Security Basics Are Still Being Missed Amid Market Hype

Information Security Forum's Paul Watts on Prioritizing IAM Over Flashy Tech Tony Morbin (@tonymorbin) • June 10, 2025

Despite rising cybersecurity investments, organizations are neglecting core security functions. Paul Watts, CISO leadership and strategy advisory, and distinguished analyst at Information Security Forum, warned that skipping basic security functions, such as identity and access management, creates critical vulnerabilities that advanced technologies can't fix.

See Also: AI, Zero Trust and SASE: Modernizing Security

IAM underpins every advanced cybersecurity strategy, from zero trust to AI-driven security frameworks. Businesses too often treat IAM as an IT problem instead of a businesswide imperative. That disconnect undermines organizational resilience and exposes a persistent leadership gap, Watts said.

"It [IAM] is the lifeblood of everything that we do. In order to do that, we've got to fundamentally know who the people are, who the processes are, what the technology is, and bring that and blend ...