Best Network Segmentation Practices to Maximize Network Security

If you want to protect your network, then you should focus on applying strong network segmentation. This will help you in creating a strong strategy for your business. It will help you in slowing down attackers and limiting the scope of any breach. Network segmentation will also help you in implementing other security policies. If you have already segmented your network, then you can apply security policy to every segment easily. Thus, network segmentation is considered an invaluable asset for every organization.

However, most organizations don’t understand the meaning and importance of network segmentation. In this article, we are going to explain this IT security concept. Also, we are going to share the best network segmentation practices as it will help you in maximizing your network security.

Definition of Network Segmentation:

Segmentation is a simple process of dividing your network into smaller components. You should divide your network into a manageable group of interfaces. In simple words, network segmentation is the practice of taking your entire network and isolating your network components from each other. This will help you in increasing the security and manageability of your network.

The main goal of network segmentation is to decrease the scope of the damage that is done by an attack. Network segmentation will help you in limiting the scope of any attack on your network. It will especially help you in protecting your network from insider attacks and threats. If you don’t have strong network segmentation, then it will become to tackle even simple threats. Attackers can easily get access to your entire network and data. Thus, it is very important to divide your network into simple segments.

Some of the best network segmentation practices that you can follow are:

1. Be careful of over-segmentation

It is always a good idea to isolate your network assets. However, over-segmentation is also one problem that you need to deal it. If your network is heavily segmented, then it will become very difficult to manage your network. Over-segmentation will affect your employee productivity. Your network can slow down due to this practice.

If you are dividing your network into small endpoints, then it will help you in making your network more secure. However, it will be very resource-intensive. Most organizations can’t handle network segments of such a small size.

Your security strategy should consider the importance of every network device that you are isolating. Start by checking the sensitive data that is stored on that endpoint. You should also consider the number of resources and traffic that every endpoint is going to handle. This will help you in striking the right balance between the value of your network and the security tools that you are using.

2. Conduct network audits

You can’t segment your network until you know about your network devices. This information can be gathered by performing regular network audits. These audits will provide information to your IT team. Regular network audits are important for every security strategy. If you are not performing network audits, then you might miss some connections and endpoints on your network. This will create security gaps in your network which can be exploited by attackers.

You should regularly conduct network audits as it will help you in identifying new assets in your network. This will ensure that you are protecting all the assets that are present in your network. Every security professional considers network audits as an effective network security practice. It will help you in finding and closing gaps in your network.

3. Bring together similar resources on one single device

If you are creating your network segmentation strategy, then you should also focus on consolidating similar data and resources on single devices. This will help you in following the policy of least privilege. It will ensure that all the sensitive data and information is available in a single database. You can easily access the data that you need.

For example, consider that you have access to customer data. This data can be accessed by a very small subset of your employees. Thus, you shouldn’t store this data in your workstations. It is a good idea to store this data in a well-protected database. This will help you in increasing the security of your sensitive data.

You will need fewer resources for protecting your endpoints. Also, it will help you in applying stricter protections on important data and devices. This will ensure that the impact of security protections on your network performance will be minimal. You will be applying stricter protections on important databases only.

This will also help you in categorizing your data. Thus, you will know which data and devices are important for your network. You can focus on protecting that data first.

4. Isolate access portals

Most organizations are working with different vendors for meeting their needs. You might be working with HVAC repair vendors, supply chain vendors, and MSPs. Some of your vendors will need access to your systems and data for providing their services.

Thus, you should create separate access portals for your vendors. Make sure that these access portals are locked. Your vendors should only have access to the resources that they need to complete their functions. This will help you in limiting the impact of any security breach. Sometimes your data get stolen because your vendor’s organization gets breached. Thus, it is important to isolate the access portals from the rest of your network.

If your vendor network is breached, then attackers will use them as a backdoor. They will try to access all the companies that are working with your vendor. Thus, it is important to provide restricted access to your vendor. Make sure that they can only access some of your systems. In case of a data breach, you can isolate these systems from your network. Thus, the damage of the breach will be limited by this strategy.

Conclusion

These are some of the best network segmentation practices that you can use for protecting your network. Network segmentation will help you in dividing your network into simple segments. This will ensure that your IT team can focus on different segments. However, it might be difficult to segment your network into simple parts. Thus, you should consider working with a good MSP. Experienced MSPs like Bleuwire can help you in protecting your network from attackers. They will help you in perfectly dividing your network into smaller segments. Bleuwire will also help you in protecting your network from attackers. If you need more information regarding IT security services, then you can contact Bleuwire.

Contact us today to learn about Bleuwire™  services and solutions in how we can help your business.