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In our previous post we have provided some details about a new fork of Kinsing malware, a Linux malware that propagates across... Cloud Security Router Honeypot for an IRC Bot 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. glibc_2 Tags Share this article 9/13/20 Published In our previous post we have provided some details about a new fork of Kinsing malware, a Linux malware that propagates across misconfigured Docker platforms and compromises them with a coinminer. Several days ago, the attackers behind this malware have uploaded a new ELF executable b_armv7l into the compromised server dockerupdate[.]anondns[.]net . The executable b_armv7l is based on a known source of Tsunami (also known as Kaiten), and is built using uClibc toolchain: $ file b_armv7l b_armv7l: ELF 32-bit LSB executable, ARM, EABI4 version 1 (SYSV), dynamically linked, interpreter /lib/ld-uClibc.so.0, with debug_info, not stripped Unlike glibc , the C library normally used with Linux distributions, uClibc is smaller and is designed for embedded Linux systems, such as IoT. Therefore, the malicious b_armv7l was built with a clear intention to install it on such devices as routers, firewalls, gateways, network cameras, NAS servers, etc. Some of the binary’s strings are encrypted. With the help of the HexRays decompiler , one could clearly see how they are decrypted: memcpy ( &key, "xm@_;w,B-Z*j?nvE|sq1o$3\"7zKC4ihgfe6cba~&5Dk2d!8+9Uy:" , 0x40u ) ; memcpy ( &alphabet, "0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ. " , 0x40u ) ; for ( i = 0; i < = 64; ++i ){ if ( encoded [ j ] == key [ i ]) { if ( psw_or_srv ) decodedpsw [ k ] = alphabet [ i ] ; else decodedsrv [ k ] = alphabet [ i ] ; ++k; }} The string decryption routine is trivial — it simply replaces each encrypted string’s character found in the array key with a character at the same position, located in the array alphabet. Using this trick, the critical strings can be decrypted as: Variable Name Encoded String Decoded String decodedpsw $7|3vfaa~8 logmeINNOW decodedsrv $7?*$s7

Cloud threats increased by 95 percent in 2022 alone! At a time when many organizations are moving their resources to the cloud and... Cloud Security Cloud Security Architecture: Methods, Frameworks, & Best Practices 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 8/8/23 Published Cloud threats increased by 95 percent in 2022 alone! At a time when many organizations are moving their resources to the cloud and security threats are at an all-time high, focusing on your cloud security architecture has never been more critical. While cloud adoption has revolutionized businesses, it has also brought complex challenges. For example, cloud environments can be susceptible to numerous security threats. Besides, there are compliance regulations that you must address. This is why it’s essential to implement the right methods, frameworks, and best practices in cloud environments. Doing so can protect your organization’s sensitive cloud resources, help you meet compliance regulations, and maintain customer trust. Understanding Cloud Security Architecture Cloud security architecture is the umbrella term that covers all the hardware, software, and technologies used to protect your cloud environment. It encompasses the configurations and secure activities that protect your data, workloads, applications, and infrastructure within the cloud. This includes identity and access management (IAM), application and data protection, compliance monitoring, secure DevOps, governance, and physical infrastructure security. A well-defined security architecture also enables manageable decompositions of cloud deployments, including mixed SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS deployments. This helps you highlight specific security needs in each cloud area. Additionally, it facilitates integration between clouds, zones, and interfaces, ensuring comprehensive coverage of all deployment aspects. Cloud security architects generally use a layered approach when designing cloud security. Not only does this improve security, but it also allows companies to align business needs with technical security practices. As such, a different set of cloud stakeholders, including business teams and technical staff, can derive more value. The Fundamentals of Cloud Security Architecture Every cloud computing architecture has three core fundamental capabilities; confidentiality, integrity, and availability. This is known as the CIA triad. Understanding each capability will guide your efforts to build, design, and implement safer cloud environments. 1. Confidentiality This is the ability to keep information hidden and inaccessible to unauthorized entities, such as attackers, malware, and people in your organization, without the appropriate access level. Privacy and trust are also part of confidentiality. When your organization promises customers to handle their data with utmost secrecy, you’re assuring them of confidentiality. 2. Integrity Integrity means that the services, systems, and applications work and behave exactly how you expect. That is, their output is consistent, accurate, and trustworthy. If these systems and applications are compromised and produce unexpected or misleading results, your organization may suffer irreparable damage. 3. Availability As the name implies, availability assures your cloud resources are consistently accessible and operational when needed. So, suppose an authorized user (whether customers or employees) needs data and applications in the cloud, such as your products or services. In that case, they can access it without interruption or significant downtime. Cybercriminals sometimes use denial-of-service (DoS) attacks to prevent the availability of cloud resources. When this happens, your systems become unavailable to you or your customers, which isn’t ideal. So, how do you stop that from happening and ensure your cloud security architecture provides these core capabilities? Approaches to Cloud Security Architecture There are multiple security architecture approaches, including frameworks and methodologies, to support design and implementation steps. Cloud Security Frameworks and Methodologies A cloud security framework outlines a set of guidelines and controls your organizations can use when securing data, applications, and infrastructures within the cloud computing environment. Frameworks provide a structured approach to detecting risks and implementing appropriate security protocols to prevent them. Without a consistent cloud security framework, your organization exposes itself to more vulnerabilities. You may lack the comprehensive visibility to ensure your data and applications are adequately secure from unauthorized access, data exposure, malware, and other security threats. Plus, you may have limited incident response capabilities, inconsistent security practices, and increased operational risks. A cloud security framework also helps you stay compliant with regulatory requirements. Lastly, failing to have appropriate security frameworks can erode customer trust and confidence in your ability to protect their privacy. This is why you must implement a recognized framework to significantly reduce potential risks associated with cloud security and ensure the CIA of data and systems. There are numerous security frameworks. Some are for governance (e.g., COBIT and COSO), architecture (e.g., SABSA), and the NIST cybersecurity framework. While these generally apply broadly to technology, they may also apply to cloud environments. Other cloud-specific frameworks include the ISO/IEC 27017:2015, Cloud Control Matrix (CCM), Cloud Security Alliance, and the FedRAMP. 1. NIST Cybersecurity Framework (NIST CSF) The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Cybersecurity Framework (NIST CSF) outlines a set of guidelines for securing security systems. It has five core capabilities: Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, and Recover. Identify – What processes, assets, and systems need protection? Protect – Develop and implement the right safeguards to ensure critical infrastructure services delivery. Detect – Implement the appropriate mechanisms to enable the timely discovery of cybersecurity incidents. Respond – Develop techniques to contain the impact of potential cybersecurity incidents. Recover – Implement appropriate measures to restore business capabilities and services affected by cybersecurity events. While the NIST CSF is a general framework for the security of your organization’s systems, these five pillars can help you assess and manage cloud-related security risks. 2. ISO/IEC 27017:2015 ISO 27017 is a cloud security framework that defines guidelines on information security issues specific to the cloud. The framework’s security controls add to the ISO/IEC 27002 and ISO/IEC 27001 standards’ recommendations. The framework also offers specific security measures and implementation advice for cloud service providers and applications. 3. Sherwood Applied Business Security Architecture (SABSA) First developed by John Sherwood, SABSA is an Enterprise Security Architecture Framework that provides guidelines for developing business-driven, risk, and opportunity-focused security architectures to support business objectives. The SABSA framework aims to prioritize your business needs, meaning security services are designed and developed to be an integral part of your business and IT infrastructure. Here are some core principles of the Gartner-recommended SABSA framework for enterprises: It is business-driven. SABSA ensures security is integrated into your entire business strategy. This means there’s a strong emphasis on understanding your organization’s business objectives. So, any security measure is aligned with those objectives. SABSA is a risk-based approach. It considers security vulnerabilities, threats, and their potential impacts to prioritize security operations and investments. This helps your organization allocate resources effectively to address the most critical risks first. It promotes a layered security architecture. Earlier, we mentioned how a layered approach can help you align business and technical needs. So, it’s expected that this is a core principle of SABSA. This allows you to deploy multiple security controls across different layers, such as physical security, network security, application security, and data security. Each layer focuses on a specific security aspect and provides special controls and measures. Transparency: SABSA provides two-way traceability; that is, a clear two-way relationship exists between aligning security requirements and business goals. This provides a clear overview of where expenditure is made ad the value that is returned. Modular approach: SABSA offers agility for ease of implementation and management. This can make your business flexible when meeting changing market or economic conditions. 4. MITRE ATT&CK The MITRE ATT&CK framework is a repository of techniques and tactics that threat hunters, defenders, red teams, and security architects can use to classify, identify, and assess attacks. Instead of focusing on security controls and mechanisms to mitigate threats, this framework targets the techniques that hackers and other threat actors use in the cloud. So, using this framework can be excellent if you want to understand how potential attack vectors operate. It can help you become proactive and strengthen your cloud security posture through improved detection and incident response. 5. Cloud Security Alliance Cloud Controls Matrix (CSA CCM) The CSA CCM is a cybersecurity control framework specifically for cloud computing. It contains 197 control objectives structured in 17 domains that cover every critical aspect of cloud technology. Cloud customers and cloud service providers (CSPs) can use this tool to assess cloud implementation systematically. It also guides customers on the appropriate security controls for implementation by which actor in the cloud supply chain. 