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Compliance made easy Pass your audits stress free AlgoSec Webinar Webinars Compliance made easy. Pass your audits stress-free. Don’t fail an audit ever again. Yes, it’s possible. It doesn’t matter what regulation you are talking about, whether your own internal compliance standard or a common global framework such as PCI DSS, SOX, HIPPA, SWIFT, or even HKMA. We’ll show you how. In this webinar, AlgoSec security expert Tal Dayan will reveal: The secrets to passing audits How to improve your compliance score How to always remain compliant January 27, 2021 Tal Dayan AlgoSec security expert Relevant resources Network Security Audit? Passing Your Next One with Flying Colors Keep Reading Network Security Audit? Passing Your Next One with Flying Colors Keep Reading Regulations and compliance for the data center - A Day in the Life Read Document Choose a better way to manage your network Choose a better way to manage your network Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Continue

Security policy automation is the process of automating certain cybersecurity tasks like threat detection (ransomware, malware, security... Firewall Policy Management What is Network Security Policy Automation? Tsippi Dach 2 min read Tsippi Dach Short bio about author here Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur. Vitae donec tincidunt elementum quam laoreet duis sit enim. Duis mattis velit sit leo diam. Tags Share this article 8/9/23 Published Security policy automation is the process of automating certain cybersecurity tasks like threat detection (ransomware, malware, security rules, network changes), investigation, and remediation. Automating such practices reflects in the policy that governs them. Thus, security policy automation is the process of automating network security controls using a programmatic solution. In present-day security operation centers (SOCs), NSPM solutions can facilitate automation. These work by identifying vulnerabilities, threats, and attack surfaces in the security posture, assessing them, prioritizing them, responding to them in order through pre-defined actions, and streamlining the process for the security executives. So, automation doesn’t mean everything from end to end is automated. Some human intervention may be necessary, at least at the higher decision-making level. Benefits of network security policy automation Automation in security policy has several benefits for an organization. Thus, it’s not hard to see why companies are pumping money into network security automation solutions . Some of the proven benefits are: Automate manual tasks in cybersecurity The primary benefit of any automation practice is to reduce manual labor. Connectivity security automation frees up resources from many redundant manual tasks, which you can then deploy elsewhere. This automation yields several other benefits that make automation irresistible for companies. Bring down false positive alerts False positive alerts or alarms are those instances where the cloud security system gets triggered because of a false threat, like firewall rules . In other words, the management platform perceives certain actions to be threatening, which actually are harmless. This consumes unnecessary resources. IT teams can prevent such real-time false alerts by making use of regulatory automation. Automation tools can detect and verify such alarms and take pre-defined actions should the alerts be false. Consider it a second check before raising the issue at a higher level. Reduce downtime Downtime is one of the pressing issues in IT departments. A study by Gartner penned the average cost of downtime at $5,600 per minute for certain businesses. When the system detects a threat, it typically shuts down certain network segments (like web services, routers, and so on). This can result in downtime. Some downtimes might be unavoidable, but those arising from false positive alerts certainly are. Thus, network security policy automation helps in that regard too. Reduce headcount There’s a shortage of talent in the cybersecurity And often, competent men and women demand sky-high salaries. So, from an economic standpoint, using automation to counter the lack of talent makes sense. With automation, you can divert human resources to other productive tasks. Make compliance easier Compliance is critical for businesses, especially in critical insurance, medical, and legal sectors. Up-to-date infrastructure comprising of Cisco, AWS, Tufin , and other reputed companies with the latest cybersecurity measures is one of the prerequisites laid out by most regulators. Network security policy automation can help update the infrastructure to the latest standards. This, in turn, helps the business stay compliant. Why is automation still a challenge in network security? Despite all its promises and proven benefits, many companies are reluctant to invest in security automation And the reason is it’s challenging to do so. Automation is hard because management itself is hard. You can’t automate something you can’t fully manage properly. E mployees, teams, and projects change, as do the access control Because of such a dynamic environment, automation is still challenging. Another reason is teams tend to work in silos. Multiple stakeholders are involved, including the customers, who must understand and accept the changes. Automation in such instances, known as Deploy and Configure, remains a challenge. But despite the challenges, there are ways to automate multi-vendor on-premises network security Even if you successfully automate some aspects of the policy, it’d be a huge time and resource saver. How to automate network security policy management? Cloud-based security policy automation has been around for quite some time. It has received upgrades over time and has gotten better. Let’s look at present-day automation practices, change processes, and troubleshooting tips. Review the current policy You can’t start from scratch, especially if you have an existing network security policy . The best approach is to start automation from where you are. This way, your security teams do not need to make drastic changes, which may put your network in a more vulnerable state. So as a first step, review your existing cloud environments policy and establish needs. Post that, formulate a plan on which things you can automate and which require manual intervention. Start with things that can be automated. If starting from starch, you must create a security policy first. So, hire cybersecurity experts from AlgoSec to formulate and optimize a policy for your organization’s hybrid network. You can also use Prevasio CNAPP to manage the multi-cloud security You might also want to conduct a webinar if important stakeholders work remotely. The idea is to bring everyone on the same page. Select the type of security automation tools There are three types of hybrid environment security automation tools to choose from. These are no-code, low-code, and full-code automation. The type of automation you select will impact your security policy changes . Pricing of each tool will also play an important role. No-code security automation is the newest type. As the name suggests, such tools do not require coding to automate network security . There are several use cases and pre-made workflows that you can use right off the bat. These are much easier to manage but don’t grant you complete control over the policy. You can have several automation tools within low-code tools like some-code or more-code. Most businesses prefer these security tools since they offer a balance of user-friendliness and robust coding capabilities. You can change and apply the pre-defined use cases to your company’s security policy. Finally, you have full-code automation AlgoBot , for instance, is an intelligent chatbot for handling network security policy management tasks. These are legacy security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR) platforms. A high level of coding work is necessary to work with these full-code firewall management tools, which poses a high barrier to entry. But the upside is you get full control over the policy. Adopt zero-touch change management Truth be told, you can’t automate 100% of the security policy. Skilled personnel will still be needed to look over everything. However, for those manual tasks, you need speed while still upholding the security principles. How do you balance both? With zero-touch change management. Zero-touch orchestration is an alternative to semi-automated security processes. Vulnerability management accelerates change requests, reducing the time it takes to implement requests to minutes. Despite the speed advantage, zero-touch orchestration has flaws. For example, it accepts the requests as-is and doesn’t check their validities. This can result in misconfiguration. For security risk mitigation , you can embed conditional logic into the orchestration and leverage security and speed. This form of automation will ensure none of the process steps are missed in the lifecycle. FireFlow provides automated security policy management, helping you confidently automate security policy change process. Establish priorities Deploying automation tools is one part done. The next part is adopting the best practices and organizing your team. One of the best practices of policy automation is to establish priorities. Finding the DevOps issues that are more critical to your security needs is imperative. Then place them higher for the team to address them. This requires you to look at your overall network posture (which you have done in the first step). Once you’ve established clear priorities, you should define the use cases and implement workflow automation. Train team members Last, to ensure continuous compliance, you must upskill your team members to grasp the implemented changes. The transition from manual to automated will be challenging for employees too. Make them understand why it’s being done and what they’re supposed to do. This is done through a combination of courses and practical knowledge. Besides the knowledge, they should also clarify where the machine’s capabilities end and human responsibility begins. Once automated, it will take some time for the team to get familiarized with it. For the best results, automate the workflow in batches and not the entire network at once. Develop the playbook along the way and get everyone on the same page. Once you get a tempo, invest in third-party tools and vendors to speed up the automation What’s next? Network security policy automation makes compliance easier, reduces downtime, and automates manual tasks in cybersecurity. However, automation still means having the right tools and professionals within reach. If you are looking forward to automating network security policy automation and getting the right guidance, we are here. Contact us today to learn more. Schedule a demo Related Articles 2025 in review: What innovations and milestones defined AlgoSec’s transformative year in 2025? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Navigating Compliance in the Cloud AlgoSec Cloud Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 5 Multi-Cloud Environments Cloud Security Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Speak to one of our experts Speak to one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... 