Every morning, I stand before my coffee machine, a humble supplicant seeking caffeine. Sound familiar? Probably because you find yourself in much the same position (though in your home, not mine). But the coffee machine is wiser than it appears: It doesn’t care that I’ve spent years navigating the wilds of cybersecurity while exploring select espressos from Portugal and beyond.
It demands proof: align the pod, press the button, don’t botch the brew. I swear it’s judging me, and you know what? I’m starting to think it’s got the right idea. My coffee machine is a master of zero trust, a philosophy less about tech and more about life’s quiet insistence on asking, “Who are you, really?” And the distance—both physical and logical—between it and the smart refrigerator means these appliances have taken zero trust one step further, achieving Zero Trust with Segmentation (ZTS).
ZTS is the next step in the evolution of the zero trust concept, and it does what it sounds like: by segmenting trust, access to one device or part of the network, domestic or otherwise, doesn’t mean access to another.
We’ve recently partnered with Illumio for this technology, which responds to a commonality in modern cyber threats—they want to move. Illumio ZTS ensures that if a gremlin sneaks into the coffee machine, it can’t waltz over to the fridge or the toaster.
Illumio ZTS maps how your devices talk to each other and sets up strict rules to block unauthorised access. Containment reduces ‘blast radius’ (by 66%, according to a 2023 Forrester study), stopping lateral movement before an attack spirals.
Just how worthwhile is that? Well, consider that a single cyberattack can be devastating. Ransomware can lock up customer data or POS system – but not if Illumio ZTS is there as a security guard, stopping hackers from spreading across your network.
Now, lessons learned in search of the morning Joe show that zero trust is a mindset, a way of squinting at the world with curiosity, a touch of scepticism, and that increasingly rare quality of critical thinking.
Or, as we say, “trust, but verify.”
That’s why zero trust today goes beyond servers and endpoints, directly to printers, desk chairs, and maybe even the barista who might misspell your name (that’s Stephen with a PH—here’s your brew, Phsteven). While that’s funny, what isn’t is arriving at the airport with a ticket in the name of Steve, while producing a passport in the name of Steven. A story for another time.
What we learn from the kitchen meander is that my coffee machine doesn’t assume I’m worthy of its espresso; it makes me prove it. And in that daily ritual, there’s a flicker of wisdom: trust is a privilege, not a given.
Illumio ZTS takes this further, ensuring that even if trust is granted to one part of the network, it doesn’t automatically extend to another. A compromised endpoint? Isolated instantly, manually or via script, before it can whisper to the server next door. It’s zero trust with a side of Zen: calm, deliberate, and ruthlessly effective.
Now, let’s stretch the idea further. What if we zero-trusted our way through life? That coworker who always “forgets” their wallet at lunch? Rather than enduring yet another “Australian haka” as they pat their pockets down knowing there’s no money to be had, maybe they need a quick authentication check. The neighbor’s dog that keeps eyeing your garden? Credential check, Rover.
It’s absurd, sure, but it makes you wonder: how much chaos could be dodged by pausing to verify, not just in networks but in conversations, promises, dreams? Zero trust isn’t about shutting the world out; it’s about choosing who to let in with eyes wide open.
Of course, life’s not a server rack. You can’t sandbox every decision or quarantine every doubt. We’re in a hurry, which is often our undoing (certainly in the cybersecurity space). And that’s where the Zen comes in. My coffee machine doesn’t brew perfect cups every time; sometimes it sputters, sometimes I fumble the pod. But it keeps asking for proof, and I keep showing up. Illumio ZTS mirrors this resilience, scaling to protect everything from a single IoT device to 700,000 workloads, ensuring policies stick even if a device goes offline. It’s not about perfection; it’s about persistence.
Zero trust, at its core, is about embracing the mess while staying curious and cautious. It’s less about control and more about dancing with uncertainty, whether you’re guarding data or just guarding your morning ritual.
So, next time you punch in a password or sweet-talk your own coffee machine, smile at the absurdity of proving yourself to a hunk of metal—or to the universe itself. There’s a strange peace in the questioning, a reminder that sometimes safety starts with a single simple question: “Prove it.”
Me? I’m off to negotiate with my coffee machine again. Enlightenment’s brewing, one authenticated sip at a time.
And if that doesn’t grab you, maybe this will. Go ahead and get in touch so we can show you how Illumio ZTS can help protect your operations.
