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Cloud security posture management, or CSPM tools, are automated security solutions designed to continuously monitor and assess cloud infrastructures, services, and applications for misconfigurations and compliance issues.
These tools are more important than ever as more organizations now leverage the multicloud approach to cloud adoption, a practice that comes with configuration and security compliance complexities. According to a Fortinet-sponsored report conducted by cybersecurity experts, many organizations are now increasingly wary of AI-based threats, prompting them to have heightened concern about cloud security.
To address this challenge, many cloud-first organizations now deploy CSPM tools to help them monitor, identify, alert, and remediate compliance risks and misconfigurations in their cloud environments.
To determine which CSPM tool is best suited for your organization, I’ve compiled a list of the top CSPM solutions for 2024.
What is cloud security posture management?
CSPM tools can help users maintain a secure cloud posture by recommending best practices and enforcing security policies across all cloud accounts and services. These policies can include access controls, encryption settings, network configurations, and more. By automating the enforcement process, CSPM software minimizes the risk of misconfigurations and helps defend against threats or outside attacks.
SEE: Brute Force and Dictionary Attacks: A Guide for IT Leaders (TechRepublic Premium)
Best cloud security posture management software comparison
The table below provides a comparison of key features available in each CSPM option.
Best cloud security posture management software
Here is a rundown of the seven best CSPM software choices in 2024, highlighting their features, pricing plans, pros, and cons.
Orca Security: Best for cloud workloads
Orca presents users with a CSPM tool that scans their workloads and maps the results into a centralized platform. It can analyze risks and identify situations where seemingly unrelated issues could lead to harmful attack paths. With these insights, Orca prioritizes risks, minimizing the burden of excessive alerts for users.
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Orca also facilitates continuous monitoring for cloud attacks. It features a visual graph to give insight into an organization’s potential attack surface and the attacker’s end target within a cloud environment.
Regarding compliance, Orca provides compliance features that enable cloud resources to adhere to regulatory frameworks and industry benchmarks, including data privacy requirements. The platform unifies compliance monitoring for cloud infrastructure workloads, containers, identities, data, and more, all within a single dashboard.
Why I chose Orca Security
I have Orca Security on this list because it’s a quality solution for organizations that primarily work on the cloud. Its risk analysis and identification of cloud workloads make it a useful tool to combat unnoticed threats. In my view, its extensive reporting and insights functionality, covering an organization’s attack surface, is another feature inclusion that makes it a top choice for those looking to address vulnerabilities or prevent future attacks.
Pricing
Orca offers a 30-day free trial. Contact Orca to get a quote.
Features
- Cloud compliance.
- Unified Data Model.
- Continuous monitoring.
- Orca Security Score.
- Attack path analysis.
- PII detection.
- Malware detection.
Orca Security pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Users can create personalized views of Orca’s Risk Dashboard. | No pricing information is available on its website. |
| This solution offers a 30-day free trial. | |
| It helps organizations meet compliance with PCI-DSS, GDPR, HIPAA, and CCPA. | |
| Users can generate comprehensive cloud security reports and share them across various channels. | |
| Users can write their own alert queries or use over 1,300 prebuilt system queries. |
Prisma Cloud: Best for multicloud environments
Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks offers comprehensive visibility and control over the security posture of deployed resources in multicloud environments. The solution can help users implement instant configurations with over 700 pre-defined policies from more than 120 cloud services. That feature can aid organizations in correcting typical multicloud misconfigurations, preventing potential security breaches, and developing custom security policies. With Prisma Cloud, users can also benefit from continuous compliance posture monitoring and one-click reporting, offering coverage for various regulations and standards, including CIS, GDPR, HIPAA, ISO-27001, NIST-800, PCI-DSS, and SOC 2. The solution also provides custom reporting.
SEE: What is Cloud Security? Fundamental Guide (TechRepublic)
Prisma Cloud offers network threat detection and user entity behavior analytics features, allowing customers to identify unusual network activities, DNS-based threats, and insider threats by monitoring billions of flow logs received every week.
