Microsegmentation divides networks into controlled segments, limiting the spread of breaches. When TeamViewer got hacked, its segmented network stopped the attackers from reaching customer systems.1 Based on the key features and market presence, see the top 10 microsegmentation software solutions:
- Tufin for network security policy management
- Cisco Identity Services Engine for network access control
- AlgoSec
- Prisma Cloud (Cloud Workload Protection)
- Check Point CloudGuard Network Security
- VMware NSX for data center networking
- Illumio Zero Trust
- Zscaler Private Access (ZPA)
- Cisco Secure Workload (Tetration)
- Flow Virtual Networking for network virtualization
Features
All providers offer common features and therefore can support typical microsegmentation use cases.
Vendor | APT defense | Network topology mapping | Additional features |
|---|---|---|---|
✅ | ✅ | Policy orchestration | |
AlgoSec | ✅ | ✅ | Hybrid cloud management |
Cisco Identity Services Engine | ❌ | ❌ | Medical network access control |
Check Point CloudGuard Network Security | ❌ | ❌ | Hybrid cloud management |
VMware NSX | ❌ | ✅ | Hybrid cloud management |
Prisma Cloud (Cloud Workload Protection) | ✅ | ✅ | Runtime protection for cloud workloads |
Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) | ✅ | ❌ | Not specified |
Illumio Zero Trust | ✅ | ✅ | Hybrid cloud management |
Cisco Secure Workload (Tetration) | ❌ | ✅ | Hybrid cloud management |
Flow Virtual Networking | ❌ | ❌ | Network virtualization |
Vendors with:
- APT (advanced persistent threat) defense: Identify targeted threats by analyzing unusual traffic patterns
- Network topology mapping: Discover a network’s components and topology, creating a visual map of the network architecture.
Read more: Microsegmentation use cases, microsegmentation in cloud.
Market presence
See vendor selection criteria.
Tufin
Tufin works across different vendors’ devices and platforms—useful when you’re managing equipment from multiple manufacturers. This vendor-agnostic approach gives you visibility across diverse network components.
Policy compliance stands out. Tufin flags overly permissive rules and identifies those introducing unnecessary risk. Compliance audits become more manageable. The platform also correlates vulnerabilities with network policies, helping teams address risks proactively.
API support is robust. Integration with commercial tools and custom solutions is straightforward, letting teams embed Tufin into existing workflows. Managed Service Providers (MSPs) benefit particularly—they handle hundreds of changes across multiple domains and need efficiency.
Choose Tufin for microsegmentation & policy management.
Key features:
- Network change management: Monitor information about your organization’s network devices by documenting configurations.
- Microsegmentation: Divide a network into granular segments and implement security controls based on the needs of each segment.
- Network security policy management: Manage policies to secure firewalls, networks, and assets against unapproved access.
- Firewall orchestration: Execute a centralized security management layer to implement security policies across firewalls.
Best practices:
Implement and monitor network microsegments: Users can identify access violations across microsegments by using a corporate matrix, and choose to delete them or mark them as temporary deviations.
Navigate network topology maps: Gain network visibility by leveraging the topology map, allowing security policy management across cloud and hybrid environments.
Define zero-trust zones: Users can enable zero-trust cloud network access with Tufin.
Create a policy with Tufin:
Users can type a “policy name”, and select the following:
- Compliance policy type
- Devices to which the compliance policy will apply
- Recipients to receive alerts when installed policy conflicts with this compliance policy
Pros
- Microsegmentation: When hackers breach traditional firewalls and move laterally, Tufin isolates the network to protect sensitive data.2
Cons
- Integrations: Layer 2 device integration can be improved since it requires manual scripting.
- Ease-of-use: Some users say that firewall management is complex for beginners.
- Customization: Users note that custom dashboarding customization should be more straightforward.
Cisco Identity Services Engine
Cisco ISE combines microsegmentation with network access control (NAC).
Video: Cisco ISE in action: Apply micro-segmentation at scale to block common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVE)
Source: Cisco3
Pros
- Easy deployment and low long-term costs
- Effective authentication framework (dot1x feature) requiring username, password, or digital certificate before access
Cons
- Third-party integrations frequently encounter errors and bugs
- Upgrade process fails often
- Migrating from old systems is challenging new version requires licensing, and meeting requirements for each feature is complicated
AlgoSec
AlgoSec monitors networks, connects firewall rules with business applications, and detects compliance anomalies using its IP engine.
Pros
- Firewall rules – ChristopherWalsh Vice President Head of Information Security – The most valuable is helping us determine where our rules are too permissive.
- Intelligent automation: Reviewers express that AlgoSec’s automation capability can effectively simplify difficult processes, such as firewall policy management, and detect obsolete rules.
