ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity (CC)Network SecurityHard
A retail company processes credit card transactions through its point-of-sale (POS) systems. To comply with PCI DSS requirements and isolate sensitive payment data, the security team decides to create a separate, highly restricted network segment specifically for POS devices and payment processing. What is the technical term for this security measure?
- AProxy Server
- BVirtual Local Area Network (VLAN)
- CNetwork Address Translation (NAT)
- DContent Delivery Network (CDN)
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN)
A Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) allows for the logical segmentation of a network, separating devices into distinct broadcast domains even if they are connected to the same physical switch. This is ideal for isolating sensitive systems like POS devices to meet compliance requirements like PCI DSS.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. A proxy server acts as an intermediary for requests from clients seeking resources from other servers, not for internal network segmentation.
- C. NAT translates IP addresses but does not segment a network into separate broadcast domains for security isolation.
- D. A CDN distributes web content geographically to improve performance and availability, unrelated to internal network segmentation for security.
Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN)
A logical grouping of network devices that allows them to communicate as if they were on the same physical network, regardless of their actual physical location, while isolating them from other VLANs.
- Segments a single physical network into multiple logical networks.
- Enhances security by isolating traffic between groups of devices.
- Used for compliance (e.g., PCI DSS) and network management.
Memory trick: VLANs are like invisible walls within a building, separating departments.