Stay Ahead of Threats With Cloud Workload Protection

Last updated at Fri, 01 Dec 2023 19:27:55 GMT

When it comes to cloud-native applications, optimal security requires a modern, integrated, and automated approach that starts in development and extends to runtime protection. Cloud workload protection (CWP) helps make that goal possible by bringing major structural changes to software development and enhancing security across all processes.

Assessing workload risk in the cloud

Both the rise of cloud proliferation and the high speed of deployments can make distilling down the necessary cloud security controls an overwhelming challenge. Add to the mix the ever-evolving threat landscape, and the measures you take can literally make or break your cloud deployments, including the security of your workloads.

The increasing distribution and complexity of cloud-native applications across VMs, hosts, Kubernetes, and multiple vendors requires an end-to-end, consistent workload protection platform that unifies both CSPM and CWPP functionalities, thus enabling a holistic approach for protecting valuable assets in the cloud.

How Rapid7 is changing cloud workload protection

In order to get unmanaged risk under control, Rapid7 is on a mission to help drive cloud security forward, both within individual organizations and as an entire industry.

This is why Rapid7 recently introduced InsightCloudSec, an entire division dedicated solely to cloud security and all it encompasses.

In its most recent launch, InsightCloudSec brings forward a series of functionalities that bolsters our ability to help our customers protect their cloud workloads and deployments by providing a fully integrated, cloud-native security solution at scale. These improvements include:

• Enhancing risk assessment of Kubernetes and containers
• Enabling developers to scan code from the CLI on their machines
• Expanding automation based on event-driven detections in multi-cloud environments
• Providing unified visibility and robust context across multi-cloud environments
• Automating workflows so organizations can gain maximum efficiency

3 keys to consolidating cloud risk assessment

In an effort to help this emerging market become more mainstream and easier to operationalize, we believe there are 3 main things that organizations need to be able to do when it comes to cloud security.

1. Shift left

Prevent problems before they happen by providing a single, consistent set of security checks throughout the CI/CD pipeline to uncover misconfigurations and policy violations without delaying deployment. Not only does this help solve issues at their root cause and prevent them from happening over and over again, but it also makes for a better working relationship between the security team and the DevOps organization that is trying to move fast and innovate. By shifting left, organizations save money, and security teams are able to give developers the information and tools they need to make the right decisions as early as possible, avoiding delays later in the deployment or operationalizing stages of the CI/CD pipeline.

2. Reduce noise

Security teams need more context and simpler insights so they can actually understand the top risks in their environment. By unifying visibility across the entire cloud footprint, normalizing the terminology across each different cloud environment, and then providing rich context about interconnected assets, security teams can vastly simplify risk assessment and decision-making across even the most complex cloud and container environments.

3. Automate workflows

Finally, the ephemeral nature and speed of change in cloud environments has outstripped the human capability to manage and remediate issues manually. This means organizations need to automate DevSecOps best practices by leveraging precise automation that speeds up remediation, reduces busywork, and allows the security team to focus on the bigger picture.

By bringing together enhanced risk assessment of Kubernetes and containers, shifting further left with a CLI integration, and expanding event-based detections into the cloud-native security platform, Rapid7 is making it easier for teams to consolidate visibility and maintain consistent controls across even the most complex cloud environments.

Stay ahead of security in the modern threat landscape by ensuring cloud security as an ongoing process, and reduce your attack surface by building the necessary security measures early in an application's life cycle.