6. Cloud Security Alliance Security Trust Assurance and Risk (CSA STAR) The CSA STAR framework is for CSPs. It combines the principles of transparency, thorough auditing, and harmonization of standards. What CSA STAR does is to help you, as a cloud customer, assess a cloud service provider’s reliability and security posture. There are two ways this can happen: CSA STAR Certification: This is a rigorous third-party assessment of the CSP’s security controls, posture, and practices. The CSP undergoes a thorough audit based on the CSA’s Cloud Control Matrix (CCM), which is a set of cloud security controls aligned with industry standards. CSA STAR Self-Assessment: The CSA also has a Consensus Assessment Initiative Questionnaire (CAIQ). CSPs can use this to test and report on their security controls and practices. Since it’s a self-assessment procedure, it allows CSPs to be transparent, enabling customers like you to understand a CSP’s security capabilities before adopting their services. Challenges and Considerations in Cloud Security Architecture Before any cloud deployment, it’s important to understand the threats you may face, such as privilege-based attacks and malware, and be prepared for them. Since there are many common threats, we’ll quickly run through the most high-profile ones with the most devastating impacts. It’s important to remember some threats may also be specific to the type of cloud service model. 1. Insider risks This includes the employees in your organization who have access to data, applications, and systems, as well as CSP administrators. Whenever you subscribe to a CSP’s services, you entrust your workloads to the staff who maintain the CSP architecture. 2. DoS attacks Direct denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks are critical issues in cloud environments. Although security perimeters can deflect temporary DDoS attacks to filter out repeated requests, permanent DoS attacks are more damaging to your firmware and render the server unbootable. If this happens, you may need to physically reload the firmware and rebuild the system from the ground up, resulting in business downtime for weeks or longer. 3. Data availability You also want to consider how much of your data is accessible to the government. Security professionals are focusing on laws and examples that demonstrate when and how government authorities can access data in the cloud, whether through legal processes or court rulings. 4. Cloud-connected Edge Systems The concept of “cloud edge” encompasses both edge systems directly connected to the cloud and server architecture that is not directly controlled by the cloud service provider (CSP). To extend their services to smaller or remote locations, global CSPs often rely on partners as they cannot have facilities worldwide. Consequently, CSPs may face limitations in fully regulating hardware monitoring, ensuring physical box integrity, and implementing attack defenses like blocking USB port access. 5. Hardware Limitations Having the most comprehensive cloud security architecture still won’t help you create stronger passwords. While your cloud security architects focus on the firmware, hardware, and software, it’s down to the everyday users to follow best practices for staying safe. Best Practices in Cloud Security Architecture The best practices in Cloud Security Architecture are highlighted below: 1. Understand the shared responsibility model Cloud security is implemented with a shared responsibility model. Although, as the cloud customer, you may have most of the obligation, the cloud provider also shares some of the responsibility. Most vendors, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure, have documentation that clearly outlines your specific responsibilities depending on the deployment type. It’s important to clearly understand your shared responsibility model and review cloud vendor policies. This will prevent miscommunications and security incidents due to oversight. 2. Secure network design and segmentation This is one of the principles of cloud security architecture – and by extension, a best practice. Secure network design and segmentation involve dividing the network into isolated segments to avoid lateral movements during a breach. Implementing network segmentation allows your organization to contain potential risks and attacks within a specific segment. This can minimize the effects of an incident on your entire network and protect critical assets within the cloud infrastructure. 3. Deploy an Identity and access management (IAM) solution Unauthorized access is one of the biggest problems facing cloud security. Although hackers now use sophisticated tools to gain access to sensitive data, implementing a robust identity and access management (IAM) system can help prevent many threats. Consider access policies like role-based access control (RBAC) permissions, multi-factor authentication (MFA), and continuous threat monitoring. 4. Consider a CASB or Cloud Security Solution (e.g., Cloud-Native Application Protection (CNAPP) and Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASBs) provide specialized tools to enforce cloud security policies. Implementing a CASB solution is particularly recommended if you have a multi-cloud environment involving different vendors. Since a CASB acts as an intermediary between your organization’s on-premise infrastructure and CSPs, it allows your business to extend security policies and controls to the cloud. CASBs can enhance your data protection through features like data loss prevention, tokenization, and encryption. Plus, they help you discover and manage shadow IT through visibility into unauthorized cloud services and applications. Besides CASB solutions, you should also consider other solutions for securing your cloud environments. This includes cloud-native application protection (CNAPP) and cloud workload protection platforms (CWPP). For example, a CNAPP like Prevasio can improve your cloud security architecture with tailored solutions and automated security management. 5. Conduct Audits, Penetration Testing, and Vulnerability Testing Whether or not you outsource security, performing regular penetration tests and vulnerability is necessary. This helps you assess the effectiveness of your cloud security measures and identify potential weaknesses before hackers exploit them. You should also perform security audits that evaluate cloud security vendors’ capabilities and ensure appropriate access controls are in place. This can be achieved by using the guidelines of some frameworks we mentioned earlier, such as the CSA STAR. 6. Train Your Staff Rather than hiring new hires, training your current staff may be beneficial. Your employees have been at your company for a while and are already familiar with the organization’s culture, values, and processes. This could give them an advantage over new hires. As most existing IT skills can be reused, upskilling employees is more efficient and may help you meet the immediate need for a cloud IT workforce. Train your staff on recognizing simple and complex cybersecurity threats, such as creating strong passwords, identifying social engineering attacks, and advanced topics like risk management. 7. Mitigate Cloud Misconfigurations A misconfigured bucket could give access to anyone on the internet. To minimize cloud misconfigurations and reduce security risks, managing permissions in cloud services carefully is crucial. Misconfigurations, such as granting excessive access permissions to external users, can enable unauthorized access and potential data breaches. Attackers who compromise credentials can escalate their privileges, leading to further data theft and broader attacks within the cloud infrastructure. Therefore, it is recommended that IT, storage, or security teams, with assistance from development teams, personally configure each cloud bucket, ensuring proper access controls and avoiding default permissions. 8. Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements Most organizations today need to comply with strict regulatory requirements. This is especially important if you collect personally identifiable information (PII) or if your business is located in certain regions. Before you adopt a new cloud computing service, assess their compliance requirements and ensure they can fulfill data security needs. Failure to meet compliance requirements can lead to huge penalties. Other best practices for your cloud security include continuous monitoring and threat intelligence, data encryption at rest and in transit, and implementing intrusion detection and intrusion prevention systems. Conclusion When establishing a robust cloud security architecture, aligning business objectives and technical needs is important. Your organization must understand the shared responsibility model, risks, the appropriate implementation framework, and best practices. However, designing and developing cloud computing architectures can be complicated. Prevasio can secure your multi-cloud environment in minutes. Want to improve your cloud security configuration management? Prevasio’s agentless CNAPP can provide complete visibility over cloud resources, ensure compliance, and provide advanced risk monitoring and threat intelligence. Speak to us now. Schedule a demo Related Articles Q1 at AlgoSec: What innovations and milestones defined our start to 2026? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 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 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

Enterprises are embracing cloud platforms to drive innovation, enhance operational efficiency, and gain a competitive edge. Cloud... Hybrid Cloud Security Management Securing Cloud-Native Environments: Containerized Applications, Serverless Architectures, and Microservices Malcom Sargla 2 min read Malcom Sargla 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 9/6/23 Published Enterprises are embracing cloud platforms to drive innovation, enhance operational efficiency, and gain a competitive edge. Cloud services provided by industry giants like Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Azure, AWS, IBM, and Oracle offer scalability, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness that make them an attractive choice for businesses. One of the significant trends in cloud-native application development is the adoption of containerized applications, serverless architectures, and microservices. While these innovations bring numerous benefits, they also introduce unique security risks and vulnerabilities that organizations must address to ensure the safety of their cloud-native environments. The Evolution of Cloud-Native Applications Traditionally, organizations relied on on-premises data centers and a set of established security measures to protect their critical applications and data. However, the shift to cloud-native applications necessitates a reevaluation of security practices and a deeper understanding of the challenges involved. Containers: A New Paradigm Containers have emerged as a game-changer in the world of cloud-native development. They offer a way to package applications and their dependencies, ensuring consistency and portability across different environments. Developers appreciate containers for their ease of use and rapid deployment capabilities, but this transition comes with security implications that must not be overlooked. One of the primary concerns with containers is the need for continuous scanning and vulnerability assessment. Developers may inadvertently include libraries with known vulnerabilities, putting the entire application at risk. To address this, organizations should leverage container scanning tools that assess images for vulnerabilities before they enter production. Tools like Prevasio’s patented network sandbox provide real-time scanning for malware and known Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs), ensuring that container images are free from threats. Continuous Container Monitoring The dynamic nature of containerized applications requires continuous monitoring to ensure their health and security. In multi-cloud environments, it’s crucial to have a unified monitoring solution that covers all services consistently. Blind spots must be eliminated to gain full control over the cloud deployment. Tools like Prevasio offer comprehensive scanning of asset classes in popular cloud providers such as Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google GCP. This includes Lambda functions, S3 buckets, Azure VMs, and more. Continuous monitoring helps organizations detect anomalies and potential security breaches early, allowing for swift remediation. Intelligent and Automated Policy Management As organizations scale their cloud-native environments and embrace the agility that developers demand, policy management becomes a critical aspect of security. It’s not enough to have static policies; they must be intelligent and adaptable to evolving threats and requirements. Intelligent policy management solutions enable organizations to enforce corporate security policies both in the cloud and on-premises. These solutions have the capability to identify and guard against risks introduced through development processes or traditional change management procedures. When a developer’s request deviates from corporate security practices, an intelligent policy management system can automatically trigger actions, such as notifying network analysts or initiating policy work orders. Moreover, these solutions facilitate a “shift-left” approach, where security considerations are integrated into the earliest stages of development. This proactive approach ensures that security is not an afterthought but an integral part of the development lifecycle. Mitigating Risks in Cloud-Native Environments Securing containerized applications, serverless architectures, and microservices in cloud-native environments requires a holistic strategy. Here are some key steps that organizations can take to mitigate risks effectively: 1. Start with a Comprehensive Security Assessment Before diving into cloud-native development, conduct a thorough assessment of your organization’s security posture. Identify potential vulnerabilities and compliance requirements specific to your industry. Understanding your security needs will help you tailor your cloud-native security strategy effectively. 