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Down the Security Rabbithole Podcast (DtSR)Author: Rafal (Wh1t3Rabbit) Los
This is Cybersecurity's premier podcast. Running strong since 2011 Rafal Los, James Jardine, and Jim Tiller bring a no-nonsense, non-commercial approach to our profession. DtSR brings interviews and discussion with people you want to meet, and stories you have to hear. So whether you're just starting out, or are decades deep into your career, you'll always learn something on this show.On Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/@DtSR_PodcastOn YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTSR_PodcastOn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/down-the-security-rabbithole-podcast/ Language: en Genres: News, Tech News, Technology Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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DtSR Episode 728 - Wes Widner - Unlocking Open-Weight Models
Episode 728
Tuesday, 20 October, 2026
TL;DR: This week's pod is a conversation about AI and "Open-Weight Models", and if you aren't intimately familiar with what these are this is an episode for you. Wes has a lot of insight, and this is a discussion rather than an info dump.Guest: Wes WidnerDescriptionThe most disruptive AI feature might not be a new chatbot trick; it might be the ability to download the model and run it yourself. Recorded live at B-Sides Atlanta 2026, we sit down with Wes Widner, senior principal engineer at Cyber Haven and a veteran of McAfee threat intel and CrowdStrike, to unpack what open-weight models really are and why they’re changing the rules for security teams.We break down the practical side of local LLMs: model weights, quantization, laptop-friendly variants, and why the open model ecosystem on Hugging Face has become a real “model store.” Then we go straight into the uncomfortable part: if a model runs on your hardware, the guardrails are optional. Wes explains how “locks” and refusals get removed, why safety and alignment consume huge effort for frontier labs (not labs), and why trying to regulate distribution can backfire by driving unlocked models into underground channels.From there, the conversation turns into cybersecurity reality. AI doesn’t reliably understand context like “medical-critical” versus “normal” IoT, and reverse engineering firmware at home can look identical to reversing a sensitive system. Our takeaway is blunt: stop assuming the attacker is limited, and start designing detection, response, and secure engineering for a world where both sides have powerful AI copilots.YouTube: https://youtu.be/xGIjifjdjnMChannel: https://www.youtube.com/@DTSR_PodcastHave something to say? Let's hear it.Support the show>>> Please consider clicking the link above to support the show!-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=YouTube home: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyo0dkKRvfVtWXjRxNISrhme1MgBj3C2U&si=scHDiTuLXSEQ9qHqLinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/down-the-security-rabbithole-podcast/X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/dtsr_podcast
