Written by: Collin McKinzie
Executives are spending 14.3% more money on cybersecurity – that’s around $214.9 million in 2024 alone (Gartner). We’ve seen increased spend lead to a “the more the better” mentality where board-level leaders as requesting more solutions aross security stacks.
While using the latest security products does address the evolving threats we’re seeing, sticking to basic security principles can also significantly reduce risks while exhausting fewer resources. A customized approach is key. Setting up Zero-Trust policies in your network is a simple way to boost safety, blocking threats from both inside and outside.
Using tools like Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and following the Principle of Least Privilege ensures only the right people have access to data. Network Segmentation and Microsegmentation are getting more attention lately, especially with the increase in ransomware attacks.
Incorporating Zero-Trust policies into your network is an easy way to increase safety by blocking threats from both outside and inside your organization. Simple tools like Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and the Principle of Least Privilege help ensure that only the right people have access to data, reducing the risk of unauthorized access.
While Network Segmentation and Microsegmentation aren’t new concepts by any means, I’ve seen a surge in articles being published about these two philosophies as the rise in ransomware attacks, prompting the security industry to seek innovative ways to hinder lateral movement within networks. Now, let's take a deeper look at each of these concepts. 👇
Network Segmentation involves breaking down a larger network into smaller sub-networks – this strategy reduces the likelihood of unauthorized lateral movement within your organization's networks in the event of a breach. It also follows the Zero-Trust philosophy, as it keeps users inside your organization from accessing data and information outside the scope of their responsibilities. Segmentation enhances network efficiency by precisely controlling access permissions for traffic, ensuring that only authorized data flows between network segments. Additionally, it empowers IT Managers to monitor smaller subsets of networks, enabling them to ensure the security of traffic within these subnets.
Why monitor 1,000 things at once when you can monitor 50?
Separating public facing networks from corporate will make sure guests have no access to confidential data on company networks. Securing and separating IOT devices and physical security like card readers or cameras, which may not have as robust of a protection capability, will keep the bad guys from landing and expanding inside your network should they be able to compromise those assets.
Think of it like this: If your network is a gated community, then Network Segmentation would be like a series of gated homes inside this gated community. Sure, someone may be able to get access to the neighborhood with enough work, but that won’t help them much because they would then need to gain access to each individual home. Each individual home has its own locks and keys, so the bad guy wouldn’t be able to access more than one home without having to break into another. With this many layers to peel through to gain access to multiple subnets, it deters bad actors because of the time and effort they would need to put in to break into each home.
If Network Segmentation is making sure each house in your neighborhood is locked and gated, Microsegmentation is making sure each room in every single one of your houses has its own lock and key as well. As it’s self-described, Microsegmentation takes the same idea of Network Segmentation, but does it on a much more granular scale. Rather than using Firewalls or VLANs to support segmentation, Microsegmentation takes a virtual approach to segmentation.
Microsegmentation takes the Zero-Trust framework one step further by vetting network traffic inside even already “safe” segmented networks. Microsegmentation protects your network on the application security level, digging deeper than traditional segmentation.
Organizations can apply specific policies to individual workloads instead of having only one security policy on the server.
Incorporating this level on granularity depends on organization complexity and the needs it requires. If the bad guys can break in, Microsegmentation is an insurance policy that ensures moving laterally inside your network will be complex and difficult.
There are certain policies and procedures your organization can implement to reduce its appeal to bad guys without having to spend more money on tools that may not pay off. Segmenting your network and determining how deep the rabbit hole needs to go is ultimately up to the teams running the security programs.
As I stated before, these concepts are not new or shiny in any sense of the imagination, but they are sure ways to help deter breaches from going from bad to worse. Reducing the attack surface area of an organization and implementing Zero-Trust policies like the Principle of Least Privilege are easy first steps to take to make sure you’re safe from threats inside and outside the organization.
References:
Dashlane, https://www.dashlane.com/blog/what-is-network-segmentation
CloudFlare, https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/access-management/what-is-microsegmentation/
Fortinet, https://www.fortinet.com/resources/cyberglossary/network-segmentation