What is Perfect Cybersecurity?

What is perfect cybersecurity? Perfect cybersecurity is a misnomer. It is misleading because it infers that a system or data is perfectly protected from harm or loss, and that simply is not the case in cybersecurity. You see, it's not really possible to make digital systems impervious to attack. If it were, it would likely be insanely expensive or basically unusable by those who need to access the system. Perfect cybersecurity is actually the optimal balance of risks, costs, and user friction. It doesn't mean something will never be hacked, but rather that there is an accepted level of security to mitigate the risks of loss, disruption, or impact. Think of a bank vault. Very secure, but even the most massive vault is not impervious, as so many bank heist movies have shown, but it is the right level of security for the financial organization while still being functional and within the budget of the institution. Banks are okay with the very strong level of security that makes such breaches extraordinarily rare. It's not impossible though. The same goes for cybersecurity. Never expect something to be fully unhackable, as that's not realistic. Organizations must decide what the optimal level of security is based upon their risk appetites and business objectives and the pursuit of those goals. Data encryption is a great example. Encryption algorithms are evaluated on their strength and usability. Every method to encrypt data can be compromised, but normally it's the amount of time that it takes that is mostly considered. This is the biggest factor. Most people would be okay if it took attackers a thousand years to decrypt their secrets. Now, the ugly truth, which makes the risk management process much more difficult, is that the optimal level often changes over time, and advances by intelligent attackers can quickly alter the math. Making what was enough security to meet the desired goals suddenly and significantly insufficient. That forces security teams to adapt by applying more security controls or for management to redefine the risk targets to a lower standard. So what is perfect security? It's not being impervious to all attacks. It's finding that optimal balance where there's acceptable risks and costs, and yet the system is still available to those who need to use it.