Insights

Thoughts & Writing

Practical perspectives on security architecture, emerging threats, and building resilient programs.

Compliance & GRC

MFA Is Not the Finish Line

Enabling multi-factor authentication is one of the most effective controls you can deploy. It is also not nearly enough on its own, and attackers figured that out a while ago. Here's what MFA actually stops, what it doesn't, and what comes after.

Jun 1, 20265 min read
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Security Architecture

You Have 40,000 Vulnerabilities. Here's How to Care About the Right Ones.

The average enterprise vulnerability scanner returns tens of thousands of findings. Treating them all equally is operationally impossible and strategically wrong. Here's how to build a prioritization model that focuses your team on the vulnerabilities that are actually going to get you.

May 31, 20266 min read
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Penetration Testing

The Phishing Email That Got Past Me

I write phishing emails for a living. I've sent thousands of them to employees as part of authorized engagements. I know every trick in the playbook. And one got me anyway. Here's what happened and why it matters.

May 29, 20265 min read
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Security Architecture

Your Cloud Probably Has a Public S3 Bucket. You Just Don't Know About It Yet.

The most common finding in cloud security assessments isn't an exotic zero-day. It's a checkbox that defaulted to public, an IAM role that was supposed to be temporary, and a storage bucket named after an internal project sitting fully exposed to the internet.

May 28, 20266 min read
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Compliance & GRC

Security Awareness Training Doesn't Work. Here's What Does.

Every year, employees click through the compliance module. Every year, people still get phished. The annual training checkbox is not a security control. Here's what actually changes human behavior in ways that hold up under real attack conditions.

May 27, 20265 min read
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Compliance & GRC

Your Password Policy Is a Work of Fiction

Eight characters, one uppercase, one number, one symbol. Changed every 90 days. Completely useless. Here's why your password policy is training users to create worse passwords, and what to do instead.

May 25, 20266 min read
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Penetration Testing

I Walked Into Your Building With a Box of Donuts

Physical penetration testing is the part of security assessments nobody wants to think about because the findings are deeply embarrassing. A look at how alarmingly easy it is to walk past $2 million worth of security technology with a smile and a pastry.

May 23, 20265 min read
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Security Architecture

Zero Trust Architecture: Beyond the Buzzword

Zero Trust has become one of the most overused terms in enterprise security. Here's what it actually means and what it takes to implement it in a way that reduces real risk.

May 20, 20265 min read
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Security Architecture

Zero Trust in Practice: Building a Roadmap That Sticks

Most Zero Trust programs stall after the first phase. The reason is almost never technical. Here's how to build a roadmap that survives contact with your organization.

May 15, 20265 min read
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AI/ML Security

AI-Powered Threat Detection: Separating Signal from Noise

Machine learning in security operations creates as many false positives as it prevents. Here's how to tune your detection models and build analyst workflows that scale.

May 10, 20265 min read
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AI/ML Security

LLM Security: The Attack Surface No One's Ready For

Large language models introduce a new class of vulnerabilities that traditional security controls weren't designed to catch. Here's what security teams need to understand now.

May 5, 20265 min read
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Compliance & GRC

NIST CSF 2.0: What Changed and What It Means for Your Program

The updated framework introduces a new Govern function and expands scope beyond critical infrastructure. A practitioner's guide to mapping your existing controls to the new structure.

April 28, 20265 min read
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Penetration Testing

What Really Happens During a Penetration Test

A penetration test is not a vulnerability scan with a human attached. Here's what a real engagement looks like from scoping to final report and what separates useful findings from checkbox compliance.

April 20, 20265 min read
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