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In today’s rapidly evolving cybersecurity landscape, organizations face mounting pressure to protect sensitive data from increasingly sophisticated threats. Traditional perimeter-based defenses, once considered sufficient, are no longer enough to safeguard against lateral movements by attackers within networks. As a result, many organizations are turning to microsegmentation as part of their Zero Trust security strategy. However, typical microsegmentation solutions are complex, slow to implement, and often disrupt operations. This was not the case for Andelyn Biosciences, which proved that microsegmentation could be successfully implemented without introducing unnecessary complexity or downtime. Here’s how they did it.
A Challenging Environment Demands a Better Approach
Andelyn Biosciences, a contract development and manufacturing organization specializing in gene therapies, faced a unique set of security challenges. With thousands of IT, IoT, and OT devices operating across interconnected networks, securing its pharmaceutical research and manufacturing environments was critical. Traditional approaches to microsegmentation, including complex firewall rules and VLAN reconfigurations, would have resulted in significant downtime and operational disruption. After spending almost two years on a failed attempt to deploy a Network Access Control (NAC) solution, Andelyn decided to switch to a new identity-based microsegmentation approach by Elisity. This decision would prove to be a game-changer.
Overcoming Traditional Challenges with a Modern Solution
Traditional microsegmentation solutions typically require extensive hardware changes and network redesigns, making them difficult to scale and implement without substantial disruption. Andelyn’s frustration with the lack of progress from its initial NAC solution was compounded by the solution’s complexity and inability to adapt to the rapidly evolving environment of pharmaceutical manufacturing. The security team realized they needed a solution that could provide dynamic, identity-based segmentation, one that could adapt without requiring reconfiguration of the network.
Enter Elisity, which presented an innovative approach: identity-based microsegmentation. By using the existing network infrastructure, Elisity’s platform allowed Andelyn to implement least-privilege access policies quickly, without the need for hardware changes or complex network reconfigurations.
A Seamless Deployment: From Visibility to Policy Enforcement in Weeks
Andelyn’s deployment journey with Elisity began with network discovery. The platform passively identified all users, devices, and workloads, including unmanaged IoT and OT assets. This step provided complete visibility into the network within just a few days. Using this visibility, Andelyn’s security team was able to model and simulate policies that would segment the network without disrupting operations. The ability to simulate policies before enforcement allowed them to ensure that the segmentation would not impact critical research workflows.
Once validated, the policies were gradually rolled out—starting with lower-risk environments and eventually extending to production systems. Importantly, this deployment was seamless and did not require any changes to the existing network infrastructure, making it possible to implement microsegmentation in just a matter of weeks.
Achieving Stronger Security Without Added Complexity
With over 2,700 active security policies now in place, Andelyn has significantly enhanced its Zero Trust posture. This achievement has had several important outcomes:
- Reduced Lateral Movement: Unauthorized lateral movement, a common tactic in cyber-attacks, has been prevented, thereby limiting the potential damage from a breach.
- Protection of Intellectual Property: Andelyn has successfully safeguarded critical pharmaceutical research data and intellectual property from both insider threats and external attacks.
- Operational Efficiency: By automating policy enforcement, Andelyn has reduced the need for constant manual intervention, making security management more efficient.
- Simplified Compliance: With policies in place that align with regulatory requirements such as NIST 800-207 and IEC 62443, Andelyn has streamlined its compliance reporting processes.
Unlike traditional methods, which rely on static network configurations and hardware-intensive solutions, Elisity’s identity-based platform continuously adapts to new devices and users, dynamically enforcing security policies as threats evolve. This flexibility ensures that security remains robust in the face of ever-changing environments.
What Undercode Says:
The success of Andelyn Biosciences’ microsegmentation journey demonstrates the profound impact of identity-based security solutions in achieving Zero Trust. Many organizations struggle with the complexity of traditional microsegmentation approaches, often resulting in stalled projects or failed deployments. However, Andelyn’s story proves that it is possible to implement a scalable and effective microsegmentation solution without the operational headaches typically associated with such projects.
The key takeaway here is that identity-based segmentation is not only simpler and faster to deploy, but it also offers a level of flexibility that is essential in today’s dynamic IT environments. Elisity’s approach, which dynamically correlates user, device, and workload metadata, allows organizations to apply security policies based on actual behavior and identity rather than static network configurations. This dynamic approach leads to fewer disruptions, faster implementation, and a much more agile security model that can scale as the organization grows.
Additionally, the ability to simulate policies before enforcing them is a crucial factor in avoiding operational disruptions. This feature allowed Andelyn to confidently deploy microsegmentation without fear of interrupting critical workflows or research activities, something that would have been unthinkable with traditional approaches.
For companies struggling with stalled or complex microsegmentation projects, Andelyn’s success with Elisity offers a powerful lesson in how a modern, identity-based approach can help them achieve their Zero Trust goals in a fraction of the time.
Fact Checker Results
- Visibility is Key: As highlighted by Bryan Holmes, VP of IT at Andelyn, visibility is the first critical step in achieving effective microsegmentation. Without complete visibility into connected devices, organizations cannot secure their networks effectively.
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Dynamic Policies: Elisity’s identity-based, dynamically enforced policies are a major differentiator from traditional methods, ensuring that security policies can evolve with the network.
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No Network Overhaul Needed: Unlike traditional microsegmentation, Elisity’s approach doesn’t require massive changes to the network infrastructure, making it easier and faster to implement.
References:
Reported By: https://thehackernews.com/2025/03/why-most-microsegmentation-projects.html
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