Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

7-2025

Publication Title

Proceedings of the 2025 8th International Conference on Software Engineering and Information Management

Keywords

network management, network segmentation, cybersecurity, Infection Monkey, virtual machines, network security, simulated attacks

Abstract

Network segmentation is an important cybersecurity strategy that aims to reduce an attacker's ability to move laterally and increase security within a network. This study evaluated the effectiveness of network segmentation by simulating attacks on two networks using Infection Monkey. The objective of this study was to examine the impact of network segmentation on the detection and spread of threats across several virtual machines. Two network environments were created, the first unsegmented network (Network A) and a segmented network (Network B). Multiple simulated attacks were conducted on both networks. The attacks confirmed that the segmented network achieved better protection because the simulated malware did not detect any of the virtual machines in within that network. However, all virtual machines in the unsegmented network were compromised. Network segmentation proves to be an effective method for enhancing security by preventing the detection and spreading of threats across virtual machines. This research showcases the importance of implementing segmentation in network security strategies. Future research should assess the impact of segmentation options and differentiate between them to defend against different types of threats.

Funding Source

This research was funded by the Office of Student Research at Illinois State University. This proceeding was published Open Access thanks to a transformative agreement between Milner Library and ACM.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.1145/3725899.3725920

Comments

First published in Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Software Engineering and Information Management (2025): https://doi.org/10.1145/3725899.3725920

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