The Blind Spot of an Untended "Internal Network" Amid the Spread of DX
Over the past few years, the Japanese government has been strongly driving Digital Transformation (DX) at the national level. As cloud migration, remote work, and the introduction of IoT devices at the store and branch level rapidly expand, the network touchpoints that businesses must manage have increased exponentially. The problem is that security frameworks are failing to keep pace with this rate of expansion.
In particular, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and nationwide franchise sectors are facing a dual pressure:
First, there is a chronic shortage of IT labor. Most organizations have only one or two dedicated security personnel at headquarters, or none at all, making it practically impossible to deploy staff to manage network equipment at every store and branch.
Second, there is the increasingly sophisticated threat of ransomware. Attackers no longer target only headquarters servers. It has become common practice for ransomware to infiltrate through the 'weakest links'—such as branch networks with low security levels, in-store POS terminals, or unmanaged Wi-Fi APs—and use them as a stepping stone to spread throughout the entire internal network (lateral movement).
In essence, what DX has generated is not just convenience, but an explosive increase in unmanaged network touchpoints, which in turn has led to an expanded attack surface. The security architecture of the past, which only required defending a single headquarters data center, is structurally no longer capable of coping with this reality.
The Limits of Perimeter-Based Security and the Transition to "Internal Network Zero Trust"
Traditional network security is based on a "perimeter defense" model. This model divides the external and internal networks with a firewall and operates on the premise that traffic, once inside the internal network, is relatively trustworthy. However, in a franchise environment where hundreds of branches and stores are dispersed, this model itself is difficult to sustain. While each branch effectively forms an independent "perimeter," there is often no security equipment inside that perimeter, or it is left in a management blind spot.
Against this backdrop, the industry is focusing on bringing the principles of micro-segmentation and Zero Trust down to the level of internal network switches. The core idea is simple: instead of trusting users or devices and allowing them into the internal network only to control them after the fact, access is segmented based on least privilege from the moment of network connection. This ensures that even if one segment is breached, traffic is physically and logically isolated so that the threat cannot spread to adjacent segments.
The issue lies in the implementation method. Previously, implementing micro-segmentation required layering separate firewalls, Network Access Control (NAC) solutions, and agent-based software. This demanded deployment and operational costs, as well as specialized personnel, that SMBs could not afford. Consequently, remaining as a "conceptually correct but practically difficult-to-adopt technology" has been a long-standing dilemma of Zero Trust architecture.
How Cloud-Based Centralized Management Redefines the Role of "Security Switches"
The approach that has practically resolved this dilemma in the SMB and franchise market is the cloud-based, centrally managed security switch. While the concept itself is not new, the reason it is yielding meaningful results in the market recently lies in the shift in operational methods.
The core structure is as follows: only switches and wireless APs with built-in security features are installed at each branch and store. The reason there is no need to deploy separate firewalls or specialized security equipment at every branch is that the switch itself performs the segmentation function, isolating traffic and controlling access at the port level. These distributed devices are then managed collectively from a single central controller in the cloud (or headquarters).
This structure practically resolves three major issues:
- The Labor Problem: There is no need to station security administrators at each branch. A small team at headquarters can deploy and modify policies across nationwide stores all at once. If a new vulnerability is discovered, updating the policy remotely from headquarters immediately applies it to all stores.
- The Risk of Propagation: Because networks are segmented at the store level, even if a specific branch is infected with ransomware, it does not automatically spread to other branches or headquarters systems.
- The Visibility Problem: Through a centralized dashboard, administrators can monitor device status and abnormal traffic patterns across hundreds of branches nationwide in real time, enabling early response before issues escalate.
This is effectively a redesign of the "cloud-based integrated security management" philosophy championed by SASE (Secure Access Service Edge), made implementable at the scale of SMBs and franchises rather than large enterprises.
Sustainability Driven by the Subscription (Security-as-a-Service) Model
Just as important as the technical structure is the business model. A one-time equipment delivery model is sustainable for neither SMBs nor vendors. This is because the threat landscape continues to evolve, while equipment and policies remain fixed at the time of introduction.
In this context, the subscription-based security service model is expanding. Instead of lowering the burden of initial deployment costs, this structure provides continuous policy updates, monitoring, and maintenance as a service, charging on a monthly or annual basis. This creates a recurring revenue stream for the vendor and allows customers to consistently respond to the latest threats, making it highly rational for both sides.
In fact, PIOLINK applied this structure to approximately 900 stores of AUTOBACS, Japan's largest automotive maintenance chain. In collaboration with the IT subsidiary of the AUTOBACS Group, PIOLINK's security switches and APs were included in a subscription-based IT service package alongside AI cameras and network equipment. The equipment at each store is collectively managed and updated via a cloud central controller. Rather than a simple product delivery, this is significant as a "scalable model" that can be replicated directly across other franchise sectors with nationwide networks, such as dining and apparel.
Remaining Challenges and Future Directions
Of course, centrally managed security switches are not a silver bullet that solves all threats. The security of the cloud controller itself, disaster recovery frameworks in large-scale branch environments, and compatibility with existing legacy network equipment remain areas that deploying enterprises must carefully evaluate. Furthermore, strengthening internal network segmentation does not automatically eliminate threats in other areas, such as endpoint security or credential theft. Therefore, it must be understood as a single layer within the overall security architecture.
Nevertheless, the direction is clear. In an environment where IT labor shortages and ransomware threats are intensifying simultaneously, the combination of a centrally managed structure that can be operated without specialized personnel and a subscription model that continuously updates policies is establishing itself as a practical alternative for SMB and franchise security. Shifting away from individual store-level defense to bundle the entire network into a single management unit is the reason why this approach is highly likely to expand across industries with similar structures in the future.
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