Traditionally, network architectures were designed and secured according to the "castle-and-moat" model. Like a medieval fortress, an enterprise data center was imagined to have impregnable and unbreachable walls. All traffic entering or exiting would pass through a single access point, where a security gateway appliance would sit, like a knight in shining armor. This device would police the network traffic on a packet-by-packet basis, allowing traffic it deemed ‘safe’ unrestricted access to the network’s trusted interior. Although this model is as outdated as chain mail is for 21st-century military combat, its legacy endures in assumptions and presuppositions that can prevent…
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