Why I chose Prisma Cloud
I selected Prisma Cloud due to it being a high quality option for organizations already employing multicloud environments. With more and more companies adopting multicloud, I particularly appreciate Prima Cloud’s pre-defined policies and built-in network threat detection. These can help catch holes or risk areas across multiple cloud providers.
This is especially crucial with multicloud environments, as different cloud providers may not have seamless integration with one another and thus need more monitoring for security vulnerabilities.
Pricing
Contact Prisma Cloud for a quote.
Features
- Network threat detection.
- User entity behavior analytics.
- Data security.
- Compliance reporting.
- Configuration assessment.
- Automated remediation.
- Multi-cloud data visibility.
Prisma Cloud pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Supports security and compliance management. | No pricing information on its website. |
| Offers data governance with customizable policies. | |
| Integrated threat detection dashboards. | |
| Includes malware detection capabilities. | |
| Has a threat alert system. |
Wiz: Best for managing identity-based exposure
Wiz is a CSPM tool designed to continuously detect and remediate misconfigurations across notable clouds, including AWS, GCP, Azure, OCI, Alibaba Cloud, and VMware vSphere. By establishing connections to users’ cloud environments, Wiz delivers comprehensive visibility and actionable context on users’ critical misconfigurations, enabling teams to enhance their cloud security posture. The solution also offers network and identity exposure, which facilitates the identification of exposed resources through its graph-based network and identity engine.
SEE: Cybersecurity and Cyberwar (TechRepublic on Flipboard)
With its automatic posture management and remediation feature, users can automatically assess over 1,400 configuration rules across different cloud runtimes and infrastructure-as-code (IaC) frameworks. Additionally, users can also build custom rules using the OPA (Rego) engine. Furthermore, Wiz continuously assesses users’ compliance posture against more than 100 built-in compliance frameworks. It also allows users to define custom compliance baselines and frameworks, offering flexibility and customization options.
Why I chose Wiz
I picked Wiz for its focus on identity-based security, in particular for its identity misconfiguration and custom rules functionality. This provides additional security for both high and low-profile users, ensuring utmost security no matter where you are in your company’s organizational chart. I also liked Wiz’s emphasis on identity-based exposure, as this helps prevent unauthorized access to sensitive company resources when there are misconfigured permissions within a system.
Pricing
Contact Wiz for a quote.
Features
- Attack path analysis.
- Compliance reporting.
- Automatic posture management and remediation.
- More than 100 built-in compliance frameworks.
- Supports custom organizational compliance baseline.
Wiz pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Network and identity misconfigurations are prioritized, focusing on critical areas. | No pricing information on its website. |
| It allows users to define their own organizational compliance baseline. | |
| Teams can easily detect misconfigurations that pose the greatest threat. | |
| It offers built-in rules and automation. |
PingSafe: Best for real-time cloud infrastructure monitoring
PingSafe automatically assesses over 1,400 configuration rules that detect cloud misconfigurations. It has features that allow organizations to create custom policies aligned with their unique security requirements, safeguarding sensitive data and resources against potential threats. The software also offers threat detection and remediation features to enable users to monitor the security posture of their cloud infrastructure and see possible remediation steps. There is also a context-aware alert system, which provides users with notifications when misconfigurations occur. With real-time continuous monitoring capability, the software can help security teams eliminate blind spots across their cloud environments.
Why I chose PingSafe
I chose PingSafe for organizations that want a constant monitoring tool of their cloud environment. I envision PingSafe’s continuous monitoring as a standout feature for IT departments that are proactively looking for weaknesses in their organization’s system.
This is especially useful for larger organizations given their complex structure, possibly making them more susceptible to wide-scale data breaches or exploits.
Pricing
Contact PingSafe for a quote.
Features
- Context-aware alerts.
- Built-in rules.
- Real-time detection and remediation.
