The Machine Identity Problem, w/ Ted Shorter, CTO and Co Founder at Keyfactor

In this episode, Halcyon CISO Ben Carr sits down with Ted Shorter, CTO of Keyfactor, to unpack one of the most urgent and overlooked challenges in cybersecurity today: managing machine identity at scale in a world that's hurtling toward a post-quantum reality.

From digital signatures to securing IoT devices (yes, even chicken fryers), Ted breaks down what’s really happening under the hood of enterprise cryptography—and what security leaders should be doing right now to prepare for the next evolution in threat landscape.

Timestamps:

00:45 – What is machine identity and why is it exploding?
01:48 – Real-world use cases: Web servers, IoT, and yes—chicken fryers
02:22 – AI’s role in identity fraud and content authenticity
03:00 – Can cryptography help fight AI-generated misinformation?
04:00 – Challenges unique to machine identity vs human identity
04:50 – Managing cryptographic key aging and refresh cycles
05:30 – Why quantum computing changes everything
06:15 – The real timeline for quantum threats (spoiler: it's soon)
07:00 – NIST’s new post-quantum crypto standards
07:40 – The nightmare of legacy devices and outdated algorithms
08:15 – Why boards don’t take quantum threats seriously—yet
09:06 – Action items for CISOs: Inventory and crypto agility
09:45 – Final thoughts: “You can’t manage what you don’t know you have”

If you’re in the trenches and thinking, "I’ll worry about that later"—don’t. The future just got a lot closer.

Learn more at:

https://www.halcyon.ai
https://www.keyfactor.com