Least-Privilege Network Access for Apps, Users & Workloads
Microsegmentation prevents lateral movement by enforcing least-privilege network policy—between users → apps, workload → workload, tier → tier, and device → service—on premises, in cloud, and across Kubernetes.
SolveForce designs microsegmentation that’s identity-aware, posture-aware, and auditable—integrated with ZTNA/SASE, NAC, EDR/XDR, and SIEM/SOAR—so you can contain breaches, pass audits, and ship changes safely.
Where this fits in our model:
🔒 Security (Semantics) → Cybersecurity • 🔐 Per-Session Access → ZTNA / SASE
👤 Identity/Posture → IAM / SSO / MFA • MDM / UEM • EDR / MDR / XDR
🖧 Fabric → Networks & Data Centers • 🔀 Transport → SD-WAN • 🚪 Edge → NAC
📊 Evidence & Automation → SIEM / SOAR • 🖧 East–West Detection → NDR
🎯 Outcomes (Why Microsegmentation)
- Containment by default — block lateral movement; allow only required flows.
- Identity- & posture-aware — rules bind to user/group, workload/service, and device health.
- Uniform model — one least-privilege approach across DC, cloud, K8s, campus, and remote.
- Audit-ready — policy as code, change diffs, enforcement logs to SIEM.
- Safer changes — staged rollouts, simulation/dry-run, automatic rollback via SOAR.
🧭 Scope (What We Segment)
- User → App (Access Edge) — staff/contractors to specific apps only, never to subnets. → ZTNA • SASE
- Workload → Workload (East–West) — app tiers (web↔app↔DB), microservices, API backends.
- Zone → Zone (Macro) — PCI/PHI/CUI zones, admin/privileged networks, OT/IT boundaries.
- Device Classes — corp laptops vs BYOD; IoT/OT (cameras, printers, POS, sensors) isolated by purpose. → NAC
🧱 Building Blocks (Spelled Out)
- Policy Abstractions — define intentions as Service → Service, Role → App, Label → Label, not IPs.
- Identity Signals — user/group (IdP), device posture (UEM/EDR), service identity (mTLS cert/SPIFFE). → IAM / SSO / MFA • MDM / UEM • EDR / MDR / XDR • PKI
- Enforcement Planes
- Host-based (agent/EBPF) — kernel firewall rules by process/service identity.
- Overlay (service mesh) — sidecar/intent (L7/K8s).
- Network (fabric/SGT/VLAN/ACL/VXLAN) — fabric tags & ACLs for macro + IoT/OT.
- Edge (ZTNA/SASE) — per-session allow to a single app.
- Visibility & Evidence — flow maps from NDR/NetFlow; change/effect logs to SIEM/SOAR. → NDR • SIEM / SOAR
🧠 Policy Model (Identity → Device → App → Data → Context)
A rule compiles from intent to controls using five lenses:
- Identity — user/service role (group, SPIFFE ID, certificate SAN).
- Device posture — EDR/UEM healthy, encryption on, OS ≥ min.
- Application — target service/API/port/protocol with L7 awareness.
- Data sensitivity — stricter controls for PCI/PHI/CUI; log & watermark on egress. → DLP
- Context — site/region/ASN, time window, ticket/change ID, session risk.
Decision outcomes: allow (least-privilege) → step-up (MFA/approval) → isolate (quarantine/read-only) → deny.
🔧 Controls (Concrete & Enforceable)
- Allow-list by default — explicit intents only; no “any any”.
- Service Identity — mTLS between services; L7 policy (HTTP method, path, GraphQL schema). → Encryption • PKI
- Host Enforcement — per-process rules (linux eBPF, Windows Filtering Platform); block inter-tier except declared.
- Fabric Tags — SGT/labels mapped to ACLs across WAN/DC; carry identity through SD-WAN. → SD-WAN
- IoT/OT Isolation — profile → tag → minimal allow; deny east-west; mgmt only from jump hosts.
- Quarantine — NAC/SD-WAN reclassify on risk; ZTNA cuts user session; EDR isolates host. → NAC • ZTNA • EDR / MDR / XDR
☁️ Cloud & Kubernetes Patterns
- Cloud VPC/VNet — security groups + NACLs compiled from labels (env:prod, tier:api, data:restricted).
