4 Reasons Microsegmentation Requires a Platform Approach

The cost of a data breach is a record-high $4.88 million in 2024. This is up from $4.45 million in 2023. Security teams are struggling with stretched resources, hard-to-find security experts, and even inflation.  

Meanwhile, today’s complex environments mean it’s taking longer to detect and recover from attacks. It’s more important than ever to be able to quickly contain breaches.

Simplicity is crucial. So why are we trying to achieve microsegmentation with siloed tools spread across the network? It’s time to take a platform approach.

Continue reading to learn why building microsegmentation with a centralized platform is the best approach to modern zero-trust security.

4 reasons to use a platform approach for microsegmentation

Managing cybersecurity can be difficult when using different tools that set inconsistent rules in every environment. Using a platform approach to microsegmentation makes it easier to protect against ransomware and breaches.

1. Contain attacks from all angles

Breaches and ransomware can enter any part of your network. Once they're inside, they try to spread quickly to your most important assets. They can encrypt files, disable critical systems, and even stop your operations.

Microsegmentation helps by keeping your important resources separate from less critical or more vulnerable parts of the network. This makes it harder for attacks to spread.

With a platform approach to microsegmentation, you can keep your security rules the same everywhere, from the cloud to your endpoints and data centers. This helps you build a consistent zero-trust infrastructure and reduces security gaps – no matter where your assets are.

2. Achieve consistent compliance

Compliance rules like PCI-DSS, HIPAA, NIS2, and DORA require organizations to keep sensitive data safe. Microsegmentation helps by setting strict access controls down to each workload. Everything that tries to access it is verified.

Using one platform for microsegmentation helps apply the same controls across the entire network. It also automates reporting and policy enforcement for each environment. This makes it easier to prove that you're following compliance requirements.

3. Complement perimeter firewalls and intrusion detection systems (IDS)

Perimeter firewalls and intrusion detection systems (IDS) are important for network security, but they have limits. Firewalls mainly protect the edge of the network, and IDS looks for known threats. But they might not handle risks that come from inside the network.

Microsegmentation solutions like the Illumio platform add extra protection inside the network. While firewalls and IDS guard against outside threats, microsegmentation platforms make sure that if a threat gets past the edge or starts from within, it can't move easily across the network. This extra layer of security helps protect both the outside and the inside of the network – not just one environment.

4. Centralize visibility and security

You can't protect what you can't see. A microsegmentation platform that works with your whole IT environment gives you a clear view of traffic, how applications depend on each other, and possible attack paths. This big-picture view is important for setting up good microsegmentation and quickly handling problems.

With this clear view, it's easier to manage security policies. Instead of using different tools for each part of your system, a platform approach lets you manage everything from one place. This makes things simpler to operate and reduces the chance of mistakes that could create security gaps.

Why does microsegmentation matter now?

Traditional prevention and detection methods aren’t enough anymore.  

Microsegmentation offers a modern solution to handle today's persistent cyber threats. It stops breaches from spreading across cloud, endpoint, and data center environments.  

By mapping connections across your network, microsegmentation helps identify unusual activity and malicious connections. This gives you a real-time view into your network’s risk. With this information, you can create precise security policies that only permit necessary connections. This allows you to automatically contain breaches by limiting attackers from moving laterally through your network, either as a proactive measure or during an attack.

The Illumio Zero Trust Segmentation Platform: Consistent visibility and policy across your entire network

Illumio Zero Trust Segmentation (ZTS) is a microsegmentation platform that helps you see network communications and set policy that contains breaches across your hybrid, multi-cloud environment, including:

• Cloud (IaaS / PaaS)  

• Containers  

• Physical and virtual servers  

• Mid-range and mainframe systems  

• Endpoints  

• Network devices  

• The boundaries of IT and OT/IoT

Watch how you can get unified visibility and policy in the Illumio platform:

Illumio also offers AI-powered labeling and traffic flow insights to help security teams protect their network even more efficiently. The AI automatically sorts assets and workloads based on their roles, functions, and how they communicate. This makes it easier to apply the right security rules and reduces the chance of mistakes. You can be confident that security policies are correct across the network.

As a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Microsegmentation Solutions, Q3 2024, Illumio is the first and longest-running platform focused only on microsegmentation. With Illumio, you can have the confidence that your organization’s critical resources are protected and ready for the next potential breach.  

Contact us today to learn why a microsegmentation platform like Illumio is the right choice for you.