What is cloud security posture management (CSPM)?

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4 min read

What is CSPM?

Cloud security posture management (CSPM) is a type of automated data security system that controls compliance risk detection, identification, alerting, and remediation in cloud settings. One of its most important duties is to continuously check for flaws in the way security regulations are implemented.

Organizations that have embraced a cloud-first approach and wish to extend their security best practices to hybrid cloud and multi-cloud environments generally employ CSPM. While CSPM is most commonly associated with Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) cloud services, the technology may also be used to eliminate configuration errors and compliance risks in Software as a Service (SaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) cloud settings.

Why using CSPM is So Important?

Cloud services and cloud-based apps have benefited organizations and people by allowing unprecedented levels of productivity and flexibility. Because these technologies are open to the internet and easily accessible to everyone, they might expose enterprises to a higher risk of cybersecurity attacks, such as data breaches. Despite training and everyone's best efforts, vulnerabilities persist and security concerns develop, exposing sensitive data.

Some important security concerns are:

•Data breaches caused by cloud infrastructure misconfigurations, which can expose massive quantities of sensitive data, resulting in legal liabilities and financial damages.

•Continuous compliance for cloud apps and workloads, which traditional on-premises technologies and processes make unachievable.

•Implementing cloud governance challenges (visibility, permissions, policy enforcement across business divisions, lack of awareness about cloud security controls), which rise in tandem with cloud adoption inside the company.

Data breaches earn the most attention and do the most harm to any of them. CSPM tools play a significant role in cloud security by lowering the likelihood of data breaches. According to Gartner, one of the most prevalent mistakes in the cloud that may lead to a data breach is misconfiguration of the cloud environment – and the adoption of a CSPM the solution can minimize cloud-based security incidents related to misconfigurations by up to 80%.

How CSPM Works?

Cloud Security Posture Management technologies are intended to detect and correct problems caused by cloud misconfigurations. A given CSPM tool may only be able to apply stated best practices for a certain cloud environment or service, thus it is critical to understand which tools may be used in each context. Some technologies, for example, may be limited to detecting misconfigurations in an AWS or Azure environment.

Some CSPM products may automatically repair errors by combining real-time continuous monitoring with automation features that detect and solve issues like incorrect account rights. A variety of standards, including HIPAA, may be customized for continuous compliance.

In general, CSPM protects you in three ways:

•Visibility into your cloud assets and customizations is provided. Enterprise CSPM detects misconfigurations, changes in policy or metadata, and other issues, and assists you in managing all of these policies from a single console.

•Misconfigurations are managed and corrected. CSPM lowers human error, which can raise your risk of costly breaches, by comparing your cloud setups to industry standards and other pre-built criteria.

•Finds new possible risks. CSPM continuously monitors your cloud environments for unauthorized access and abnormalities that may signal malicious behavior.

What are the Main Features of CSPM?

Let's take a closer look at what CSPM can achieve. CSPM services can use automation to solve errors without human interaction or delay, while also conducting continuous monitoring as they:

•Check storage buckets, encryption, and account permissions for errors and compliance issues.

•Identify and maybe automatically correct cloud misconfiguration.

•In multi-cloud setups, give policy visibility and enable consistent enforcement across all providers.

•Audit for compliance with regulatory obligations such as HIPAA, PCI DSS, and GDPR.

•Remediation can be automated or performed with the touch of a button.

Other Advantages of Enterprise CSPM

CSPM technologies may help with risk visualization, incident response, and DevOps integration in addition to monitoring for compliance by offering broader insight across many cloud partners. Another advantage of deploying CSPM in the organization is the opportunity to:

•Continuous real-time threat detection monitoring of cloud environments. •Real-time risk assessment of data. •Identify policy breaches across several cloud service providers. •Provisioning should be automated. •Identify and automatically correct