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Cloud computing has become a cornerstone of business operations, with cloud security at the forefront of strategic concerns. In a recent... Cloud Network Security Shaping tomorrow: Leading the way in cloud security Adel Osta Dadan 2 min read Adel Osta Dadan Short bio about author here Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur. Vitae donec tincidunt elementum quam laoreet duis sit enim. Duis mattis velit sit leo diam. cnapp Tags Share this article 12/28/23 Published Cloud computing has become a cornerstone of business operations, with cloud security at the forefront of strategic concerns. In a recent SANS webinar , our CTO Prof. Avishai Wool discussed why more companies are becoming more concerned protecting their containerized environments, given the fact that they are being targeted in cloud-based breaches more than ever. Watch the SANS webinar now! Embracing CNAPP (Cloud-Native Application Protection Platform) is crucial, particularly for its role in securing these versatile yet vulnerable container environments. Containers, encapsulating code and dependencies, are pivotal in modern application development, offering portability and efficiency. Yet, they introduce unique security challenges. With 45% of breaches occurring in cloud-based settings, the emphasis on securing containers is more critical than ever. CNAPP provides a comprehensive shield, addressing specific vulnerabilities inherent to containers, such as configuration errors or compromised container images. The urgent need for skilled container security experts The deployment of CNAPP solutions, while technologically advanced, also hinges on human expertise. The shortage of skills in cloud security management, particularly around container technologies, poses a significant challenge. As many as 35% of IT decision-makers report difficulties in navigating data privacy and security management, underscoring the urgent need for skilled professional’s adept in CNAPP and container security. The economic stakes of failing to secure cloud environments, especially containers, are high. Data breaches, on average, cost companies a staggering $4.35 million . This figure highlights not just the financial repercussions but also the potential damage to reputation and customer trust. CNAPP’s role extends beyond security, serving as a strategic investment against these multifaceted risks. As we navigate the complexitis of cloud security, CNAPP’s integration for container protection represents just one facet of a broader strategy. Continuous monitoring, regular security assessments, and a proactive approach to threat detection and response are also vital. These practices ensure comprehensive protection and operational resilience in a landscape where cloud dependency is rapidly increasing. The journey towards securing cloud environments, with a focus on containers, is an ongoing endeavour. The strategic implementation of CNAPP, coupled with a commitment to cultivating skilled cybersecurity expertise, is pivotal. By balancing advanced technology with professional acumen, organizations can confidently navigate the intricacies of cloud security, ensuring both digital and economic resilience in our cloud-dependent world. #CNAPP Schedule a demo Related Articles 2025 in review: What innovations and milestones defined AlgoSec’s transformative year in 2025? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Navigating Compliance in the Cloud AlgoSec Cloud Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 5 Multi-Cloud Environments Cloud Security Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Speak to one of our experts Speak to one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Schedule a call

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Ensuring your cloud environment is secure and compliant with industry practices is critical. Cloud security best practices will help you... Cloud Security 16 Best Practices for Cloud Security (Complete List for 2023) Rony Moshkovich 2 min read Rony Moshkovich Short bio about author here Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur. Vitae donec tincidunt elementum quam laoreet duis sit enim. Duis mattis velit sit leo diam. Tags Share this article 4/27/23 Published Ensuring your cloud environment is secure and compliant with industry practices is critical. Cloud security best practices will help you protect your organization’s data and applications. In the process, reduce the risks of security compromise. This post will walk you through the best practices for cloud security. We’ll also share the top cloud security risks and how to mitigate them. The top 5 security risks to cloud computing right now Social engineering. Social engineering attackers use psychological deception to manipulate users into providing sensitive information. These deception tactics may include phishing, pretexting, or baiting. Account compromise. An account compromise occurs when an attacker obtains unauthorized entry to it. A hacker can access your account when you use weak passwords or steal your credentials. They may introduce malware or steal your files once they access your account. Shadow IT. This security risk occurs when your employee uses hardware or software that the IT department does not approve. It may result in compliance problems, data loss, and a higher risk of cyberattacks. Insider activity (unintentional or malicious) . Insider activity occurs when approved users damage your company’s data or network. These users can either do it purposefully or accidentally on-premises. For example, you may disclose private information unintentionally or steal data on purpose. Insecure APIs . APIs make communication easier for cloud services and other software applications. Insecure APIs can allow unauthorized access to sensitive data. This could, in turn, lead to malicious attacks, such as data theft. The attackers could also do illegal data alteration from data centers. 16 best practices for cloud security Establish zero-trust architecture Use role-based access control Monitor suspicious activity Monitor privileged users Encrypt data in motion and at rest Investigate shadow IT applications Protect Endpoints Educate employees about threats Create and enforce a password policy Implement multi-factor authentication Understand the shared responsibility model m Audit IaaS configurations Review SLAs and contracts. Maintaining logs and monitoring Use vulnerability and penetration testing Consider intrusion detection and prevention One of the most critical areas of cloud security is identity and access management. We will also discuss sensitive data protection, social engineering attacks, cloud deployments, and incident response. Best practices for managing access. Access control is an integral part of cloud network security. It restricts who can access cloud services, what they can do with the data, and when. Here are some of the best practices for managing access: Establish zero-trust architecture Zero-trust architecture is a security concept that treats all traffic in or out of your network as untrusted. It considers that every request may be malicious. So you must verify your request, even if it originates from within the network. You can apply zero-trust architecture by dividing the system into smaller, more secure cloud zones. And then enforce strict access policies for each zone. This best practice will help you understand who accesses your cloud services. You’ll also know what they do with your data resources. Use role-based access control Role-based access control allows you to assign users different access rights based on their roles. This method lessens the chances of giving people unauthorized access privileges. It also simplifies the administration of access rights. RBAC also simplifies upholding the tenet of least privilege. It restricts user permission to only the resources they need to do their jobs. This way, users don’t have excessive access that attackers could exploit. Monitor suspicious activity Monitoring suspicious behavior involves tracking and analyzing user activity in a cloud environment. It helps identify odd activities, such as user accounts accessing unauthorized data. You should also set up alerts for suspicious activities. Adopting this security strategy will help you spot security incidents early and react quickly. This best practice will help you improve your cloud functionality. It will also protect your sensitive data from unwanted access or malicious activities. Monitor privileged users Privileged users have high-level access rights and permissions. They can create, delete and modify data in the cloud environment. You should consider these users as a huge cybersecurity risk. Your privileged users can cause significant harm if they get compromised. Closely watch these users’ access rights and activity. By doing so, you’ll easily spot misuse of permissions and avert data breaches. You can also use privileged access management systems (PAS) to control access to privileged accounts. Enforcing security certifications also helps privileged users avoid making grievous mistakes. They’ll learn the actions that can pose a cybersecurity threat to their organization. Best practices for protecting sensitive data Safeguarding sensitive data is critical for organizational security. You need security measures to secure the cloud data you store, process and transfer. Encrypt data in motion and at rest Encrypting cloud data in transit and at rest is critical to data security. When you encrypt your data, it transforms into an unreadable format. So only authorized users with a decryption key can make it readable again. This way, cybercriminals will not access your sensitive data. To protect your cloud data in transit, use encryption protocols like TSL and SSL. And for cloud data at rest, use powerful encryption algorithms like AES and RSA. Investigate shadow IT applications Shadow IT apps can present a security risk as they often lack the same level of security as sanctioned apps. Investigating Shadow IT apps helps ensure they do not pose any security risks. For example, some staff may use cloud storage services that are insecure. If you realize that, you can propose sanctioned cloud storage software as a service apps like Dropbox and Google Drive. You can also use software asset management tools to monitor the apps in your environment. A good example is the SaaS solution known as Flexera software asset management. Protect Endpoints Endpoints are essential in maintaining a secure cloud infrastructure. They can cause a huge security issue if you don’t monitor them closely. Computers and smartphones are often the weakest points in your security strategy. So, hackers target them the most because of their high vulnerability. Cybercriminals may then introduce ransomware into your cloud through these endpoints. To protect your endpoints, employ security solutions like antimalware and antivirus software. You could also use endpoint detection and response systems (EDRs) to protect your endpoints from threats. EDRs use firewalls as a barrier between the endpoints and the outside world. These firewalls will monitor and block suspicious traffic from accessing your endpoints in real time. Best practices for preventing social engineering attacks Use these best practices to protect your organization from social engineering attacks: Educate employees about threats Educating workers on the techniques that attackers use helps create a security-minded culture. Your employees will be able to detect malicious attempts and respond appropriately. You can train them on deception techniques such as phishing, baiting, and pretexting. Also, make it your policy that every employee takes security certifications on a regular basis. You can tell them to report anything they suspect to be a security threat to the IT department. They’ll be assured that your security team can handle any security issues they may face. Create and enforce a password policy A password policy helps ensure your employees’ passwords are secure and regularly updated. It also sets up rules everyone must follow when creating and using passwords. Some rules in your password policy can be: Setting a minimum password length when creating passwords. No reusing of passwords. The frequency