• 30 August, 2025
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Decades of Cybersecurity Lessons from a Network Admin Turned Consultant

So sitting here at my desk having drunk my third coffee of the morning, I feel like I’m stringing together decades of stories — some gritty, some just downright annoying — to a tale of cybersecurity that (if I’m lucky) helps you steer around some of the potholes I encountered while typing this. I began in 1993 as a network admin before the main stress for us was making voice and data play nicely together, reliably, over PSTN lines and multiplexers — those big, clunky things that now seem like they were from the stone age. But that base offered me a front-row view on the development of network security — from war dialing to worms, and from perimeter firewalls to zero-trust architectures.

Here’s the thing about this world: It moves quickly, but some principles? They’re eternal. Like never underestimating the ingenuity of attackers, or creating password policies so complex that people end up resetting them nine times a day.

The Old Days: PSTN and the Worm That Changed Everything

My true “come-to-Jesus” moment occurred in the early 2000s with the Slammer worm. It was a fast, brutal lesson, and it made clear how unprepared many networks even were for the simplest of buffer overflow attacks. I recall those nights of madness — patching servers by hand, watching for odd traffic spikes and panicked calls on the help desk.

Lessons learned:

• Even a tiny, simple bug can wreak havoc on a large scale if it goes unpatched.
• Network visibility is king — you can’t control what you can’t see!
• Automation is a good thing but you need to know what’s going on under the hood.

It was a crucible for me then, and it would make me the sort of cybersecurity consultant I finally became years later.

Now Running My Own Show: P J Networks Pvt Ltd

Skip ahead to now: I have my very own security shop here, specializing in managed NOC, firewalls, servers and routers — stuff that provides a network’s strong foundation and protection. We recently worked with three banks on retooling their zero-trust programs, and that probably says a lot about where things are going.

Gone are the days when zero-trust was just a buzzword or a nice-to-have. Therein lies the essence of never trusting any user or device by default, even within the boundaries of your network. That means continuous verification, segmentation and tight access controls. But make no mistake — zero-trust is NOT chocolate, no matter what hell some vendors say.

Below is what I tell bank CISOs and CIOs:

• Zero-trust demands a cultural change — security teams, IT and business units need to work together.
• Begin small with the most important assets, and expand policies progressively.
• Visibility and identity are your foundation — without real-time context, zero-trust fails.

But — and yeah, I’m that guy right now — I’m still wary of over-hyped AI-powered security offerings. Yes, AI can assist in detecting anomalies or automating response. But what if you go by it alone, without somebody knowledgeable to watch over? You’re really handing the keys to a really cool hotrod to someone who can’t drive it.

DefCon: The Morning After the Hardware Hacking Village

I just returned from DefCon — it’s the best party on the planet for hackers and security professionals. The hardware hacking village? Mind-blowing. Watching experts tear through everything from routers to car ECUs also served to remind me of why I use cars as a metaphor so much when speaking — your network is, literally, an engine, complex and interdependent, and if one part fails, or is tampered with, the whole thing can come down screeching to a halt.

The latest trend? Attackers aren’t just hacking software anymore — now they’re going after the physical world. Backdoors in hardware, evil USB devices, owned IOT crap.

Bottom line:

• Don’t forget physical security when thinking about cybersecurity.
• Hardware weaknesses are immune to protections offered by software.
• Periodic inspections and training employees in the use of suspicious device detectors are not optional.

Whatsoever things are true Categories Personal Quirks and Password Policy Rants

Okay, confession time. A love-hate relationship with password policies I have to admit.

Length and complexity do matter, to be sure. On the other, requiring that users change those incomprehensible complex passwords so frequently that nobody can remember them? That just drives them to writing passwords on sticky notes or relying on — you guessed it — Password1 — which is akin to locking your front door with a deadbolt and then leaving a neon sign that says, “Come on in!”

I always advise customers: leverage multi-factor authentication (MFA), and passphrases instead of the complex passwords that look a lot like license plate codes. Think of your password as the secret sauce in a cooking recipe — too many contradictory ingredients, and the dish comes out badly, keep it balanced, memorable, but strong.

Quick Take: What I Want You To Take Away

• Patch early, patch often. It is an open season for hackers to exploit lingering vulnerabilities.
• Zero trust is crucial — but needs to be done carefully and thoughtfully.
• MFA – all day every day over complex password polices.
• Don’t forget hardware and physical security — it’s something that many organizations are blind to.
• Approach buzzwords critically, particularly those related to AI-powered everything.

Final Thoughts

In retrospect — to 1993, the chaos of the Slammer worm, the days of assisting banks to shore up their critical assets — I learned cybersecurity is a marathon not a sprint. It’s just patience, deep knowledge of your systems, and a willingness to change.

If I have learned anything, it’s this:

Security is not a gadget, or a single product; security is a way of thinking. A culture. And yes, it requires effort and investment. But the alternative? Risk and regret.

Thanks for reading — here’s coffee No. 4.