Enhancing Healthcare Cybersecurity: Network Segmentation and Protection with Cylera

Cylera provides robust solutions for network segmentation and protection for the healthcare sector. In this article, learn more about:

• The important role network segmentation plays in healthcare cybersecurity
• The relationship between network segmentation and zero trust
• How Cylera helps enable network segmentation for healthcare IoT devices and improve security controls for healthcare IoT and connected medical devices

Why Network Segmentation Is Crucial in Healthcare

Network segmentation is crucial in healthcare for several reasons:

• Enhanced Security: By dividing the network into smaller segments, healthcare organizations can isolate sensitive data and critical systems. This helps prevent unauthorized access and limits the spread of malware or other cyber threats.
• Protection of Patient Data: Healthcare networks handle large amounts of sensitive patient information. Segmentation helps protect this data by ensuring that only authorized healthcare staff can access specific segments, which helps reduce the risk of data breaches.
• Operational Continuity: If a cyberattack occurs, network segmentation can keep the entire network from being compromised. This ensures that critical healthcare services remain operational, which is vital for ensuring secure, reliable patient care delivery.
• Regulatory Compliance: Healthcare organizations must comply with regulations like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in the US and the National Health Service (NHS) Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF) in the UK, which mandate the protection of patient information. Network segmentation helps meet these regulatory requirements by providing a structured approach to data security.
• Improved Network Performance: By segmenting the network, healthcare organizations can manage traffic more efficiently, reducing congestion and improving overall network performance.

Overall, network segmentation is a fundamental strategy all healthcare delivery organizations should use to enhance security, protect patient data, ensure operational continuity, and comply with regulatory standards and requirements.

Network Segmentation and Zero Trust

Of course, while network segmentation is important, it is also important to understand the relationship between network segmentation and zero trust. First, let’s explore what network segmentation is, before digging deeper into zero trust and the relationship between network segmentation and zero trust.

Understanding Network Segmentation

Network segmentation is the practice of dividing a computer network into smaller, isolated segments or subnetworks. This approach enhances both security and performance.

Here’s a breakdown of how network segmentation works and its benefits:

• Improved Security: By segmenting the network, you can limit the spread of cyber threats. If one segment is compromised, the attack is contained and cannot easily spread to other parts of the network.
• Enhanced Performance: Segmentation reduces network congestion by controlling traffic flow. This can lead to better performance for critical applications and services.
• Regulatory Compliance: Segmentation helps in meeting regulatory requirements by isolating sensitive data and systems, making it easier to manage and protect them.
• Microsegmentation: This is a more granular form of segmentation that uses detailed policies to control traffic between individual workloads or applications, providing even finer control over network security.
• Operational Efficiency: By isolating different types of traffic, such as separating guest Wi-Fi from internal systems, organizations can ensure that critical operations are not affected by less important traffic.

Network segmentation can be implemented using physical devices like routers and firewalls, or through software-defined methods that create virtual segments within the network.

Understanding Zero Trust

Zero trust is a security model based on the principle of “never trust, always verify.” This means that no user or device, whether inside or outside the network, is trusted by default. Instead, every access request must be authenticated, authorized, and continuously validated before granting access to resources.

Here are the key components of zero trust:

• Continuous Verification: Every access request is continuously verified, regardless of where it originates. This ensures that only authenticated and authorized users and devices can access resources.
• Least Privilege Access: Users and devices are granted the minimum level of access necessary to perform their tasks. This reduces the risk of unauthorized access to sensitive data.
• Microsegmentation: The network is divided into smaller segments, each with its own security policies. This limits the lateral movement of threats within the network.
• Assume Breach: Zero trust operates on the assumption that breaches are inevitable. This mindset encourages proactive measures to detect and mitigate threats quickly.
• Comprehensive Security: Zero trust integrates various security measures, including network segmentation, multi-factor authentication (MFA), encryption, and endpoint security, to protect data and resources.

By implementing zero trust, organizations can enhance their security posture, protect sensitive data, and reduce the risk of cyber threats.

