-based permissions, deterministic guardrails, Zero Trust architectures, and proactive technical upskilling.

About Rich

Rich is the Chief Analyst at the Cloud Security Alliance where he focuses on leading-edge cloud and AI security research and implementation. He has over 25 years of security experience, with over 15 years of focusing on cloud and emerging technologies. Prior to joining the CSA full time Rich frequently collaborated with CSA as the principle course designer of the CCSK training class, primary author of the Guidance, and developer of the Cloud Security Maturity Model, among other projects.

As Researcher and CEO of Securosis, RIch taught cloud security and incident response at Black Hat for over 10 years, developed the free Cloud Security Lab a Week (CloudSLAW) project, and actively works on developing hands-on cloud security techniques. Rich also founded DisruptOps, a cloud security startup acquired by FireMon where he became the SVP of Cloud Security.

Prior to founding Securosis and DisruptOps, Rich was a Research Vice President at Gartner on the security team. Prior to his seven years at Gartner, Rich worked as an independent consultant, web application developer, software development manager at the University of Colorado, and systems and network administrator.

Rich is the Security Editor of TidBITS and a frequent contributor to industry publications. He is a frequent industry speaker at events including the RSA Security Conference, Black Hat, and DefCon, and has spoken on every continent except Antarctica (where he's happy to speak for free -- assuming travel is covered).

Episode Links:

Rich Mogull's CSA Profile: https://cloudsecurityalliance.org/profiles/rich-mogull
Rich Mogull's "Core Collapse" Blog Post: https://cloudsecurityalliance.org/blog/2026/02/26/core-collapse#_