with which to change passwords. The characteristics of a strong password. A strong password policy safeguards your cloud-based operations from social engineering assaults. Implement multi-factor authentication Multi-factor authentication adds an extra layer of security to protect the users’ accounts. This security tool requires users to provide extra credentials to access their accounts. For example, you may need a one-time code sent via text or an authentication app to log into your account. This extra layer of protection reduces the chances of unauthorized access to accounts. Hackers will find it hard to steal sensitive data even if they have your password. In the process, you’ll prevent data loss from your cloud platform. Leverage the multifactor authentication options that public cloud providers usually offer. For example, Amazon Web Services (AWS) offers multifactor authentication for its users. Best practices for securing your cloud deployments. Your cloud deployments are as secure or insecure as the processes you use to manage them. This is especially true for multi-cloud environments where the risks are even higher. Use these best practices to secure your cloud deployments: Understand the shared responsibility model The shared responsibility model is a concept that drives cloud best practices. It states that cloud providers and customers are responsible for different security aspects. Cloud service providers are responsible for the underlying infrastructure and its security. On the other hand, customers are responsible for their apps, data, and settings in the cloud. Familiarize yourself with the Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Microsoft Azure guides. This ensures you’re aware of the roles of your cloud service provider. Understanding the shared security model will help safeguard your cloud platform. Audit IaaS configurations Cloud deployments of workloads are prone to misconfigurations and vulnerabilities. So it’s important to regularly audit your Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) configurations. Check that all IaaS configurations align with industry best practices and security standards. Regularly check for weaknesses, misconfigurations, and other security vulnerabilities. This best practice is critical if you are using a multi-cloud environment. The level of complexity arises, which in turn increases the risk of attacks. Auditing IaaS configurations will secure your valuable cloud data and assets from potential cyberattacks. Review SLAs and contracts. Reviewing SLAs and contracts is a crucial best practice for safeguarding cloud installations. It ensures that all parties know their respective security roles. You should review SLAs to ensure cloud deployments meet your needs while complying with industry standards. Examining the contracts also helps you identify potential risks, like data breaches. This way, you prepare elaborate incident responses. Best practices for incident response Cloud environments are dynamic and can quickly become vulnerable to cyberattacks. So your security/DevOps team should design incident response plans to resolve potential security incidents. Here are some of the best practices for incident response: Maintaining logs and monitoring Maintaining logs and monitoring helps you spot potential cybersecurity threats in real time. In the process, enable your security to respond quickly using the right security controls. Maintaining logs involves tracking all the activities that occur in a system. In your cloud environment, it can record login attempts, errors, and other network activity. Monitoring your network activity lets you easily spot a breach’s origin and damage severity. Use vulnerability and penetration testing Vulnerability assessment and penetration testing can help you identify weaknesses in your cloud. These tests mimic attacks on a company’s cloud infrastructure to find vulnerabilities that cybercriminals may exploit. Through automation, these security controls can assist in locating security flaws, incorrect setups, and other weaknesses early. You can then measure the adequacy of your security policies to address these flaws. This will let you know if your cloud security can withstand real-life incidents. Vulnerability and penetration testing is a crucial best practice for handling incidents in cloud security. It may dramatically improve your organization’s overall security posture. Consider intrusion detection and prevention Intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDPS) are essential to a robust security strategy. Intrusion detection involves identifying potential cybersecurity threats in your network. Through automation, intrusion detection tools monitor your network traffic in real-time for suspicious activity. Intrusion prevention systems (IPS) go further by actively blocking malicious activity. These security tools can help prevent any harm by malware attacks in your cloud environment. The bottom line on cloud security. You must enforce best practices to keep your cloud environment secure. This way, you’ll lower the risks of cyberattacks which can have catastrophic results. A CSPM tool like Prevasio can help you enforce your cloud security best practices in many ways. It can provide visibility into your cloud environment and help you identify misconfigurations. Prevasio can also allow you to set up automated security policies to apply across the entire cloud environment. This ensures your cloud users abide by all your best practices for cloud security. So if you’re looking for a CSPM tool to help keep your cloud environment safe, try Prevasio today! Schedule a demo Related Articles 2025 in review: What innovations and milestones defined AlgoSec’s transformative year in 2025? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Navigating Compliance in the Cloud AlgoSec Cloud Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 5 Multi-Cloud Environments Cloud Security Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Speak to one of our experts Speak to one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Schedule a call

Cloud Security is a broad domain with many different aspects, some of them human. Even the most sophisticated and secure systems can be... Cloud Security CSPM importance for CISOs. What security issues can be prevented\defended with CSPM? Rony Moshkovich 2 min read Rony Moshkovich Short bio about author here Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur. Vitae donec tincidunt elementum quam laoreet duis sit enim. Duis mattis velit sit leo diam. Tags Share this article 6/17/21 Published Cloud Security is a broad domain with many different aspects, some of them human. Even the most sophisticated and secure systems can be jeopardized by human elements such as mistakes and miscalculations. Many organizations are susceptible to such dangers, especially during critical tech configurations and transfers. Especially for example, during digital transformation and cloud migration may result in misconfigurations that can leave your critical applications vulnerable and your company’s sensitive data an easy target for cyber-attacks. The good news is that Prevasio, and other cybersecurity providers have brought in new technologies to help improve the cybersecurity situation across multiple organizations. Today, we discuss Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) and how it can help prevent not just misconfigurations in cloud systems but also protect against supply chain attacks. Understanding Cloud Security Posture Management First, we need to fully understand what a CSPM is before exploring how it can prevent cloud security issues. CSPM is first of all a practice for adopting security best practices as well as automated tools to harden and manage the company security strength across various cloud based services such as Software as a Service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), and Platform as a Service (PaaS). These practices and tools can be used to determine and solve many security issues within a cloud system. Not only is CSPM critical to the growth and integrity of your cloud infrastructure, but it’s also mandatory for organizations with CIS, GDPR, PCI-DSS, NIST, HIPAA and similar compliance requirements. How Does CSPM Work? There are numerous cloud service providers such as AWS , Azure , Google Cloud, and others that provide hyper scaling cloud hosted platforms as well as various cloud compute services and solutions to organizations that previously faced many hurdles with their on-site cloud infrastructures. When you migrate your organization to these platforms, you can effectively scale up and cut down on on-site infrastructure spending. However, if not appropriately handled, cloud migration comes with potential security risks. For instance, an average Lift and Shift transfer that involves a legacy application may not be adequately security hardened or reconfigured for safe use in a public cloud setup. This may result in security loopholes that expose the network and data to breaches and attacks. Cloud misconfiguration can happen in multiple ways. However, the most significant risk is not knowing that you are endangering your organization with such misconfigurations. That being the case, below are a few examples of cloud misconfigurations that can be identified and solved by CSPM tools such as Prevasio within your cloud infrastructure: Improper identity and access management : Your organization may not have the best identity and access management system in place. For instance, lack of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for all users, unreliable password hygiene, and discriminatory user policies instead of group access, Role-based access, and everything contrary to best practices, including least privilege. You are unable to log in to events in your cloud due to an accidental CloudTrail error. Cloud storage misconfigurations : Having unprotected S3 buckets on AWS or Azure. CSPM can compute situations that have the most vulnerabilities within applications Incorrect secret management : Secret credentials are more than user passwords or pins. They include encryption keys, API keys, among others. For instance, every admin must use encryption keys on the server-side and rotate the keys every 90 days. Failure to do this can lead to credentials misconfigurations. Ideally, part of your cloud package must include and rely on solutions such as AWS Secrets Manager , Azure Key Vault , and other secrets management solutions. The above are a mere few examples of common misconfigurations that can be found in your cloud infrastructure, but CSPM can provide additional advanced security and multiple performance benefits. Benefits Of CSPM CSPM manages your cloud infrastructure. Some of the benefits of having your cloud infrastructure secured with CSPM boils down to peace of mind, that reassurance of knowing that your organization’s critical data is safe. It further provides long-term visibility to your cloud networks, enables you to identify violations of policies, and allows you to remediate your misconfigurations to ensure proper compliance. Furthermore, CSPM provides remediation to safeguard cloud assets as well as existing compliance libraries. Technology is here to stay, and with CSPM, you can advance the cloud security posture of your organization. To summarize it all, here are what you should expect with CSPM cloud security: Risk assessment : CSPM tools can enable you to see your network security level in advance to gain visibility into security issues such as policy violations that expose you to risk. Continuous monitoring : Since CSPM tools are versatile they present an accurate view of your cloud system and can identify and instantly flag off policy violations in real-time. Compliance : Most compliance laws require the adoption of