- Custom query support.
- Asset discovery and real-time monitoring.
PingSafe pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| The agentless onboarding process eliminates cloud costs and reduces agent vulnerabilities associated with the agent-based approach. | No pricing information on its website. |
| Continuous scanning of cloud assets provides users with a comprehensive view of potential vulnerabilities and threats. | |
| Organizations can tailor policies to their specific needs. | |
| Context-aware alerts provide users with actionable insights, allowing them to quickly address misconfigurations. |
Lacework Polygraph Data Platform: Best for inventory management and compliance
Lacework Polygraph Data Platform allows for efficient inventory management of assets across users’ cloud environments. It keeps track of daily inventory changes, even for assets that no longer exist, ensuring an up-to-date understanding of the cloud infrastructure. With a unified platform for AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and Kubernetes configurations, Lacework offers users a consolidated view of their compliance across cloud providers.
As a CSPM, Lacework also provides automatic monitoring and detection of misconfigurations and suspicious cloud activities. In addition, Lacework allows users to assess their posture and compliance against several pre-built policies, including PCI, HIPAA, NIST, ISO 27001, and SOC 2. Users can also set custom policies across cloud providers to meet their organizational requirements.
Why I chose Lacework Polygraph Data Platform
I selected Lacework for its useful inventory management of an organization’s cloud assets. To me, this is critical for organizations that work primarily on the cloud, as it removes the legwork of recording and managing these assets and organizes them in a more efficient and automated manner.
This also allows members of an organization to focus on their priorities and company goals without sacrificing overall security in their cloud environments.
Pricing
Contact Lacework for a quote.
Features
- Pre-built and custom policies.
- Attack path analysis.
- Threat detection.
- Push button reports.
Lacework pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Users can set custom policies across cloud providers. | No pricing information on its website. |
| With push-button reports, users can quickly demonstrate their security posture and compliance to customers, partners and auditors. | |
| Users can create custom reports in multiple formats. | |
| It allows seamless integration with tools like Jira and Slack. |
CrowdStrike Falcon Cloud Security: Best for adversary-focused threat intelligence
Another CSPM tool to consider is Crowdstrike Falcon Cloud Security. It offers agentless monitoring of cloud resources to detect misconfigurations, vulnerabilities, and security threats. It adopts an adversary-focused approach, equipping users with real-time threat intelligence on over 230+ adversary groups and 50 indicators of attack.
This platform also provides multicloud visibility, continuous monitoring, threat detection and prevention capabilities while enforcing security posture and compliance across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. In addition, Crowdstrike Falcon Cloud Security offers indicators of cloud infrastructure misconfigurations.
Why I chose CrowdStrike Falcon Cloud Security
CrowdStrike Falcon marked its name on my list for its prioritization of adversary-focused threats. For organizations that are especially concerned with attacks, Falcon Cloud Security’s database of adversary groups provides reassurance that your chosen CSPM tool is proactive in its protection. I personally appreciate CrowdStrike’s efforts to continually develop its list of adversary groups, especially in the face of AI-based threats and technology.
Pricing
Crowdstrike offers four pricing options with a 15-day free trial:
- Falcon Go: Starts at $4.99 per device, per month.
- Falcon Pro: Starts at $99.99 per device, per year.
- Falcon Enterprise: $184.99 per device, per year.
- Falcon Elite: Contact sales for pricing.
Features
- Continuous compliance monitoring.
- DevSecOps integration.
- Agentless monitoring.
- Real-time threat intelligence.
CrowdStrike pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Simplified management and security policy enforcement. | Interface may be confusing for some users. |
| Offers guided remediation. | |
| Provides unified visibility across hybrid and multicloud environments. | |
| Provides real-time threat intelligence on adversary groups and indicators of attacks. | |
| Integrates with security information and event management solutions. |
Tenable Cloud Security: Best for dev and production environments
Tenable Cloud Security provides its users with a framework for enforcing policies across multicloud environments. Offering multiple pre-developed policies, it allows users to apply industry benchmarks like those from the Center for Internet Security and other standards or create custom policies. With Tenable, security teams can scan their cloud environment to identify misconfigurations under a unified dashboard.
