Security Theater, Shiny Objects, & the Cost of Misdirection_Part1

Welcome to the Vital Edge Podcast. This episode is a little difference to usual - instead we’ve recorded this four-part micro-learning series that challenges how we think about cybersecurity — and why, despite our best intentions, we often end up chasing the wrong problems.

This conversation began in October 2025, when Garry Barnes delivered a session at the ISACA Europe Conference in London titled “A Positive Cyber Approach: Avoiding the Myth and Misdirection.”

Since then, the ideas didn’t settle — they evolved. Through ongoing industry conversations, post-session debates, and even a few exploratory discussions with AI, one thing became clear: the problem wasn’t getting smaller — it was getting clearer.

As a result, this session was reimagined and renamed:
“Security Theater, Shiny Objects, & the Cost of Misdirection: Why Cybersecurity Professionals Chase the Wrong Problems.”

Across four parts, we’ll explore how we got here, what we’ve misunderstood, and how security can — and should — become a deliberate enabler of the business, not a distraction from it.