- Kubernetes — NetworkPolicies + service mesh policies; SPIFFE/SVID identity; sidecar mTLS; deny pod-to-pod except intent.
- Hybrid — unify labels/IDs across DC and cloud; publish the same intents to multiple enforcement backends. → Cloud • Networks & Data Centers
🔎 Visibility & Assurance
- Flow Discovery — learn current comms via NDR/flow; generate candidate intents from observed safe flows. → NDR
- Simulation / Dry-Run — evaluate proposed policies in observe-only; compare allowed/blocked deltas.
- Change as Code — policies in git; CI tests (reachability/unit tests) before push.
- Evidence — enforcement hits, denies, CoA/quarantine, and rule versions stream to SIEM; SOAR captures approvals & rollback.
📐 SLO Guardrails (Experience & Safety You Can Measure)
| SLO / KPI | Target (Recommended) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Policy compile → push (p95) | ≤ 60–120 s | From PR approve to enforcement live |
| Simulation coverage | ≥ 95% of flows in dry-run | Before enforce |
| False-deny rate (after enforce) | ≤ 1–2% | Post-tuning target |
| Containment (host quarantine) | ≤ 2–5 min from alert | EDR/NAC/ZTNA action |
| Evidence completeness | 100% policy versions & hits | Logs to SIEM/SOAR |
| Platform availability | ≥ 99.95–99.99% | Controllers/agents |
SLO breaches trigger SOAR auto-rollback or relaxation of the impacted rules. → SIEM / SOAR
🛠️ Implementation Blueprint (No-Surprise Rollout)
- Inventory & Label — apps/services, tiers, environments, data classes; assign labels (env/tier/data/role).
- Baseline Flows — capture with NDR/NetFlow; map required comms; flag risky unknown flows. → NDR
- Write Intents — “role X → service Y on port/protocol Z”; “service A ↔ service B (L7 path/verb)”.
- Simulate — run in observe-only; reconcile denies; commit policy as code with approvals.
- Enforce (Rings) — canary services/sites → region rings → global; monitor SLOs; auto-rollback on regression.
- Edge & User — pair with ZTNA/SASE to keep users on app-only paths; deny subnet access. → ZTNA • SASE
- Operate & Tune — weekly review of denies/allow drift; retire legacy “any any”; publish diffs/RCAs.
🧭 Reference Patterns (By Outcome)
A) PCI Cardholder Data Environment (CDE)
- Macro isolate CDE; micro-allow only app↔DB; tokenization for PAN; ZTNA for admin consoles; logs to SIEM for PCI DSS 10. → DLP
B) PHI / Clinical Apps
- Web↔app↔DB only; break-glass paths with PAM approval + recording; immutable logs for HIPAA. → PAM
C) Dev/Test vs Prod
- Deny dev→prod; allow CI/CD only via signer/proxy; mTLS service identity; short-lived certs. → PKI
D) IoT/OT Edge
- Function-based tags; mgmt-only ACLs; no east-west; NDR watch; NAC quarantine on anomaly. → NAC
📜 Compliance Mapping (Examples)
- PCI DSS — segmentation of CDE, least-privilege, access & log evidence.
- HIPAA — minimum-necessary network access, audit controls.
- ISO 27001 — A.13 network security; A.12 operations; A.16 incident mgmt.
- NIST 800-53/171 — AC/SC families (least privilege, boundary protection).
- CMMC — CUI enclave segmentation, auditing of allows/denies.
All enforcement events & changes stream to SIEM; SOAR automates rollback and containment.
🔄 Where Microsegmentation Fits (Recursive View)
1) Grammar — flows traverse Connectivity & Networks & Data Centers.
2) Syntax — deployment patterns in Cloud & K8s drive enforcement choices.
3) Semantics — Cybersecurity preserves truth; microsegmentation proves least privilege.
4) Pragmatics — SolveForce AI predicts risky flows and suggests policy diffs.
5) Foundation — consistent terms via Primacy of Language.
6) Map — indexed across the SolveForce Codex & Knowledge Hub.
📞 Deploy Microsegmentation That’s Safe, Measurable & Auditable
Related pages:
Cybersecurity • ZTNA • SASE • NAC • SD-WAN • NDR • EDR / MDR / XDR • SIEM / SOAR • Cloud • Networks & Data Centers • Knowledge Hub