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Secure a modern network by controlling access to each resource—not by assuming that users or devices are trustworthy because they are inside an office, on a company network, or using company-owned equipment. Combine identity and device checks, narrowly scoped access, network segmentation, monitoring, and regular policy reviews across on-premises systems, remote access, cloud services, and applications.
What network security means in a modern environment
Network security is the set of policies and controls that govern how users, devices, applications, and services connect to systems and data. It includes familiar safeguards such as network segmentation and administrator authentication, but it also has to account for remote users, cloud workloads, and application-to-application communication.
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NIST describes zero trust as a shift away from static, network-based perimeters toward users, assets, and resources. Its central principle is that location or ownership alone does not establish trust: “Zero trust assumes there is no implicit trust granted to assets or user accounts based solely on their physical or network location (i.e., local area networks versus the internet) or based on asset ownership (enterprise or personally owned).” NIST also says the subject and device should be authenticated and authorized before an enterprise resource session is established. Read NIST SP 800-207, Zero Trust Architecture.
Zero trust is an architectural approach, not a product category or a single appliance to install. It changes how an organization decides who or what can access a resource, under which conditions, and with what visibility.
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How to plan network security around resources
The following sequence is a practical planning approach based on NIST’s resource-focused model, not a verbatim NIST checklist. It helps connect policies to the systems and communication paths an organization actually needs.
- Identify critical resources and data. List the systems, services, and information whose loss or exposure would matter. Include on-premises infrastructure, cloud services, and applications rather than treating the corporate network as one asset.
- Map necessary access. Record which people, devices, applications, and services need to reach each resource, and why. Identify the communication paths that are required for business or operations.
- Define identity and device checks. Decide how to authenticate and authorize users and devices before granting resource access. Do not treat network location or ownership as a substitute for those decisions.
- Limit permitted communication. Restrict access to the paths and resources that are needed. Use segmentation to keep unrelated systems from communicating freely.
- Monitor activity and review policy. Observe access and network activity, investigate unexpected patterns, and revisit permissions as users, applications, and infrastructure change.
How segmentation limits exposure and lateral movement
Segmentation divides a network or environment into areas with controlled communication between them. If one account, device, or system is compromised, restrictions between segments can make it harder for an attacker to move freely to other resources. Smaller, isolated resource groups can also make activity easier to see.
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CISA describes microsegmentation as a zero-trust component that can reduce attack surface, limit lateral movement, and improve visibility. Its July 29, 2025 guidance announcement covers concepts, benefits, challenges, and planning in Part One. Treat segmentation as a design and policy problem: identify the resources and flows to separate, determine what communication is actually required, and make the permitted paths observable.
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For on-premises environments, CISA’s red-team advisory includes network segmentation and requiring multifactor authentication (MFA) for administrators among its hardening recommendations. The advisory also points to longer-term movement toward zero-trust network architecture, modern identity and access practices, and centralized cybersecurity data for analytics. See CISA’s network monitoring and hardening advisory.
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How to choose and secure remote access
Remote access should be evaluated by the access it grants and the controls around it, not by its label. A VPN can be misconfigured; that does not mean every VPN is inherently unsafe. CISA and partner agencies’ June 18, 2024 announcement discusses risks in traditional remote access and VPN deployments and encourages organizations to consider Zero Trust, Secure Service Edge (SSE), and Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) approaches. It does not establish one universally best option. See the CISA and partner-agency announcement.
| Approach to assess | What the cited guidance establishes | Questions for your environment |
|---|---|---|
| Traditional remote access or VPN deployment | CISA and partners identify vulnerabilities and risks, including those associated with misconfiguration. | Are access rules narrow enough for the resource? Are configuration and administrator access reviewed and monitored? |
| Zero Trust | CISA and partners encourage organizations to consider it; NIST describes an architecture that makes access decisions around users, assets, and resources. | Can you authenticate and authorize the relevant user and device for each resource, rather than relying on network location? |
| SSE or SASE | CISA and partners encourage organizations to consider these approaches; the cited announcement does not declare either universally best. | How would the approach fit your users, applications, infrastructure, legacy systems, and operational capacity? |
Compare candidate designs across identity and device policy, access granularity, activity visibility, support for users and applications, compatibility with legacy systems, and implementation and operational demands. These are practical evaluation axes, not a formal scoring system from the cited guidance. A design that is difficult to operate consistently can undermine otherwise sound access policies.
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How to secure cloud-native and multi-cloud applications
Cloud-native access policy may need to recognize more than human users and network addresses. Applications and services also make requests and need identities and permissions appropriate to what they do.
NIST SP 800-207A addresses identity-based controls for applications and services as well as user and network identities in cloud-native, multi-cloud environments. It discusses API gateways, sidecar proxies, and application identity infrastructure as components that can help enforce granular policies across environments. These are architectural elements to evaluate against your applications and operating model, not a mandate to deploy every component. See NIST SP 800-207A.
What to monitor and review
Access policy is only useful if the organization can see whether it is being followed and investigate activity that does not fit expected patterns. CISA’s network-hardening advisory recommends monitoring and hardening networks and describes centralized cybersecurity data for analytics as part of a longer-term security direction.
- Keep visibility aligned with the resources and access paths the organization has defined.
- Review administrator access and apply MFA for administrators, as included in CISA’s hardening recommendations.
- Look for communication or access that falls outside approved paths, especially between segments that should be isolated.
- Reassess policies when systems, users, applications, or cloud environments change.
Monitoring and policy review should inform one another: observed activity can reveal a legitimate access need that was missed, or a path that should be restricted. Treat exceptions as explicit decisions to review, rather than allowing them to become invisible permanent permissions.
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