Why God, Why?
Written on one of the many support columns which hold up the M8 motorway in Glasgow as it heads onto the Kingston Bridge, taking the traffic above to the other side of River Clyde. I have walked by this on many occasions on my way from Anderston train station to ST Vincent St, yesterday I stopped and took this photograph of the writings that put a wry smile on my face every time I saw it.
It got me thinking and on the way home on the train I decided to give AI a go and see what it could come with in the way of writing something around the missing Gospel according to Cyber. Between AI and myself, some of it is edited, this is what we came up with.
“Why God, Why?!”
The Cybersecurity Gospel According to Modern Mishaps
If a single phrase could capture the collective eye-rolling of IT pros everywhere, it’s this: “Why God, WHY?!”
From Digital Facepalms to Cyber Enlightenment
If there’s one phrase that could double as the soundtrack for every IT professional’s week, it’s this: “Why God, WHY?!”
It’s muttered over corrupted hard drives. It’s screamed into the void when the CEO double-clicks a phishing link titled “Quarterly Bonuses.zip.” It’s the hushed lament whispered when someone proudly disables the firewall because “Netflix was buffering.” It’s not just an exclamation of frustration. It’s the modern psalm of digital anguish.
But here’s a thought, maybe, just maybe, these aren’t signs the cyber gods have forsaken us. What if, beneath the server crashes and DNS disasters, there’s something more? A glitchy pathway… to enlightenment and wisdom?
As Proverbs 9:10 says (with just a hint of divine side-eye): “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” In security speak, that’s code for “panic early, patch often.” Respect the system. Trust no link, and never, ever assume Mary from accounting or Pontius from HR knows what 2FA means.
These moments of IT anguish are more than just coffee-spilling catastrophes, they’re teachable moments wearing chaos as a disguise. That corrupted hard drive? An evangelist for the gospel of backups. The phishing scam? A fiery sermon on eternal vigilance. The firewall incident? Proof that when convenience and security wrestle, convenience tends to hit “disable.”
Let’s face it, these are not just mishaps. They’re the cybersecurity equivalent of biblical parables. Tales of trial, error, and the kind of wisdom that only emerges after three password resets and a sacrificial printer.
So let’s not waste the wail. Let’s reboot it. Because in the end, resilience isn’t built on perfection. It’s built on learning, laughing, and occasionally screaming into the Ethernet void.
The Parable of the Unprotected Endpoint
A man once travelled from Jerusalem to Jericho, or in our day, from Outlook to Slack, when he encountered malware. It stripped his credentials, beat up his data, and left his device for dead.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” John 10:10
Modern thieves don’t wear masks, they wear proxies and spoofed email headers. They’re not lurking behind bushes, but inside that email claiming you’ve “won an iPhone 27.” Just as the Good Samaritan stopped and helped, our modern heroes are cyber defenders who patch systems, raise awareness, and restore the wounded endpoints.
- Lesson: Security isn’t optional kindness. It’s the neighbourly thing to do.
Noah and the Incident Response Plan
When God told Noah to build the ark, He didn’t wait for the first drop of rain. That’s called preparedness, or what we in the business call a solid incident response strategy.
“By faith Noah… in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household.” Hebrews 11:7
Imagine explaining patch management to Noah: “Yes, build a patch before it floods.” Today’s storm isn’t 40 days of rain, it’s ransomware with an infection time of three minutes. Be like Noah. Anticipate. Prepare. Float above the chaos.
- Lesson: God told Noah to build the ark, not wait for the water.
The Book of Backups (A Lost Gospel)
You know the IT team prayed when the backup drive failed. One could almost hear Job crying out:
“What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me.” Job 3:25
Job didn’t have versioning, cloud sync, or immutable snapshots. You do. Don’t wait for disaster to remember the gospel of backups. Practice it faithfully, like daily devotions.
- Lesson: Backups are your resurrection plan. When systems die, rise again.
The Gospel According to MFA
When Moses led his people out of Egypt, Pharaoh chased them with 600 chariots, perhaps the ancient equivalent of 600 botnets. But what parted the sea wasn’t brute force. It was divine separation. That’s what MFA does. A second factor parts the phishing waves, keeping legitimate users moving forward while fraud drowns in the shallows.
“Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7
Apply that logic to cyber attacks. MFA isn’t a speed bump, it’s a Red Sea of defence.
- Lesson: One password alone is just Egypt. MFA is your Exodus.
Conclusion: From Lament to Leadership
“Why God, Why?!” isn’t just a cry of frustration, it’s the first line of a Psalm. Psalms don’t end in sorrow. They end in resolve.
Cyber resilience isn’t about avoiding the breach altogether. It’s about building the ark before the flood, guarding the gates like a wise watchman, and rising like Job, stronger, smarter, and more secure.
So go forth, ye defenders of data. Take up the whole Armor of cybersecurity, that ye may withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
“Let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9
Amen. And always back up thine files.
#CyberWisdom #DigitalDisasters #SecurityWithASmile
