Microsegmentation is a method of making networks more secure. This involves dividing a network into different segments, each of which has its own security measures.
What is microsegmentation?
Microsegmentation aims to prevent data from moving sideways within a network. This means that data moves between different areas in the network. This entails the risk that all areas of a network are directly affected by an attack.
Micro-segmentation prevents this by dividing the network into smaller segments. Each segment is secured against intruders with its own protection mechanisms. These are, for example, firewalls or separate access controls.
Microsegmentation is based on least privilege access and the zero trust principle. Essentially, this means that only people who need access to a segment are granted it. There is also a reliable access control system that prevents unauthorized persons from gaining easy access.
Implementation
Micro-segmentation does not require a network to be restructured. Instead, workloads are separated from each other within the network, thereby containing the spread of threats.
There are various technologies for implementing micro-segmentation. These are the most tried and tested:
- Solutions through agents: A software agent is placed directly in the workload and ensures that hosts and containers remain isolated from each other. In this way, it curbs the spread of data between hosts and containers.
- Network-based solutions: You need physical and virtual devices for these methods. These include, for example, load balancers, overlay networks, switches and SDNs. These devices are used to divide the network infrastructure into segments.
- Solutions in the cloud: Well-known cloud operators such as Amazon offer their own methods for microsegmentation.
The microsegmentation methods provide an insight into the entire data traffic within the network. At the same time, all data traffic is monitored.
Network administrators can create policies for the applications themselves. This ensures greater security against the lateral spread of threats.
Imagine it like an intersection. Traffic is moving in four directions. There is a destination in each direction. But you want to prevent traffic from going from east to west. You close this road with micro-segmentation. If an attack takes place in the east, it will not spread to the west because the traffic in this direction is blocked. The threat therefore remains in one place. This makes it easier to detect and combat.
Types of microsegmentation
There are different types of microsegmentation. These are the best known:
- Container segmentation: This common method ensures that containers and hosts remain separate from each other (as already mentioned). The aim is to prevent data from spreading between the containers.
- User segmentation: This is where roles and responsibilities are assigned and linked to various access authorizations. These include separation of duties to limit control within a system and multi-factor authentication.
- Monitoring: Log data and analyses are used to observe and evaluate activities in order to detect security incidents in real time. This also includes regular checks of access in order to identify breaches and security gaps.
With network segmentation measures, you reduce the attack surface in your systems. Threats are separated and do not spread across the entire system. Even in the event of attacks, the damage remains as low as possible.
