Cybersecurity 101: Why it’s time to rethink what we think we know

Cybersecurity isn’t just about prevention using firewalls and perimeter defense anymore. There needs to be an equal focus on risk management, resilience and readiness. And no, zero trust isn’t a replacement for cybersecurity. It’s a philosophy that should be embedded within it.

I’ve spent decades in federal cybersecurity, from leading zero trust implementation at the Department of the Interior to helping agencies rethink breach readiness. And if there’s one lesson I’ve learned, it’s this: you can build the strongest fortress in the world, and someone will still find a Trojan horse.

Picture your agency as a castle. You’ve got a moat (firewalls), a drawbridge (access controls) and maybe even a few dragons (threat detection tools). But inside that castle? There’s a great hall, a treasury and the royal archives that house all the historical and important information. If an adversary gets ...