- Join Our Company
- Email: sales@pjnetworks.com
- Phone: +91-9818361787
This is Sanjay Seth — writing this (after my third coffee of the day) from my desk at the moment. And this potion is what I come back to, everything that keeps me grounded in this insane, constantly shifting world of cybersecurity. I began my career as network admin waaaay back in 1993 – when the internet was this wild west, and everyone was trying how to figure out how to send voice and data over PSTN mux lines without droppping calls. Those were good times — but cause for plenty of head-scratching, too.
Next it was the Slammer worm, around 2003, my first experience with malware that lived in the fast lane and traveled faster than any human ever could. I remember looking at the screens and thinking how crazy it was that something so tiny could cause so much damage, bringing down networks around the world in minutes. It was a rude awakening about how vulnerable our early infrastructure was — and about how quickly threats change.
Fast forward to today, and I run P J Networks Pvt Ltd, which assists clients — three big banks most recently — to add modern zero-trust reach upgrades. Yeah, those projects kept me up many nights, but that’s where the majority of the enterprise security market is moving. I mean it: If you’re not thinking zero-trust, you’re already behind.
Just got back from DefCon and oh man I’m still riding the high from the hardware hacking village. The creativity — and audacity — of such hackers remind me we can never afford to let our guard down. Physical security remains a massive part of cybersecurity. More on that later.
Here’s the deal: Powering every security product, policy, and framework I promote comes the result of hard lessons, often scarred horses, from real-world, cyberbattleground experiences.
Consider the Slammer worm, for example. The worm took advantage of a weakness in SQL servers, operating so rapidly that it randomly searched IP addresses. It was a huge wake-up call: Faster is better when patching your systems. Not a checkbox, but a lifeline.
Or that banking upgrade — zero-trust is more than a buzzword. It’s an architecture that assumes breach; verifies all, and limits access to only what is needed. That means:
But our obsession with overly complex password policies that must be changed all the time remains one of my pet peeves when working with our clients. You know the drill — eight characters (12 if you work in a secure building managed by the federal government), must change each month, and can’t include any word in the dictionary, including your pet’s name spelled backwards.
Sure, it’s a good call in theory, but how often does it happen that users either scrawl passwords on sticky notes taped to their monitors or, even worse, reuse the same tired password everyplace. Of course, password complexity is important, but so is usability. Or else, your network security falls from inside of.
That’s not to say zero-trust is something you should just slap on because it’s cool. Know your data streams and business scenarios.
Some days I miss the old PSTN days. The networks were simple—almost quaint. You knew where your endpoints were, you had physical control, and the idea of a worm flitting around at gigabit speeds worldwide was beyond conceiving. Contrast that with the current world of complex cloud architectures with 100s of microservices, APIs, and dynamic scaling.
And here I am ranting about—why are there still some suppliers promoting proprietary “black box” firewalls or routers which don’t work common protocols? It’d be like buying a luxury car that could only be driven on one city’s streets. I am a fan of open standards and solutions that provide transparency.
Running my own company now, I’ve made mistakes, yes. Like that time I didn’t take something simple and stupid seriously when pointing out a misconfigured firewall rule that let an internal scan slide through. Rookie mistake. But moments like that lead to a realization (and a cup of coffee well-deserved).
In DefCon hardware hacking village, I personally witnessed how a perfectly worked out a network security infrastructure can be undone through man-in-the-middle or personnel with physical access attack. USB port sabotage, supply chain weaknesses, or rogue devices being implanted all pose real and present threats.
Here is what I say to clients all the time:
It’s easy to get the impression that the security community has forgotten this — preoccupied by the latest software exploit or cloud vulnerability. But an unused switch port can be very bad news.
You need a layered approach. A firewall alone isn’t enough.
At P J Networks, we provide Managed NOC services that not only monitor your network—they proactively analyze, detect, and respond to attacks before you even realize there’s an issue. Your servers and routers require granular segmentation, updated firmware, and ongoing patch management.
Combine that with intelligent employee training (since humans are so often the weakest link), and you have a fighting shot.
To summarize: Cybersecurity is a marathon, not a sprint. It takes dedication — and a pinch of skepticism whenever some shiny new “AI-powered” fix claims to be a silver bullet.
Here’s my 20+ years-older-and-wiser takeaway:
I’m always available to have a chat if your organization needs some help getting your security posture into the real world and battle tested. Because let’s be honest, security is not only about technology – it’s people, processes and yes, a good cup of coffee.