2. Implement Continuous Security Scanning Integrate container scanning tools into your development pipeline to identify vulnerabilities early in the process. Automate scanning to ensure that every container image is thoroughly examined before deployment. Regularly update scanning tools and libraries to stay protected against emerging threats. 3. Embrace Continuous Monitoring Utilize continuous monitoring solutions that cover all aspects of your multi-cloud deployment. This includes not only containers but also serverless functions, storage services, and virtual machines. A unified monitoring approach reduces blind spots and provides real-time visibility into potential security breaches. 4. Invest in Intelligent Policy Management Choose an intelligent policy management solution that aligns with your organization’s security and compliance requirements. Ensure that it offers automation capabilities to enforce policies seamlessly across cloud providers. Regularly review and update policies to adapt to changing security landscapes. 5. Foster a Culture of Security Security is not solely the responsibility of the IT department. Promote a culture of security awareness across your organization. Train developers, operations teams, and other stakeholders on best practices for cloud-native security. Encourage collaboration between security and development teams to address security concerns early in the development lifecycle. Conclusion The adoption of containerized applications, serverless architectures, and microservices in cloud-native environments offers unprecedented flexibility and scalability to enterprises. However, these advancements also introduce new security challenges that organizations must address diligently. By implementing a comprehensive security strategy that includes continuous scanning, monitoring, and intelligent policy management, businesses can harness the power of the cloud while safeguarding their applications and data. As the cloud-native landscape continues to evolve, staying proactive and adaptive in security practices will be crucial to maintaining a secure and resilient cloud environment. Schedule a demo Related Articles Q1 at AlgoSec: What innovations and milestones defined our start to 2026? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 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 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

As with all cloud vendors, AWS users share responsibility for securing their infrastructure against risk. Amazon provides the tools you... AWS Security group architecture for AWS: How to overcome security group limits Prof. Avishai Wool 2 min read Prof. Avishai Wool 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 As with all cloud vendors, AWS users share responsibility for securing their infrastructure against risk. Amazon provides the tools you need to filter traffic, but configuring those tools is up to you. Firewalls are one of the tools you’ll use to filter traffic and secure Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) instances. Instead of using traditional firewalls, Amazon provides users with AWS security groups, which are flexible, stateful firewalls capable of filtering inbound and outbound traffic. However, there are limits to what you can do with AWS security groups. First, they only allow traffic – you can’t configure them to deny traffic. Second, the maximum number of rules you can set for a single group is 60. This isn’t a big issue for an Amazon EC2 instance designed to address inbound traffic. You’ll either want your AWS EC2 to accept ingress from the entire internet or you’ll want to configure access for a few internal IP addresses. But for outbound traffic, 60 rules simply isn’t enough. You’ll use a dozen of them just allowing access to GitHub’s API . Add in a few third-party partners and you’re already well past the limit. Amazon VPC resource limits explained Amazon sets clear limits on the AWS services and resources it makes available to users. In some cases, you can increase these limits by contacting AWS support. These limits are generally assessed on a per-Region basis. Here are some of the limits Amazon places on AWS users: Security group limits 2500 VPC security groups per Region 60 IPv4 rules per security group 60 IPv6 rules per security group 5 security groups per network interface VPC and subnet limits 5 VPCs per Region 200 Subnets per VPC 5 IPv4 CIDR blocks per VPC 5 IPv6 CIDR blocks per VPC Limits to elastic IP addresses and gateways 5 Elastic IP addresses per Region 2 Elastic IP Addresses per public NAT gateway 5 Egress-only internet gateways per Region 5 NAT gateways per Availability Zone One carrier gateway per VPC Prefix list limits 100 prefix lists per Region 1000 versions per prefix list 5000 prefix list references per resource type Network ACL limits 200 Network ACLs per VPC 20 Rules per Network ACL How to manage AWS cloud security group limits effectively Traditional firewalls may have thousands of security rules, including a complex combination of inbound rules and egress filters. Crucially, they can also enforce outbound rules that include denying traffic – something Amazon does not allow regular security groups to do. While AWS offers powerful tools for securing cloud workflows, Amazon VPC users must find ways to overcome these limitations. Fortunately, there are a few things you can do to achieve exactly that. Optimize your VPC security groups. Use Network Access Control Lists to secure assets at the subnet level. Use a domain name filtering system that reduces the number of IP addresses security group rules need to resolve. Optimize your Amazon virtual private cloud configuration Amazon VPC is a virtual network that contains many of the elements you’d expect from a traditional network. It has IP addresses, route tables, subnets, and internet gateways. Unlike a traditional network, you can easily configure many of your VPC environment through a command line interface (CLI). You can establish VPC peering connections, implement identity and access management (IAM) protocols, and configure elastic network interfaces without manually handling any hardware. But first, you need to set up and protect your VPC by setting up and configuring security groups. If you don’t specify a particular group, Amazon EC2 will use the default security group. If you haven’t added new security groups since creating your AWS account, you may only have that one default security group. The first step to optimizing security is expanding the number of security groups you have available. Here’s an example of the code you can use to create a new security group in the AWS console:aws ec2 create-security-group –group-name web-pci-sg –description “allow SSL traffic” –vpc-id vpc-555666777 This creates a new group named web-pci-sg and describes it as a group designed to allow SSL traffic on the network. Remember that security groups don’t support deny rules. Here is the code you would use to add a rule to that group: aws ec2 authorize-security-group-ingress \ –group-name web-pci-sg \ –protocol https \–port 443 \ –cidr This rule specifically allows SSL traffic using the HTTPS protocol to use port 443, which is the standard port for HTTPS traffic. You can use the last argument to specify the cidr block the rule will direct traffic through. This gives you the ability to manage traffic through specific subnets, which is important for the next step. This example focuses on just one type of rule in one context. To take full advantage of the security tools AWS makes available, you’ll want to create custom rules for endpoints, load balancers, nat gateways, and more. Although you’re limited to 60 rules per security group, creating many groups lets you assign hundreds of rules to any particular instance. Security architecture and network ACLs Network Access Control Lists provide AWS users with additional filtering capabilities. Network ACLs are similar to security groups in many ways, but come with a few key differences: Network ACLs can contain deny rules. You can write Network ACL rules to include explicit actions, like blocking particular IP addresses or routing VPN users in a specific way. Network ACLs are enforced at the subnet level. This means they apply to every instance in the subnet, in addition to whatever rules exist at the security group level. As mentioned above, each Network ACL can contain up to 20 rules. However, you can have up to 200 Network ACLs per VPC, which gives you a total of 4000 potential rules. Along with instance-specific security group rules, this offers much more flexibility for setting up robust AWS security architecture. Since Network ACLs can deny traffic, they are a useful tool for managing access to databases and other sensitive assets. For example, you may wish to exclude users who don’t have the appropriate permissions from your Amazon RDS instance. You may also want to filter SSH (Secure Shell) connections coming from unknown sources, or limit connections between different internal instance types. To do this effectively, you need to group these assets under the same subnet and make sure that the appropriate rules are enabled for all of them. You can also write asset-specific rules at the security group level, ensuring every asset has its own optimal configuration. The larger your AWS environment is, the more complex this process may become. Take care to avoid misconfigurations – it’s very easy to accidentally write security group rules and Network ACL rules that aren’t compatible, or that cause problems when you access the instance. To avoid this, try to condense your rules as much as possible. Avoid limits by filtering domain names directly Although you can create a large number of rules by creating additional security groups, you still may want to add more than 60 rules in a single group. There are many scenarios where this makes more sense than arbitrarily adding (and managing) new groups. For example, you might have a production instance that needs updates from several third-party partners. You also need to periodically change and update the technologies this instance relies on, so you’d like to keep its rules in a single security group. This reduces misconfiguration risk by keeping all the relevant rules in one place – not spread out across multiple groups. To overcome this limit, you need to reduce the number of IP addresses that the security group filters. You can do this by deploying a third-party solution that allows security rules to perform DNS resolution. This eliminates the need for AWS to resolve the domain name. Since AWS security groups can’t compute domain names on their own, you’ll need to deploy a third-party NAT gateway on your public VPC to filter outbound traffic in this way. Once you do this, you can write rules that filter outgoing connections based on their domain name. This effectively bypasses the 60 IP limit because you are not referring to specific IP addresses. At the same time, it simplifies management and makes rules much easier to read and understand. Instead of looking up and adding all of Github’s API IP addresses, you can write rules that reference the domain “Github.com”. If Github decides to change its IP infrastructure, your security rules will automatically reference the new addresses – you won’t have to go back and update them. The earlier you address AWS security group limits, the better There is an unlimited number of ways you can arrange your security groups and Network ACLs. Even in a small environment, the prospect may seem daunting. However, the flexibility Amazon provides to its cloud users is a valuable security feature. Those who go the process enjoy clear security performance benefits. If you start to planning for the architecture of your security and filtering policies early, you’ll be better equipped to scale those policies upwards as your organization grows. This will prevent security processes from becoming a growth bottleneck and maintain a high level of efficiency even as those policies become larger and more complex. See me explain this issue in person in my new whiteboard video: Schedule a demo Related Articles Q1 at AlgoSec: What innovations and milestones defined our start to 2026? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 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 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

