Control Systems Security Program (CSSP)

Corporate Authentication DMZ


Definition

In computer security, a demilitarized zone (DMZ) or perimeter network is a network area (a subnetwork) that sits between an internal network and an external network. The point of a DMZ is that connections from the internal and the external network to the DMZ are permitted, whereas connections from the DMZ are only permitted to the external network -- hosts in the DMZ may not connect to the internal network. This allows the DMZ's hosts to provide services to the external network while protecting the internal network in case intruders compromise a host in the DMZ. For someone on the external network who wants to illegally connect to the internal network, the DMZ is a dead end.

The corporate authentication DMZ is used for providing corporate network user authentication for internal control system network access.