CISSP Practice Question: A mid-size retailer recently consolidated network controls and stopped enforcing segmentation between…

Correct Answer: A. Increased risk of attacker lateral movement and an expanded breach blast radius

Explanation (CISSP Manager Logic):

Network segmentation is a critical architectural control that enforces containment and the principle of least privilege. Removing these boundaries eliminates the organization's ability to isolate threats, allowing a minor compromise to escalate into a catastrophic enterprise-wide breach.

By maintaining network segmentation, you:

• Limit the blast radius of security incidents to a single zone.
• Ensure compliance with regulatory mandates like PCI DSS.
• Improve detection capabilities by monitoring inter-zone traffic.

While the other options are relevant, they fall short because:

• B: Prioritizing data sharing over security controls introduces unacceptable risk to sensitive payment assets.
• C: Reduced administrative overhead is an operational convenience that does not justify the loss of risk mitigation.
• D: Minor performance gains are negligible compared to the high cost of a potential data breach.

Think like a manager:

Security architecture must prioritize risk containment over operational ease. Managers must view segmentation as a strategic defense-in-depth requirement to protect the organization's most valuable assets.