In our seventh and final blog of the Star Trek series, we visit the most recent show in the series—Star Trek: Picard, which once again stars Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard, about 30 years after the conclusion of Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG). Debuting in 2020, this series features Picard reuniting with former crew members, as well as those from crews in other Star Trek series, as he seeks redemption from past failings that haunt him in retirement.

What Picard and other members of Starfleet (both current and former) soon realize is that not everything is what or who they seem, which in turn causes the cast to remain cautious around every turn, not unlike zero trust in cybersecurity—where there is no implied trust and no devices should be trusted by default. It’s an added layer of protection from hackers and threats.

In the second and most recent season of Picard, for instance, the former captain of the Enterprise and his new crewmates are forced to align with arguably Picard’s biggest nemesis for decades—the Borg. They are cybernetic organisms linked to a hive mind called “the Collective” and assimilate other species to absorb their technology into their own race. Picard was captured and assimilated by the Borg during the TNG series before he was rescued by his crew, but some of their cybernetic implants are still present in his body and cannot be removed. In the second season, he aligns with the Borg Queen to travel back in time to Los Angeles in 2024 (from 2401) to save the galaxy.

Zero trust is not going away. In fact, Gartner lists it (along with remote work and the cloud) as the biggest driver in security spend in a recent report. It’s no secret that this has become increasingly crucial for endpoint security, and, as security practitioners, it’s important to address any impediments, such as legacy tech standing in the way, in order to fully implement an effective strategy for your company or business.

Just as old habits can be hard to break, as seen in Picard with his crew working alongside an old nemesis in the Borg, the same can be true for zero trust and cybersecurity. Does it add an extra hurdle, an added step? Yes. But hackers and threats do not rest. Trust by default—while convenient—isn’t safe at this point and puts your information at risk. It’s our new reality. Added layers of protection give you that extra sense of peace of mind for what’s most important, like locking your doors at home or in your car when leaving.

The third season of Picard is set to air in spring 2023 on Paramount+. For more information on zero trust, check out the full array of RSA Conference content here.