Prof. Avishai Wool, AlgoSec co-founder and CTO, breaks down the truths and myths about micro-segmentation and how organizations can... Micro-segmentation Why Microsegmentation is Still a Go-To Network Security Strategy Prof. Avishai Wool 2 min read Prof. Avishai Wool 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 5/3/22 Published Prof. Avishai Wool, AlgoSec co-founder and CTO, breaks down the truths and myths about micro-segmentation and how organizations can better secure their network before their next cyberattack Network segmentation isn’t a new concept. For years it’s been the go-to recommendation for CISOs and other security leaders as a means of securing expansive networks and breaking large attack surface areas down into more manageable chunks. Just as we separate areas of a ship with secure doors to prevent flooding in the event of a hull breach, network segmentation allows us to seal off areas of our network to prevent breaches such as ransomware attacks, which tend to self-propagate and spread laterally from machine to machine. Network segmentation tends to work best in controlling north-south traffic in an organization. Its main purpose is to segregate and protect key company data and limit lateral movement by attackers across the network. Micro-segmentation takes this one step further and offers more granular control to help contain lateral east-west movement. It is a technique designed to create secure zones in networks, allowing companies to isolate workloads from one another and introduce tight controls over internal access to sensitive data. Put simply, if network segmentation makes up the floors, ceilings and protective outer hull, micro-segmentation makes up the steel doors and corridors that allow or restrict access to individual areas of the ship. Both methods can be used in combination to fortify cybersecurity posture and reduce risk vulnerability across the security network. How does micro-segmentation help defend against ransomware? The number of ransomware attacks on corporate networks seems to reach record levels with each passing year. Ransomware has become so appealing to cybercriminals that it’s given way to a whole Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) sub-industry, plying would-be attackers with the tools to orchestrate their own attacks. When deploying micro-segmentation across your security network, you can contain ransomware at the onset of an attack. When a breach occurs and malware takes over a machine on a given network, the policy embedded in the micro-segmented network should block the malware’s ability to propagate to an adjacent micro-segment, which in turn can protect businesses from a system-wide shutdown and save them a great financial loss. What does Zero Trust have to do with micro-segmentation? Zero trust is a manifestation of the principle of “least privilege” security credentialing. It is a mindset that guides security teams to not assume that people, or machines, are to be trusted by default. From a network perspective, zero-trust implies that “internal” networks should not be assumed to be more trustworthy than “external” networks – quotation marks are intentional. Therefore, micro-segmentation is the way to achieve zero trust at the network level: by deploying restrictive filtering policy inside the internal network to control east-west traffic. Just as individuals in an organization should only be granted access to data on a need-to-know basis, traffic should only be allowed to travel from one area of the business to another only if the supporting applications require access to those areas. Can a business using a public cloud solution still use micro-segmentation? Prior to the advent of micro-segmentation, it was very difficult to segment networks into zones and sub-zones because it required the physical deployment of equipment. Routing had to be changed, firewalls had to be locally installed, and the segmentation process would have to be carefully monitored and managed by a team of individuals. Fortunately for SecOps teams, this is no longer the case, thanks to the rapid adoption of cloud technology. There seems to be a misconception associated with micro-segmentation where it might be thought of as a strictly private cloud environment network security solution, whereas in reality, micro-segmentation can be deployed in a hybrid cloud environment – public cloud, private cloud and on-premise. In fact, all public cloud networks, including those offered by the likes of Azure and AWS, offer “baked in” filtering capabilities that make controlling traffic much easier. This lends itself well to the concept of micro-segmentation, so even those businesses that use a hybrid cloud setup can still benefit enormously. The Bottom Line Micro-segmentation presents a viable and scalable solution to tighten network security policies, despite its inherent implementation challenges. While many businesses may find it hard to manage this new method of security, it’s nevertheless a worthwhile endeavor. By utilizing a micro-segmentation method as part of its network security strategy, an organization can immediately bolster its network security against possible hackers and potential data breaches. To help you navigate through your micro-segmentation fact-finding journey, watch this webcast or read more in our resource hub . Schedule a demo Related Articles Q1 at AlgoSec: What innovations and milestones defined our start to 2026? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 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 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

Insecure Service Protocols and Ports Okay, we all have them… they’re everyone’s dirty little network security secrets that we try not to... Risk Management and Vulnerabilities Removing insecure protocols In networks Matthew Pascucci 2 min read Matthew Pascucci 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 7/15/14 Published Insecure Service Protocols and Ports Okay, we all have them… they’re everyone’s dirty little network security secrets that we try not to talk about. They’re the protocols that we don’t mention in a security audit or to other people in the industry for fear that we’ll be publicly embarrassed. Yes, I’m talking about cleartext protocols which are running rampant across many networks. They’re in place because they work, and they work well, so no one has had a reason to upgrade them. Why upgrade something if it’s working right? Wrong. These protocols need to go the way of records, 8-tracks and cassettes (many of these protocols were fittingly developed during the same era). You’re putting your business and data at serious risk by running these insecure protocols. There are many insecure protocols that are exposing your data in cleartext, but let’s focus on the three most widely used ones: FTP, Telnet and SNMP. FTP (File Transfer Protocol) This is by far the most popular of the insecure protocols in use today. It’s the king of all cleartext protocols and one that needs to be smitten from your network before it’s too late. The problem with FTP is that all authentication is done in cleartext which leaves little room for the security of your data. To put things into perspective, FTP was first released in 1971, almost 45 years ago. In 1971 the price of gas was 40 cents a gallon, Disneyland had just opened and a company called FedEx was established. People, this was a long time ago. You need to migrate from FTP and start using an updated and more secure method for file transfers, such as HTTPS, SFTP or FTPS. These three protocols use encryption on the wire and during authentication to secure the transfer of files and login. Telnet If FTP is the king of all insecure file transfer protocols then telnet is supreme ruler of all cleartext network terminal protocols. Just like FTP, telnet was one of the first protocols that allowed you to remotely administer equipment. It became the defacto standard until it was discovered that it passes authentication using cleartext. At this point you need to hunt down all equipment that is still running telnet and replace it with SSH, which uses encryption to protect authentication and data transfer. This shouldn’t be a huge change unless your gear cannot support SSH. Many appliances or networking gear running telnet will either need the service enabled or the OS upgraded. If both of these options are not appropriate, you need to get new equipment, case closed. I know money is an issue at times, but if you’re running a 45 year old protocol on your network with the inability to update it, you need to rethink your priorities. The last thing you want is an attacker gaining control of your network via telnet. Its game over at this point. SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) This is one of those sneaky protocols that you don’t think is going to rear its ugly head and bite you, but it can! escortdate escorts . There are multiple versions of SNMP, and you need to be particularly careful with versions 1 and 2. For those not familiar with SNMP, it’s a protocol that enables the management and monitoring of remote systems. Once again, the strings can be sent via cleartext, and if you have access to these credentials you can connect to the system and start gaining a foothold on the network, including managing, applying new configurations or gaining in-depth monitoring details of the network. In short, it a great help for attackers if they can get hold of these credentials. Luckily version 3.0 of SNMP has enhanced security that protects you from these types of attacks. So you must review your network and make sure that SNMP v1 and v2 are not being used. These are just three of the more popular but insecure protocols that are still in heavy use across many networks today. By performing an audit of your firewalls and systems to identify these protocols, preferably using an automated tool such as AlgoSec Firewall Analyzer , you should be able to pretty quickly create a list of these protocols in use across your network. It’s also important to proactively analyze every change to your firewall policy (again preferably with an automated tool for security change management ) to make sure no one introduces insecure protocol access without proper visibility and approval. Finally, don’t feel bad telling a vendor or client that you won’t send data using these protocols. If they’re making you use them, there’s a good chance that there are other security issues going on in their network that you should be concerned about. It’s time to get rid of these protocols. They’ve had their usefulness, but the time has come for them to be sunset for good. Schedule a demo Related Articles Q1 at AlgoSec: What innovations and milestones defined our start to 2026? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 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 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