CIS, NIST, PCI-DSS, SOC2, HIPAA, and other standards in the cloud. With CSPM, you can stay ahead of internal governance, including ISO 27001. Prevention : Most CSPM allows you to identify potential vulnerabilities and provide practical recommendations to prevent possible risks presented by these vulnerabilities without additional vendor tools. Supply Chain Attacks : Some CSPM tools, such as Prevasio , provides you malware scanning features to your applications, data, and their dependency chain on data from external supply chains, such as git imports of external libraries and more. With automation sweeping every industry by storm, CSPM is the future of all-inclusive cloud security. With cloud security posture management, you can do more than remediate configuration issues and monitor your organization’s cloud infrastructure. You’ll also have the capacity to establish cloud integrity from existing systems and ascertain which technologies, tools, and cloud assets are widely used. CSPM’s capacity to monitor cloud assets and cyber threats and present them in user-friendly dashboards is another benefit that you can use to explore, analyze and quickly explain to your team(s) and upper management. Even find knowledge gaps in your team and decide which training or mentorship opportunities your security team or other teams in the organization might require. Who Needs Cloud Security Posture Management? At the moment, cloud security is a new domain that its need and popularity is growing by the day. CSPM is widely used by organizations looking to maximize in a safe way the most of all that hyper scaling cloud platforms can offer, such as agility, speed, and cost-cutting strategies. The downside is that the cloud also comes with certain risks, such as misconfigurations, vulnerabilities and internal\external supply chain attacks that can expose your business to cyber-attacks. CSPM is responsible for protecting users, applications, workloads, data, apps, and much more in an accessible and efficient manner under the Shared Responsibility Model. With CSPM tools, any organization keen on enhancing its cloud security can detect errors, meet compliance regulations, and orchestrate the best possible defenses. Let Prevasio Solve Your Cloud Security Needs Prevasio’s Next-Gen CSPM solution focus on the three best practices: light touch\agentless approach, super easy and user-friendly configuration, easy to read and share security findings context, for visibility to all appropriate users and stakeholders in mind. Our cloud security offerings are ideal for organizations that want to go beyond misconfiguration, legacy compliance or traditional vulnerability scanning. We offer an accelerated visual assessment of your cloud infrastructure, perform automated analysis of a wide range of cloud assets, identify policy errors, supply-chain threats, and vulnerabilities and position all these to your unique business goals. What we provide are prioritized recommendations for well-orchestrated cloud security risk mitigations. To learn more about us, what we do, our cloud security offerings, and how we can help your organization prevent cloud infrastructure attacks, read all about it here . Schedule a demo Related Articles 2025 in review: What innovations and milestones defined AlgoSec’s transformative year in 2025? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Navigating Compliance in the Cloud AlgoSec Cloud Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 5 Multi-Cloud Environments Cloud Security Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Speak to one of our experts Speak to one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Schedule a call

Understand the network security policy management lifecycle, from creation to implementation and continuous review, ensuring optimal network protection and compliance. The network security policy management lifecycle Introduction IT security organizations today are judged on how they enable business transformation and innovation. They are tasked with delivering new applications to users and introducing new technologies that will capture new customers, improve productivity and lower costs. They are expected to be agile so they can respond faster than competitors to changing customer and market needs. Unfortunately, IT security is often perceived as standing in the way of innovation and business agility. This is particularly true when it comes to provisioning business application connectivity. When an enterprise rolls out a new application or migrates an application to the cloud it may take weeks or even months to ensure that all the servers, devices and network segments can communicate with each other, and at the same time prevent access to hackers and unauthorized users. But IT security does not have to be a bottleneck to business agility. Nor is it necessary to accept more risk to satisfy the demand for speed. The solution is to manage application connectivity and network security policies through a structured lifecycle methodology. IT security organizations that follow the five stages of a security policy management lifecycle can improve business agility dramatically without sacrificing security. A lifecycle approach not only ensures that the right activities are performed in the right order, it provides a framework for automating repeatable processes, and enables different technical and business groups to work together better. In this whitepaper, we will: Review the obstacles to delivering secure application connectivity and business agility. Explore the lifecycle approach to managing application connectivity and security policies. Examine how the activities at each stage of the lifecycle can help enterprises increase business agility, reduce risks, and lower operating costs. Schedule a Demo Why is it so hard to manage application and network connectivity? Top IT managers sometimes view security policy management as something routine, just part of the “plumbing.” In reality, delivering secure connectivity requires mastering complex data center and cloud infrastructures, coping with constant change, understanding esoteric security and compliance requirements, and coordinating the efforts of multiple technical and business teams. Application connectivity is complex The computing infrastructure of even a medium-sized enterprise includes hundreds of servers, storage systems, and network security devices such as firewalls, routers and load balancers. Complexity is magnified by the fact that many application components are now virtualized. Moreover, hybrid cloud architectures are becoming common. And since networking concepts differ profoundly between physical and cloud-based networks, unified visibility and control are very difficult to obtain. Change never stops Business users need access to data – fast! Yet every time a new application is deployed, changed or migrated, network and security staff need to understand how information will flow between the various web, application, database and storage servers. They need to devise application connectivity rules that allow traffic while preventing access from unauthorized users or creating gaps in their security perimeters. Security and compliance require thousands of application connectivity rules Many security policies are required to manage network access and protect confidential data from outside attackers and from unauthorized access by users or employees. In a typical enterprise, customers and businesses are only allowed to access specific web servers in a “demilitarized zone.” Some applications and databases are authorized for all employees, while others are restricted to specific departments or business units or management levels. Government regulations and industry standards require severely controlled access to credit card and financial information, Personally Identifiable Information (PII), Protected Health Information (PHI) and many other types of confidential data. Security best practices often require additional restrictions, such as limiting the use of protocols that can be used to evade security controls. To enforce these policies, IT security teams need to create and manage thousands, tens of thousands, and sometimes even hundreds of thousands of firewall rules on routers, firewalls and other network and security devices in order to comply with the necessary security, business and regulatory requirements. Technical and business groups don’t communicate After application delivery managers outline the business-level requirements of new or modified applications, network and security architects must translate them into network flows that traverse various web gateways, web servers, application servers, database servers and document repositories. Then firewall administrators and other security professionals have to create firewall rules that allow the right users to connect to the right systems, using appropriate services and protocols. Compliance and risk management officers also get involved to identify potential violations of regulations and corporate policies. These processes are handicapped by several factors: Each group speaks a different business or technical language. Information is siloed, and each group has its own tools for tracking business requirements, network topology, security rules and compliance policies. Data is often poorly documented. Often network and security groups are brought in only at the tail end of the process, when it is too late to prevent bad decisions. Application connectivity is complex The computing infrastructure of even a medium-sized enterprise includes hundreds of servers, storage systems, and network security devices such as firewalls, routers and load balancers. Complexity is magnified by the fact that many application components are now virtualized. Moreover, hybrid cloud architectures are becoming common. And since networking concepts differ profoundly between physical and cloud-based networks, unified visibility and control are very difficult to obtain. Change never stops Business users need access to data – fast! Yet every time a new application is deployed, changed or migrated, network and security staff need to understand how information will flow between the various web, application, database and storage servers. They need to devise application connectivity rules that allow traffic while preventing access from unauthorized users or creating gaps in their security perimeters. Security and compliance require thousands of application connectivity rules Many security policies are required to manage network access and protect confidential data from outside attackers and from unauthorized access by users or employees. In a typical enterprise, customers and businesses are only allowed to access specific web servers in a “demilitarized zone.” Some applications and databases are authorized for all employees, while others are restricted to specific departments or business units or management levels. Government regulations and industry standards require severely controlled access to credit card and financial information, Personally Identifiable Information (PII), Protected Health Information (PHI) and many other types of confidential data. Security best practices often require additional restrictions, such as limiting the use of protocols that can be used to evade security controls. To enforce these policies, IT security teams need to create and manage thousands, tens of thousands, and sometimes even hundreds of thousands of firewall rules on routers, firewalls and other network and security devices in order to comply with the necessary security, business and regulatory requirements. Technical and business groups don’t communicate After application delivery managers outline the business-level requirements of new or modified applications, network and security architects must translate them into network flows that traverse