Beyond Zero-Trust: The Impact of Adaptive Micro-Segmentation on Network Security
Today’s organizations need new methods to fortify their network and contain cyberthreats that are growing ever more complex. Critical in this shift has been the adoption of zero-trust initiatives. This is because zero-trust relies on persistent identity verification for individuals and devices when accessing the network’s perimeter, regardless of location. However, when it comes to the implementation of a zero-trust approach, security controls are often too static, and they are not always able to address the changing threat landscape.
Challenges of Static Security Protocols
When incorporating zero-trust principles, IT administrators understandably focus on restrictive controls for accessing SaaS and private applications. The challenge arises when the security posture of users and devices continues to change, even after access has been granted. If security controls remain static even when potential risks appear, the gap between security posture and enforceable measures to control widens.
With a changing landscape, security teams lose visibility into users and devices, making organizations increasingly vulnerable to threat actors. If static controls allow targets with escalated privileges to be compromised, it presents a critical concern. These high-priority, compromised targets can become an entry point for cyber thieves, letting them move laterally across networks with access far deeper than the initial breached account.
Enterprise LANs Lack Effective Security at the Perimeter
Many enterprise LAN operators still use NAC / 802.1X solutions, which allow user-based authentication without a check of the client device’s security posture. In this common scenario, an authorized user with a client device and a weak security posture (e.g., anti-virus software is disabled) can pass the authentication of NAC solutions and connect to the enterprise network. This lack of control on device security posture and the inability to segment traffic based on its state – for example isolating the device to a limited segment when it goes out of compliance – is one of the major threats to existing security perimeters on enterprise networks.
Inadequate Cybersecurity Measures and Their Business Impact
The risks of inadequate security measures can extend broadly and are often catastrophic to an organization. As described above, when security controls are not adaptable to changing environments, security gaps can open and the threat of a breach impacting the business heightens significantly.
Cyber thieves are crafty enough to exploit these gaps within networks to gain access to valuable information or to cripple operations. The results of a cyberattack extend far beyond just financial losses. They can do long-term damage to an organization’s reputation. When private data is compromised, customers lose trust in the organization’s ability to safeguard their sensitive information.
In addition, organizations can be vulnerable to repeated attacks due to a lack of adaptive security measures, resulting in ongoing threats and financial strain. Cyberattacks not only cost organizations money, they also drain considerable human resources and significant time to resolution. Proactive and adaptive measures are crucial for organizations to fully address emerging threats and stay one step ahead of cybercriminals.
Adaptive Micro-Segmentation to Enhance Security
As a result of these threats, micro-segmentation has become a critical security control. Micro-segmentation is an approach that splits a network into smaller, more manageable segments to bolster data protection and access controls. It alters user access on the fly by reacting to changes in device and user risk. This enables security teams to employ real-time controls that isolate and reduce the risk of an incident becoming a damaging breach.
Adaptive micro-segmentation takes this approach one step further by strengthening the security of high-priority accounts and fortifying the entire network against sophisticated cyber threats on an ongoing basis. It is a software-defined solution that significantly improves network security by enabling automated change of network security policy based on user risk scores and device security posture. By enabling IT teams to define dynamic network-wide policies, adaptive micro-segmentation offers organizations a transformative mechanism to manage and secure user and device access. This tighter control over user access significantly addresses the limitations of older approaches, such as virtual local area networks (VLANs), and reduces the cost of network security and the risk of errors by eliminating static approaches.
Augment Micro-Segmentation With Zero-Trust Security
Security is enhanced even further with the introduction of dynamic zero-trust security, a method that continuously assesses the security posture of devices and users on the network. By constantly monitoring the ongoing security status of connected devices, this approach enables organizations to automatically reassign users and devices to different microsegments as their security status changes.
For example, a device that becomes out of compliance with required security standards will be moved to a segment designed for higher-risk entities. This segment usually includes additional security measures, such as limited access to internal networks and enhanced malware protection by enabling remote browser isolation (RBI) and user and entity behavior analytics (UEBA), to monitor for potential security threats and prevent lateral movement. This automated approach reduces the burden on IT teams already stretched supporting both security and networking.
A Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) solution integrates Zero Trust security, internet security, and private access with centralized management and a single data lake. With an integrated, centralized solution, user behavior across the network is monitored and administrators have real-time insight into network activities, empowering them to promptly identify and address security issues. This proactive approach results in enhanced adaptive security and overall efficiency of network administration, and improves the security posture of the entire network.
It’s critical for organizations these days to understand the limitations of their current security measures and explore more comprehensive dynamic solutions that can protect their network, data, and users when environments change. The ever-evolving nature of cyber threats requires a dynamic and adaptive approach to network security. Static methods now require augmentation to effectively counter modern cyberattacks. Through adaptive micro-segmentation, security teams can reduce their organization’s attack surface, increase visibility, and improve response to security incidents, making it harder for cyber thieves to access and steal sensitive data.
