I hosted the Silver Bullet Security Podcast for 13.5 years from 2006 to 2018. For each of the 153 episodes that meant: choosing the guest, getting help from research assistants (at IEEE S&P magazine) to gather background, digesting the background, writing a script (of 9 or so questions), recording the podcast in our studio at Cigital, and finally helping with “launch.” Of all of these activities, the interview itself was by far the easiest.

Know why Silver Bullet was so good with such in-depth questions? Because the script writing took 4-5 hours per episode (not counting the background research…which was often much more involved than just googling the person). All this for a 20 minute show.

We are rebooting Silver Bullet after a few years off with a new focus on Machine Learning security. Our first guest will be Gadi Evron. We’ve redesigned the logo, built an initial distribution list, created a landing zone with proper feeds to the usual channels, and yes..written a script. But this time I decided to use Gemini as my research assistant. TL/DR it was great.

I started with a bunch of ideas in an amorphous blob. This got me thinking about show story arc, coverage of various aspects of MLsec, etc. Here is what my notes looked like.

Then it was time to invoke Gemini. Fortunately, Gemini knows lots about me and about Silver Bullet. Eerily so. It knew where the archive was, and was able to garner a meta-pattern for the show with some insight into its philosophy. Was it absolutely spot on? Nope. Was it sycophantic and overly agreeable? Yes. But hey, the show’s creator is here driving the laser pointer (which, like a good cat, Gemini was happy to pounce after).

I worked through the script in order with Gemini for about an hour, during which I was impressed with its up-to-date (like yesterday) access to things happening in the world…like on this very website. For example, Gemini knew that Gadi had just visited BIML and that [un]prompted was something we had worked on together. It was very helpful, sometimes wrong, often using the wrong words…but, question by question, the show arc emerged. It kept track of where we were, sometimes suggesting new directions (which I rejected every time), but always knowing where we were in the work. After the session, I asked it to dump the script to one place for copy/paste and then did a fine tuning edit pass (including real fact checking on a couple of things).

All told, my bet is Gemini saved me about a factor three or four times the usual amount of work I used to do. Will the show be just as good? Obviously, the proof is in the pudding. We will be launching the first episode on March 2nd.

Here’s how it will all start…

Silver Bullet Intro (BIML Focused)

​[MUSIC: Classic Silver Bullet Theme – Up and Under]

​gem: Welcome to the Silver Bullet Security Podcast episode 154. I’m your host, Gary McGraw, coming to you from the Berryville Institute of Machine Learning where we are defining the future of machine learning security.

​From 2006-2018, Silver Bullet explored the nascent field of software security through the lens of building security in. But today, the frontier has moved. As we integrate machine learning into the fabric of our essential systems, we find ourselves facing a new set of architectural flaws and security challenges that traditional software security can’t touch.

​On Silver Bullet, we’re shifting our focus to the security of machine learning—bringing the same deep-dive, “no-silver-bullet” philosophy to the world of AI.

To help me kick off this new era, I’m joined by my new friend Gadi Evron. Gadi is a veteran of the botnet wars, a community builder, and the chair of the new [un]prompted conference. Gadi, welcome to the show.

​[MUSIC: Swells briefly then fades out]

1. The [un]prompted Vision

Gadi, you’re chairing the [un]prompted conference, and I’m really pleased to be working on the committee with you. We’ve both seen the security conference circuit evolve over the decades, but [un]prompted feels like it’s trying to capture lightning in a bottle for the ML security space. What was it about the current state of AI security that made you feel we needed a dedicated, practitioner-first venue—something beyond just another “AI track” at a traditional security show?

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Anyway, stay tuned!