Security Brutalism Truths

Based on the famous SOF Truths.

• Truth I: Real security is built on understanding systems, not buying solutions. People who comprehend the underlying architecture, threat models, and failure modes create effective security. Technology stacks, vendor promises, and compliance frameworks cannot substitute for deep technical knowledge and systems thinking. The right practitioners will secure any environment; the wrong ones will fail regardless of budget.
• Truth II: Depth beats breadth in security expertise. A focused team of specialists who understand their domain completely outperforms larger groups of generalists. Security requires mastery of complex, interconnected systems where surface-level knowledge creates dangerous blind spots. Better to have fewer people who can think like attackers than many who only know checklists.
• Truth III: Security brutalism practitioners cannot be rapidly trained. Developing the mindset to see through security theater, challenge assumptions, and build truly robust defenses takes years of hands-on experience. This includes learning to break things systematically, understanding how systems fail under pressure, and developing intuition for where complexity hides vulnerabilities. No bootcamp or certification program can accelerate this maturation process without creating false confidence
• Truth IV: Effective security teams must exist before incidents occur. When breaches happen, there is no time to build institutional knowledge, establish team dynamics, or develop the deep system understanding needed for effective response. Security brutalism requires continuous preparation, constant red-teaming of your own assumptions, and maintaining capabilities during peaceful periods when management questions their necessity.
• Truth V: Security brutalism requires organizational support beyond the security team. The most skilled security practitioners cannot succeed in isolation. Effective security demands cooperation from engineering teams who build with security principles, operations teams who maintain secure configurations, and leadership who understand that real security often conflicts with convenience, speed, or cost optimization. Security brutalism challenges the entire organization to prioritize actual security over the appearance of security.