The Security Circle

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Episode Summary
In this episode of The Security Circle Podcast, Yolanda “Yoyo” Hamblen is joined by Jennifer Ewbanks, former Deputy Director of the CIA for Digital Innovation, for a wide-ranging and deeply human conversation about intelligence, trust, and the evolving nature of security.
Drawing on more than three decades in human intelligence and senior leadership at the CIA, Jennifer reflects on her career operating in complex, high-risk environments across the globe — including her experience leading enterprise IT, cybersecurity, AI, open-source intelligence, and secure global communications at a time of unprecedented digital change.
A central theme of the discussion is trust — how it underpins intelligence work, leadership, and decision-making, and how it is now under sustained attack. Jennifer explains why the traditional security perimeter is no longer made up of networks and devices, but of human trust itself.
The conversation explores the accelerating threat of deepfakes and AI-driven manipulation, including how low-cost, high-quality synthetic media is reshaping fraud, influence operations, and executive decision-making. Jennifer introduces a practical framework for navigating this new reality, shifting the question from “Is this real?” to “What do I do before I act?”
Yoyo and Jennifer also delve into mind sovereignty — the ability to think independently in a world increasingly shaped by algorithms, emotional manipulation, and engagement-driven platforms. They discuss how information warfare, societal polarisation, and technological convenience are eroding critical thinking, empathy, and resilience at both individual and organisational levels.
This is a powerful conversation about the fifth generation of warfare, where the frontline is no longer physical or digital, but cognitive — and why protecting human judgement may be the most important security challenge of our time.
About Jennifer
As CIA’s former Deputy Director for Digital Innovation, she led the transformation of one of the most complex and secure digital ecosystems in the world, driving AI, cyber, and data strategies that positioned the United States for long-term advantage in the digital age. That experience now informs her work with boards and executives navigating high-stakes challenges at the intersection of technology, security, and leadership.

Today, she advises boards, executive teams, and founders on the convergence of national security, emerging technology, and enterprise risk. She brings decades of operational leadership together with practical expertise in AI, cyber, and digital transformation to help organizations build resilience, govern AI responsibly, and understand why geopolitical and cyber risks are now board-level imperatives. Her work is forward-looking: preparing leaders for quantum disruption, counter-AI threats, and an era defined by competition between digital freedom and digital authoritarianism.

A growing focus of her work centers on Mind Sovereignty™, or the ability of individuals and institutions to maintain independent judgment, agency, and clarity in a world increasingly shaped by algorithms, synthetic media, and adversarial influence operations. As manipulation becomes more personalized and more subtle, protecting freedom of thought is no longer abstract. It is a practical leadership challenge, with implications for decision-making, trust, and building resilience.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-ewbank/
Security Circle ⭕️ is an IFPOD production for IFPO the International Foundation of Protection Officers

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“I didn’t feel pain. I didn’t hear gunfire. I just thought: ‘Derek, you idiot — how can you be falling at a time like this?’” 
BIO
*Shot 14 times with a high-powered rifle
*Conscious and bleeding for 3 hours before rescue
*30 seconds from death
*Returned to elite sniper and counter-terrorism duties 2 years later
*Zero anxiety, depression, or PTSD or ongoing therapy

When you, your team or your organisation is preparing for or facing uncomfortable challenges and changes, let me take you beyond mere resilience to Human Durability and Sustainable Optimal Performance. 
Resilience is great when things do go wrong but with Human Durability and Sustained Optimal Performance you will anticipate the challenges and changes and be able to take avoidant action when you see this first sign.

My life in the elite Police STAR Group as a sniper, tactical-diver and counter-terrorist operative (ie SAS, Delta Force, SEALs) prepared me for Human Durability. 
The shooting 'field tested' and affirmed my Human Durability. I defied massive overwhelming odds physically, mentally, and emotionally and have now translated my lived experience and proven tools into universally applicable keynotes and workshops tailored for challenges faced in every industry.

After surviving multiple life-threatening injuries and grueling surgeries, I made a remarkable return to frontline duties. Even more extraordinary, I overcame mental health challenges—battling panic attacks and flashbacks initially, only to emerge without clinical anxiety, depression, or PTSD. This journey shaped the Mental Fitness, Agility, and Strength components central to Human Durability.

Life’s toughest moments—including personal setbacks after the shooting—taught me that durability is a skill anyone can learn, hone, and embed into their daily lives personally, professionally and mentally. 

I’ve worked with diverse audiences; from Multinational CEOs to local hairdressers, Fighter pilots to Joint Operations Command, lawyers, real estate, and thousands of HR professionals worldwide. The result? I have helped to create teams that thrive under pressure, leaders who inspire courage, and cultures that sustain peak performance.

Imagine what your organisation could achieve if every person carried the mindset and tools to sustain optimal performance—regardless of uncertainty or adversity.
 “One of the most powerful presentations I’ve ever seen with truly remarkable life lessons.”
 - Cathie Crampton, Head of Property Development, Harcourts International

Human Durability changes lives—and business results.

