How Security Debt Can Accumulate Faster Than Technical Debt

This essay describes the concept of security debt: insecure shortcuts and forgotten controls that silently accumulate, are actively probed and exploited by adversaries, propagate across connected systems, and ultimately produce catastrophic risk. It warns that security debt grows faster than technical debt because attackers hunt for it, and recommends concrete hygiene—asset inventory, least privilege, rapid patching, meaningful logging, and regular incident response practice—to reduce exposure.