various web gateways, web servers, application servers, database servers and document repositories. Then firewall administrators and other security professionals have to create firewall rules that allow the right users to connect to the right systems, using appropriate services and protocols. Compliance and risk management officers also get involved to identify potential violations of regulations and corporate policies. These processes are handicapped by several factors: Each group speaks a different business or technical language. Information is siloed, and each group has its own tools for tracking business requirements, network topology, security rules and compliance policies. Data is often poorly documented. Often network and security groups are brought in only at the tail end of the process, when it is too late to prevent bad decisions. Schedule a Demo The lifecycle approach to managing application connectivity and security policies Most enterprises take an ad-hoc approach to managing application connectivity. They jump to address the connectivity needs of high-profile applications and imminent threats, but have little time left over to maintain network maps, document security policies and firewall rules, or to analyze the impact of rule changes on production applications. They are also hard-pressed to translate dozens of daily change requests from business terms into complex technical details. The costs of these dysfunctional processes include: Loss of business agility, caused by delays in releasing applications and improving infrastructure. Application outages and lost productivity, caused by errors in updating rules and configuring systems. Inflexibility, when administrators refuse to change existing rules for fear of “breaking” existing information flows. Increased risk of security breaches, caused by gaps in security and compliance policies, and by overly permissive security rules on firewalls and other devices. Costly demands on the time of network and security staff, caused by inefficient processes and high audit preparation costs. IT security groups will always have to deal with complex networks and constantly changing applications. But given these challenges, they can manage application connectivity and security policies more effectively using a lifecycle framework such as the one illustrated in Figure 1. This lifecycle approach captures all the major activities that an IT organization should follow when managing change requests that affect application connectivity and security policies, organized into five stages. Figure 1: The Network Security Policy Lifecycle Structure activities and reduce risks A lifecycle approach ensures that the right activities are performed in the right order, consistently. This is essential to reducing risks. For example, failing to conduct an impact analysis of proposed firewall rule changes can lead to service outages when the new rules inadvertently block connections between components of an application. While neglecting to monitor policies and recertify rules can result in overly permissive or unnecessary rules that facilitate data breaches. A structured process also reduces unnecessary work and increases business agility. For example, a proactive risk and compliance assessment during the Plan & Assess stage of the lifecycle can identify requirements and prevent errors before new rules are deployed onto security and network devices. This reduces costly, time-consuming and frustrating “fire drills” to fix errors in the production environment. A defined lifecycle also gives network and security professionals a basis to resist pressures to omit or shortchange activities to save time today, which can cause higher costs and greater risks tomorrow. Automate processes The only way IT organizations can cope with the complexity and rapid change of today’s infrastructure and applications is through automation. A lifecycle approach to security policy management helps enterprises structure their processes to be comprehensive, repeatable and automated. When enterprises automate the process of provisioning security policies, they can respond faster to changing business requirements, which makes them more agile and competitive. By reducing manual errors and ensuring that key steps are never overlooked, they also avoid service outages and reduce the risk of security breaches and compliance violations. Automation also frees security and networking staffs so they have time to spend on strategic initiatives, rather than on routine “keep the lights on” tasks. Ultimately, it permits enterprises to support more business applications and greater business agility with the same staff. Enable better communication A lifecycle approach to security policy management improves communication across IT groups and their senior management. It helps bring together application delivery, network, security, and compliance people in the Discover & Visualize and Plan & Assess stages of the lifecycle, to make sure that business requirements can be accurately translated into infrastructure and security changes. The approach also helps coordinate the work of network, security and operations staffs in the Migrate & Deploy, Maintain and Decommission stages, to ensure that deployment and operational activities are executed smoothly. And it helps IT and business executives communicate better about the security posture of the enterprise. Document the environment In most enterprises security policies are poorly documented. Reasons include severe time pressures on network and security staff, and tools that make it hard to record and share policy and rule information (e.g., spreadsheets and bug tracking systems designed for software development teams). The result is minor time savings in the short run (“we’ll document that later when we have more time”) at the cost of more work later, lack of documentation needed for audits and compliance verification, and the greater risk of service outages and data breaches. Organizations that adopt a lifecycle approach build appropriate self-documenting processes into each step of the lifecycle. We will now look at how these principles and practices can be implemented in each of the five stages of a security policy management lifecycle. Schedule a Demo Stage 1: Discover & visualize The first stage of the security policy management lifecycle is Discover & Visualize. This phase is key to successful security policy management. It gives IT organizations an accurate, up-to-date mapping of their application connectivity across on-premises, cloud, and software-defined environments. Without this information, IT staff are essentially working blind, and will inevitably make mistakes and encounter problems down the line. While discovery may sound easy, for most IT organizations today it is extremely difficult to perform. As discussed earlier, most enterprises have hundreds or thousands of systems in their enterprise infrastructure. Servers and devices are constantly being added, removed, upgraded, consolidated, distributed, virtualized, and moved to the cloud. Few organizations can maintain an accurate, up-to-date map of their application connectivity and network topology, and it can take months to gather this information manually Fortunately, security policy management solutions can automate the application connectivity discovery, mapping, and documentation processes (see Figure 2). These products give network and security staffs an up-to-date map of their application connectivity and network topology, eliminating many of the errors caused by out-of-date (or missing) information about systems, connectivity flows, and firewall rules. In addition, the mapping process can help business and technical groups develop a shared understanding of application connectivity requirements. Figure 2: Auto discover, map and visualize application connectivity and security infrastructure Schedule a Demo Stage 2: Plan & assess Once an enterprise has a clear picture of its application connectivity and network infrastructure, it can effectively start to plan changes. The Plan & Assess stage of the lifecycle includes activities that ensure that proposed changes will be effective in providing the required connectivity, while minimizing the risks of introducing vulnerabilities, causing application outages, or violating compliance requirements. Typically, this stage involves: Translating business application connectivity requests, typically defined in business terms, into networking terminology that security staff can understand and implement. Analyzing the network topology, to determine if the requested changes are really needed (typically 30% of requests require no changes). Conducting a proactive impact analysis of proposed rule changes to understand in advance how they will affect other applications and processes. Performing a risk and compliance assessment, to make sure that the changes don’t open security holes or cause compliance violations (see Figure 3). Assessing inputs from vulnerabilities scanners and SIEM solutions to understand business risk. Many organizations perform these activities only periodically, in conjunction with audits or as part of a major project. They omit impact analysis for “minor” change requests and even when they perform risk assessments, they often focus on firewall rules and ignore the wider business application implications. Yet automating these analysis and assessment activities and incorporating them as part of a structured lifecycle process helps keep infrastructure and security data up to date, which saves time overall and prevents bad decisions from being made based on outdated information. It also ensures that key steps are not omitted, since even a single configuration error can cause a service outage or set the stage for a security breach. Impact analysis is particularly valuable when cloud-based applications and services are part of the project as it is often extremely difficult to predict the effect of rule changes when deployed to the cloud. Figure 3: Proactively assess risk and compliance for each security policy change Schedule a Demo Stage 3: Migrate & deploy The process of deploying connectivity and security rules can be extremely labor-intensive when it involves dozens of firewalls, routers, and other network security devices. It is also very error-prone. A single “fat-finger” typing mistake can result in an outage or a hole in the security perimeter. Security policy management solutions automate critical tasks during this stage of the lifecycle, including: Designing rule changes intelligently based on security, compliance and performance considerations. Automatically migrating these rules using intuitive workflows (see Figure 4). Pushing policies to firewalls and other security devices, both on-premise and on cloud platforms – with zero touch if no exceptions are detected (see Figure 5). Validating that the intended changes have been implemented correctly. Many enterprises overlook the validation process and fail to check that rule changes have been pushed to devices and activated successfully. This can create the false impression that application connectivity has been provided, or that vulnerabilities have been removed, when in fact there are time bombs ticking in the infrastructure. By automating these tasks, IT organizations can speed up application deployments, as well as ensure that rules are accurate and consistent across different security devices. Automated deployment also eliminates the need to perform many routine maintenance tasks and therefore frees up security professionals for more strategic tasks. Figure 4: Automate firewall rule migration through easy-to-use workflows Figure 5: Deploy security changes directly onto devices with zero touch Schedule a Demo Stage 4: Maintain In the rush to support new applications and technologies, many IT security teams