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 past the perimeter, what’s stopping them from wandering the halls and taking everything of value?

That’s where resilience comes in. Cybersecurity today isn’t just about keeping people out — it’s about minimizing damage when they get in. And with 2,678 attacks per government organization per week in Q1 2025, that’s not a hypothetical. It’s reality.

Zero trust helps, but let’s not confuse the map with the mission. Cybersecurity is the broader discipline of protecting systems, data and people. Zero trust is one strategic framework within it. It’s not a silver bullet; it’s a mindset shift.

And that shift is more urgent than ever. According to Government Executive, since January, DoD has awarded over $5 billion in AI contracts — 40% to newcomers — with procurement cycles averaging just 47 days. That’s lightning speed in government terms. But AI runs on data and lives inside operating systems. If you’re automating decisions with AI, you'd better be securing the systems feeding it.

Fast procurement isn’t limited to AI. Agencies are bypassing traditional integrators and adopting new tech at record pace. That agility is exciting — but it also increases risk if cybersecurity isn’t embedded from the start. You wouldn’t build a house and add the locks later.

Interconnected systems only amplify that risk. Remember the OPM breach? That was an example of a simple phishing attack where one laptop in one federal agency was compromised first. Without microsegmentation, attackers moved laterally into multiple other critical systems, exfiltrating sensitive data on millions of federal employees. One breach doesn’t just affect one agency. It can ripple across the entire federal ecosystem.

That’s why I advocate for breach readiness — not just breach prevention. Microsegmentation, identity validation and progressive enforcement aren’t just buzzwords. They’re how we stop intruders in their tracks and protect mission-critical operations.

But let’s not forget the human side. If you’ve ever had your identity stolen, you know the pain. Now imagine that at a national scale. Cybersecurity isn’t just technical; it’s personal. It’s about protecting the people behind the data.

We’re not cyber cops. No badges. No mugshots. But we are defenders of trust, stewards of resilience and architects of readiness. And that means rethinking what we think we know.

Cybersecurity isn’t about eliminating risk. It’s about managing it wisely. It’s about building systems that bend without breaking, respond without panicking and protect without paralyzing. It’s time to move beyond the moat — and start securing the castle from the inside out.

Lou Eichenbaum is the Federal CTO at ColorTokens. He previously served as CISO at the Department of the Interior. This is the first piece in a three-part contributed series.