Preventing Lateral Movement with Firewall Segmentation and Zero Trust

What is Lateral Movement?

When cybercriminals break into a network, they don’t necessarily exfiltrate data right away. Instead, they navigate through systems to discover useful data, elevate privileges, and obtain more access.

How Does This Movement Across the Surface Occur?

• They often begin network infiltration through phishing, malware, or stolen credentials.
• Once they are in the network, they move from weakly protected internal link to internal link.
• They elevate their access by discovering administrator credentials in unsecured locations.
• Finally, they leverage this access to deploy ransomware or exfiltrate data.

A strong firewall strategy is essential to prevent lateral movement.

How Attackers Leverage Weak Firewalls

Firewalls are designed to prevent unauthorized access, but if the firewall is not configured correctly, attackers can slip by. So how do weak firewalls make lateral movement possible?

• Flat Network Structure – Attackers can roam freely if internal traffic isn’t segmented properly.
• Weak Internal Firewalls – Countries protect themselves from outsiders with external firewalls but need to prevent movement from the inside out with internal firewalls.
• Too Permissive Rules – When firewall rules are too loose, assailants can easily travel through unprotected frameworks.
• Lack of Monitoring — Businesses will not even realize lateral movement is taking place without logging and monitoring.

What’s the Solution?

Firewall segmentation, VLANs, and Zero Trust are required by businesses to prevent the lateral movement of attackers.

Micro-Segmentation & VLANs Configuration

Firewall segmentation is based on the idea that different network segments should have different security postures. It divides a network into smaller, isolated segments. This means that even if an attacker breaks in, they can’t rove freely inside.

Guide to Configure Firewall Segmentation

1. Know your Critical Systems – Keep your databases, customer data, and admin systems segmented from other users.
2. Segregate Networks with VLANs – With VLANs, you group devices logically while keeping critical assets segmented.
3. Use Layer 3 Firewalls – A firewall between each of your VLANs ensures unnecessary traffic won’t come through.
4. Implement Access Control — Restrict inter-segment network connections with no unnecessary open doors.

Advantages of Micro-Segmentation

• ✔ Prevents Lateral Movement – If malware does gain entry, it can’t spread.
• ✔ Mitigates Internal Threats – Internal threats do not always originate from external attackers. It applies to internal users as well.
• ✔ Increased Compliance – Adheres to stringent security standards such as PCI-DSS, and GDPR.

Network Segmentation Solutions from PJ Networks

At PJ Networks, we understand how important segmentation is for cybersecurity. This is why we offer firewall, server, and router rentals for secure business networks.

Why Choose PJ Networks?

1. Cost Efficient – Abandon the large initial investments. Pay as you go.
2. Advances In Technology – Always have a firewall with the latest and advanced security features.
3. Tailored Configurations – Firewall installed and configured by cybersecurity experts according to your specifications.
4. Support for Zero Trust Strategy – Built to enforce least privilege access across networks.

How Our Firewall Rentals Prevent Lateral Movement

• ✅ Out-Of-The-Box Segmented Risk Blocking Firewall
• ✅ Configure VLAN to segment critical systems.
• ✅ Zero Trust Security – No open access; everything is limited.
• ✅ 24/7 Monitoring for any suspicious internal movement.

Using rental firewalls from PJ Networks, customers can utilize robust segmentation without the high cost associated with traditional solution models.

Conclusion

To prevent lateral movement, organizations need smart firewall configuration, segmentation, and Zero Trust policies. Attackers depend on weak internal security, and businesses can prevent them with properly segmented networks.

Rather than investing millions in firewalls, servers, and routers, renting them grants businesses access to industry-leading security solutions at a reasonable price.

Firewall rentals from PJ Networks with integrated segmentation help stop attackers from spreading, keeping your business safe.