The extent to which COVID-19 has affected the world is undeniable. The effects of the pandemic are felt across most sectors. Almost all industries needed to pivot and shift to accommodate the changes.

In cybersecurity, the last few years saw increased instances of successful attacks and data breaches. As the world moved towards a more remote and flexible working setup, hackers took the opportunity to use the early stages of these changes. Moving towards cloud environments has been beneficial to most companies; however, it has also created a new vulnerability that hackers can exploit. 

As they say, necessity is the mother of invention. Cloud vulnerabilities have given rise to new cybersecurity innovations like Cloud Security Posture Management. In this article, learn all the current challenges of integrating cloud environments into your business, as well as the best ways to use Cloud Security Posture Management to protect your assets. 

The Risks and Challenges of Cloud Environments

The world has changed extensively over the last two years. With the ever-present threat of the pandemic, businesses needed to shift their setups to accommodate for remote work. To effectively operate under the new normal, most of these companies have incorporated cloud technologies in their operations. This shift has resulted in plenty of benefits. However, it is not without its drawbacks. 

According to a recent IBM report, cloud breaches have soared in 2020 and 2021. In most cases, public cloud models have incurred the most losses for every instance of a successful data breach:

“Public cloud breaches cost an average of $4.80 million compared to $4.55 million for breaches in private clouds, and $3.61 million for hybrid cloud breaches. Hybrid cloud breaches cost an average of $1.19 million less than public cloud breaches, or a difference in cost of 28.3%”

The same report revealed that the early adoption of cloud technologies protected companies from malicious attacks. Companies that are late in the game and are still at the onset of cloud integration are more challenged by identifying data breaches. The difference is staggering: 

“Cloud-based data breaches took longer on average to identify and contain among organizations in early stages of their overall cloud modernization journey, compared to those in middle and mature stages. It took organizations an average of 231 days to identify and 98 days to contain a cloud-based breach in the early stage of cloud modernization (329 days total), compared to 193 days to identify and 59 days to contain a cloud breach in the mature stage of cloud modernization (252 days total). In the early stage of cloud modernization, it took an average of 42 days longer to identify and contain a breach than the global average time to identify and contain a breach.”

Experts agree that the next few months would be pivotal for cloud technology integrations and defense. At present, one of the most effective cloud protection strategies is arguably Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM).  

What Is Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM)?

Gartner, the IT research and advisory company that coined the term Cloud Security Posture Management, defines the system as “a continuous process of cloud security improvement and adaptation to reduce the likelihood of a successful attack.” 

Contrary to popular belief, CSPM, isn’t one singular security tool. It is a combination of cybersecurity solutions designed to minimize, identify, and mitigate the effects of an attack on an enterprise cloud environment. 

How Does Cloud Security Posture Management Work

CSPM systems utilize several approaches to protect a corporate cloud environment. Overall, these approaches safeguard every aspect of the network:

  • Discovery and visibility

Visibility is invaluable when it comes to incorporating cloud technologies into your business. CSPMs provide the user with a clear vision of their cloud environments. It defines a single source of truth across multiple networks. This ensures that businesses can detect activity, malicious or otherwise, in real-time. 

  • Misconfiguration management and remediation

Aside from real-time monitoring, CSPM is also designed to respond to and eliminate cloud security risks. This is done through the use of industry cloud application configurations. 

  • Continuous threat detection

CSPM provides continuous, real-time monitoring for all cloud environments across multiple networks, emphasizing vulnerable areas. Through this approach, the system minimizes the number of alerts and prevents misconfigurations and attacks from reaching the bulk of the data.

  • DevSecOps integration

CSPM also prioritizes a centralized system that removes challenges in managing multi-cloud networks. This allows all security teams to get insight and visibility on the same information. 

What are the Benefits of Cloud Security Posture Management?

Cloud technologies are a hefty investment. It takes plenty of resources to build an effective and efficient cloud environment. That said, the benefits of CSPM is well worth the trouble: 

  • Locating Misconfigurations

CSPM systems identify misconfigurations and vulnerabilities through industry benchmarks before an attack happens. The process allows companies to find solutions for the misconfigurations, thus minimizing the instances of successful breaches. 

  • Continuous Cloud Monitoring

As mentioned earlier, in cloud-based environments, visibility is crucial. CSPMs provide continuous access and monitoring for these environments. Through real-time updates, companies ensure no problems within the network and all the environment adheres to compliance requirements. 

  • Automated Misconfiguration Response

Aside from providing a clear picture of any cloud environment, CSPMs can also respond to misconfigurations. This ensures that any issues within the cloud are patched, and malicious individuals do not have a vulnerability to exploit. 

  • Standard Compliance 

Data and privacy regulations have become stricter over the last few years. CSPM technologies ensure that an environment adheres to the guidelines. 

When running a business, cybersecurity protocols and precautions are no longer optional. Today’s digital world has given rise to sophisticated risks and threats that can make or break an operation. Thankfully, you don’t have to protect your digital assets independently. 

SecureBrain offers a wide array of cybersecurity solutions that serve as a great complement to your security strategies. Through our years of combined experience, we can ensure that your investment remains safe from malicious attacks.

Contact us and ask about our products today; we are eager to help!