Passwords have been strengthened by multi-factor authentication. Single sign-on has simplified and centralised access. Biometrics, privileged access management and increasingly sophisticated identity controls have made it much harder for someone to simply pretend to be somebody else.

What makes them particularly interesting is that they often remain difficult to answer, even in organisations with extraordinary levels of visibility.

This paper explores what may be described as the Readiness Illusion: The tendency to mistake visibility for readiness, collection for insight, activity for capability, information for intelligence, and understanding for action.