Microsegmentation (Networks and Cybersecurity)

What Does Microsegmentation (Networks and Cybersecurity) Mean?

Microsegmentation refers to the practice of splitting up a unified system into many isolated segments. This can be helpful in marketing and business, and also in IT. Microsegmentation in IT often refers to the segmentation of a network for better network protection.

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Techopedia Explains Microsegmentation (Networks and Cybersecurity)

Microsegmentation for a network can be done in various ways. One type of micro-segmentation is user micro-segmentation, where an individual user may only have access to a small part of a network instead of the whole thing. Other types of micro-segmentation put up gates or partitions between areas of network data traffic, for example, to split up connections between dedicated network nodes.

The cybersecurity philosophy of microsegmentation is that by creating these different gates and channels, an attack is less able to reverberate inside of the system. Engineers see micro-segmentation as a set of firewalls to protect areas of the system and limit the negative effects of things like malware and Trojan horse attacks. Micro-segmentation can be powered by some virtualization tools and built into complex virtual systems or other networks.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…