Netflix’s Zero Day, a cautionary tale about cyberattacks, insider threats, and political intrigue, boasts a star-studded cast and twisty plot – but much ink is being spilled about the veracity of the doomsday scenario at the core of this thriller mini-series. A one-minute nationwide shutdown of all electronic devices, including cell phones and computers, results in train collisions, aviation disruptions, hospital equipment failures, and even many deaths, which were unintended by the bad actors behind the attack.

Opinions are split, with some pundits claiming that that sort of attack could never happen, while others say that truth is sometimes stranger than fiction—Robert de Niro, the star of Zero Day, is an eighty-one-year-old father to a toddler IRL, for example. 

In the short time since the series aired, the CERT Coordination Center has reported a real-life zero-day attack: a Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver (BYOVD) ransomware flaw in Paragon Partition Manager.

And while yes, the series is about cyberattacks, in today’s converged world, there is a strong physical security element as well. Physical security devices need strong cyber hygiene to keep them secure and operational or chaos may ensue, as the show illustrates so effectively: Look what happened during a sixty-second blackout!

If you don’t want to be the villain of the next Netflix hit, here’s a checklist for protecting America from the next cyberattack. When it comes to your physical security devices, make sure that:

• All are running the latest compatible firmware
• All passwords are updated regularly
• Certificate management happens as it should
• Devices that are no longer supported by the manufacturer are replaced
• All devices are configured and you perform hardening checks 
• You get alerts about any vulnerabilities or deviations from policies
• You monitor device health and cybersecurity status 

The convergence of cyber fears and pop culture may just be the next big trend of 2025. Want to kick back and watch the next show without worrying about the state of your physical security devices? Use the checklist above for peace of mind.