Threat Vector Unit 42 | Palo Alto Networks

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Threat Vector

Threat Vector is your compass in the world of cyberthreats. Hear our unique threat intelligence, cutting-edge techniques, and real-world case studies.

Threat Vector | When Security Friction Becomes the Backdoor

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In this episode of Threat Vector, host David Moulton explores a critical truth that most security leaders miss: the difference between friction that protects and friction that creates risk. Our guest this week is Birat Niraula. Birat leads security for Google Enterprise Network, where he oversees protection across on-premise, network infrastructure, enterprise, and cloud environments.

You'll learn:

Why bad security UX isn't just annoying—it's a vulnerability that creates backdoors
How to identify friction that protects (like MFA and jump hosts) versus friction that makes teams bypass controls
Why DevOps teams inject backdoors into production when security slows them down too much
How AI is becoming the new cloud rush—teams deploying models without understanding security risks
The Chrome browser principle: best security is seamless security that users don't have to think about
Why embedding security teams in design processes beats the "sledgehammer approach" of blanket policies
How to use AI agents as security sidekicks to scale beyond what your team can manually review

Birat shares hard-won lessons from securing enterprises at massive scale—from building 24/7 SOCs to leading multi-cloud architecture at Goldman Sachs to now protecting Google's infrastructure. But this conversation isn't about his resume. It's about the fundamental tradeoffs security leaders face: velocity versus protection, automation versus human judgment, and when to embrace friction versus when friction becomes the enemy.

This episode is essential listening if you're: leading enterprise security programs, struggling with teams that route around your controls, managing DevOps or cloud security, implementing security that doesn't block business velocity, or trying to understand where AI security is heading.

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