Let’s talk about bringing this transformation to your people.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/derrickmcmanus/
Security Circle ⭕️ is an IFPOD production for IFPO the International Foundation of Protection Officers

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🎙️ Episode Summary
Inside the Polygraph Room: What the Body Reveals When Words Lie
with Alan Saquella

“A polygraph isn’t a lie detector — it’s a physiological monitor. The body reacts long before words do.”
— Alan Saquella
Polygraph tests are often misunderstood — portrayed as simple “lie detectors” with jerking needles and dramatic reveals. In this episode, polygraph examiner and investigator Alan Sequella takes listeners inside the polygraph room to explain what really happens when someone is questioned under pressure.
Alan breaks down the science behind polygraph testing, explaining why it doesn’t detect lies, but rather measures physiological responses driven by the autonomic nervous system — the body’s fight-or-flight response. Together, we explore how stress, fear, deception, and even half-truths manifest in the body, and what skilled examiners look for beyond the machine itself.
The conversation goes far deeper than technology. Alan shares real investigative stories, including cases where minor details uncovered major crimes, how trained individuals have attempted to defeat polygraphs, and why human judgment and preparation still matter as much as the data. We also examine the critical role of rapport-building, interview room dynamics, and modern interrogation techniques — especially where coercion must be avoided.
The episode expands into insider threat, behavioural indicators organisations often miss, and how decades of investigative experience inform early warning signs. Looking ahead, Alan discusses how AI, biometrics, and behavioural analytics are shaping the future of truth verification — not as replacements for investigators, but as force multipliers.
This is a grounded, experience-rich conversation about deception, human behaviour, and the responsibility that comes with seeking the truth — essential listening for security professionals, investigators, leaders, and anyone working at the intersection of risk and people.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alan-saquella-cpp/
Security Circle ⭕️ is an IFPOD production for IFPO the International Foundation of Protection Officers

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🎙️ Episode Summary
A Continent in Motion: Eva Noelle on Security, Risk, and the Future of Security Risk in Africa
In this powerful year-end conversation, Eva Noelle brings rare depth, context, and realism to what it truly means to operate in security, intelligence, and risk across the African continent.
Drawing on extensive experience working across more than 50 African countries, Eva challenges Western-centric approaches to risk assessment and explains why security cannot be understood without local context, cultural intelligence, and human insight. She explores the realities of intelligence and investigations in environments where digitised records may be limited, political conditions vary widely, and assumptions can quickly become liabilities.
The discussion spans geopolitical risk, ESG and supply-chain compliance, due diligence, fraud investigations, and country risk assessments — highlighting why ESG has shifted from a “nice to have” to a compliance and investment imperative. Eva also unpacks how climate change, displacement, and geopolitical instability are increasingly interconnected, reshaping the global security landscape.
Beyond strategy, the episode offers thoughtful reflections on leadership, professional networks, and the importance of collaboration in security. Eva speaks candidly about her journey as a woman in a traditionally male-dominated field, the value of volunteering and professional service, and why security is fundamentally a team sport.
This episode is not about headlines or stereotypes. It is about nuance, realism, and understanding risk as it actually exists — across borders, cultures, and contexts.
A fitting close to 2025, this conversation invites security leaders to think bigger, listen harder, and reassess how they view Africa’s role in the future of global risk.
BIO
“Eva Nolle is the co-founder and Director of Operations for Ceravoid (Pty) Ltd, a commercial intelligence firm based in Cape Town, South Africa. Amongst others, the company provides due diligence enquiries, background screenings, country risk assessments, market entry analysis as well as commercial and fraud investigations. Throughout her career, Eva has not only worked in business intelligence but also provided crisis management training, travel security and conducts security audits of both private and commercial spaces on a regular basis. 
With a European background but having lived and worked on the African continent for several years, Eva is well-positioned to build a bridge for businesses wanting to operate in Africa. Drawing on her own practical experience, she assists clients in gaining a better understanding of the potential risks when operating on the continent and how to avoid, mitigate, transfer, accept or exploit them. 
Eva is a Certified Fraud Examiner as well as a Certified Protection Professional (CPP) and Professional Certified Investigator (PCI).”
 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/eva-n-7a8a9796/
Security Circle ⭕️ is an IFPOD production for IFPO the International Foundation of Protection Officers

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In this episode of the Security Circle Podcast, Host Yolanda “Yoyo” Hamblen is joined by Chris Stitt, a highly respected security and leadership practitioner whose career spans crisis management, international security operations, and complex bureaucratic environments.
Chris brings rare credibility to the leadership conversation — not from theory, but from lived experience in high-pressure, high-stakes security roles where decisions are made with imperfect information and real consequences. Drawing on his book Scaling Pyramids, Chris explores where leadership actually happens: in the messy middle between strategy and execution, authority and influence, risk and responsibility.
Together, they unpack why middle leaders carry the greatest burden in security organisations, how toxic leadership quietly erodes mission effectiveness, and why power often sits far away from org charts. Chris shares candid stories from his career — including moments of pressure, constraint, and reflection — and explains how effective leaders translate chaos into clarity, protect their teams, and influence upwards without positional power.
Key themes include servant leadership in reality (not rhetoric), decision-making in the fog, navigating bureaucracy without losing integrity, and why organisations fail when silos overpower shared purpose. This is a thoughtful, honest conversation for security professionals who operate in complex environments and want leadership guidance that reflects the real world — not the textbook.
A must-listen for anyone leading from the middle, carrying risk, or trying to make meaningful change inside large, layered organisations.

Buy this awesome book here!!!
https://a.co/d/2jCCuTl

https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherstittcem/

Security Circle ⭕️ is an IFPOD production for IFPO the International Foundation of Protection Officers