Network & Environment Pillar Activities – Segmentation, Threat Detection
In a Zero Trust Architecture, access is never assumed; it must be continuously verified.
The Network & Environment Pillar provides a strategic framework to segment, secure, and monitor network traffic and infrastructure components across your enterprise. It focuses on ensuring that every communication pathway—whether internal or external, on-premises or cloud-based—is protected and governed by dynamic, risk-informed policies.
This pillar emphasizes micro-segmentation, continuous traffic inspection, and real-time threat detection to reduce the attack surface and limit lateral movement. It ensures that all network interactions are explicitly authorized and contextually validated based on identity, device posture, and data sensitivity.
What Are the Network & Environment Activities?
The activities within the Network & Environment Pillar help your organization:
- Maintain visibility into network traffic patterns and flows
- Enforce segmentation policies to isolate workloads and users
- Monitor and inspect traffic continuously for anomalies or threats
- Apply adaptive controls based on context, trust, and risk
These activities reinforce the foundational Zero Trust principle: “Never trust, always verify.”
Explore the activities below to strengthen your network defense strategy and advance your Zero Trust implementation (Bold links will open the article directly; standard links require a free download of the full collection.):
- Network and Environment Pillar – Activity 5.1.1: Define Granular Control Access Rules & Policies Part 1
- Network and Environment Pillar – Activity 5.1.2: Define Granular Control Access Rules & Policies Part 2
- Network and Environment Pillar – Activity 5.2.1: Define SDN APIs
- Network and Environment Pillar – Activity 5.2.2: Implement SDN Programmable Infrastructure
- Network and Environment Pillar – Activity 5.2.3: Segment Flows Into Control, Management, and Data Planes
- Network and Environment Pillar – Activity 5.3.1: Datacenter Macro Segmentation
- Network and Environment Pillar – Activity 5.3.2: BCPS Macro Segmentation
- Network and Environment Pillar – Activity 5.4.1: Implement Microsegmentation
- Network and Environment Pillar – Activity 5.4.2: Application and Device Microsegmentation
- Network and Environment Pillar – Activity 5.4.4: Protect Data In Transit
The Network & Detection Pillar
The Network & Environment Pillar of Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) focuses on securing the underlying infrastructure through which users, devices, and applications communicate. It is designed to limit lateral movement, enforce segmentation, and monitor all traffic, regardless of origin or destination.
This pillar operates under the assumption that no network, internal or external, can be inherently trusted.
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