A practical AWS security checklist will help you identify and address vulnerabilities quickly. In the process, ensure your cloud security... Cloud Security The Comprehensive 9-Point AWS Security Checklist 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 2/20/23 Published A practical AWS security checklist will help you identify and address vulnerabilities quickly. In the process, ensure your cloud security posture is up-to-date with industry standards. This post will walk you through an 8-point AWS security checklist. We’ll also share the AWS security best practices and how to implement them. The AWS shared responsibility model AWS shared responsibility model is a paradigm that describes how security duties are split between AWS and its clients. This approach considers AWS a provider of cloud security architecture. And customers still protect their individual programs, data, and other assets. AWS’s Responsibility According to this model, AWS maintains the safety of the cloud structures. This encompasses the network, the hypervisor, the virtualization layer, and the physical protection of data centers. AWS also offers clients a range of safety precautions and services. They include surveillance tools, a load balancer, access restrictions, and encryption. Customer Responsibility As a customer, you are responsible for setting up AWS security measures to suit your needs. You also do this to safeguard your information, systems, programs, and operating systems. Customer responsibility entails installing reasonable access restrictions and maintaining user profiles and credentials. You can also watch for security issues in your work setting. Let’s compare the security responsibilities of AWS and its customers in a table: Comprehensive 8-point AWS security checklist 1. Identity and access management (IAM) 2. Logical access control 3. Storage and S3 4. Asset management 5. Configuration management. 6. Release and deployment management 7. Disaster recovery and backup 8. Monitoring and incidence management Identity and access management (IAM) IAM is a web service that helps you manage your company’s AWS access and security. It allows you to control who has access to your resources or what they can do with your AWS assets. Here are several IAM best practices: Replace access keys with IAM roles. Use IAM roles to provide AWS services and apps with the necessary permissions. Ensure that users only have permission to use the resources they need. Do this by implementing the concept of least privilege . Whenever communicating between a client and an ELB, use secure SSL versions. Use IAM policies to specify rights for user groups and centralized access management. Use IAM password policies to impose strict password restrictions on all users. Logical access control Logical access control involves controlling who accesses your AWS resources. This step also entails deciding the types of actions that users can perform on the resources. You can do this by allowing or denying access to specific people based on their position, job function, or other criteria. Logical access control best practices include the following: Separate sensitive information from less-sensitive information in systems and data using network partitioning Confirm user identity and restrict the usage of shared user accounts. You can use robust authentication techniques, such as MFA and biometrics. Protect remote connectivity and keep offsite access to vital systems and data to a minimum by using VPNs. Track network traffic and spot shady behavior using the intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDS/IPS). Access remote systems over unsecured networks using the secure socket shell (SSH). Storage and S3 Amazon S3 is a scalable object storage service where data may be stored and retrieved. The following are some storage and S3 best practices: Classify the data to determine access limits depending on the data’s sensitivity. Establish object lifecycle controls and versioning to control data retention and destruction. Use the Amazon Elastic Block Store (Amazon EBS) for this process. Monitor the storage and audit accessibility to your S3 buckets using Amazon S3 access logging. Handle encryption keys and encrypt confidential information in S3 using the AWS Key Management Service (KMS). Create insights on the current state and metadata of the items stored in your S3 buckets using Amazon S3 Inventory. Use Amazon RDS to create a relational database for storing critical asset information. Asset management Asset management involves tracking physical and virtual assets to protect and maintain them. The following are some asset management best practices: Determine all assets and their locations by conducting routine inventory evaluations. Delegate ownership and accountability to ensure each item is cared for and kept safe. Deploy conventional and digital safety safeguards to stop illegal access or property theft. Don’t use expired SSL/TLS certificates. Define standard settings to guarantee that all assets are safe and functional. Monitor asset consumption and performance to see possible problems and possibilities for improvement. Configuration management. Configuration management involves monitoring and maintaining server configurations, software versions, and system settings. Some configuration management best practices are: Use version control systems to handle and monitor modifications. These systems can also help you avoid misconfiguration of documents and code . Automate configuration updates and deployments to decrease user error and boost consistency. Implement security measures, such as firewalls and intrusion sensing infrastructure. These security measures will help you monitor and safeguard setups. Use configuration baselines to design and implement standard configurations throughout all platforms. Conduct frequent vulnerability inspections and penetration testing. This will enable you to discover and patch configuration-related security vulnerabilities. Release and deployment management Release and deployment management involves ensuring the secure release of software and systems. Here are some best practices for managing releases and deployments: Use version control solutions to oversee and track modifications to software code and other IT resources. Conduct extensive screening and quality assurance (QA) processes. Do this before publishing and releasing new software or updates. Use automation technologies to organize and distribute software upgrades and releases. Implement security measures like firewalls and intrusion detection systems. Disaster recovery and backup Backup and disaster recovery are essential elements of every organization’s AWS environment. AWS provides a range of services to assist clients in protecting their data. The best practices for backup and disaster recovery on AWS include: Establish recovery point objectives (RPO) and recovery time objectives (RTO). This guarantees backup and recovery operations can fulfill the company’s needs. Archive and back up data using AWS products like Amazon S3, flow logs, Amazon CloudFront and Amazon Glacier. Use AWS solutions like AWS Backup and AWS Disaster Recovery to streamline backup and recovery. Use a backup retention policy to ensure that backups are stored for the proper amount of time. Frequently test backup and recovery procedures to ensure they work as intended. Redundancy across many regions ensures crucial data is accessible during a regional outage. Watch for problems that can affect backup and disaster recovery procedures. Document disaster recovery and backup procedures. This ensures you can perform them successfully in the case of an absolute disaster. Use encryption for backups to safeguard sensitive data. Automate backup and recovery procedures so human mistakes are less likely to occur. Monitoring and incidence management Monitoring and incident management enable you to track your AWS environment and respond to any issues. Amazon web services monitoring and incident management best practices include: Monitoring API traffic and looking for any security risks with AWS CloudTrail. Use AWS CloudWatch to track logs, performance, and resource usage. Set up modifications to AWS resources and monitor for compliance problems using AWS Config. Combine and rank security warnings from various AWS user accounts and services using AWS Security groups. Using AWS Lambda and other AWS services to implement automated incident response procedures. Establish a plan for responding to incidents that specify roles and obligations and define a clear escalation path. Exercising incident response procedures frequently to make sure the strategy works. Checking for flaws in third-party applications and applying quick fixes. The use of proactive monitoring to find possible security problems before they become incidents. Train your staff on incident response best practices. This way, you ensure that they’ll respond effectively in case of an incident. Top challenges of AWS security DoS attacks A Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack poses a huge security risk to AWS systems. It involves an attacker bombarding a network with traffic from several sources. In the process, straining its resources and rendering it inaccessible to authorized users. To minimize this sort of danger, your DevOps should have a thorough plan to mitigate this sort of danger. AWS offers tools and services, such as AWS Shield, to assist fight against DDoS assaults. Outsider AWS compromise. Hackers can use several strategies to get illegal access to your AWS account. For example, they may use psychological manipulation or exploit software flaws. Once outsiders gain access, they may use data outbound techniques to steal your data. They can also initiate attacks on other crucial systems. Insider threats Insiders with permission to access your AWS resources often pose a huge risk. They can damage the system by modifying or stealing data and intellectual property. Only grant access to authorized users and limit the access level for each user. Monitor the system and detect any suspicious activities in real-time. Root account access The root account has complete control over an AWS account and has the highest degree of access.Your security team should access the root account only when necessary. Follow AWS best practices when assigning root access to IAM users and parties. This way, you can ensure that only those who should have root access can access the server. Security best practices when using AWS Set strong authentication policies. A key element of AWS security is a strict authentication policy. Implement password rules, demanding solid passwords and frequent password changes to increase security. