Breach Ready: Rethinking Zero Trust and Lateral Movement Defense

Cybersecurity isn’t what it used to be—and that’s a good thing. In the latest episode of the TechSpective Podcast, I sat down with Sunil Muralidhar, Vice President of Marketing and Partnerships at ColorTokens, to explore how organizations are rethinking traditional security approaches and what it means to be “breach ready” in today’s threat landscape. For years, enterprise security revolved around the concept of perimeter defense—building bigger walls and stronger gates to keep attackers out. But the game has changed. With cloud adoption, remote work, IT/OT convergence, and the rise of identity-based threats, the idea of a clearly defined perimeter no longer holds water. Sunil brings a wealth of experience to the table and makes a compelling case for why microsegmentation and Zero Trust architecture are no longer optional—they’re essential. The Shift from Reactive Defense to Proactive Containment Let’s face it: attackers are going to get in. Whether it’s through stolen credentials, social engineering, or misconfigured cloud resources, initial access is easier to achieve than ever. What matters now is what happens next. That’s where the concept of lateral movement becomes critical. Once inside, attackers often spend days, weeks, or even months quietly exploring internal networks, moving from one system to another in search of valuable assets. Breach readiness means being prepared to contain that movement, limit the blast radius, and prevent a minor incident from becoming a full-blown crisis. Sunil emphasizes that this isn't just a technical challenge—it's a business imperative. Cyber resilience is about ensuring that even when something goes wrong, operations continue with minimal disruption. It’s about keeping the business running while the security team does its job. Why Microsegmentation Matters At the heart of breach readiness is microsegmentation—a strategic approach that enforces strict access controls between workloads, devices, and users. It’s the digital equivalent of closing fire doors in a building: if one area is compromised, the threat can’t easily spread. But while the concept isn’t new, adoption has lagged due to complexity and fear of disruption. Sunil shares how ColorTokens is helping organizations overcome these barriers with simplified, agentless deployment models and greater visibility into interdependencies. The goal isn’t to create friction—it’s to build confidence that the right protections are in place without bringing operations to a halt. IT/OT Convergence: A New Frontier for Risk Another major topic we cover in the episode is the increasingly blurred line between IT and OT environments. Industrial systems that were once isolated are now networked, monitored, and managed remotely. While this drives efficiency and innovation, it also expands the attack surface. Sunil explains how the same principles of Zero Trust and microsegmentation apply here, too—just with additional considerations around legacy devices and protocols. Protecting these environments requires visibility, adaptability, and context-aware policy enforcement, especially when traditional agents can’t be installed. AI, Cloud, and the Evolving Threat Landscape We also touch on how AI is reshaping both attack and defense strategies, from identity spoofing to fully autonomous threats. With AI workloads increasingly built and deployed in the cloud, Sunil discusses why cloud-native security and identity-first protection are more important than ever. Breach readiness isn’t just about preventing attacks. It’s about designing systems that expect compromise, contain threats by default, and allow the business to stay resilient and responsive. Breach Ready This conversation is a must-listen for CISOs, security architects, and anyone navigating the modern cybersecurity landscape. Sunil brings thoughtful insights and practical advice to the table—and whether you’re already exploring Zero Trust or just starting ...