The Register’s Jessica Lyons on AI influence, AI consumption, and who actually makes for a great interview
Jessica Lyons has more than 20 years of experience in publishing, including time spent as managing editor of technology publication SDxCentral. As current cybersecurity editor for The Register, she leads the outlet’s coverage of topics ranging from government IT to best practices for defenders. She also hosts video interviews with CxO-level veterans and other subject-matter experts on challenges facing the IT industry. Recently, I reached out to her to learn more about her typical workday, how AI consumes her life and work, and who actually makes for a great interview.
How do you kick off your journalistic work day?
With coffee, always. And then I open a million bookmarks on my laptop to read the news, including what my APAC and EMEA colleagues at The Register have covered while I was sleeping. Plus a ton of other news and social sites, blogs, and vulnerability disclosures. And then I scroll through hundreds of emails in my inbox.
What do you consider to be the most important technology/security story you’ve covered and why?
It’s really tough to cull this down to just one. Generally, I think the most important stories are the ones that show how tech — and in my case cyber incidents — affect humans because a lot of times it is easy to forget that there are people on the other side of the machines, dealing with the real-world implications and consequences of the technology. This story was definitely one of them: interviewing Nick Lawler, general manager of the Littleton Electric Light and Water Departments (LELWD) — which provides electricity and water to the towns of Littleton and Boxborough, Massachusetts — who was at home one Friday when he got a call from the FBI alerting him that Volt Typhoon was on the public power utility’s network.
How much of your day is consumed with AI or some facet of AI — either related to topics covered or using AI in your personal life?
For work, a huge percentage of my day. Probably 70 percent give or take. This involves reading about, researching, and writing about AI-related breaches — everything from people hacking AI systems, to AI-assisted attacks and executives simultaneously saying that AI is going to bring on the vulnpocalypse and also fix all the security issues.
For my personal life: not too much. I am super paranoid about too many connected devices (we don’t even have a Ring doorbell and I don’t allow Alexa or any other personal-home device in the house), and this carries over to my personal AI use. I don’t like handing over all of my information to — or giving personal account access to — AIs. But I do lecture my children regularly about using AI and encourage them to think critically about what they see and hear, and how much of that is real versus AI generated.
You’ve interviewed a wide scope of individuals throughout your multi-decade career, who’s someone who made for a great interview that one might not typically expect?
Honestly, it’s the people you don’t expect to make great interviews who do. The big-name “wins” — i.e., CEOs, politicians, and celebrities that I spend months or years pitching — often end up being so on-script and their answers sound so rehearsed that it’s disappointing once I finally land the interview.
What’s the biggest news item you’re keeping an eye on through the rest of this year?
Not super original, I’m sure, but AI — what the new advanced models can do; how defenders are using them; how attackers are using them; and separating the technology’s hype from its reality.