Does Network Micro-segmentation Provide Additional Security?

Network segmentation is a concept of taking a large group of hosts and creating smaller groups of hosts that can communicate with each other without traversing a security control. The smaller groups of hosts each have defined security controls, and groups are independent of each other. Network micro-segmentation takes the smaller group of hosts by configuring controls around individual hosts. The goal of network microsegmentation is to provide more granular security and reduce an attackers capability to easily compromise an entire network. If an attacker is successful in compromising a host, he or she is limited to only the network segment on which the host resides. If the host resides in a micro-segment, then the attacker is restricted to only that host. This paper will discuss what network and network micro-segmentation is, where it applies, any additional layer of security including levels of complexity.