The 229 Podcast

May 20, 2026: Mark Ferrari, VP of Advisory Services at Fortified Health Security, joins Drex DeFord on UnHack for a candid conversation about the threat landscape keeping healthcare security leaders up at night. From asset inventory gaps to the explosion of identity-based attacks, Mark brings a rare perspective shaped by military service, 30 years as an EMT, and deep healthcare IT experience. He pulls no punches on why healthcare keeps buying tools before defining the problem, and what it actually takes to reduce risk rather than just measure it.
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Key Points:
01:16 Mark Ferrari Background

05:21 Hot Topics: Basics and IAM

12:40 Incident Response Patient Safety

14:46 EMT Mindset Closing

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Ransomware attacks don't always start with a ransomware gang. They start with someone who gets paid to find the door.
Aleksey Volkov, known online as ChewbaccaCore, was an initial access broker. His job was identifying vulnerable companies, exploiting their networks, establishing a foothold, and selling that access on dark web marketplaces. Over 16 months in 2021-2022, his work enabled attacks on seven confirmed US businesses, resulting in $9M in confirmed losses and $24M in intended ransom demands. In March 2026, he was sentenced to 81 months in federal prison.
For healthcare leaders, the takeaway is uncomfortable: healthcare organizations are premium listings on these dark web markets. Legacy systems, large vendor and contractor ecosystems, high-value data, massive operational disruption risk, and historically thin security investment relative to exposure all show up in the listing price.
Someone may have already found a way into your network. They may be holding it. It may have already been sold. Stopping a ransomware gang when they arrive is one problem. Knowing whether someone has already been paid to find the door is a different one.
Remember, Stay a Little Paranoid
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May 19, 2026: Three powerhouse executives tackle healthcare's most complex sourcing decisions in this essential conversation. Lisa Davis, Former CIO and Founder/CEO of Lisa Davis Advisory; Janet Malzone, Former CEO and Board Member; and Kristine Jarvis, Organizational Transformation Leader, reveal what leaders get wrong about offshore, nearshore, and automation strategies. From the pre-mortem technique that prevents million-dollar failures to the cultural metrics most organizations ignore, they expose why technical fluency without leadership maturity creates chaos. Discover how to rebuild trust after transformation missteps and why projects with the highest team disagreement deliver the strongest ROI.
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Key Points:
03:59 Challenges of Offshoring and Automation
09:41 Preparing for AI and Future Technologies
25:36 Leadership and Technical Capabilities
31:58 Holistic Transformation and Systems Thinking
43:06 Global Workforce and AI Myths

May 18, 2026: Bill Russell, Drex DeFord, and Sarah Richardson dig into Stanford Health Care's bold agentic AI strategy, and what it means for every healthcare IT team right now. From naming the fear of job loss head-on to redefining what innovation actually means, the trio breaks down why standing still is the bigger risk. Drex reports from Utah on the Great Trust Recession and the deepfake dangers reshaping how we verify everything. Sarah brings leadership lessons from Nashville on EQ, distributed thinking, and leading through uncertainty. The analyst of the future is a workflow architect.
Key Points:
01:46 Fear and Job Security Reframe

08:20 Tech Debt as AI Opportunity

12:50 Cutting Anchors with Five Whys

16:33 Measuring Success and Burnout

19:49 Conference Takeaways and Wrap

Keep up to date on the latest in health IT:
https://thisweekhealth.com/news/
X: This Week Health
LinkedIn: This Week Health
Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

May 18, 2026: Bill Russell, Drex DeFord, and Sarah Richardson dig into Stanford Health Care's bold agentic AI strategy, and what it means for every healthcare IT team right now. From naming the fear of job loss head-on to redefining what innovation actually means, the trio breaks down why standing still is the bigger risk. Drex reports from Utah on the Great Trust Recession and the deepfake dangers reshaping how we verify everything. Sarah brings leadership lessons from Nashville on EQ, distributed thinking, and leading through uncertainty. The analyst of the future is a workflow architect.
Key Points:
01:46 Fear and Job Security Reframe
08:20 Tech Debt as AI Opportunity
12:50 Cutting Anchors with Five Whys
16:33 Measuring Success and Burnout
19:49 Conference Takeaways and Wrap

Keep up to date on the latest in health IT:
https://thisweekhealth.com/news/
X: This Week Health
LinkedIn: This Week Health
Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer