Micro-Segmentation: The Next Thing in Cybersecurity

Micro-Segmentation: The Next Thing in Cybersecurity

By: marysmith

Micro-segmentation has the potential to provide the security protection needed to detect and respond to both external and internal threats in medical facilities. It also works well as a security measure in other high-value industries such as healthcare, retail, financial services, and government. The main benefit of micro-segmentation is that it allows clinicians to secure multiple access points simultaneously.

This ensures that the privacy and security of a hospital are not compromised, preventing hackers from obtaining confidential data. Micro-segmentation can be used to secure both clinical and non-clinical systems, such as telephones, Wi-Fi, and remote video cameras. Some organizations have already incorporated technologies like authentication to enable health professionals to access specific applications or systems via an authenticated flow.

In this article, we will explain how micro-segmentation is becoming one of the next big things in cybersecurity and why it is gaining popularity with organizations.

Micro Segmentation – The Latest Investment in Cybersecurity

Our interconnected world, dominated by the Internet of Things (IoT) and mobile devices, has brought the threat of cyber threats to healthcare and other industries. In fact, the majority of data breaches are from outside the network. They often result from some form of device compromise or remote access.

Because of this, organizations are increasingly turning to cloud and virtual application delivery services, including network micro segmentation, to make their security policies more secure. In fact, there is a significant trend toward the development of micro-segmentation solutions which enable organizations to secure both patient and employee endpoints.

The Benefits of Micro-Segmentation

When deployed correctly, micro-segmentation helps protect an organization’s data from cyber attacks. These solutions are part of the wider cybersecurity stack, and the functionality is enabled by a complex combination of software, hardware, and controls.

It is generally beneficial for high-value systems to have a distinct user application programming interface (API) and access point. It creates a single path for security policies, enabling administrators to have access to the specific application or system at a specific time. This can also be extended to other types of systems, such as video cameras.

It also offers other benefits to the organizations like:

Reduced attack service

Controlling multiple access points for different applications ensures that organizations can detect and quickly block any threats. It also analyzes the number and type of different attacks that are being launched. As a result, it reduces the likelihood of getting caught off-guard during an attack.

Threat Detection and Response

Micro-segmentation can be easily added to existing security infrastructure, enabling it to be used as part of the security stack. Additionally, it helps security teams to gain insights on cyber threats, such as bot traffic patterns and malicious threat groups, in a systematic way. It gives response to cyberattacks and helps the teams manage and prioritize incidents, minimizing the impact to business operations.

Visibility and Intelligence

As a micro-segmentation solution is installed and configured to control multiple endpoints, it allows administrators to gain a clear view of the internal and external networks. This can help them identify any connections between endpoints and internal systems. This gives organizations greater visibility into network activity and helps avoid malicious connections.

Regulatory Compliance

Micro-segmentation helps organizations to provide enhanced regulatory compliance and meet compliance requirements. By managing endpoints in a contained and segmented manner, organizations can avoid cyber threats. It helps in validating that they are not providing a risk exposure or to give any user or device access to the rest of the corporate network. CCPA, HIPAA, and HITECH are just a few of the regulations that micro-segmentation can help organizations to meet.

How microsegmentation can limit the damage that hackers do | Network World

What is Causing Organizations to Invest in Micro Segmentation?

A number of factors are contributing to the growth in demand for micro-segmentation solutions. A few of them are:

  • The increasing rate of internet penetration worldwide: Internet penetration is a result of a large number of internet users. Thus, more users are connecting to the internet, using an increasing number of devices to access it. The number of endpoints and devices connected to the internet is increasing day by day, making it easy for cyber-criminals to breach the networks and enter the network. The increasing number of cyber-attacks is also fueling the demand for micro-segmentation solutions.
  • The increasing focus on protecting customer data: The need to protect customer data increases the importance of effective security measures for an organization. The continuous increase in the number of data breaches and the increase in the number of threats to customer data is compelling organizations to adopt enhanced security measures.

Problem With Traditional Security Techniques

Traditional security techniques like VPN, firewalls, and network access control (NAC) systems are cumbersome and difficult to manage. These traditional security solutions are network centric, creating a complex architecture for security teams to manage and monitor. They offer little insight into what’s happening inside the network.

Because of this, they are hard to manage and do not offer any value in the event of an attack. Traditional security techniques also force security teams to deal with the IT infrastructure, adding a time delay and making the security efforts much more difficult to implement.

Wrapping – Up: Leveraging the Power of Micro-segmentation!

The recent evolution in the security industry has enabled organizations to manage risks and attacks better. Micro-segmentation solutions are one such advanced technique. They allow organizations to segment endpoints and all the network traffic into different applications, network services, and devices, creating different paths for authentication and authorization. This helps to eliminate the need for security teams to manage each endpoint separately, as it allows them to manage them all from one interface.

As a result, it reduces complexity and management overhead, making it easier for security teams to carry out their roles efficiently. Micro-segmentation is in high demand in the business industry. The growth in the number of attacks is increasing at an alarming rate. Hence, many organizations are now looking to use micro segmentation to protect their assets and networks from cyber-attacks.

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