12Port Enters Microsegmentation Market 

After six years of perfecting our Privileged Access Management (PAM) software, used to safeguard hundreds of critical businesses, we are excited to announce our newest venture, 12Port, a pioneering cybersecurity startup focused on network microsegmentation. 

Over the past 25+ years, we (Mark and Peter) have worked together building disruptive software companies that have successfully streamlined the management of complex technologies, including PAM and cloud information management for the modern enterprise. With each company, our goal was simple – deliver cost-effective and high-value solutions that are easy to implement and manage without overburdening IT teams. Now, we’re channeling our expertise into solving the next challenge in network security: microsegmentation.  

Evolution of PAM, IAM, MFA to include Microsegementation 

Over the last decade, PAM, Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), and Identity and Access Management (IAM) have emerged as fundamental pillars of an effective security policy. With PAM, companies can control remote access to servers, manage accounts, and help thwart malicious actors from breaching critical systems. However, there remains a gap in this strategy. It does not address a significant vulnerability – what happens when an adversary manages to bypass these defenses? Once inside the network, an attacker can move laterally, accessing sensitive resources.  

This is where microsegmentation takes center stage. 

Microsegmentation addresses this by dividing a network into smaller, isolated segments. It ensures that even if a breach occurs, the attacker’s movement (whether they have gained legitimate or illegitimate access or credentials) is restricted, reducing the overall damage potential. Microsegmentation enhances security and complements IAM, MFA, and PAM, making it a vital addition to any enterprise’s security strategy. 

Microsegmentation aligns with the modern Zero Trust Network Architecture (ZTNA), which moves the security perimeter closer to individual resources. It advocates for a security approach where no asset within the network implicitly trusts any other one. Every connection must be verified, every access point validated. 

The Challenge with Traditional Microsegmentation 

Traditional security solutions focus heavily on North-South traffic— data flowing to and from data centers and cloud service providers. Conversely, “East-West” traffic involves communications between devices within on-premises and cloud service provider networks. PAM, IAM, and MFA excel at controlling North-South traffic, but microsegmentation focuses on safeguarding East-West communications within the network.  

We are intrigued by the diverse methods available for segmenting networks using software. Typically, network segmentation involves classifying assets with keywords, labels, and tags, and then applying segmentation policies based on this categorization. When it comes to monitoring and enforcing these policies, competing technologies are used, each offering its own set of strengths and weaknesses. 

Different vendors use various methods to control network data flow. Some technology solutions rely on routers to manage traffic; others filter connections at the VM hypervisor host level. Additionally, some solutions deploy agents directly on servers to manage traffic or use agents to configure native firewalls for traffic control. Depending on the technology approach, microsegmentation solutions can be complex, hard to implement and manage, and resource-intensive.

 

The 12 Port Approach 

At 12Port, we wanted to help address the challenges businesses have in implementing enterprise-class security technology and supporting zero trust network architectures. Leveraging our 25+ years of experience in enterprise network security and content classification, we’ve established several core principles that guide the development of our new technologies: 

• Agentless Deployment: We believe in minimizing the complexity of implementation. Agentless software is simpler to deploy and maintain and has minimal impact on server operations and other software. 

• Native Network Controls: Leveraging native controls ensures minimal disruption to traffic flow, resulting in more predictable outcomes during troubleshooting. 

• Remote Access Protocols: The proliferation of remote management solutions has standardized remote access protocols for communication between centrally deployed servers and remote endpoints. 

• Multi-level Extensible Taxonomies: Classifying objects should be simple yet effective. Multi-level extensible taxonomies streamline the process of organizing and managing resources. For example, selecting a country, state, and city within that state is more efficient than scrolling through a list of thousands of cities. 

• Ease of Use: Network security software should be manageable with basic IT administrator skills to minimize the need for a highly specialized team, reduce the risk of misconfiguration errors, and avoid reliance on vendor services for daily operations. 

• Built-in Support for Authentication: Enterprise software should offer built-in support for authenticating and authorizing users through a range of existing user directories, Single Sign-On (SSO), and Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) options that organizations already have in place. 

• Robust Cryptographic Controls: Enterprise software must have strict control over its cryptographic algorithms to ensure data integrity and privacy. 

• Multi-Tenant Support for MSPs: The consolidation of IT administration into shared services means that software should be designed for both end-users and Managed Service Providers (MSPs), which require multi-tenant capabilities to support multiple clients efficiently. 

Guided by these principles, our experience, and market research, we are excited to launch our first product – 12Port Horizon, a web-based, multi-tenant, agentless microsegmentation solution. Built on a secure, hierarchically partitioned asset database, 12Port Horizon offers intelligent tagging, role-based access, and object versioning for network traffic management. By utilizing native operating system firewalls and remote process execution scripts (SSH and PowerShell), our solution ensures efficient and secure traffic control. It is deployable on Windows and Linux in less than five minutes and is available as a standalone or multi-tenant solution for MSPs. 

At 12Port, we believe that security technology should be affordable, scalable, and easy to implement. Our mission is to make microsegmentation accessible to businesses of all sizes, enabling them to enhance their security posture. With a commitment to continuous innovation and weekly updates, we ensure that 12Port Horizon evolves with your needs while maintaining the highest security standards.  

We invite you to download a fully functional trial of our software and welcome your feedback on the platform.