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a recommended security measure for access control. It involves a user providing two or more factors, such as an ID, password, and token code, to gain access. Using MFA can improve the security of your account. It can also limit access to resources like Amazon Machine Images (AMIs). Differentiate security of cloud vs. in cloud Do you recall the AWS cloud shared responsibility model? The customer handles configuring and managing access to cloud services. On the other hand, AWS provides a secure cloud infrastructure. It provides physical security controls like firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and encryption. To secure your data and applications, follow the AWS shared responsibility model. For example, you can use IAM roles and policies to set up virtual private cloud VPCs. Keep compliance up to date AWS provides several compliance certifications for HIPAA, PCI DSS, and SOC 2. The certifications are essential for ensuring your organization’s compliance with industry standards. While NIST doesn’t offer certifications, it provides a framework to ensure your security posture is current. AWS data centers comply with NIST security guidelines. This allows customers to adhere to their standards. You must ensure that your AWS setup complies with all legal obligations as an AWS client. You do this by keeping up with changes to your industry’s compliance regulations. You should consider monitoring, auditing, and remedying your environment for compliance. You can use services offered by AWS, such as AWS Config and AWS CloudTrail log, to perform these tasks. You can also use Prevasio to identify and remediate non-compliance events quickly. It enables customers to ensure their compliance with industry and government standards. The final word on AWS security You need a credible AWS security checklist to ensure your environment is secure. Cloud Security Posture Management solutions produce AWS security checklists. They provide a comprehensive report to identify gaps in your security posture and processes for closing them. With a CSPM tool like Prevasio , you can audit your AWS environment. And identify misconfigurations that may lead to vulnerabilities. It comes with a vulnerability assessment and anti-malware scan that can help you detect malicious activities immediately. In the process, your AWS environment becomes secure and compliant with industry standards. Prevasio comes as cloud native application protection platform (CNAPP). It combines CSPM, CIEM and all the other important cloud security features into one tool. This way, you’ll get better visibility of your cloud security on one platform. Try Prevasio today ! Schedule a demo Related Articles Q1 at AlgoSec: What innovations and milestones defined our start to 2026? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 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 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 misconfigurations can cause devastating financial and reputational damage to organizations. Yet, such undesirable circumstances can... Cloud Security Top 5 Tips on Avoiding Cloud Misconfigurations 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 11/24/22 Published Cloud misconfigurations can cause devastating financial and reputational damage to organizations. Yet, such undesirable circumstances can be avoided by understanding common misconfiguration errors and mitigating them before malicious actors can exploit them. Ava Chawla, AlgoSec’s Global Head of Cloud Security provides some valuable insights on cloud misconfigurations and offers useful tips on how to avoid them It may come as a surprise to some, but did you know that misconfigurations were the #1 cause of cloud-security incidents in 2021 and were also responsible for 65-70% of cloud-security challenges in 2020? Cloud Misconfigurations: The Insidious yet Serious Threat Clearly, misconfigurations are a common cause of security loopholes. These security loopholes – usually the result of oversights, errors, or poor configuration choices by inexperienced or careless users – often result in cyberattacks and the exposure of mission-critical information. Most cloud environments are saturated with misconfigurations, with 99% of them going unseen. As a result, they become vulnerable to many cyberthreats, including malware, ransomware, and insider threats. Threat actors may also exploit the vulnerabilities caused by misconfigurations to access enterprise networks, compromise assets, or exfiltrate sensitive data. So why are cloud misconfigurations such a serious threat in cloud environments? And, how can your organization avoid these errors and keep your cloud environment safe from the bad guys? Jarring Data Breaches Resulting from Cloud Misconfigurations: More than Food for Thought In 2018 and 2019 , misconfigurations caused hundreds of data breaches that cost companies a whopping $5 trillion. Threat actors also took advantage of misconfigurations to attack many organizations in 2020. An exposed database is a perfect example of how misconfiguration errors like forgetting to password-protect critical cloud assets can create huge security risks for companies. In early 2020, a database belonging to cosmetics giant Estée Lauder that contained over 440 million records ended up online – all because it was not password-protected. How bad was this oversight? It allowed malicious actors to access its sensitive contents, such as email addresses, middleware records, references to internal documents, and information about company IP addresses and ports. And misconfiguration-related breaches didn’t stop in 2021. In May of that year, Cognyte left a database unsecured, leading to the online exposure of 5 billion records, including names, passwords, and email addresses. The incident is particularly ironic because Cognyte is a cyber-intelligence service that alerts users to potential data breaches. So how can your organization avoid suffering the same fates as Estée Lauder and Cognyte? By preventing misconfiguration errors. How to Eliminate Common Misconfiguration Errors? 1) One of the most common cloud misconfiguration errors is not implementing monitoring . A failure to monitor the cloud environment creates huge security risks because the organization can’t even know that there’s a threat, much less mitigate it. Solution: By integrating monitoring and logging tools into your entire cloud estate, you can keep an eye on all the activity happening within it. More importantly, you can identify suspicious or malicious actions, and act early to mitigate threats and prevent serious security incidents. An example of a monitoring tool is CloudTrail in the AWS Cloud. 2) The second-biggest misconfiguration risk stems from overly permissive access settings. Enterprise teams frequently forget to change the default settings or make the settings overly-permissive, resulting in critical assets being exposed to the Internet and to threat actors lurking in cyberspace. 3) Another misconfiguration mistake is mismanaging identity and access management (IAM) roles and permissions. Unrestricted access, particularly admin-level access, significantly increases the probability of breaches. The compromise of this user could allow a malicious actor to exploit the entire network and its sensitive data. 4) Mismanaged secrets are another common misconfiguration mistake that can lead to attacks and breaches. Secrets like passwords, API keys, encryption keys, and access tokens are the keys to your (cloud) kingdom, and their compromise or theft can severely damage your enterprise. Solution: You can avoid mistakes #2, #3 and #4 by granting least-privilege access (also known as the principle of least privilege) and implementing detailed security policies, standards, and procedures for IAM, secrets management, remote access, etc. 5) The fifth misconfiguration error is not patching vulnerabilities. Patch management pitfalls include pushing out updates too quickly and devices going offline. But the most significant risk when patch management doesn’t take place, not surprisingly, is leaving a system vulnerable to malicious actors. Solution: Proactively scanning your cloud environment is vital to find the vulnerabilities that can be exploited by threat actors to elevate their privileges in your network and execute remote attacks. Conclusion and Next Steps Cloud misconfigurations are the most common cause of security incidents in the cloud. Fortunately, most of them are avoidable. If you’ve found this action-packed guide a valuable read, then you’re on the right path to reaching a solution that includes protecting your most valuable assets, securing the connectivity of your most critical business applications, and streamlining the management of your entire multi cloud environment. Prevasio can help you get there faster. Schedule a demo Related Articles Q1 at AlgoSec: What innovations and milestones defined our start to 2026? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 2025 in review: What innovations and milestones defined AlgoSec’s transformative year in 2025? 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14 Step Checklist for a Flawless Network Security Audit If security policies aren’t periodically updated to meet modern threat demands, organizations risk introducing vulnerabilities into their IT security posture. Comprehensive audit reports help security leaders gain in-depth visibility into their organization’s cybersecurity strategy and assess the resilience of its network infrastructure. Network Security Audit Checklist: What Does Your IT Security Audit Need to Cover? Cybersecurity... Cyber Attacks & Incident Response 14 Step Checklist for a Flawless Network Security Audit 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 12/20/23 Published 14 Step Checklist for a Flawless Network Security Audit If security policies aren’t periodically updated to meet modern threat demands, organizations risk introducing vulnerabilities into their IT security posture. Comprehensive audit reports help security leaders gain in-depth visibility into their organization’s cybersecurity strategy and assess the resilience of its network infrastructure . Network Security Audit Checklist: What Does Your IT Security Audit Need to Cover? Cybersecurity audits demand an extensive overview of the organization’s security posture and risk profile. It requires gathering and analyzing network data to identify security vulnerabilities, monitor access controls, and assess potential threats. It also includes an overview of operational security practices, penetration testing results, and incident response playbooks . Ultimately, comprehensive risk assessment data should guide the organization towards improving its security measures and preventing hackers from breaching critical data and assets. A complete network security audit should include provide in-depth visibility into the following: Security controls and their implementation. The availability of network devices and access points. High-impact security risks and their potential consequences. The effectiveness of information security management processes. Performance data on security systems and network assets like firewalls. What Do Network Security Audits Help You Achieve? Conducting in-depth security audits helps security leaders identify data breach risks and develop plans for managing those risks. Audit results play an incredibly important role in preventative risk management and in the remediation of cyberattacks. Organizations that regularly conduct these kinds of assessments are better equipped to address the security weaknesses that might arise when onboarding new users, adding new endpoints to the network, or installing new apps. Network audits and security assessments can also help you achieve other important goals as well, such as: Identifying network performance issues and addressing them to improve overall performance. Unlocking opportunities to leverage network assets and mobile devices more efficiently. Demonstrating compliance with regulatory frameworks like the NIST Cybersecurity Framework 1.1 , ISO 27001 and 27002 , and SOC 2 Type 2 . Present security performance information to core stakeholders to demonstrate the value of security policies and controls. Update system security processes to address new vulnerabilities and potential threats. Recommended Read: 20 Best Network Security Solutions + FAQs How to Perform a Network Security Audit The network audit process involves collecting data, analyzing it to identify potential threats, and using it to compile a formal audit report. Depending on the size and complexity of the organization, this audit may be performed by an individual network analyst, a third-party IT security audit specialist, or an entire team of internal security professionals. These are the steps that make up a typical network audit: 1. Plan for the audit and inform everyone involved The audit process will involve many different types of technical tasks. The specific steps you take will change depending on the complexity of your network and the specialist talent required to assess data security in different IT contexts. You will need to verify authentication protocols, operating system security, password policies, and more. It’s rare for an individual security auditor to have all the technical skills necessary to do this on every app, device, and platform an organization uses. In most cases, you’ll need to work with other employees, third-party service providers, and other stakeholders to obtain the data you need. 2. Document all procedures and processes associated with the audit Recording every process that takes place during the audit is crucial. When preparing your final report, you may want to go back and verify some of the processes that took place to ensure the fidelity and accuracy of your data. If methodological errors creep into your data, they can skew your final report’s findings and end up damaging your ability to secure sensitive data correctly. Documentation is especially important in network security audits because you are looking for systematic flaws in the way user accounts, network assets, and security systems interact with one another. These flaws may not reveal themselves without clear documentation. 