Cyber defenders need to remember their adversaries are human, says Trellix research head

Cybersecurity professionals must remember they are fighting real people, not abstract threats, and recognize the increasingly blurred lines between cybercriminals and nation-states.

This was the message from John Fokker, head of threat intelligence at Trellix Advanced Research Center, during his RSA Conference 2025 keynote. Drawing on his background as a former Dutch high-tech crime unit officer, Fokker stressed the human element. “So often we forget that these cyber criminals are real people,” he said. “It’s tempting to anonymize threats … but really they’re just bad people, regular names sitting behind a keyboard.”

Fokker, whose Trellix team provides threat intelligence to critical sectors, cautioned against over-focusing on advanced attacker tech. “A cybercriminal will always prefer a victim with weak passwords, bad patching and no MFA,” he noted from experience.

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