Why Submarine Survival Hinges on Segmentation — and So Does Yours
When you see a World War II submarine like the USS Pampanito in San Francisco, you’re reminded what real resilience looks like. These ships weren’t invincible, but they were built to take damage, adapt, and keep fighting — thanks to one principle above all: segmentation.
My friend Dr. Chase Cunningham, who spent nearly 15 years in the Navy, reminded me of an important lesson from ships like these: the military has always excelled at segmentation. Surface ships like the USS Stark and Samuel B. Roberts were hit hard in battle — damage that should have sunk them. But because of strict compartmentalization, they stayed afloat and stayed in the fight.
On submarines, that principle is even more pronounced. Sailors train to “set condition zebra,” which means sealing off sections of the vessel. Even if 60% of the submarine floods, it can remain operational. It’s a living example of containment. The Navy doesn’t hope nothing will go wrong; it designs for what will inevitably go wrong. The Navy plans for failure, and your organization must do the same.
That’s exactly what Zero Trust is about.
Segmentation is the foundation of resilience
Just as watertight doors keep a submarine from being lost to a single torpedo, segmentation prevents one breach from sinking your entire enterprise. It isolates damage, buys time, and allows you to keep critical systems online while you fight back.
Attackers win only if you let them move freely. With Zero Trust Segmentation, you deny them that freedom. You control the blast radius. You keep operating, even under pressure.
Stay afloat, stay secure, stay in the fight
Too many organizations treat an attack like a game-ending event. But as Chase points out, you don’t get that option in the Navy. You operate in an inherently hostile environment. You’re always on alert. You never assume safety — you enforce it.
Zero Trust instills that mindset in cybersecurity. It isn’t a buzzword. It’s a strategy proven in the toughest environments — from the depths of the ocean to the modern enterprise.
And segmentation is your watertight door. It’s how you build a resilient system that survives the breach and lives to fight another day. In other words, breach doesn’t mean defeat. It means adapting, resetting conditions, and keeping in the fight.
If sailors can manually segment a 467-foot submarine in 90 seconds, you can certainly segment your digital infrastructure.
