Zero Trust Journey
by Victor Monga
Episode 50: Identity-first, deny-by-default acces
About this podcast
Zero Trust Journey isn’t about taking sides—it’s about real conversations, sharing research, and learning together. Our goal is to explore Zero Trust from every angle and help cybersecurity practitioners make sense of it in a practical, no-fluff way. And yes, we do love to chat about coffee and listen to the occasional dad joke along the way.
Here’s what we do:
• Conversations with Experts: We chat with subject matter experts who share their opinions, experiences, and Zero Trust journeys.
• Research and Product Insights: We explore Zero Trust products and solutions in the market that may fit into a Zero Trust architecture.
• A Zero Trust Architecture: We’re building and refining an ever-growing architecture focused solely on the needs of cybersecurity practitioners.
• CSA CCZT Study Group: We host a study group for the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) Certificate of Competence in Zero Trust (CCZT).
If you’re a cybersecurity professional looking for honest discussions, practical insights, and tools that evolve with your Zero Trust strategy (plus the occasional coffee tip), Zero Trust Journey is for you. Join us!
Episodes
The newest 20 of 50 episodes
- Episode 50: Identity-first, deny-by-default acces · 20 min · Season 1 Episode 50Victor Monga speaks with Philip Griffiths, VP at NetFoundry, about why identity should govern network access for people, workloads, devices, and AI agents. They explain how…
- Episode 49: Show Me What Risk You're Buying Down · 15 min · Season 1 Episode 49Most CISOs cannot draw a line from what they spend to the risk it reduces. Jake Bernardes, CISO, thinks that is the core failure of the role. In this episode of Zero Trust…
- Episode 48: The Wireless Blind Spot in Your Zero Trust Architecture · 14 min · Season 1 Episode 4862% of security teams have no idea what's happening in their wireless environment. Is yours one of them? In this episode of the Zero Trust Journey Podcast, host Victor Monga sits…
- Episode 47: The "Messy Middle" of AI Security: Why Agents Fail in Production · 17 min · Season 1 Episode 47In this episode of the Zero Trust Journey, Dr. Victor Monga sits down with Vishwas Manral, Founder and CEO of Precize Inc. and a major contributor to the Cloud Security Alliance…
- Episode 46: Navigating Third-Party Risk and Continuous Monitoring · 23 min · Season 1 Episode 46In this episode, host Tiernan O'Malley sits down with Rachel Curran, GRC practitioner and founder of Locktivity, to unpack the complexities of Governance, Risk, and Compliance…
- Episode 45: From the Courtroom to the Boardroom: Cyber Resilience & Executive Accountability · 13 min · Season 1 Episode 45In this episode of the Zero Trust Journey, Dr. Victor Monga sits down with Erin Logue Smith, leader of Governance, Risk, and Cyber Strategy at World Wide Technology (WWT). We…
- Episode 44: Stop Punishing, Start Rewarding: Mastering the P.A.R. Method for Phishing Defense · 16 minIn this episode of the Zero Trust Journey, Dr. Victor Monga sits down with Craig Taylor, former CISO at JP Morgan Chase and Vistaprint, and the founder of Cyber Hoot. We are…
- Episode 43: Are You Talking to AI? Deepfakes, GANs, and the AI Security Menu · 20 min · Season 1 Episode 43We dive deep into the dark side of Generative AI, exploring how attackers are leveraging Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) to bypass authentication, and why defining "AI…
- Episode 42: Stop Thinking Servers, Start Thinking Systems · 16 min · Season 1 Episode 42In this episode of the Zero Trust Journey, Dr. Victor Monga is joined by Kayne McGladrey, a veteran systems engineer and CISSP who has spent his career securing high-stakes…
- Episode 41: AI's Role in Software Development: Opportunities and Risks · 18 min · Season 1 Episode 41What You'll Learn: ▶ The "Vibe Coding" Illusion: Why using AI to build end-to-end web applications works perfectly for a month, but ultimately collapses into uncompilable loops…
- Episode 40: Over-provisioning access is a common issue · 26 min · Season 1 Episode 40In this episode of the Zero Trust Journey, Dr. Victor Monga sits down with Jamie Fitz-Gerald, VP of Product Management at Okta. We dive deep into why identity has become the new…
- Episode 39: ZTMM+ How to Assess and Roadmap Zero Trust · 41 min · Season 1 Episode 39"Zero Trust is not a journey where you have to spend a lot of money upfront before you can get started. In almost every case, you just need to use what you have better." In this…
- Episode 38: Bridging the Cybersecurity Effectiveness Gap · 25 min · Season 1 Episode 38"We don’t have a tools problem in cybersecurity anymore. We have an effectiveness problem." In this episode of the Zero Trust Journey, Dr. Victor Monga sits down with Snehal…
- Episode 37: Zero Trust is essential for SMBs, not a luxury · 24 min · Season 1 Episode 37Host: Dr. Victor Monga (https://www.linkedin.com/in/victorvirtual) Co-Host: Zach Pugh (https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachary-pugh) Co-Host: Steve Turner…
- Episode 36: I Zero Trust What You’re Saying – Oct 2025 · 16 min · Season 1 Episode 36Welcome to I Zero Trust What You’re Saying – Oct 2025 Edition! In this episode, we break down the latest Zero Trust news, trends, and updates that matter to security…
- Episode 35: The Critical Role of Testing in Zero Trust · 34 min · Season 1 Episode 35Guest: James Plouffe (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesplouffe) Host: Dr. Victor Monga (https://www.linkedin.com/in/victorvirtual) In this essential episode, host Dr. Victor…
- Episode 34: SMB Cybersecurity Investment in the Zero Trust Era · 25 min · Season 1 Episode 3400:00 Introduction to SMB Cybersecurity Challenges 02:43 The Importance of Securing SMBs 05:32 Lack of In-House Expertise in SMBs 08:23 The Cybersecurity Buying Journey for SMBs…
- Episode 33: The Zero Trust Transformation: Shifting from Technical Fix to Cultural Change · 40 min · Season 1 Episode 33In this episode, we dive deep into the organizational and cultural roadblocks of Zero Trust with Mark Simos, Lead Cybersecurity Architect at Microsoft. Mark, a veteran who has…
- Episode 32: I Zero Trust What You’re Saying – Sep 2025 · 19 min · Season 1 Episode 32Welcome to I Zero Trust What You’re Saying – Aug 2025 Edition! In this episode, we break down the latest Zero Trust news, trends, and updates that matter to security…
- Episode 31: Don't Wait for Ransomware to Justify Your Zero Trust Strategy · 22 min · Season 1 Episode 31In this episode, we cut through the marketing hype to reveal the strategic core of Zero Trust with Alex Sharpe, a 30-year cybersecurity veteran from the NSA, Booz Allen, and KPMG…







