Today, the Zero Trust model has evolved from a framework to a living, learning ecosystem — one increasingly powered by artificial intelligence. Traditional Zero Trust principles (“never trust, always verify”) remain foundational, but the scale and velocity of today’s hybrid cloud and AI-driven environments demand something more adaptive.
Nowadays, security teams face AI-scale attack surfaces: distributed cloud and data-center workloads, connected OT/edge devices, and an explosion of automation and models that both defenders and attackers leverage. Two trends stand out this year: (1) security moving into the network and compute fabric itself (AI-native, distributed protection), and (2) threat-response systems built around ensembles of AI that unify telemetry, threat intel, and playbooks. Pairing a fabric-level protector like Cisco Hypershield with a Nexus-style AI command center (many vendors now call their AI threat orchestration engines “Nexus” or “Nexus-like”) creates a force multiplier for automated containment and dramatically shortens mean time to remediate. (Cisco)
The workforce of today is more hybrid, mobile, and AI-driven than ever before. Employees jump between office networks, home Wi-Fi, cloud workspaces, and personal devices—while critical business data moves fluidly between private data centers and SaaS platforms.
In today’s hyper-connected ecosystem, your organization is only as secure as your weakest third-party vendor. As cyber threats and regulatory scrutiny intensify, third-party risk management (TPRM) and supply chain compliance are no longer check-the-box activities—they’re strategic imperatives.
If your organization works with the federal government—or even just partners with a federal contractor—chances are you’ve encountered the term NIST 800-171. But what is it exactly, why does it matter in 2025, and what should you be doing now to align with it?
In 2025, the landscape of cybersecurity compliance for government contractors is evolving rapidly, and the shift from the System for Award Management (SAM) Supplier Performance Risk System (SPRS) to the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Level 1 is one of the most notable changes. This transition marks a significant milestone in strengthening the security posture of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) supply chain, and it comes with new requirements that contractors must understand to stay compliant and continue doing business with the federal government. We’re going to dive into the key elements of this shift and what contractors need to know to successfully navigate the transition.
