Understanding Zero Trust: Microsegmentation

In this digital landscape, where everything is online, businesses seek robust security measures to safeguard themselves against cyber threats. To protect their corporate data and applications, having a strong security perimeter is essential. This is where micro-segmentation and zero-trust security come into play. 

These are the cybersecurity practices that offer a holistic approach to network security. In this blog, let us understand in detail why zero-trust micro-segmentation is important.

What is Micro-segmentation?

Micro-segmentation is a security approach that divides a network into discrete and small sections. Each of these small sections has its own security policy and can be accessed separately. 

The purpose of implementing micro-segmentation is to enhance network security by confining breaches and threats to specific segments without affecting the rest of the network.

To quote an analogy, you may think of the internet as a city replete with residential colonies and road systems, and your organisation’s security infrastructure comprises an apartment complex. 

In this scenario, micro-segmentation tends to define the number of people and types of people living on each floor of the apartment building. Everyone on the floor can gain access to the houses on the floor. 

But access to the floor may be restricted by, say, an exclusive floor pass. This reduces the likelihood of your house being robbed by external residents who do not belong to that floor.

Micro-segmentation in Zero Trust Framework

Micro-segmentation is a key component of the Zero-trust security architecture. The zero-trust security model assumes that any traffic moving in and out of the network could be a threat. Micro-segmentation ensures that such threats are isolated before they spread throughout the entire network. 

By implementing a zero-trust micro-segmentation security framework, businesses can gain greater control and visibility over their network traffic.

Why is Zero Trust Microsegmentation Important?

In a zero-trust security framework, a network is no longer considered a trusted entity. It operates on the core principle of trusting no one. In a zero-trust network, it is assumed that the network is hostile at all times, and threats can originate from both within and outside the network. 

Thus, to prevent such a threat, zero-trust security frameworks are required to segment the entire network into smaller, more manageable fragments and parts. This process of dividing the big network into smaller fragments is called micro-segmentation. This approach offers various advantages to the entire network, such as:

Reduced Attack Surface

One of the reasons for implementing zero-trust micro-segmentation is that it helps reduce the network's attack surface. It helps limit the potential damage of the cyberattack or breach by confining the threat within a single segment and then isolating it from the rest of the network. This helps in preventing lateral movement across the network. 

Simplified Compliance

Another reason why micro-segmentation in zero-trust is important is that it helps simplify compliance. By distributing the network into separate and smaller segments, businesses can easily regulate data and applications. This will help businesses easily demonstrate compliance with industry regulations and standards.

Granular Access Control

The zero-trust micro-segmentation also offers granular access control. It helps in enforcing the least privileged access within the segments. This will help ensure that the business or organisation's devices and users within the network only access the resources and data they need. This further helps in reducing the risk of unauthorised access.

Improved Visibility

Zero-trust micro-segmentation significantly enhances visibility across the network by providing detailed insights into traffic flows, user activities and application behaviour within each segment. 

By monitoring interactions at a granular level, organisations can detect anomalies, identify potential threats in real-time and gain a deeper understanding of how data moves within their infrastructure.

How Does Zero-trust Micro-segmentation Work?

The operation of micro-segmentation in a zero-trust security framework is straightforward. It helps in dividing the whole network into small fragments and strict access controls within and between those fragments. 

Furthermore, it also follows the zero-trust principle of “never trust, always verify,” meaning no user or device is trusted by default, even if it is inside the network perimeter. Here is how zero-trust micro-segmentation works.

Identify and Classify Asset

The first step in zero-trust micro-segmentation is scanning and mapping the entire network. The process involves identifying the devices, data, users and workloads. Depending on the sensitivity and function, these are further classified.

Create Microsegments

Once the identification and classification of assets is done, the next step involves creating small segments around workloads, data and applications. Each segment is isolated from the others to limit the lateral movement of threats.

Define Security Policies

Once the segments are created, it is crucial to define the security policies within the segments to specify exactly who or what can communicate with which resources and under what conditions. These policies enforce the principle of least privilege.

Enforce with Zero Trust

The next step is to implement zero-trust access control within the network. This access control is applied using tools such as firewalls, software-defined perimeters (SDPs), or endpoint agents. In simple words, every request is authenticated, authorised and encrypted before access is granted.

Monitor and Analyse Traffic

The next step is continuous monitoring and logging of traffic within and between micro-segments to provide visibility and help detect anomalous behaviour or policy violations.

Adjust Policy Dynamically

Depending on the network behaviours and any potential threat intelligence, policies can be fine-tuned automatically or manually to adapt to changing risk landscapes.

Challenges in Microsegmentation

Despite the numerous benefits of micro-segmentation, several challenges are associated with it. These challenges are:

Complexity in Implementation

One of the challenges associated with micro-segmentation is the complexity of implementing it within the network. 

The micro-segmentation requires deep visibility into the network, applications and data flows. The process of identifying and micro-segmenting assets can be time-consuming and daunting. 

Policy Management Overhead

Another challenge associated with micro-segmentation is that an increase in the number of segments within the network would lead to an increase in access control policies. 

Managing all these segments and policies across changing environments without proper automation can be challenging for businesses.

Compatibility Issue with Legacy System

Various old and legacy systems cannot support micro-segmentation tools or protocols, which makes implementation within the network more challenging. 

However, the integration of ZTNA and micro-segmentation is common. Using this, businesses can apply access controls at the user and application level regardless of the underlying infrastructure.

Conclusion

Micro-segmentation is increasingly used by zero-trust solutions to provide a higher level of security and greater control over the configuration of flexible security policies for individual users. 

However, implementing micro-segmentation in a zero-trust solution requires an understanding of your network. By understanding your entire network, you can define effective policies and invest in the right processes and tools.  

When it comes to investing in a zero-trust solution, InstaSafe offers the right security solution to help improve your business's security posture. With our Zero Trust Network Access, you can minimise cyberattacks and secure your network.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is micro-segmentation possible for cloud environments?

Yes, micro-segmentation is possible for cloud environments. It plays a critical role in securing cloud-based workloads, where traditional perimeter defences are less effective. 

By applying micro-segmentation in the cloud, organisations can enforce least-privilege access, isolate workloads and reduce the risk of lateral movement in dynamic, distributed infrastructures.

Are network segmentation and micro-segmentation the same?

No, they are not the same. Network segmentation divides a network into distinct zones or subnets, utilising tools such as firewalls or VLANs to control traffic between them. It provides basic isolation between departments or systems. 

Micro-segmentation, on the other hand, is much more granular. It controls traffic between individual workloads, applications or even processes, enforcing Zero Trust principles and allowing only necessary communication.

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