Rick Scot recounts his unexpected path to cybersecurity leadership, beginning with tech support at Disney and evolving into high-level roles at Bank of America and Bank of New York Mellon. He highlights how his passion for continuous learning and pattern recognition made data and threat intelligence natural fits, eventually landing him leadership roles tackling global cybercrime and even representing his organization in international forums like Europol and the G7.

Rick also opens up about the dark side of cybercrime—particularly elder fraud—and shares a personal story of how a scam disrupted his own family. He breaks down how fraud tactics have evolved and underscores how AI is lowering the barrier to entry for cybercriminals, enabling even novices to launch attacks with sophisticated tools.

On the defensive side, Rick offers actionable advice on how AI can be strategically used to cut down on false positives and streamline operations in Security Operations Centers (SoCs). By monitoring patterns such as badge swipes and IP mismatches, organizations can gain deeper behavioral context without overwhelming analysts. Rick stresses the importance of testing and monitoring AI tools rigorously and calls for updates to vendor contracts to account for AI usage and data protections.