- Integrations: Some users indicate that integration with numerous vendors is simple. Firewalls, network devices, data center switches, and web proxies can be seamlessly integrated into the product.
Cons
- Usability: Some reviews show that navigating the features might be difficult for users who are unfamiliar with a network security solution or a firewall control system.
- Integrations: While some users compliment AlgoSec’s integration capabilities, a few state that its integration with other security systems is difficult.
- Log management: Log management and processing is challenging for some users.
Read more: See AlgoSec alternatives.
Prisma Cloud (Cloud Workload Protection)
Prisma Cloud (Cloud Workload Protection) offers cloud-native security to build cloud-native applications for hosts, containers, and serverless activities. The product protects infrastructure, applications, information, and licenses throughout the clouds (public, private, and hybrid) and also on-premises.
Pros
- Detailed compliance alerts: Users say that the product displays data compliance (SoX, LGPD, GDPR, and CIS) and network security alerts in detail.
- Granularity: Customers say that the granularities that the container defender feature extracts from the container layers are efficient.
- Visibility: Some users conclude that visibility and a dashboard for multi-cloud security status using custom compliance are extremely beneficial to their organization.
Cons
- Customization: Some reviewers comment that investigations and security policies are difficult to customize.
- Analytics engine: The analytics engine might be improved in terms of creating customized queries for data extraction.
- Setup and learning curve: Some users argue that the product has a complex setup and a steep learning curve for beginners.
Check Point CloudGuard Network Security
Check Point CloudGuard Network Security offers microsegmentation, threat mitigation, and automated cloud network protection via a virtual security terminal across multi-cloud and on-premises environments.
Pros
- Deployment: Users appreciate how simple it is to deploy the product in a large-scale environment without any difficulties and in a short time.
- Logging: Users express that the solution provides the most efficient logging experience in the industry.
- Centralized console: Some users say that the centralized management console is convenient for administering and monitoring security rules and events, making the security team’s work smoother.
Cons
- Costs: Some users state that the cost needs improvement as it is quite expensive for them.
- Threat scanning system: Some comments argue that the threat scanning system should categorize threats to improve data interpretation.
VMware NSX
Handles microsegmentation, network security, software-defined networking, and private cloud deployment. Helps transition from physical to virtual infrastructure through network virtualization.
Pros
- Microsegmentation: Users state that the VMware NSX environment (vSphere) provides an effective solution for adding microsegmentation and firewall rules.
- Flexible microsegmentation configurations: Users say that VMWare NSX provides flexible microsegmentation configurations. Implementing the technology across four sites, each with its own VMware NSX installation is convenient.
Cons
- Technical requirements: Network engineers express that technical knowledge is required to properly operate VMware NSX.
- Deployment: Some analysts convey that more deployment modules can be added (e.g. customized web-based deployment models).
- Documentation: Some reviews show that documentation is still lacking in terms of implementation manuals for various scenarios.
Illumio Zero Trust
Illumio Zero Trust is a microsegmentation technology that assists enterprises in protecting their data centers and apps from cyber threats, by segmenting cloud workloads into virtual machines (VM) or containers.
Pros
- Implementation: Users express how easy it is to implement and configure Illumio Zero Trust.
- Traffic visualization: Reviewers note that Illumio Zero Trust effortlessly visualizes application network traffic across complicated and ever-changing networks.
- Learning curve: Some users express that the platform can be used with minimal knowledge of firewall rules.
Cons
- Granularity: Some users say that there is a lack of granularity for the shared services of Illumio Zero Trust.
- Integrations: Some reviews remark that Integration is more difficult in large and complex IT settings, particularly when integrating with current infrastructure.
Zscaler Private Access (ZPA)
Founded 2007, 7,500+ customers including 30% of Forbes Global 2000. Automated microsegmentation reduces harmful application-to-application access.4
Pros
- VPN solutions: Users say that with Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) they were able to consolidate several different VPN solutions and improve end-point security effectively.
- Visibility and log features: The visibility and log availability provided are highly valued by customers.
- Performance: Users say that Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) has robust performance, shifting between networks seamlessly and rapidly.
Cons
- Web server security: Some users claim that the reliability of their UAE servers is unstable, prompting the use of the Paris server instead.
- Learning curve: Some reviews reflect that the learning curve for Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) is steep, beginner administrators should expect to spend a significant amount of time learning the platform.
- Crashes: Some users claim that the system was vulnerable to malfunctioning frequently.
Cisco Secure Workload (Tetration)
Zero-trust microsegmentation securing workloads in any environment from a single interface. Establishes software-defined micro-perimeter at load level across virtual machines, bare metal servers, and containers.
Pros
- Data encryption: Some users state that Cisco Secure Workload effectively assisted them in managing large-scale data and automating many of our company’s operational operations.
- Zero trust network: Users appreciate the customized zero-trust paradigm which shows microsegmentation of different workloads.
