Introduction to multicloud CSPMs
1. Introduction to multicloud CSPMs
As a cloud security professional, you might work with anywhere from a few to hundreds of thousands of projects, virtual machines, containers, and other assets. That’s a wide range of possibilities. With so many possibilities, your organization may choose to use a multicloud environment. Multicloud is a strategy of using more than one cloud service provider. In a multicloud environment, it’s extra important to have an effective monitoring system to track your organization’s security posture, and alert you to threats as quickly as possible. Cloud security posture management, or CSPM, is the process of monitoring and configuring cloud assets for security and compliance with best practices, regulations, and organization policy. CSPM tools automatically scan cloud assets and alert security teams if a potential issue is found. Using multiple cloud service providers helps organizations take advantage of different cloud providers’ strengths and capabilities and avoid concentrating all their business with one cloud provider. Keeping track of assets spread across multiple clouds and managing access and identities can be difficult. Luckily, there are strategies to mitigate these challenges. Multicloud Cloud Security Posture Management, or CSPM is the process of assessing the security of assets throughout a multicloud environment. CSPM provides a centralized place to ensure the right policy actions and controls are in effect and alert you to events within the multicloud environment. They also help keep the whole environment secure and in line with compliance standards. For example, CSPM tools can also automate threat response by automatically isolating assets that may have been compromised until the security team has a chance to address them. A wide variety of multicloud CSPM tools are available, each with different features, integrations, and underlying technologies. Organizations should consider all of these factors to find the best fit for their requirements. Let’s explore the following multicloud CSPM tools, and why an organization might choose each one: Palo Alto Prisma Cloud, Crowdstrike Falcon Cloud, Orca, Checkpoint Cloudguard, and Netskope Cloud Security Platform. Palo Alto Prisma Cloud is a cloud-native application protection platform, or CNAPP. Prisma Cloud secures cloud-native applications through the stages of the development process. Prisma Cloud works by taking in configuration data, user activity, and network traffic from across an organization’s cloud environments. Using this data, Palo Alto Prisma Cloud provides visibility across the hybrid or multicloud environment. It also provides security assessments and compliance monitoring. Prisma Cloud can also integrate with external services to help provide remediation. For example, it can automatically check if patches are available for a vulnerability. Finally, Prisma Cloud provides identity and access management, or IAM, capabilities to help your organization maintain least-privilege access. Next, Crowdstrike Falcon Cloud is a cloud-native endpoint protection platform. It’s designed to protect endpoints, including desktops and laptops, servers, and virtual machines. Falcon Cloud provides multicloud or hybrid visibility into an organization’s IT architecture. Like other CSPMs, Falcon Cloud uses threat intelligence to detect potential threats in an organization’s cloud assets. Falcon Cloud also uses machine learning, or ML, and artificial intelligence, or AI, threat detection algorithms to analyze activity and respond to potentially malicious behavior in real time. Other multicloud CSPMs include Orca, which uses an agentless approach, meaning it doesn’t require installation of additional software on systems. Orca scans cloud workloads and identities and provides visual graphs of potential attack paths. Another agentless CSPM, Checkpoint Cloudguard, uses rules and queries written in a unique, human-readable syntax called Governance Specification Language. And finally, the Netskope Cloud Security Platform is a CSPM tool that has a unique focus on data security and data loss prevention. That wraps up our discussion of cloud security posture management. You’re one step closer to keeping your organization’s multicloud infrastructure safe and secure.2. Let's practice!
Create Your Free Account
or
By continuing, you accept our Terms of Use, our Privacy Policy and that your data is stored in the USA.