ignore, forget or put off activities related to monitoring and maintaining their security policy – despite the fact that most firewalls accumulate thousands of rules and objects which become out-of-date or obsolete over the years. Typical symptoms of cluttered and bloated rulesets include: Overly permissive rules that create gaps in the network security perimeter which cybercriminals can use to attack the enterprise. Excessively complicated tasks in areas such as change management, troubleshooting and auditing. Excessive audit preparation costs to prove that compliance requirements are being met, or conversely audit failures because overly permissive rules allow violations. Slower network performance, because proliferating rules overload network and security devices. Decreased hardware lifespan and increased TCO for overburdened security devices. Cleaning up and optimizing security policies on an ongoing basis can prevent these problems (see Figure 6). Activities include: Identifying and eliminating or consolidating redundant and conflicting rules. Tightening rules that are overly permissive (for example, allowing network traffic from ANY source to connect to ANY destination using ANY protocol). Reordering rules for better performance. Recertifying expired rules based on security and business needs (see Figure 7). Continuously documenting security rules and their compliance with regulations and corporate policies. Figure 6: Automatically clean up and optimize security policies Automating these maintenance activities helps IT organizations move towards a “clean,” well-documented set of security rules so they can prevent business application outages, compliance violations, security holes, and cyberattacks. It also reduces management time and effort. Another key benefit of ongoing maintenance of security policy rules is that it significantly reduces audit preparation efforts and costs by as much as 80% (see Figure 8). Preparing firewalls for a regulatory or internal audit is a tedious, time-consuming and error-prone process. Moreover, while an audit is typically a point-in-time exercise, most regulations today require enterprises to be continually compliant, which can be difficult to achieve with bloated and ever-changing rule bases. Figure 7: Review and recertify rules based on security and business needs Figure 8: Significantly reduce audit preparation efforts and costs with automated audit reports Schedule a Demo Stage 5: Decommission Every business application eventually reaches the end of its life. At that point some or all of its security policies become redundant. Yet when applications are decommissioned, their policies are often left in place, either from oversight or out of fear that removing policies could negatively affect active business applications. These obsolete or redundant security policies increase the enterprise’s attack vector and add clutter, without providing any business value.A lifecycle approach to managing application connectivity and security policies reduces the risk of application outages and data breaches caused by obsolete rules. It provides a structured and automated process for identifying and safely removing redundant firewall rules as soon as applications are decommissioned, while verifying that their removal will not impact active applications or create compliance violations (see Figure 9). Figure 9: Automatically and safely remove redundant firewall rules when applications are decommissioned Schedule a Demo Summary Network and security operations should never be a bottleneck to business agility, and must be able to respond rapidly to the ever-changing needs of the business. The solution is to move away from a reactive, fire-fighting response to business challenges and adopt a proactive lifecycle approach to managing application connectivity and security policies that will enable IT organizations to achieve critical business objectives such as: Increasing business agility by speeding up the delivery of business continuity and business transformation initiatives. Reducing the risk of application outages due to errors when creating and deploying connectivity and security rules. Reducing the risk of security breaches caused by gaps in security and compliance policies and overly permissive security rules. Freeing up network and security professionals from routine tasks so they can work on strategic projects. Schedule a Demo About AlgoSec AlgoSec is a global cybersecurity company and the industry’s only application connectivity and security policy management expert. With almost two decades of leadership in Network Security Policy Management, over 1,800 of the world’s most complex organizations trust AlgoSec to help secure their most critical workloads across public cloud, private cloud, containers, and on-premises networks. Let's start your journey to our business-centric network security. Schedule a Demo Select a size Introduction Why is it so hard to manage application and network connectivity? The lifecycle approach to managing application connectivity and security policies Stage 1: Discover & visualize Stage 2: Plan & assess Stage 3: Migrate & deploy Stage 4: Maintain Stage 5: Decommission Summary About AlgoSec Get the latest insights from the experts Choose a better way to manage your network

Network vulnerability scanning provides in-depth insight into your organization’s security posture and highlights the specific types of... Network Security 5 Best Network Vulnerability Scanning Tools in 2024 Tsippi Dach 2 min read Tsippi Dach Short bio about author here Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur. Vitae donec tincidunt elementum quam laoreet duis sit enim. Duis mattis velit sit leo diam. Tags Share this article 2/11/24 Published Network vulnerability scanning provides in-depth insight into your organization’s security posture and highlights the specific types of vulnerabilities attackers may exploit when targeting it. These tools work by systematically scanning your network environment — including all desktops, laptops, mobile endpoints, servers, and other assets for known weaknesses and misconfigurations. Your analyzer then produces a detailed report that tells you exactly how hackers might breach your systems. Find out how these important tools contribute to successfully managing your security policies and protecting sensitive assets from cybercriminals and malware. What is Network Vulnerability Management? Network vulnerability scanners are cybersecurity solutions typically delivered under a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model. These solutions match your network asset configurations with a comprehensive list of known misconfigurations and security threats, including unpatched software, open ports, and other security issues. By comparing system details against a comprehensive database of known vulnerabilities, network scanning helps pinpoint areas of weakness that could potentially be exploited by threat actors. This proactive approach is essential for maintaining robust network security and protecting sensitive data from unauthorized access and cyberattacks. This provides your organization with several valuable benefits: Early detection of known security vulnerabilities. If your organization is exposed to security threats that leverage known vulnerabilities, you’ll want to address these security gaps as soon as possible. Comprehensive data for efficient risk management. Knowing exactly how many security vulnerabilities your organization is exposed to gives you clear data for conducting in-depth risk management . Regulatory compliance. Many regulatory compliance frameworks like SOC 2, ISO 27001, and PCI DSS require organizations to undergo regular vulnerability scanning. Reduced costs. Automating the process of scanning for vulnerabilities reduces the costs associated with discovering and remediating security weaknesses manually. Key Features and Functions The best network security vulnerability scanners have several important features in common: Prioritized vulnerability assessment tools. You need to be able to assess and prioritize vulnerabilities based on their severity. This allows you to commit security resources to addressing high-priority vulnerabilities first, and taking care of low-impact weaknesses afterwards. Automation and real-time analysis. Manual scanning is a difficult and time-consuming process. Your vulnerability scanner must support automated, ongoing scanning for real-time vulnerability detection, providing on-demand insights into your security risk profile. Integration with remediation tools: The best network vulnerability scanners integrate with other security tools for quick mitigation and remediation. This lets security teams quickly close security gaps and move on to the next, without having to spend time accessing and managing a separate set of security tools. How Network Vulnerability Scanning Tools Work Step 1. Scanning Process Initial network mapping is the first step in the vulnerability scanning process. At this point, your scanner maps your entire network and identifies every device and asset connected to it. This includes all web servers, workstations, firewalls , and network devices. The automatic discovery process should produce a comprehensive map showing how your network is connected, and show detailed information about each network device. It should include comprehensive port scanning to identify open ports that attackers could use to gain entry to the network. Step 2. Detection Techniques The next step in the process involves leveraging advanced detection techniques to identify known vulnerabilities in the network. Most network vulnerability scanners rely on two specific techniques to achieve this: Signature-Based Detection: The scanner checks for known vulnerabilities by comparing system details against a database of known issues. This database is drawn from extensive threat intelligence feeds and public records like the MITRE CVE Program . Heuristic Analysis: This technique relies on heuristic and behavioral techniques to identify unknown or zero-day vulnerabilities based on unusual system behavior or configurations. It may detect suspicious activities that don’t correspond to known threats, prompting further investigation. Step 3. Vulnerability Identification This step involves checking network assets for known vulnerabilities according to their unique risk profile. This includes scanning for outdated software and operating system versions, and looking for misconfigurations in network devices and settings. Most network scanners achieve this by pinging network-accessible systems, sending them TCP/UDP packets, and remotely logging into compatible systems to gather detailed information about them. Highly advanced network vulnerability scanning tools have more comprehensive sets of features for identifying these vulnerabilities, because they recognize a wider, more up-to-date range of network devices. Step 4. Assessment and Reporting This step describes the process of matching network data to known vulnerabilities and prioritizing them based on their severity. Advanced network scanning devices may use automation and sophisticated scripting to produce a list of vulnerabilities and exposed network components. First, each vulnerability is assessed for its potential impact and risk level, often based on industry-wide compliance standards like NIST. Then the tool prioritizes each vulnerability based on its severity, ease of exploitation, and potential impact on the network. Afterwards, the tool generates a detailed report outlining every vulnerability assessed and ranking it according to its severity. These reports guide the security teams in addressing the identified issues. Step 5. Continuous Monitoring and Updates Scanning for vulnerabilities once is helpful, but it won’t help you achieve the long-term goal of