- Vulnerability scanning: Users say that it is convenient to monitor the security posture of apps across environments, and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) vulnerabilities can be accurately identified.
Cons
- Ease-of-use: Some users claim that Secure Workload is difficult to use, and the dashboard is not simple, it requires some time to get used to it.
- Learning curve: Some users emphasize that Tetration is a complex tool that requires a specialized skill set to learn how to operate the product.
- Latency: Sometimes users encounter latency issues between applications.
Flow Virtual Networking
Optional Nutanix Acropolis add-on. Microsegmentation enables granular management and control of all VM traffic. Combine policies to build custom protection systems. Test function verifies policies before implementing in microsegments.
Pros
- Microsegmentation: Some users claim that Nutanix Flow improves at microsegmentation by separating particular databases from apps.
- Ease-of-use: Users highlight that Nutanix Flow has an easy-to-use interface.
- Network visibility: Some users believe that the platform makes it simple to monitor network traffic flowing between multiple systems.
Cons
- Data transfer: Some user reviews indicate that not every port receives a data transfer through Flow Virtual Networking.
- UI: Some users expect to have a visual upgrade for the user interface.
- Cloud connection: Users express that connecting to the cloud with Flow Virtual Networking can be challenging.
What is microsegmentation?
Microsegmentation is a security solution process designed to intuitively divide data based on workload within an organization’s operating systems. Security architects can create protocols that define how all traffic flows in your ecosystem, north-south and east-west.
Benefits of microsegmentation tools
1. Reduced attack surface
- What it does: By isolating individual assets, microsegmentation minimizes the risk that an attacker can access multiple resources.
- Real-life example: Illumio helped the retail company Hi-Temp Insulation reduce its attack surface by applying segmentation policies that protected sensitive customer data.5
2. Compliance with regulatory standards
- What it does: Microsegmentation helps companies meet regulatory requirements, such as GDPR, by ensuring that sensitive data is not breached.
- Real-life example: Cisco enabled Frankfurter Bankgesellschaft a Zurich-based Swiss private bank, to maintain compliance with data protection laws by securing their cloud environment with detailed segmentation rules.6
3. Granular policy control
- What it does: Microsegmentation provides detailed control over network policies, allowing businesses to define security policies based on user, application, or workload.
- Real-life example: VMWare enabled the California Department of Water Resources to implement granular controls for their healthcare applications, reducing the risk of data breaches.7
4. Enhanced cloud security
- What it does: In cloud environments, microsegmentation ensures that workloads in different virtual machines or containers are isolated, improving cloud security.
- Real-life example: Illumio used microsegmentation to help a leading hospital network in Brazil secure its cloud infrastructure, preventing unauthorized access to sensitive data.8
Network segmentation vs microsegmentation
- Network segmentation enforces traditional castle-to-moat policies that leverage firewall rules at network boundaries
- Microsegmentation creates security zones that can be configured down to the host (computer) level across individual subnets.
Comparison between network segmentation and microsegmentation – using VLANs –
Source: Huawei9
Who Should Use Traditional Network Segmentation?
Large enterprises (Fortune 1000, global banks, insurance companies, enterprise SaaS) with complex network security needs. Traditional segmentation doesn’t provide the granular, application-level security these organizations require.
Cloud-native organizations using multiple software, cloud, and SaaS platforms. These face more cloud-related threats and need to secure application workloads at granular server-to-server levels.
SMEs needing:
- Budget-friendly options
- Overarching infrastructure security without detailed application-level configurations
- Simple networks with basic security needs
- Solutions matching limited technical staff
Who should use traditional network segmentation?
SMEs: Traditional perimeter-based network segmentation is an easy-to-implement solution for organizations that:
- Require overarching security for their entire infrastructure without detailed application-level or agent-based policy configurations.
- Have less complex networks with low-security needs.
- Have limited technical labor.
- Have limited network security budgets.
Key parameters for choosing between network segmentation and microsegmentation:
If you want a more detailed answer than these high level recommendations, these parameters can help determine the right approach for your company:
- Business scope: Implementing microsegmentation across core business areas can significantly reduce the lateral flow of a ransomware attack.10 Companies with numerous branches and departments seeking may choose microsegmentaton to enhance intra-network traffic.
- Level of security needed: Organizations with high network security needs such as Fortune 1000, global banks, insurance companies, or multinational corporations (MNCs) may select microsegmentation technologies to use finer-grained management and application-level security.
- Level of granularity needed: Microsegmentation provides far more granular control and is significantly more effective to implement and administer at scale. Large-scale private or public companies may use microsegmentation to execute strong network traffic control.
