The Human Cost of Defense: A CISO’s View From the War Room
In cybersecurity, success is invisible. When nothing breaks, no headlines flash across screens, and no angry calls come from the boardroom, it means someone did their job. But that silence comes with a cost.
The Human Cost of Defense: A CISO’s View From the War Room
In cybersecurity, success is invisible. When nothing breaks, no headlines flash across screens, and no angry calls come from the boardroom, it means someone did their job. But that silence comes with a cost. Phil Keibler, a CISO from a major retail chain featured in Midnight in the War Room, knows that cost well. “On any given week, we stop 120 real attacks before they become catastrophic,” he told me. “If we weren’t doing our job, we wouldn’t last a day.”
It’s the kind of statement you might mistake for exaggeration if you didn’t know how relentless cyberdefense has become. For Phil and his team, that number isn’t an anomaly — it’s a baseline. Each threat represents something that could have escalated into a business-ending or life-altering event. Their work rarely makes the news. That’s how it’s supposed to be. But as Midnight in the War Room — a new feature-length documentary from Semperis — shows, the mental and emotional strain of keeping the modern world running can be immense. Behind the Firewall, a Human Battle Produced and co-directed by Thomas LeDuc, Midnight in the War Room lifts the veil on what life is really like for cybersecurity professionals. The film’s premise is simple but overdue: Take the people who defend our digital infrastructure every day and let them tell their own stories. LeDuc, a former filmmaker who transitioned into cybersecurity a decade ago, said he wanted to make something defenders could show to their families. “Cybersecurity has all the ingredients of a blockbuster — heroes, high stakes — but it’s still not on most young people’s radar as a career,” he told me. “We joke about ‘making cyber sexy,’ but we mean it. We need to make this industry exciting and aspirational.” The result isn’t a glossy recruitment ad. It’s a quiet, sometimes raw portrait of people who carry an extraordinary amount of responsibility for systems the rest of us take for granted. Life in the War Room Phil described his job as a balance between vigilance and burnout. “You have to keep your team ready to fight every day,” he said. “They’re on the front lines, addressing threats and risks in real time. They do it because they take pride in it, not because there’s applause waiting for them.” That line captures a truth I’ve heard repeatedly over the years. The best defenders aren’t driven by recognition; they’re driven by purpose. They understand that success is silent — that the lights stay on precisely because no one notices what they’ve done. But that silence takes a toll. CISOs live under a constant state of low-grade crisis, knowing that even one oversight could become a headline or a congressional hearing. “If you enter this field for the wrong reasons,” Phil warned, “if you do it for the paycheck or the title, it’ll break you pretty quickly.” I’ve interviewed dozens of security leaders, but the tone of this conversation stood out. There was no drama, just calm honesty. You could hear the fatigue, but also pride. He wasn’t trying to sound heroic. He was trying to be real. Burnout as the Industry’s Unspoken Threat That emotional honesty is what makes Midnight in the War Room so compelling. It treats cybersecurity burnout not as weakness, but as evidence of how far the profession has evolved. LeDuc told me that more than one CISO described the interviews as “therapy.” When you spend your career putting out fires no one else can see, even acknowledging the exhaustion feels like rebellion. The film also widens its lens beyond enterprise networks. It draws connections between corporate defense and national security—between the stress felt by a retail CISO and the mission of protecting critical infrastructure. As one former intelligence leader says in the film, “Digital borders are now as real as physical ones, and just as vulnerable.” That theme resonates with me. After two decades covering cybersecurity, I’ve seen how defenders are caught in an impossible paradox: They’re expected to prevent every attack in a world where perfection doesn’t exist. They work impossible hours, navigate endless compliance demands, and somehow remain optimistic enough to keep showing up the next day. A Thankless Profession With Real Stakes Phil’s organization manages the logistics networks that keep food, fuel, and medicine moving. A single breach could ripple through supply chains nationwide. “When the COVID vaccines rolled out,” he told me, “we were the ones distributing them. If we go down, those drugs don’t reach the people who need them.” That kind of responsibility changes how you see the job. For Phil, cybersecurity isn’t about compliance or convenience — it’s about continuity. “You’re protecting more than data,” he said. “You’re protecting lives and livelihoods.” It’s a line that lingers, because it reframes everything we think we know about the field. When a cyberattack takes down a hospital network or a logistics hub, the consequences are physical, not theoretical. The damage is measured in delayed surgeries, spoiled medicine and missed paychecks. No Hype, Just Humanity What I appreciate about LeDuc’s approach to this documentary is that it’s unvarnished. Semperis CEO Mickey Bresman gave him one rule when the project started: no product talk. No branding. No marketing. Just truth. The result is a film that finally lets cybersecurity professionals speak for themselves. You hear from reformed hackers like Marcus Hutchins, who famously stopped WannaCry, and from national-security figures like Jen Easterly and Chris Inglis. But it’s the working CISOs — people like Phil — who ground the story in reality. They remind us that cybersecurity isn’t just about technology. It’s about resilience, sacrifice, and the small daily acts that keep chaos at bay. Redefining the Hero Archetype In a world obsessed with cinematic heroes, Midnight in the War Room offers a quieter kind of valor. These defenders aren’t charging into battlefields; they’re preventing wars from spilling into our daily lives. As someone who’s covered this industry for years, I think it’s time we start seeing them for what they are: The digital first responders of our age. They won’t get medals, but they deserve recognition. It’s not just a film. It’s a reflection of an entire profession that rarely gets credit until it’s too late. LeDuc told me his ultimate hope for the project is simple. “If this film helps even one young person see cybersecurity as heroic and meaningful — we’ve done our job.” Midnight in the War Room is expected to premiere in early 2026, and the first trailer is available to view now at semperis.com/midnight-in-the-war-room.
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