Definition
Microsegmentation is a security technique that divides a network into small, isolated zones, each with its own security controls. This approach limits the lateral movement of threats by enforcing granular policies between individual workloads or applications, rather than just at the network perimeter. By implementing microsegmentation, organizations can significantly reduce the attack surface and contain breaches more effectively. For instance, a financial services firm might use microsegmentation to isolate its customer database from its web servers, preventing a compromise of one from affecting the other. Unlike traditional network segmentation, which often relies on VLANs and firewalls to create larger zones, microsegmentation offers much finer control down to the individual application or workload level. This concept is crucial for certifications like CompTIA Security+, CySA+, and CISSP, and is a key component of modern zero trust architectures.