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Application Security

What is CSPM?

The increasing scale and intricacy of cloud environments create complexity that requires robust, automated tools to assist with security and compliance. Cloud security posture management (CSPM) addresses the challenges inherent in dynamic cloud environments by providing organizations with the insights and tools necessary to continuously evaluate security and adherence to technical standards.

What is CSPM?

Cloud security posture management (CSPM) is a category of security tools and practices that help organizations identify and remediate risks in cloud environments, such as improper configurations and failures to adhere to compliance frameworks and industry best practices. CSPM plays a pivotal role in helping organizations mitigate issues such as configuration drift, which arises from manual or automated changes leading to misalignments with security standards.

CSPM tools also address misconfigurations, overprivileged access, and improper identity and access management (IAM) settings, which are common causes of cloud vulnerabilities.

How CSPM works

CSPM solutions operate through a combination of automated processes and integrations with cloud service providers (CSPs). They often connect directly to cloud APIs to gather and analyze configuration data.

Key capabilities of CSPM tools

Configuration assessment

CSPM tools can scan cloud resources to detect misconfigurations, including open storage buckets, public IP addresses, insecure encryption keys, improper network configurations, and more.

Compliance reporting

CSPM aligns cloud configurations with compliance frameworks (such as ISO 27001, HIPAA, DORA, or NIST) and generates reports. By mapping cloud configurations to these standards, CSPM helps organizations remain audit ready.

Continuous monitoring

Ongoing assessments of cloud environments enable CSPM tools to identify deviations from predefined security baselines and configuration standards.

Risk assessment

CSPM tools evaluate risks associated with cloud configurations and prioritize remediation actions for IT teams. For example, they may flag public-facing storage buckets or overly permissive IAM roles.

Automated remediation

CSPM tools can automatically detect and rectify misconfigurations, thus reducing windows of exposure. For instance, they might disable unused access keys or enforce encryption for sensitive resources.

Integrations

Working across multi- and hybrid-cloud environments, such as AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform, CSPM tools provide unified visibility.

Benefits of CSPM for organizations

Implementing CSPM provides numerous advantages for organizations, including:

  • Proactive risk management: By identifying and correcting misconfigurations, CSPM significantly reduces the risk of vulnerabilities that could lead to data breaches. For example, according to a survey conducted by Fugue, 73% of cloud security incidents stem from preventable misconfigurations.
  • Improved adherence to technical standards: Automated identification of non-compliant configurations significantly reduces the need for manual interventions, adhering to industry regulations such as DORA or DISA STIG.
  • Cost efficiency: Automating security assessments and remediation reduces the need for extensive manual audits, saving time and resources.
  • Enhanced security posture: With continuous monitoring, security policies are enforced consistently across multi- and hybrid-cloud environments, strengthening risk management and reducing mistakes introduced by manual efforts.

Integrating CSPM into broader security strategies

While CSPM addresses cloud-specific risks, it can be integrated into a broader security strategy. Organizations can combine CSPM with other tools or use platforms that have integrated CSPM capabilities, such as:

  • Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP), for runtime protection of workloads.
  • Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASBs), for monitoring data transfers and enforcing data security policies.
  • Container Security Solutions, for securing containerized applications and Kubernetes clusters.
  • Cloud-native Application Protection Platform (CNAPP), for a unified and tightly integrated set of security and compliance capabilities, designed to protect cloud-native infrastructure and applications.

All of the above solutions, including CSPM, are essential parts of CNAPP.

How CSPM enriches full-stack observability

CSPM enriches full-stack observability by providing comprehensive insights and findings in cloud configurations. These features enable organizations to do the following:

  • Monitor real-time compliance status.
  • Gain insights into asset interdependencies.
  • Track historical changes in configurations for audit and forensics purposes.

Vendor-neutral comparison of CSPM tools

While different CSPM tools offer unique features, key evaluation criteria include the following:

  • Ease of integration: Support for multi-cloud and hybrid-cloud environments.
  • Automation capabilities: Breadth and depth of automated remediation features and workflows.
  • Compliance coverage: Support for global and industry-specific regulatory frameworks.
  • Scalability: Ability to handle large, dynamic cloud environments.

CSPM is an essential component of modern cloud security strategies. By continuously monitoring cloud environments and automating remediation, CSPM can significantly reduce the risk of security breaches and support regulatory compliance. Organizations looking to implement CSPM should evaluate their unique security needs and choose tools that align with their cloud environments and regulatory requirements.