- Level of identity-based zero trust security needed: The zero trust model employs the “never trust, always verify” principle rather than defending the network perimeter. This ensures that only verified users can access specific content. Companies that need rigid identity verification for employees and devices may implement microsegmentation with zero trust architecture.
- Level of granularity needed: Microsegmentation provides far more granular control and is significantly more effective to implement and administer at scale. Large-scale private or public companies may use microsegmentation to execute strong network traffic control.
- Network complexity: 35% of IT specialists say that network complexity is an obstacle they encounter when segmenting their network.11 Organizations with less complex networks may utilize traditional network segmentation.
- Number of network components: Companies that use several hardware, software, cloud, or SaaS platforms across their network can use microsegmentation to eliminate unnecessary network zones. For example, a CISO of a 300-employee company states that microsegmentation enhanced network visibility in their organization, enabling them to identify and eliminate 15 no-longer-needed zones with license costs.12
- Scope of network security policy configurations: Network security policy management statistics show that the rate of all cyber incidents caused by security misconfigurations is 35%. Companies with thousands of complex security rules and firewalls might leverage microsegmentation technologies to manage misconfigurations at scale.
- Scope of network traffic: Organizations with extensive east-west data transfer within the internal network may select microsegmentation technologies to divide their data centers or cloud environment into logical units.
- Numbers of employees: Companies with hundreds of employees may choose microsegmentation technologies since microsegmentation allows host-level segmentation that enables administrators to set user-based rules.
- Number of network components: Companies that use several hardware, software, cloud, or SaaS platforms across their network can use microsegmentation to eliminate unnecessary network zones. For example, a CISO of a 300-employee company states that microsegmentation enhanced network visibility in their organization, enabling them to identify and eliminate 15 no-longer-needed zones with license costs.12
- Financial budget: Microsegmentation integration with a security stack is expected to cost between $40K to $100K on average.13 Companies with lower finances and older infrastructure may choose network segmentation technology.
- Skilled labor availability: ~40% of IT specialists state that lack of skills and expertise for segmentation is their main issue for implementing microsegmentation.14 Companies with low-skilled labor or resources may select network segmentation since segmenting physical network VLANS and access control lists requires less technical knowledge compared to developing logical microsegments.
Read more: Microsegmentation tools, network security audit tools, SDP software.
Vendor selection criteria
- Number of reviews: 10+ total reviews on Gartner, G2, PeerSpot, and TrustRadius.
- Average rating: Above 4.0/5 on Gartner, G2, PeerSpot, and TrustRadius.
- Sorting: Vendors are sorted by the total number of reviews in descending order.
Microsegmentation software features
Unique Features
Offered by one or few vendors:
- Firewall orchestration: Centralized firewall management and configuration
- Day 2 network operations: Authenticates application-focused traffic/routes, firewalls, and ACLs health
- Hybrid cloud management: Manages segmentation across cloud and on-premises
- Medical network access control: Safeguards medical devices and patient records
- Runtime protection: Instant security for cloud-based tasks, web apps, and APIs
- Multi-tenancy: Secure multi-tenant isolation with self-service provisioning and IP preservation
Transparency: AIMultiple works with emerging tech vendors including Tufin.
Common Features
All vendors provide:
- Network visibility and discovery: Instant insight into security changes and breaches
- Automated policy enforcement: Detects and rectifies policy violations automatically
- Zero trust: No default trust, including for those inside the perimeter
- Threat detection and response: Monitors data using machine learning and behavioral analysis
- Compliance support: Maintains policies governing IT system integrity
Transparency statement: AIMultiple works with numerous emerging tech vendors including Tufin.
For guidance on choosing the right tool or service for your project, check out our data-driven lists of software-defined perimeter (SDP) software and zero trust networking software.
Further Reading
- Microsegmentation examples
- Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA): Definition & Benefits
- 10 Cybersecurity Best Practices for Corporations
- Firewall as a Service: Definition & Top 8 Benefits
- Data Compliance: Best Practices & Challenges
Reference Links
Cem's work has been cited by leading global publications including Business Insider, Forbes, Washington Post, global firms like Deloitte, HPE and NGOs like World Economic Forum and supranational organizations like European Commission. You can see more reputable companies and resources that referenced AIMultiple.
Throughout his career, Cem served as a tech consultant, tech buyer and tech entrepreneur. He advised enterprises on their technology decisions at McKinsey & Company and Altman Solon for more than a decade. He also published a McKinsey report on digitalization.
He led technology strategy and procurement of a telco while reporting to the CEO. He has also led commercial growth of deep tech company Hypatos that reached a 7 digit annual recurring revenue and a 9 digit valuation from 0 within 2 years. Cem's work in Hypatos was covered by leading technology publications like TechCrunch and Business Insider.
Cem regularly speaks at international technology conferences. He graduated from Bogazici University as a computer engineer and holds an MBA from Columbia Business School.
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