Security Lists vs Network Security Groups in OCI

Introduction

Security is a critical component of any cloud deployment. **Oracle Cloud Infrastructure provides multiple tools for controlling network traffic.

Two key security mechanisms are:
• Security Lists
• Network Security Groups (NSGs)

Security Lists

Security lists apply firewall rules at the subnet level.

Network Security Groups

NSGs apply security rules at the resource level.

This allows engineers to apply more granular control to specific compute instances.

When to Use Each

Security lists are useful for subnet-wide rules, while NSGs are better for application-specific security policies.

Conclusion

Using both security lists and NSGs together provides strong security controls in OCI environments.