Segmentation and Micro-Segmentation

What is segmentation and micro-segmentation?

Segmentation is the practice of dividing a network into distinct zones, such as separating guest Wi-Fi from internal systems, or isolating development from production environments.

Micro-segmentation goes deeper by applying granular security controls down to the level of individual applications, workloads, or even processes. It uses identity and policy-based rules to restrict east-west traffic inside data centers and cloud environments.

Why are segmentation and micro-segmentation important?

Attackers often exploit flat networks to move laterally once they gain entry. Segmentation strategies are important because they:

• Limit the blast radius of breaches by containing threats.
• Enforce least privilege access at both macro and micro levels.
• Improve compliance with regulations like HIPAA, PCI DSS, and GDPR.
• Protect hybrid and cloud workloads from misconfiguration and identity abuse.

What are the key differences?

• Segmentation: Coarse-grained, typically applied with VLANs, firewalls, or SDN to separate major network zones.
• Micro-segmentation: Fine-grained, identity- or workload-based, often enforced through software-defined policies or zero trust architectures.

How do segmentation and micro-segmentation work?

• Segmentation: Uses traditional network controls like firewalls and ACLs to restrict traffic between network segments.
• Micro-segmentation: Uses dynamic policies tied to identities, workloads, or applications, often enforced by hypervisors, containers, or cloud-native tools.
• Integration: Both approaches work best when combined—segmentation secures broad zones, while micro-segmentation protects sensitive data and workloads within them.

Use Cases

• Healthcare: Separates medical devices and patient record systems, then applies micro-segmentation to protect individual EHR applications from unauthorized access.
• Financial Services: Segments payment processing systems from customer services, then micro-segments transaction workloads to reduce fraud risks.
• Government & Legal: Isolates classified networks from public-facing services, while applying micro-segmentation to secure case management and identity systems.
• Cloud & SaaS Providers: Implements multi-tenant isolation through segmentation and applies micro-segmentation to APIs and workloads for compliance and tenant security.

How Netwrix can help

Netwrix enables organizations to implement segmentation and micro-segmentation more effectively through identity-first protection and comprehensive data security visibility. With solutions for Privileged Access Management (PAM), Identity Management, and Data Security Posture Management (DSPM), Netwrix helps organizations:

• Discover and classify sensitive data across segmented networks.
• Enforce least privilege for accounts and workloads.
• Monitor and detect anomalous activity within segmented or micro-segmented zones.
• Audit configurations and policies to demonstrate compliance.

This approach reduces lateral movement risk, ensures regulatory alignment, and strengthens Zero Trust initiatives.

FAQs

Suggested Resources

• Techniques to Deter Lateral Movement by Attackers
• What Network Security Is and How to Fortify It
• Netwrix Privileged Access Management