As a CSPM tool, Tenable offers features that might interest users such as an automated workflow that aids collaboration between DevOps and security teams, automated compliance status reporting, cloud inventory visibility, and the capacity to prioritize risks based on their level of severity.
Why I chose Tenable Cloud Security
I selected Tenable Cloud Security as a possible solution for developer and production teams that want strengthened security for their cloud infrastructure. Of its features, I found Tenable’s automated workflow to be especially effective in embedding security into the development pipeline. This would help detecting and remediating risks, while allowing developers to make adjustments when necessary.
Pricing
Contact Tenable for a quote.
Features
- Unified framework.
- DevOps integration.
- Configuration drift tracking.
- Auto-remediation.
Tenable Cloud Security pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| This solution makes it easy to detect high-risk configurations that could lead to breaches. | No pricing information on its website. |
| Users can easily enforce and report compliance with pre-packaged governance profiles. | |
| It offers risk-based scoring to determine threat severity. | |
| It facilitates collaboration between DevOps and security teams through automated workflows. | |
| Free trial is available. |
Key features of cloud security posture management software
The following features are commonly found in every top-quality CSPM software option.
CSPM tools help users maintain a secure cloud posture by recommending best practices and enforcing security policies across all cloud accounts and services. These policies can include access controls, encryption settings, network configurations, and more. By automating the enforcement process, CSPM software minimizes the risk of misconfigurations and accidental exposure of sensitive data.
Compliance monitoring and reporting
Compliance with various standards and regulations is a top priority for any cloud-first organization. CSPM solutions facilitate compliance monitoring by regularly auditing cloud environments against industry-specific standards such as PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR, SOC 2, and more. These tools generate comprehensive reports and dashboards that help organizations understand their compliance status, identify gaps, and take necessary actions to meet regulatory requirements.
Cloud asset inventory and visibility
Maintaining an accurate inventory of cloud assets is essential for effective security posture management. CSPM tools provide visibility into an organization’s cloud infrastructure, including virtual machines, storage accounts, databases, and other resources.
Real-time cloud infrastructure monitoring
CSPM software provides continuous real-time monitoring of cloud users’ infrastructure. This allows organizations to promptly detect potential security threats and vulnerabilities, enabling them to respond quickly and mitigate risks effectively.
How to choose the best cloud security posture management software for your business
Selecting the right CSPM software is a critical decision that impacts the security and compliance of your cloud infrastructure. To make an informed choice, consider the following steps:
Assess your organization’s cloud posture management needs
Before going with any of the CSPM solutions, conduct an in-depth assessment of your organization’s cloud security requirements. Identify the specific challenges, compliance standards, and cloud providers you work with to find a solution that best aligns with your objectives.
Evaluate key features
Evaluate each software based on its ability to meet your organization’s needs. Prioritize features that directly address your security concerns and streamline your cloud security management process.
Consider scalability
Ensure that the CSPM software you choose is scalable and can accommodate the expanding demands of your cloud environment.
Consider ease of use
User-friendliness is important as your IT team will be working with the CSPM software regularly. A straightforward and intuitive interface can enhance productivity and make it easier for organizations to navigate and implement security measures effectively.
Request demos and trials
Before making a final decision, you might want to get a hang of the product using its demo or trial version. Fortunately, a good number of CSPM tool providers offer access to free trials with no additional cost.
Methodology
To determine the best CSPM tool available in 2024, I first conducted an in-depth analysis of the relevant providers, identifying the leading CSPM solutions in the market today. Next, I assessed each software’s features, compliance capabilities, and overall scalability to make sure they align with various organizational needs. I also analyzed customer feedback and reviews from Gartner Peer Insights to better understand user experiences and the effectiveness of each solution.