Understanding the Relationship Between Network Segmentation and Zero Trust

Network segmentation and zero trust are closely related concepts in cybersecurity, each enhancing the effectiveness of the other. Here’s how they interrelate:

• Fundamental Component: Network segmentation is a core element of the zero trust model. By dividing the network into smaller, isolated segments, organizations can limit the spread of potential breaches and enhance security monitoring.
• Principle of Least Privilege: Zero trust operates on the principle of “never trust, always verify.” Network segmentation supports this by ensuring that users and devices have access only to the specific resources they need, reducing the risk of unauthorized access.
• Microsegmentation: This is a more granular form of network segmentation that aligns with zero trust principles. It involves creating highly specific segments within the network and applying tailored security policies to each segment, further minimizing the attack surface.
• Enhanced Security Posture: Combining network segmentation with zero trust helps create a robust security framework. Segmentation isolates threats, while Zero Trust continuously verifies every access request, ensuring that even if one segment is compromised, the rest of the network remains secure.

In essence, network segmentation provides the structural foundation for implementing zero trust, making it a critical strategy for modern cybersecurity.

How Cylera Helps with Network Segmentation and Protection

Cylera integrates with several key firewall and network access control (NAC) solutions to enhance network segmentation and protection, particularly for healthcare IoT devices and connected medical devices.

Here are some notable Cylera integrations that support network segmentation and protection:

• Cisco: The Cylera Cisco ISE and Cisco DNA integrations enable importing device attributes and creating custom endpoint profiles. This allows for precise network segmentation policies based on device functions and makes it easier to rack the location of healthcare IoT devices.
• Forescout: The Cylera integration with Forescout provides detailed asset intelligence, enabling the creation and enforcement of network access policies tailored to healthcare IoT devices.
• Illumio: The Cylera integration with Illumio supports zero trust segmentation, offering unified visibility and control over IoT, OT, and IT networks. This helps in implementing security policies to protect against lateral attacks.
• Extreme Networks: The Cylera integration with Extreme Networks imports device location data from Extreme Networks to facilitate quick creation of network segmentation policies and enable faster identification and protection of connected medical devices.
• HPE Aruba ClearPass: The Cylera integration with ClearPass enriches ClearPass with granular, accurate healthcare IoT device intelligence, aiding in the enforcement of appropriate network access policies.

These integrations help healthcare organizations enhance their network security by providing detailed visibility, precise control, and effective segmentation of IoT devices.

How Cylera Integrations with Popular Firewall and NAC Solutions Work

Cylera generates network segmentation policies for healthcare IoT and connected medical devices which can then be forwarded to popular firewall and NAC solutions via integrations.

The integrations Cylera has with popular firewall and NAC solutions help healthcare delivery organizations ensure their healthcare IoT and connected medical devices meet their network security standards, as well as minimize the impact of a security breach by containing potential threats and preventing lateral movement within the network.

At a high level, here’s how Cylera integrations with firewall and NAC solutions work:

1. First, the Cylera device profiling engine dynamically captures detailed device data for every healthcare IoT and connected medical device on the network, including information even for new and previously unknown healthcare IoT assets or connected medical devices on the network.
2. The Cylera device profiling engine then creates a comprehensive record, or device profile, for every healthcare IoT and connected medical device on the network, which includes device manufacturer, model, operating system, software, firmware, vendor, network services, usage, and more, which provides granular, precise classification context and details for each device.
3. Next, the Cylera segmentation policy generator analyzes the behavior of existing healthcare IoT and connected medical devices on then network, then automatically builds baseline network configuration policies for the devices based on the type of device as well as device groups. Baseline network configuration policies include items such as the ports the device communications on (such as port 80 or DICOM ports). Baseline configuration policies created by Cylera can also be used as a “gold standard” or “gold image” for what a good healthcare IoT or connected medical device configuration looks like for specific device types and groups and within the specific environment in which the device operates.
4. The Cylera policy generator then generates new or updated network segmentation rules based on device profiles (which include data such as device type, group, and more).
5. The Cylera policy generation engine can also forward, via built-in integrations, new and updated network segmentation rules to firewalls and NACs.
6. After appropriate review/validation, the network segmentation rules can be enabled on the firewall or NAC.
7. Once enabled on the firewall or NAC, the new or updated segmentation rules are automatically applied to existing healthcare IoT and connected medical devices, as well as any new devices as they are discovered on the network.
8. Firewalls and NACs can also then use the baseline network configuration policies received from Cylera to immediately assess new healthcare IoT and connected medical devices against their organization’s medical device configuration “gold standard” to ensure any new connected medical devices do not go into service until they adhere to the organization’s configuration “gold standard.”

Learn More

Want to learn more about how Cylera can help you improve connected medical device security by implementing a robust network segmentation strategy for your healthcare IoT assets?

Request a demo, and let one of our experienced solution engineers show you how you can use the Cylera platform to isolate connected medical devices into the appropriate network zones, generate microsegmentation rules, and reduce threat propagation.