3. Review standard operating procedures and how they are managed Protecting sensitive information and critical network assets from security threats takes more than sophisticated technology. It also requires strict adherence to security policies and best practices from human users. Security audits should verify that employees and third-party providers are observing security policies in their operating procedures, and provide evidence attesting to that fact. Reviewing the organization’s procedure management system should provide key insight into whether users are following procedures or not. If they are not, there is a high risk of shadow IT processes leading to phishing attacks and security breaches. This should be reported so that the security team can find ways to remediate these threats. 4. Assess the training logs and operations Human error is behind eight out of ten cyberattacks . All customer-facing employees should be trained to detect phishing and social engineering attacks, and internal staff should know how to prevent malware from infecting the network. Every employee should understand how their role contributes to the security profile of the organization as a whole. Verifying authentication processes, permissions, and password policy is also part of employee training. Every user account should be protected by a consistent policy that follows the latest guidelines for beating brute force and dictionary-based credential attacks. Data encryption policies should keep sensitive login credentials secure even if hackers successfully compromise network assets. 5. Confirm the security patches for network software are up-to-date Start by creating a list of every software application used on the network. This can be a long, time-consuming manual process, but there are automated vulnerability scanning solutions that can help you automate this step. You will have to investigate each item on the list and determine whether new security patches are installed in a reasonably tight time frame. Keep in mind that cybercriminals often exploit security patch releases by scanning for organizations that delay installing new patches. Patch release changelogs essentially broadcast known vulnerabilities directly to hackers, so exploiting late patch installations is a trivial task. 6. Confirm the penetration testing policy and process is sufficient Penetration testing is one of the best ways to identify vulnerabilities on a network. If your organization has invested in pentesting initiatives, you will need to review and confirm its policies as part of the network security audit process. If you haven’t yet invested in pentesting, you may wish to outline a potential path for incorporating it into your security processes here. You may wish to verify the size and scope of your pentesting processes at this point. Assess some of the vulnerabilities you have uncovered and determine whether the organization is investing the appropriate resources into pentesting, or whether other security initiatives should take precedence. 7. Identify gaps and misconfigurations in your firewall policies Your organization’s firewalls play an important role managing traffic between network assets. Firewall rules should not be static. They must be continuously updated to meet the needs of the organization as it changes and grows. These devices can enforce bring your own device (BYOD) mobile policies, prevent distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, and contribute to proper network segmentation. Manually configuring firewall policies can be costly and time-consuming. Consider using an automated change management platform like AlgoSec Horizon Security Analyzer to rapidly identify potential vulnerabilities in your firewall rules. Document any changes you make and include those updates in your report. 8. Ensure all sensitive and confidential data is stored securely Every organization has to store some form of sensitive or confidential data. A major goal of network security audits is making sure this data is kept separate from non-sensitive data and protected by a higher standard of security. This data includes individuals’ names, addresses, phone numbers, financial information, and government ID data. Access to sensitive data should be only allowed when critical for business purposes, and every action involving sensitive data should generate comprehensive logs. The data itself should be encrypted so that even if attackers successfully breach the database, they won’t be able to use the data itself. It may also be worth considering an enterprise data backup solution to provide a failsafe in the event of a disaster. 9. Encrypt the hard disks on any company laptops Portable devices like laptops should not generally hold sensitive data. However, many employees can’t work without processing some amount of sensitive data and storing it on the local hard drive. This is usually less than critical data, but it can still contribute to a cyberattack if it falls into the wrong hands. Encrypting laptop hard disks can help prevent that from happening. If all the data on the device is encrypted, then the organization can avoid triggering a crisis-level security incident every time an employee misplaces or loses a company device. 10. Check the security of your wireless networks Wireless network security is vital for preventing hackers from conducting phishing attacks against employees and on-premises customers. If your organization’s Wi-Fi network is not secured, hackers can spoof the network and trick users into giving up vital information without their knowledge. All modern Wi-Fi equipment supports multiple security protocols. Avoid WEP and WPA – these are old protocols with well-known security vulnerabilities – and make sure your networks are using WPA2. If the organization has equipment that does not support WPA2, you must upgrade the equipment. 11. Scan for and identify any unauthorized access points Your network may have access points that were never set up or approved by the organization. Cybercriminals can use these unauthorized access points to steal data without triggering exfiltration alerts. Additional Wi-Fi frequencies are a common culprit here – your private Wi-Fi network may be configured to use the 2.4 GHz band even though you have equipment that supports 5 GHz frequencies. If someone sets up an access point on the 5 GHz frequency, you can easily overlook it. Data breaches can occur over a wide variety of similar media. USB and Bluetooth-enabled devices have introduced malware into corporate networks in the past. Your security audit should cover as many of these communication channels as possible. 12. Review the event log monitoring process The best way to verify security events is by analyzing the logs generated by network assets as they respond to user interactions. These logs can tell you who accessed sensitive data and report where and when that access took place. Security analysts can connect log data across applications to contextualize security incidents and understand how they took place. The problem is that even a small organization with a simple network can generate an enormous volume of log data every day. Your security audit should investigate the event log monitoring process and look for opportunities to streamline it. You may consider implementing a security information and event management (SIEM) platform or improving your existing one. 13. Compile a comprehensive report Once you’ve gathered all the relevant data and included your insight into the organization’s security posture, you are ready to create your audit report. This report should compile all of your findings into a single well-organized document, with evidence supporting the claims you make and clear recommendations for improving operational security moving forward. Consider creating customized data visualizations to showcase how key performance metrics change over time. The way you choose to communicate data can have a major impact on the way it is received, potentially convincing key stakeholders to implement the changes you suggest. 14. Send the final report to appropriate stakeholders and other key parties. Once you’ve finished your network security audit, you are ready to send it to your organization’s leaders and any other stakeholders who have an interest in your findings. Be prepared to explain your recommendations and justify the methods you used to collect and analyze the organization’s security data. The more confident you are in the accuracy of your findings, the better-equipped you’ll be to present them if called upon. Schedule a demo Related Articles Q1 at AlgoSec: What innovations and milestones defined our start to 2026? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 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 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

Prof. Avishai Wool discusses the complexities of mergers and acquisitions for application management and how organizations can securely... Security Policy Management Managing network connectivity during mergers and acquisitions Prof. Avishai Wool 2 min read Prof. Avishai Wool 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 7/22/21 Published Prof. Avishai Wool discusses the complexities of mergers and acquisitions for application management and how organizations can securely navigate the transition It comes as no surprise that the number of completed Mergers and Acquisitions (M&As) dropped significantly during the early stages of the pandemic as businesses closed ranks and focused on surviving rather than thriving. However, as we start to find some reprieve, many experts forecast that we’ll see an upturn in activity. In fact, by the end of 2020, M&A experienced a sudden surge and finished the year with only a 3% decline on 2019 levels. Acquiring companies is more than just writing a cheque. There are hundreds of things to consider both big and small, from infrastructure to staffing, which can make or break a merger. With that in mind, what do businesses need to do in order to ensure a secure and successful transition? When two worlds collide For many businesses, a merger or acquisition is highly charged. There’s often excitement about new beginnings mixed with trepidation about major business changes, not least when it comes to IT security. Mergers and acquisitions are like two planets colliding, each with their own intricate ecosystem. You have two enterprises running complex IT infrastructures with hundreds if not thousands of applications that don’t just simply integrate together. More often than not they perform replicated functions, which implies that some need to be used in parallel, while others need to be decommissioned and removed. This means amending, altering, and updating thousands of policies to accommodate new connections, applications, servers, and firewalls without creating IT security risks or outages. In essence, from an IT security perspective, a merger or acquisition is a highly complicated project that, if not planned and implemented properly, can have a long-term impact on business operations. Migrating and merging infrastructures One thing a business will need before it can even start the M&A process is an exhaustive inventory of all business applications spanning both businesses. An auto-discovery tool can assist here, collecting data from any application that is active on the network and adding it to a list. This should allow the main business to create a map of network connectivity flows which will form the cornerstone of the migration from an application perspective. Next comes security. A vulnerability assessment should be carried across both enterprise networks to identify any business-critical