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Ryan Ulrick

Walking a DNS Failure in a Zero Trust Environment

A cloud-brokered Zero Trust app loads, policy allows it, and identity succeeds—yet it still fails. This walkthrough shows how a single DNS record can bypass enforcement and how to diagnose it step-by-step.

DNS in Zero Trust: Why It Breaks First

DNS doesn’t change in Zero Trust — its position in the access path does. This post explains why DNS issues surface early, how resolution and enforcement drift out of alignment, and what “good enough” DNS understanding looks like for practitioners.

Zero Trust Assumes You Understand the Network (Even If Vendors Say Otherwise)

Zero Trust doesn’t eliminate networking — it assumes you understand it. This post reframes how networking skills still matter in Zero Trust environments, why familiar instincts can mislead, and what “good enough” fluency actually looks like in practice.

How To Use the Zero Trust Primer Series

Zero Trust assumes familiarity across networking, identity, DNS, certificates, policy and more. This series is a practitioner-focused primer on how those domains interact in real deployments, and what “good enough” understanding looks like to operate confidently.

Demystifying Proxy Servers: How They Direct and Secure Your Web Traffic

Welcome to my new blog series that delves into the fascinating world of proxy servers. As internet users, we interact with proxy servers on a daily basis, yet many of us may not fully understand what they are and how they shape our online experiences. In this post, I aim

Beyond Configuration: Maintaining, Scaling, and Monitoring PAC Files for Optimal Proxy Operations - Part 4 of 4

Welcome to the final installment of our PAC file series! In Parts 1 to 3, we explored the fundamentals of PAC files, creation and configuration, advanced features, security considerations, performance optimization, troubleshooting, and more. In Part 4, we will delve into the essential aspects of PAC file maintenance, change management,

Optimizing PAC Files: Troubleshooting, Performance, and Security Considerations - Part 3 of 4

Welcome to Part 3 of our PAC Files series! In the previous posts, we delved into the fundamentals of PAC files, explored their creation, configuration, and advanced features, and discussed best practices for managing and maintaining them. Building upon that foundation, we now turn our attention to some critical aspects

Deep Dive into PAC Files: Advanced Features and Best Practices for Effective Proxy Configuration - Part 2 of 4

Welcome to the second installment of this blog series on PAC files. In the previous post Understanding PAC Files: An Introduction to Dynamic Proxy Configuration, we explored the fundamental elements of PAC files, their purpose, and the structure that defines them. Now, let's dive deeper into the world

Understanding PAC Files: An Introduction to Dynamic Proxy Configuration - Part 1 of 4

Welcome to this comprehensive multi-part blog series on Proxy Auto-Configuration (PAC) files! In this series, we will delve into the world of PAC files and explore their role in shaping web browsing experiences. Whether you're a curious learner or an aspiring network administrator, this series aims to equip