How does east-west traffic control improve network security?

East-west traffic control improves network security by monitoring, filtering, and securing communication between internal systems within a network, rather than just focusing on external (north-south) traffic. This is critical because threats often originate from compromised internal devices or lateral movement within the network.

Key Benefits:

1. Threat Containment: By inspecting internal traffic, suspicious activities like data exfiltration or malware propagation can be detected and blocked before they spread.
2. Zero Trust Enforcement: East-west controls enforce least-privilege access, ensuring that even internal systems only communicate when necessary.
3. Micro-Segmentation: Networks can be divided into smaller, isolated segments, limiting an attacker's ability to move laterally.

Example:
In a cloud environment, if a virtual machine (VM) is compromised, east-west traffic control can prevent it from accessing other VMs in the same subnet. For instance, Tencent Cloud's Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) with Security Groups and Network ACLs allows precise rules to restrict traffic between instances, while Cloud Firewall provides deep inspection for east-west flows.

Additionally, Tencent Cloud's T-Sec Network Security solutions, like Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems (IDPS), can monitor internal traffic for anomalies, ensuring threats are mitigated early.