applications that may be put at risk. This assessment will give the main business the ability to effectively ‘rank’ applications and devices in terms of risk and necessity, allowing for priority lists to be created. This will help SecOps focus their efforts on crucial areas of the business that contain sensitive customer data, for instance. By following these steps you’ll get a clear organizational view of the entire enterprise environment and be able to identify and map all the critical business applications, linking vulnerabilities and cyber risks to specific applications and prioritize remediation actions based on business-driven needs. The power of automation While the steps outlined above will give you with an accurate picture of your IT topology and its business risk, this is only the first half of the story. Now you need to update security policies to support changes to business applications. Automation is critical when it comes to maintaining security during a merger or acquisition. An alarming number of data breaches are due to firewall misconfigurations, often resulting from attempts to change policies manually in a complex network environment. This danger increases with M&A, because the two merging enterprises likely have different firewall setups in place, often mixing traditional with next-generation firewalls or firewalls that come from different vendors. Automation is therefore essential to ensure the firewall change management process is handled effectively and securely with minimal risk of misconfigurations. Achieving true Zero-Touch automation in the network security domain is not an easy task but over time, you can let your automation solution run handsfree as you conduct more changes and gain trust through increasing automation levels step by step. Our Security Management Solution enables IT and security teams to manage and control all their security devices – from cloud controls in public clouds, SDNs, and on-premise firewalls from one single console. With AlgoSec you can automate time-consuming security policy changes and proactively assess risk to ensure continuous compliance. It is our business-driven approach to security policy management that enables organizations to reduce business risk, ensure security and continuous compliance, and drive business agility. Maintaining security throughout the transition A merger or acquisition presents a range of IT challenges but ensuring business applications can continue to run securely throughout the transition is critical. If you take an application centric approach and utilize automation, you will be in the best position for the merger/migration and will ultimately drive long term success. To learn more or speak to one of our security experts, schedule your personal demo . Schedule a demo Related Articles Q1 at AlgoSec: What innovations and milestones defined our start to 2026? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 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 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

Tal Dayan, security expert for AlgoSec, discusses the secret to passing audits seamlessly and how to introduce automated compliance... Auditing and Compliance Compliance Made Easy: How to improve your risk posture with automated audits Tal Dayan 2 min read Tal Dayan 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 4/29/21 Published Tal Dayan, security expert for AlgoSec, discusses the secret to passing audits seamlessly and how to introduce automated compliance Compliance standards come in many different shapes and sizes. Some organizations set their own internal policies, while others are subject to regimented global frameworks such as PCI DSS , which protects customers’ card payment details; SOX to safeguard financial information or HIPAA , which protects patients’ healthcare data. Regardless of which industry you operate in, regular auditing is key to ensuring your business retains its risk posture whilst also remaining compliant. The problem is that running manual risk and security audits can be a long, drawn-out, and tedious affair. A 2020 report from Coalfire and Omdia  found that for the majority of organizations, growing compliance obligations are now consuming 40% or more of IT security budgets and threaten to become an unsustainable cost.  The report suggests two reasons for this growing compliance burden.  First, compliance standards are changing from point-in-time reviews to continuous, outcome-based requirements. Second, the ongoing cyber-skills shortage is stretching organizations’ abilities to keep up with compliance requirements. This means businesses tend to leave them until the last moment, leading to a rushed audit that isn’t as thorough as it could be, putting your business at increased risk of a penalty fine or, worse, a data breach that could jeopardize the entire organization. The auditing process itself consists of a set of requirements that must be created for organizations to measure themselves against. Each rule must be manually analyzed and simulated before it can be implemented and used in the real world. As if that wasn’t time-consuming enough, every single edit to a rule must also be logged meticulously. That is why automation plays a key role in the auditing process. By striking the right balance between automated and manual processes, your business can achieve continuous compliance and produce audit reports seamlessly. Here is a six-step strategy that can set your business on the path to sustainable and successful ongoing auditing preservation: Step 1: Gather information This step will be the most arduous but once completed it will become much easier to sustain. This is when you’ll need to gather things like security policies, firewall access logs, documents from previous audits and firewall vendor information – effectively everything you’d normally factor into a manual security audit. Step 2: Define a clear change management process A good change management process is essential to ensure traceability and accountability when it comes to firewall changes. This process should confirm that every change is properly authorized and logged as and when it occurs, providing a picture of historical changes and approvals. Step 3: Audit physical & OS security With the pandemic causing a surge in the number of remote workers and devices used, businesses must take extra care to certify that every endpoint is secured and up-to-date with relevant security patches. Crucially, firewall and management services should also be physically protected, with only designated personnel permitted to access them. Step 4: Clean up & organize rule base As with every process, the tidier it is, the more efficient it is. Document rules and naming conventions should be enforced to ensure the rule base is as organized as possible, with identical rules consolidated to keep things concise. Step 5: Assess & remediate risk Now it’s time to assess each rule and identify those that are particularly risky and prioritize them by severity. Are there any that violate corporate security policies? Do some have “ANY” and a permissive action? Make a list of these rules and analyze them to prepare plans for remediation and compliance. Step 6: Continuity & optimization Now it’s time to simply hone the first five steps and make these processes as regular and streamlined as possible. By following the above steps and building out your own process, you can make day-to-day compliance and auditing much more manageable. Not only will you improve your compliance score, you’ll also be able to maintain a sustainable level of compliance without the usual disruption and hard labor caused by cumbersome and expensive manual processes. To find out more about auditing automation and how you can master compliance, watch my recent webinar and visit our firewall auditing and compliance page. Schedule a demo Related Articles Q1 at AlgoSec: What innovations and milestones defined our start to 2026? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 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 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

Multi-cloud environments create complex IT architectures that are hard to secure. Although cloud computing creates numerous advantages... Cloud Security 3 Proven Tips to Finding the Right CSPM Solution 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 11/24/22 Published Multi-cloud environments create complex IT architectures that are hard to secure. Although cloud computing creates numerous advantages for companies, it also increases the risk of data breaches. Did you know that you can mitigate these risks with a CSPM? Rony Moshkovitch, Prevasio’s co-founder, discusses why modern organizations need to opt for a CSPM solution when migrating to the cloud and also offers three powerful tips to finding and implementing the right one. Cloud Security Can Get Messy if You Let it A cloud-based IT infrastructure can lower your IT costs, boost your agility, flexibility, and scalability, and enhance business resilience. These great advantages notwithstanding, the cloud also has one serious drawback: it is not easy to secure. When you move from an on-premise infrastructure to the cloud, the size of your digital footprint expands. This can attract hackers on the prowl who are looking for the first opportunity to compromise your assets or steal your data. Cloud security solutions include multiple elements that must be managed and protected, such as microservices, containers, and serverless functions. These elements increase cloud complexity, reduce visibility into the cloud estate, and make it harder to secure. For all these reasons, security issues arise in the cloud, increasing the risk of breaches that may result in financial losses, legal liabilities, or reputational damage. To protect the complex and fluid cloud environment, sophisticated automation is essential. Enter cloud security posture management. How to Identify and Implement the Right CSPM Solution 1) It must offer a flat learning curve to accelerate time to value: The CSPM solution can be easy to implement, adopt, and use. It should not burden your security team. Rather, it should simplify cloud security by providing non-intrusive, agentless scans of all cloud accounts, services, and assets. It should also provide actionable information in a single-pane-of-glass view that clearly reveals what needs to be remediated in order to strengthen your cloud security posture. In addition, the solution should generate reports that are easy to understand and share. 2) It must support non-intrusive, agentless, static and dynamic analyses: Some CSPM solutions only support static scans, leaving dynamic scans to other intrusive solutions. The problem with the latter is that they require agents to be deployed, managed, and updated for every scan, increasing the organization’s technical debt and forcing security teams to spend expensive (and scarce) resources on solution management. The best way to minimize the debt and the management burden on security teams is to choose a CSPM that can scan for threats in an agentless manner. It should also perform agentless dynamic analyses on all container applications and images that can reveal valuable information about exposed network ports and other risks. 3) It must be reasonably priced: CSPM is important but it shouldn’t burn a hole in your pocket. The solution should fit your security budget and match your organization’s size, cloud environment complexity, and cloud asset usage. Also, look for a vendor that provides a transparent license model and dynamic security features instead of just dynamic, expensive billing (that could reduce your ability to control your cloud costs). Conclusion and next steps The global CSPM market is set to double from $4.2 billion in 2022 to $8.6 billion by 2027. Already, many CSPM vendors and solutions are available. In order to select the best solution for your organization, make sure to consider the three tips discussed here. Need more tailored advice about the security needs of your enterprise cloud? Schedule a demo Related Articles Q1 at AlgoSec: What innovations and milestones defined our start to 2026? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 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 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