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If you’ve found your way here, welcome. Pull up a chair. Let me explain what this is all about.
Why “Nine Lives”?
The old saying goes that cats have nine lives. They fall off things, get into trouble, and somehow always land on their feet.
Cloud security is a lot like that.
Your systems will get knocked off the ledge. Configs will break. Someone will click the wrong link. A vendor will have a bad day. An attacker will find a gap you didn’t know existed.
The question isn’t whether bad things will happen. The question is: have you built systems that survive the fall?
That’s what this blog is about.
Why “Zero Trust”?
Because “trust but verify” was always a lie we told ourselves.
Zero Trust means exactly what it sounds like: we don’t trust anything by default. Not the network. Not the device. Not the user. Not even the identity, until we’ve verified it, scoped its access, and logged what it did.
It’s not paranoia. It’s just good architecture.
Curiosity Verified
Every claim gets tested. Every assumption gets questioned. If it doesn’t hold up in the logs, it doesn’t ship.
That’s the mindset I bring to my work as a Cloud Security Architect, and it’s the mindset I’ll bring to this blog.
Who’s Behind the Keyboard?
I’m Jerrad Dahlager. Cloud Security Architect at Crayon, where I help organizations build secure, resilient cloud environments. Before that, I served in the United States Marine Corps, which taught me a few things that translate directly to security: attention to detail, planning for things to go wrong, and the value of a good checklist.
Oh, and I have three cats. That’s actually where “Nine Lives” comes from. They run the house, knock things off ledges constantly, and somehow always land on their feet. Sound familiar?
Outside of work, I teach as an Adjunct Instructor for the University of Louisville’s cybersecurity program. Watching students go from overwhelmed to confident—and knowing I got to be part of that—is something I’m genuinely thankful for.
I’m also a die-hard Minnesota sports fan. Vikings, Twins, the whole painful experience. If you know Minnesota sports, you know resilience isn’t just a professional skill for me. It’s a lifestyle.
What You’ll Find Here
Real-world lessons from the field:
- Zero Trust architecture: What works, what doesn’t, and why it’s harder than the vendors make it sound
- Multi-cloud security: Azure, AWS, and the joy of making them play nice together
- DevSecOps: Shift-left security that developers don’t hate
- Incident lessons: What we learned when things went wrong (because they always do)
- The human element: Training, culture, and why your security is only as good as your people
No fluff. Just practical security from someone who’s been in the trenches.
Let’s Go
If something I write here helps you avoid a mistake I already made, or gives you a new way to think about a problem, that’s a win.
Welcome to Nine Lives, Zero Trust. Let’s build systems that always land on their feet.
Questions? Ideas? Cat photos? Find me on LinkedIn.
Jerrad Dahlager, CISSP, CCSP
Cloud Security Architect · Adjunct Instructor
Marine Corps veteran and firm believer that the best security survives contact with reality.
Have thoughts on this post? I'd love to hear from you.
