Identity has officially replaced email as the #1 threat vector — and attackers already know you have MFA. In this episode, Andres and Mike break down why the old network perimeter is dead, what modern identity attacks look like in the wild, and the concrete steps every organization should take to defend themselves in 2026.

What we cover:

🔴 Identity is the New Perimeter Credentials, sessions, and tokens are the crown jewels now. Your firewall no longer defines your security boundary — your identity layer does.

🏛️ IGA — Identity Governance & Administration Not a product, a framework. How organizations manage user identities, roles, permissions, and compliance across every user, device, and workload.

⚔️ Modern Identity Attacks

• Push Fatigue — bots flooding MFA requests timed for nights and weekends
• Token Theft — bypasses MFA entirely by stealing your session
• OAuth Abuse — using legitimate workflows to gain persistent app access
• Session Hijacking — stealing cookies and replaying tokens
• Privilege Escalation — enumerating users, targeting admin accounts

🔐 MFA Evolution Phishing-resistant MFA, BLE proximity auth (your phone must be physically near the device), passwordless with biometrics, and Cisco Duo + Persona for social-engineering-proof identity resets.

🛡️ How to Defend Require phishing-resistant MFA, implement device trust, continuously verify after initial access, monitor Identity Behavior Analytics signals (impossible travel, unusual token usage, suspicious admin activity), and isolate privileged workflows.

Resources:

• Verizon DBIR: verizon.com/business/resources/reports/dbir
• CrowdStrike Global Threat Report: crowdstrike.com/global-threat-report
• Cisco Duo: duo.com
• Persona: withpersona.com

🎙️ Next episode: Season 3, Episode 3 — Ransomware 🌐 All episodes + show notes: securityin45.com

How Does Zero Trust Look Like — Architecture & Examples

1. Practical example components and tactics used in Zero Trust👉 12 Zero Trust Architecture Examples With Actionable GuideBreaks down real architectural elements you’ll see in a Zero Trust deployment (like micro-segmentation, identity verification, etc.).
2. Zero Trust explained in simple terms with key goals👉 Zero Trust Security Model Explained — ZPE Systems GuideCovers model vs perimeter security, how trust boundaries shift to protect surfaces, and key principles.
3. Government & public sector perspective including ZTA guidance👉 Zero Trust | Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)Official guidance on how Zero Trust is being defined and applied in practice across agencies.
4. Beginners + real project example (Google’s BeyondCorp)👉 BeyondCorp (Google’s Zero Trust Model) — WikipediaGoogle’s BeyondCorp is a well-known industry example of Zero Trust in large scale production

The meeting discussed the importance of segmentation for network performance and security, highlighting Cisco's role in providing solutions and support for implementing effective segmentation.

• The importance of rewatching the recorded meeting on various platforms like YouTube and Apple podcasts is mentioned.
• Micro segmentation using group based policy is considered more granular than VLAN to VLAN segmentation.
• The meeting discussed the topic of segmentation, with a focus on proper segmentation and its importance for network performance and security.
• The evolution of segmentation over the past ten years was highlighted, including the transition to dynamic segmentation and the impact of cloud environments.
• Segmentation was described as having both proactive and reactive components, with a proactive approach being important for implementing zero trust and a reactive approach being necessary to respond to threats and contain potential breaches.
• Segmentation can be enforced at various points in the network, such as through VLANs, zone-based firewalls, and group-based policy.
• Different organizations use different methods for segmentation enforcement, including firewalls and access control lists on switch ports.
• Trustsec and security group tags (SGTs) are effective ways to enforce segmentation and maintain a common policy across the network.
• Cisco plays a key role in segmentation, with products like ISE, duo, and multi-cloud defense.
• Integration of different security solutions makes implementing segmentation easier and more effective.
• Cisco's secure access and secure workload offer additional features for application micro-segmentation and resource connectors for hybrid workers.
• Segmentation is critical for network security and should be planned and designed carefully.

Cisco offers solutions and support to help achieve segmentation goals and limit the blast radius of network breaches.