keeping your network protected against new and emerging threats. To do that, you need to continuously monitor your network for new weaknesses and establish workflows for resolving security issues proactively. Many advanced scanners provide real-time monitoring, constantly scanning the network for new vulnerabilities as they emerge. Regular updates to the scanner’s vulnerability database ensure it can recognize the latest known vulnerabilities and threats. If your vulnerability scanner doesn’t support these two important features, you may need to invest additional time and effort into time-consuming manual operations that achieve the same results. Step 6. Integration with Other Security Measures Security leaders must pay close attention to what happens after a vulnerability scan detects an outdated software patch or misconfiguration. Alerting security teams to the danger represented by these weaknesses is only the first step towards actually resolving them, and many scanning tools offer comprehensive integrations for launching remediation actions. Remediation integrations are valuable because they allow security teams to quickly address vulnerabilities immediately upon discovering them. The alternative is creating a list of weaknesses and having the team manually go through them, which takes time and distracts from higher-impact security tasks. Another useful integration involves large-scale security posture analytics. If your vulnerability assessment includes analysis and management tools for addressing observable patterns in your network vulnerability scans, it will be much easier to dedicate resources to the appropriate security-enhancing initiatives. Choosing a Network Vulnerability Scanning Solution There are two major categories of features that network vulnerability scanning tools must offer in order to provide best-in-class coverage against sophisticated threats. Keep these aspects in mind when reviewing your options for deploying vulnerability scans in your security workflow. Important Considerations Comprehensive Vulnerability Database. Access to an extensive CVE database is vital. Many of these are open-source and available to the general public, but the sheer number of CVE records can drag down performance. The best vulnerability management tools have highly optimized APIs capable of processing these records quickly. Customizability and Templates. Tailoring scans to specific needs and environments is important for every organization, but it takes on special significance for organizations seeking to demonstrate regulatory compliance. That’s because the outcome of compliance assessments and audits will depend on the quality of data included in your reports. False Positive Management. All vulnerability scanners are susceptible to displaying false positives, but some manage these events better than others. This is especially important in misconfiguration cases, because it can cause security teams to mistakenly misconfigure security tools that were configured correctly in the first place. Business Essentials Support for Various Platforms. Your vulnerability scan must ingest data from multiple operating systems like Windows, Linux, and a variety of cloud platforms. If any of these systems are not compatible with the scanning process, you may end up with unstable performance or unreliable data. Reporting and Analytics. Detailed reports and analytics help you establish a clear security posture assessment. Your vulnerability management tool must provide clear reports that are easy for non-technical stakeholders to understand. This will help you make the case for necessary security investments in the future. Scalability and Flexibility. These solutions must scale with the growth of your organization’s IT infrastructure . Pay attention to the usage and payment model each vulnerability scanning vendor uses. Some of them may be better suited to small, growing organizations while others are more appropriate for large enterprises and government agencies. Top 5 Network Vulnerability Scanning Providers 1. AlgoSec AlgoSec is a network security platform that helps organizations identify vulnerabilities and orchestrate network security policies in response. It includes comprehensive features for managing firewalls routers , and other security device configurations, and enables teams to proactively scan for new vulnerabilities on their network. AlgoSec reports on misconfigurations and vulnerabilities, and can show how simulated changes to IT infrastructure impact the organization’s security posture. It provides in-depth visibility and control over multi-cloud and on-premises environments. Key features: Comprehensive network mapping. AlgoSec supports automatic network asset discovery, giving security teams complete coverage of the hybrid network. In-depth automation. The platform supports automatic security policy updates in response to detected security vulnerabilities, allowing security teams to manage risk proactively. Detailed risk analysis. When AlgoSec detects a vulnerability, it provides complete details and background on the vulnerability itself and the risk it represents. 2. Tenable Nessus Tenable Nessus is one of the industry’s most reputable names in vulnerability assessment and management. It is widely used to identify and fix vulnerabilities including software flaws, missing security patches, and misconfigurations. It supports a wide range of operating systems and applications, making it a flexible tool for many different use cases. Key features: High-speed discovery. Tenable supports high speed network asset discovery scans through advanced features. Break up scans into easily managed subnetworks and configure ping settings to make the scan faster. Configuration auditing. Security teams can ensure IT assets are compliant with specific compliance-oriented audit policies designed to meet a wide range of assets and standards. Sensitive data discovery. Tenable Nessus can discover sensitive data located on the network and provide clear, actionable steps for protecting that data in compliance with regulatory standards. 3. Rapid7 Nexpose Nexpose offers real-time monitoring and risk assessment designed for enterprise organizations. As an on-premises vulnerability scanner, the solution is well-suited to the needs of large organizations with significant IT infrastructure deployments. It collects vulnerability information, prioritizes it effectively, and provides guidance on remediating risks. Key Features: Enterprise-ready on-premises form factor. Rapid7 designed Nexpose to meet the needs of large organizations with constant vulnerability scanning needs. Live monitoring of the attack surface. Organizations can continuously scan their IT environment and prioritize discovered vulnerabilities using more than 50 filters to create asset groups that correspond to known threats. Integration with penetration testing. Rapid7 comes with a wide range of fully supported integrations and provides vulnerability and exploitability context useful for pentest scenarios. 4. Qualys Qualys is an enterprise cloud security provider that includes vulnerability management in its IT security and compliance platform. It includes features that help security teams understand and manage security risks while automating remediation with intuitive no-code workflows. It integrates well with other enterprise security solutions, but may not be accessible for smaller organizations. Key features: All-in-one vulnerability management workflow . Qualys covers all of your vulnerability scanning and remediation needs in a single, centralized platform. It conducts asset discovery, detects vulnerabilities, prioritizes findings, and launches responses with deep customization and automation capabilities. Web application scanning . The platform is well-suited to organizations with extensive public-facing web applications outside the network perimeter. It supports container runtime security, including container-as-a-service environments. Complete compliance reporting . Security teams can renew expiring certificates directly through Qualys, making it a comprehensive solution to obtaining and maintaining compliance. 5. OpenVAS (Greenbone Networks) OpenVAS is an open-source tool that offers a comprehensive scanning to organizations of all sizes. It is available under a General Public License (GPL) agreement, making it a cost-effective option compared to competing proprietary software options. It supports a range of customizable plugins through its open source developer community. Key Features: Open-source vulnerability scanner. Organizations can use and customize OpenVAS at no charge, giving it a significant advantage for organizations that prioritize cost savings. Customizable plugins. As with many open-source tools, there is a thriving community of developers involved in creating customizable plugins for unique use cases. Supports a wide range of vulnerability tests . The high level of customization offered by OpenVAS allows security teams to run many different kinds of vulnerability tests from a single, centralized interface. Honorable Mentions Nmap (Network Mapper): A versatile and free open-source tool, NMAP is popular for network discovery and security auditing. It’s particularly noted for its flexibility in scanning both large networks and single hosts. Nmap is a powerful and popular Linux command-line tool commonly featured in cybersecurity education courses. Microsoft’s Azure Security Center: Ideal for organizations heavily invested in the Azure cloud platform, this tool provides integrated security monitoring and policy management across hybrid cloud workloads. It unifies many different security features, including vulnerability assessment, proactive threat hunting, and more. IBM Security QRadar Vulnerability Manager: This is a comprehensive solution that integrates with other IBM QRadar products, providing a full-spectrum view of network vulnerabilities. It’s especially valuable for enterprises that already rely on IBM infrastructure for security workflows. McAfee Vulnerability Manager: A well-known solution offering robust vulnerability scanning capabilities, with additional features for risk and compliance management. It provides a combination of active and passive monitoring, along with penetration testing and authentication scanning designed to provide maximum protection to sensitive network assets. Choosing the Right Vulnerability Management Tool Choosing the right vulnerability management tool requires in-depth knowledge of your organization’s security and IT infrastructure context. You need to select the tool that matches your unique use cases and security requirements while providing the support you need to achieve long-term business goals. Those goals may change over time, which makes ongoing evaluation of your security tools an even more important strategic asset to keep in your arsenal. Gathering clear and detailed information about your organization’s security posture allows you to flexibility adapt to changes in your IT environment without exposing sensitive assets to additional risk. AlgoSec provides a wide range of flexible options for vulnerability scanning, policy change management, and proactive configuration simulation. Enhance your organization’s security capabilities by deploying a vulnerability management solution that provides the visibility and flexibility you need to stay on top of a challenging industry. Schedule a demo Related Articles 2025 in review: What innovations and milestones defined AlgoSec’s transformative year in 2025? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Navigating Compliance in the Cloud AlgoSec Cloud Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 5 Multi-Cloud Environments Cloud Security Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Speak to one of our experts Speak to one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Schedule a call

