Securing cloud infrastructure demands a different approach than traditional on-premises technology. You may not have an in-house IT team ready to physically inspect or configure cloud assets on hand. Despite this, your organization must still make sure its cloud environment is secure and compliant. 

What is Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM)? 

Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) continuously manages cloud infrastructure risk. It provides visibility into the Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) solutions cloud workflows rely on to deliver value. 

This makes it especially valuable for organizations with complex multi-cloud environments. Without CSPM, the security team will have to manually monitor and verify cloud security configurations—a time-consuming exercise that is prone to error. 

With CSPM, security teams gain a single point of reference for cloud resource usage and security risk. The solution will automatically detect cloud misconfigurations and help with accurate risk assessment. This improves the incident response workflow and allows the organization to optimize DevOps integration.  

Key features of CSPM: 

CSPM tools ensure the cloud environment is properly configured and in compliance. They generate alerts when misconfigurations occur and help users fix security issues proactively. 

Some of the features CSPM solutions offer include: 

• Scanning cloud systems for security misconfigurations. Cloud security misconfigurations may allow threat actors to exploit vulnerabilities and gain access to valuable data and assets. 
• Monitoring and assessing risk in multi-cloud environments. Organizations with multiple cloud providers use CSPM to enforce uniform security policies across the entire environment. 
• Providing regular updates about compliance frameworks. Regulatory frameworks constantly update their requirements. CSPMs help security teams stay on top of these changes and adapt quickly. 
• Standardizing risk assessment processes. CSPM tools help security teams evaluate cloud security risks in a standardized way. This makes prioritizing remediation efforts much easier. 
• Automating cloud security configuration updates. Instead of manually correcting cloud misconfigurations, security teams rely on CSPMs to enforce secure configurations automatically. 

What about Cloud-native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPPs)? 

Security practitioners and DevOps professionals also rely on Cloud-native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPPs) to secure cloud workflows. This is distinct from CSPM because it focuses on cloud-based application development workflows. 

 CNAPPs are important for organizations that develop applications directly on cloud infrastructure. This kind of activity changes the security risk profile of the organization’s cloud assets, so it requires additional visibility and control. 

For example, CSPM does not provide visibility into the security characteristics of individual cloud workloads. CNAPP does that using an exclusive feature called the Cloud Workload Protection Platform (CWPP), which addresses potential threats inside servers, virtual machines, containers, and serverless functions. 

CNAPP solutions often include CSPM as part of a broader portfolio of technologies that reduce cloud risk. This makes CNAPP a more comprehensive, integrated solution for organizations that rely heavily on cloud infrastructure. 

What makes CSPM different from vulnerability management? 

The main difference between CSPM and vulnerability management is the focus infrastructure and misconfiguration risks. Vulnerability management tools scan applications for security weaknesses related to unapplied patches, unsecured versions, and network coverage gaps. CSPM takes a closer look at the cloud infrastructure those apps run on. 

CSPM enables security teams to proactively address risks that are unique to cloud infrastructure. It does not provide context or visibility into on-site hardware or applications. Vulnerability management’s broader scope includes both on-site and cloud-hosted applications—but does not verify infrastructural risks. 

For example, a vulnerability management solution might warn you that an application in your tech stack is out of date. It knows this because it continuously scans your applications and compares the reported software version with the latest available from the vendor. Installing latest updates quickly keeps your organization protected against threats that leverage recently discovered security flaws. 

Public cloud environments are different because they operate according to the shared responsibility model. Your cloud provider keeps their infrastructure secure against the latest threats, so you do not have to. However, using that infrastructure securely and configuring it properly is up to you. 

Examples of cloud infrastructure risks covered by SSPM 

One of the best ways to illustrate the value of CSPM is by looking at the risks it addresses. The following three examples of cloud infrastructure risk are typical scenarios that a CSPM would address:  

• IMDSv2 disabled on an Amazon EC2 instance. The Instance Metadata Service provides access to temporary credentials. IMDSv1 does not have the same protections as IMDSv2, like session-oriented authentication and one-to-one session mapping. An attacker could leverage these weaknesses to gain access to Amazon AWS infrastructure and impersonate a legitimate user. 

• Public Azure Kubernetes Service endpoint has no client restrictions. Azure Kubernetes Service endpoints should have Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) restrictions that limit who can connect to the public endpoint. Without it, anyone on the internet can potentially access the asset. 

• Google Cloud API Key does not rotate on schedule. API keys that fail to rotate on a regular basis—typically 90 days—present a clear security configuration risk. If a threat actor gains access to the API key, they can use it indefinitely. 

Importantly, these examples are cloud infrastructure configuration risks that most other security tools and platforms would overlook. Your Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) platform might notice when an unauthorized user leverages these exploits to infiltrate your cloud environment—but it won’t proactively tell you that the risk exists. 

Don’t let cloud infrastructure risks take you by surprise 

The most secure organizations use a multi-layered approach to proactively prevent attacks, detect unauthorized behavior early, and respond quickly. Lumifi gives security leaders access to best-of-breed technology supported by human expertise delivered from our SOC 2 Type II-certified Security Operations Center.  

 Be proactive about cloud security misconfiguration risks. Rely on Lumifi’s guidance and product knowledge to optimize your cloud security posture against preventable threats.