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A little jittery — OK, I’m on my third cup of coffee — I’m sitting here at my desk waxing nostalgic, and looking back at how far we have come in the world of cybersecurity since I began my career as a network admin in 1993. That year, I was hip-deep wiring multiplexers for voice and data on PSTN lines, working out the warts of dial-up and slow, clunky connections. And if you had asked me what a ‘worm’ was back then — I’d pointed to one in the garden, not some malicious code gnawing through our networks. Fast forward to the early 2000s and the arrival of the Slammer worm — it was like a digital tsunami, surfing into unprotected networks across the globe and forcing IT professionals to reconsider everything they’d previously known about security.
Here’s the thing. Well, this is the experience that I bring to cybersecurity now–today at P J Networks, I run my own security company and I try to draw heavily from the mistakes I made as a way to help others avoid the same mistakes I made–and trust me, there are plenty. Last month alone, for instance, I helped three banks upgrade their zero-trust architectures, and I’m still riding the high from the hardware hacking village at DefCon.
But enough backstory. Let’s have a serious discussion of real cybersecurity, and why I think businesses — regardless of size — need to start being serious about it now.
When Slammer struck in 2003, most of us in the trenches began to fully understand just how wan our networks actually were. Slammer spread like the plague, leaping on SQL vulnerabilities in minutes and bringing down huge swaths of the internet. My team rushed to close up vulnerable servers, but the worm demonstrated something critical: perimeter security is no longer enough.
You’re building a castle with a moat, and you leave the back door open. You can no longer just depend on firewalls and antivirus. That’s when the seed of zero trust began germinating — even if the term wasn’t coined back then.
I’ve been assisting three banks to deploy zero-trust architectures lately, and it’s very gratifying to see how far the concept has moved since the early 2000s. But here’s the thing: Zero trust is not a silver bullet. And any vendor that tells you it has a plug-and-play, AI-powered zero trust solution? Be skeptical. Sure, AI is amazing, but it’s not magic — it needs context, tuning, and yes sometimes even a heaping helping of humanity behind it all.
So what is zero trust? In other words — it’s the philosophy of never trust, always verify at work. That means:
Sounds complex? It is. But banks are doing it correctly by blending strong technical controls with clear policies and employee training.
I just came back from DefCon and I must say – the hardware hacking village was an eye opener. If you believe that cybersecurity is all about software, think again. There are still massive threats to guard against in terms of physical security — and hardware tampering. From pen testing IoT devices with nothing but a soldering iron, to abusing legacy routers and firewalls, the village showed me yet again the importance of scrutinizing everything.
Here’s why this is important for your business:
Oh, and yes, I am guilty of not considering hardware risks early in my career. Ain’t nothing like losing a week to troubleshooting because someone stuffed a rogue USB device into the server room!
I’m going to whine about this here — because it matters. Password rules are insane. And not in a meaning–cool way. Requiring Users to Change Their Passwords Every 30 Days? Terrible idea.
Passwords are like salt in cooking that way. Too little, and the dish is flat. Too much, and it’s inedible. If you make it too complex, your users will start writing it down on sticky notes, or typing Password123! with different combinations.
Here’s what works better:
I enjoy reminiscing about the glory days of networking — PSTN, dial-up modems, that delightful handshake of a 56k link. But nostalgia can also be a security risk. More than often, legacy systems sit in the back office, executing important functions but overlooked for upgrades or patches because it’s too risky to change it.
But here’s the risk: outdated systems = zero security updates = juicy target for attackers.
Don’t turn your infrastructure into a museum of relics because you’re scared of an upgrade. I have witnessed more breaches caused by old hardware than new zero-day vulnerabilities.
I’m often asked Sanjay, what’s the one thing I should fix today? There is no silver bullet, but if you don’t have much time or money, these are my quick tips:
For those juggling a million things in the air, here’s the TL;DR:
Some days it feels as if I’m fighting the same battles I fought back in the ’90s — bad configurations, missed patches, misplaced faith in AI-powered technologies. But each time a client finally nails their zero-trust policy or catches an attack early thanks to our managed services — it’s worth it. Because at the end of the day, security is not just about tech — it’s about people, and process, and a mental shift.
And hey, if you made it this far, thanks. Few want to read about ancient multiplexers or Slammer today but that is what counts. They remind us to keep on fighting.
Rushing home from work, grabbing that third coffee, and pondering why cybersecurity is a never-ending game… just know you’re not alone. We are all of us working it out, one patch, one policy, one network segment at a time.