Learn all about CNAPP limitations, why CNAPP is not enough in the cloud, and what additional cloud security pillars businesses need. Why CNAPP is not enough Select a size Which network Can AlgoSec be used for continuous compliance monitoring? Yes, AlgoSec supports continuous compliance monitoring. As organizations adapt their security policies to meet emerging threats and address new vulnerabilities, they must constantly verify these changes against the compliance frameworks they subscribe to. AlgoSec can generate risk assessment reports and conduct internal audits on-demand, allowing compliance officers to monitor compliance performance in real-time. Security professionals can also use AlgoSec to preview and simulate proposed changes to the organization’s security policies. This gives compliance officers a valuable degree of lead-time before planned changes impact regulatory guidelines and allows for continuous real-time monitoring. Executive summary: Why CNAPP is not enough Cloud native application protection platforms (CNAPPs) are unified security platforms that consolidate a diverse suite of tools and capabilities into a single solution. Widely adopted across industries, the cloud native application protection platform market is projected to reach $19.3 billion by 2027, a CAGR of almost 20% from 2022. These cloud security platforms are often positioned as "all-in-one" or "end-to-end" fortifications for contemporary cloud environments. However, a pressing question persists: Are CNAPPs enough? The dominant assumption is that CNAPPs can single-handedly tackle all enterprise cloud security requirements. However, enterprises should be aware of some critical CNAPP limitations; these can involve: Application security Network security Policy management Without addressing the cloud security blind spots of CNAPPs, minor vulnerabilities can escalate into significant security and compliance incidents. This article dives into the reasons why CNAPPs are so popular, what capabilities they offer, and how companies can transcend their limitations. Why are enterprises embracing cloud-native application protection platforms? CNAPPs are unified and integrated cloud security platforms, promising robust and centralized governance, security, and compliance control and oversight. They’re a captivating option when dealing with complex multi-cloud and hybrid cloud architectures. Setting CNAPP limitations aside for a moment, let’s explore what tools and capabilities these popular cloud security platforms feature. Cloud security posture management (CSPM) CSPM tools continuously monitor and scan IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS infrastructure for misconfigurations and risks. They also support triage and remediation of any cloud misconfigurations identified. Cloud infrastructure entitlement management (CIEM) CIEM tools are the cloud-native version of identity and access management (IAM) solutions. They detect and mitigate identity-related risks such as overprivileged accounts and subpar password policies. Cloud workload protection Cloud workload protection solutions monitor cloud-native workloads across hybrid and multi-cloud architectures for threats. Workloads in the cloud may refer to data, applications, serverless functions, containers, or virtual machines. But do cloud workload protection tools provide comprehensive runtime security and application security? More on that soon. External attack surface management (EASM) EASM tools focus on inventorying, monitoring, and reducing risks across public-facing digital assets. The overall objective of EASM solutions is to minimize the cloud attack surface and reveal blind spots. Container and Kubernetes security Container and Kubernetes security capabilities are crucial components of cloud security platforms, focusing on managing and fortifying containerized applications across multi-cloud environments. Vulnerability management Vulnerability management tools proactively scan cloud layers (workloads, APIs, applications, and data) for misconfigurations like insecure APIs, unencrypted data, and excessive permissions. As highlighted above, cloud native application protection platforms are equipped with a diverse and dynamic range of tools. However, risk-ridden cloud security blind spots make these tools insufficient for complete visibility and coverage across complex environments. CNAPP limitations and cloud security blind spots The features covered in the previous section are essential cloud security pillars. Nevertheless, CNAPPs aren't all-encompassing. This section examines these cloud native application protection platforms' biggest cloud security blind spots. In other words, why CNAPP is not enough. Inadequate hybrid cloud coverage One of the biggest cloud security blind spots businesses face? Legacy architecture. CNAPPs are purpose-built to operate in cloud environments. That means, companies with on-premises or hybrid setups might struggle to achieve interconnected visibility and security—even with strong CSPM or cloud workload protection tools. Disproportionate focus on runtime security Runtime security is in the CNAPP wheelhouse. However, some cloud security platforms over-emphasize runtime security and lack coverage in the initial stages of application pipelines. This incomplete visibility is a major application security vulnerability. Remember: A strong runtime security posture doesn’t make up for subpar application security capabilities. Lack of application visibility and context Modern multi-cloud and hybrid environments are primarily made up of applications . While the term “cloud native application security platform” suggests robust application security, CNAPPs often lack deep visibility into applications and their connectivity flows. CNAPP limitations also include a lack of application context: Businesses might know what applications they have, but they may not be able to map broader network security risks to specific applications. Incomplete network security CNAPPs have various features and telemetry capabilities that support cloud network security, but they lack advanced network security controls and tools. For example, CNAPPs can’t fine-tune firewalls, conduct deep packet inspections, or establish network traffic rules. Subpar API security Cloud native application protection platforms don’t always have deep API security capabilities. This is an issue, given APIs are an increasingly prevalent attack vector for adversaries. Weak API security is an application security vulnerability because without API visibility and context, it’s impossible to map application dependencies and identity misconfigurations. Restricted DevSecOps support CNAPPs can help security teams shift left, but they’re not a comprehensive DevSecOps powerhouse. This is due to many of the above-mentioned deficiencies: fractured application and connectivity visibility, as well as a lack of advanced network security options. In complex hybrid cloud architectures, these weaknesses complicate compliance and policy management—and consequently compromise DevSecOps programs. What additional layers of security do enterprises need? Cloud native application protection platform components like CSPM and CIEM are critical security pillars, but it’s evident that CNAPP is not enough for businesses today. Let’s discuss what additional capabilities you need. Advanced application security With applications dominating enterprise IT environments, companies need a cutting-edge application security tool with complete hybrid coverage, as well as connectivity and dependency mapping. Must-have features include deep application contextualization and the ability to map network risks to specific applications. Network security posture management (NSPM) Achieving visibility, security, and compliance across hybrid networks isn’t straightforward, which is why businesses need a strong NSPM tool. Top NSPM solutions enable businesses to visualize their network topology and apply unique firewall rules to understand, control, and secure traffic. They also help businesses enforce zero trust tenets like least privilege and network micro-segmentation. Automated security policy management Cloud environments are dynamic and constantly in flux, making policy and configuration management a tricky endeavor. The initial challenge is designing the right policies, but the bigger complexity is enforcing them consistently without compromising speed or scale. And that’s exactly what the best policy management tools do: Automate every step of the lifecycle, from risk analysis and policy design to implementation and validation. Hybrid cloud compliance management The underlying challenge across every pillar of cloud security, from API security to safe DevSecOps workflows, is ensuring compliance. Today, enterprises have a labyrinth of regulatory requirements they need to adhere to—from GDPR and SOX to industry-specific regulations like HIPAA. You need a compliance tool that can: Generate audit-ready reports Automatically vet policy change requests against compliance requirements Automatically discover traffic flows The benefits of transcending CNAPP limitations There are multiple benefits that enterprises can unlock by adding additional layers of security, such as those discussed above: Reinforced application security posture: Complete and contextual application visibility across the entire lifecycle Enhanced hybrid cloud governance: Control over hybrid cloud infrastructure, applications, data, security tools, and policies Fewer data breaches: Avoidance of the financial, legal, and reputational consequences of suffering data breaches (now featuring an average cost of $4.4 million, according to IBM ) Stronger compliance posture: Adherence to federal, local, and industry-specific laws and regulations More developer-friendly environments: Streamlined and optimized DevSecOps workflows; high-speed development with zero security compromises Boosted cloud performance: Major productivity gains and increased cloud ROI via optimized hybrid cloud governance To wrap up, it’s time to meet the cloud security platform that can help enterprises plug traditional CNAPP gaps and provide comprehensive hybrid cloud security. AlgoSec: A cloud security platform built for modern challenges AlgoSec is a cutting-edge cloud security solution that reinforces every CNAPP pillar while also addressing the most critical CNAPP limitations. AlgoSec Cloud Enterprise (ACE) streamlines every aspect of complex hybrid cloud security, including with automated compliance and policy management. From its emphasis on application visibility and security to zero-touch change management, ACE, along with supporting tools such as AppViz , FireFlow , and Firewall Analyzer , plugs every CNAPP gap and reinforces your overall cloud security posture. No, CNAPP is not enough, and enterprises should swiftly adopt an application-centric hybrid cloud security platform like AlgoSec to achieve the additional layers of cloud security needed in today’s threat landscape. To learn more about how AlgoSec strengthens everything from API security to DevSecOps workflows, and see why over 2,200 companies are already using it, request a demo today. FAQs What are some key CNAPP limitations? CNAPP limitations include excessive emphasis on runtime security, incomplete application security and visibility, weak API security, and DevSecOps deficiencies. What is cloud security posture management (CSPM)? CSPM tools are security solutions that monitor cloud-native infrastructure for security risks and misconfigurations. What is cloud infrastructure entitlement management (CIEM)? CIEM is a type of cloud security tool that focuses on IAM risks in cloud environments. Get the latest insights from the experts Schedule time with one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Continue