What is cloud security posture management?
Cloud security posture management
Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) is an IT security industry category that identifies cloud misconfiguration issues and compliance threats. One of the key purposes of CSPM programming is to monitor cloud infrastructure for security policy holes on a regular basis.
According to Gartner, the IT research and consulting firm that coined the term, CSPM is a new category of security technologies that may help automate security and provide compliance assurance in the cloud.
A cloud environment is inspected and compared to a defined set of best practices and known security concerns using CSPM technologies.
When a security issue needs to be handled, some CSPM systems may inform the cloud customer, while more advanced CSPM products will use robotic process automation (RPA) to automatically resolve concerns.
CSPM is typically used by organizations that have adopted a cloud-first strategy and wish to extend their security best practices to hybrid cloud and multi-cloud settings.
The key capabilities of cloud security posture management
The following are some of the primary characteristics of the most popular enterprise Cloud Security Posture Management tools:
- Connect current configuration state to a security control framework or regulatory standard
- Keep a list of best practices for various cloud settings and services
- Cloud misconfigurations can be detected and possibly automatically remedied.
- Hybrid cloud, and multi-cloud environments, work with IaaS, SaaS, and PaaS platforms.
- Check for misconfigurations and compliance concerns in storage buckets, encryption, and account permissions.
Why is using cloud security posture management important?
CSPM technologies are critical in securing a cloud environment because they reduce the possibility of data breaches.
According to Gartner, one of the most common mistakes in the cloud that can result in a data breach is misconfiguration of the cloud environment, and utilizing a CSPM solution can reduce cloud-based security incidents due to misconfigurations by 80 percent.
How does cloud security posture management work?
Cloud Security Posture Management tools are designed to locate and resolve issues resulting from cloud misconfigurations.
However, because a given CSPM tool may only be able to implement specified best practices relating to a certain cloud environment or service, knowing which tools may be used in each environment is crucial.
Some technologies, for example, maybe restricted to detecting AWS or Azure misconfigurations.
Certain CSPM technologies can automatically correct faults by combining real-time continuous monitoring with automation tools that can detect and solve issues like inappropriate account rights.
One of the standards that might be developed for continual compliance is HIPAA compliance.
CSPM tools can be used in conjunction with other Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) products.
A cloud access security broker (CASB) is a software product or service that safeguards data transit between on-premises IT infrastructure and cloud provider architecture.
Why do misconfigurations occur and how do prevent them?
The most prevalent cause of misconfigurations is customer mistreatment of many connected resources. With cloud-based services, there may be a lot of moving elements to keep track of and manage.
Environment misconfigurations are common, especially when employing API-driven integration approaches.
Misconfiguration exposes a corporation to the risk of a data breach because it only takes a few misconfigurations in the cloud to expose it to attack.
A lack of sight is frequently the cause of a misconfiguration. If a corporation does not understand how its resources interact with one another, a misconfiguration of cloud resources is more likely.
Providing public access to cloud storage buckets or containers that can be allocated to storage classes independently is one of the most common misconfigurations.
Anyone with knowledge of where to look can assault storage buckets if access to them is left open.
Additional benefits of enterprise cloud security posture management
CSPM technologies can make risk visualization, incident response, and DevOps integration easier by giving better visibility across many cloud partners, in addition to monitoring for compliance.
Other advantages of CSPM implementation in the organization include the:
- Danger detection by continuously monitoring cloud environments in real-time
- Assess the danger of data in real-time
- Detects policy infractions across a variety of cloud providers.
- Provisioning should be automated.
- Automatically detect and correct
You must have understood the concept of cloud security posture management.
