Assessing the Value of Network Segmentation from a Business Application Perspective Download PDF Download PDF Add a Title Add a Title Add a Title Schedule time with one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Continue

Learn about the nuances of cloud network security and why it’s a strategic imperative. Cloud network security strategic imperative Select a size Which network Can AlgoSec be used for continuous compliance monitoring? Yes, AlgoSec supports continuous compliance monitoring. As organizations adapt their security policies to meet emerging threats and address new vulnerabilities, they must constantly verify these changes against the compliance frameworks they subscribe to. AlgoSec can generate risk assessment reports and conduct internal audits on-demand, allowing compliance officers to monitor compliance performance in real-time. Security professionals can also use AlgoSec to preview and simulate proposed changes to the organization’s security policies. This gives compliance officers a valuable degree of lead-time before planned changes impact regulatory guidelines and allows for continuous real-time monitoring. Cloud network security explained What is cloud network security? Core components of cloud network security Why is cloud network security critical? Recommendations for cloud network security How AlgoSec tackles complex cloud network security challenges Conclusion FAQs Get the latest insights from the experts Schedule time with one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Continue

Best practices for network security governance in AWS and hybrid network environments Webinars Cut the Clutter with ChatOps & Improve Network Security IT teams’ alerts are overflowing with questions about network status from coworkers. Say no to overwhelming alerts in multiple applications. There is a better way to get critical answers about the state of your network: ChatOps. ChatOps, using your existing chat tools such as Slack or Microsoft Teams, can get the crucial questions answered, and not have to track multiple apps separately. In this webinar, Dania Ben Peretz, Product Manager at AlgoSec, demonstrates the latest in AlgoBot and show how to: Get immediate answers to pressing network traffic questions Get immediate answers about whether your business applications are secure Decrease the time it takes to resolve critical security incidents Empower your business and application teams to drive innovation Ensure that your network and security teams are focusing on the most critical issues Efficiently manage security by transparently collaborating with IT, Security, Network and DevOps teams All while saving time, reducing resources, and cutting the clutter. May 13, 2020 Dania Ben Peretz Product Manager Relevant resources AlgoBot: Your Network Security Policy Management Assistant Watch Video Boosting Network Security with ChatOps Keep Reading A Siri for network security: the benefits of AlgoBot and ChatOps Keep Reading Choose a better way to manage your network Choose a better way to manage your network Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Continue

Update to AlgoSec’s Network Security Management Suite enhances support for leading vendors and extends Cisco integration, giving unrivalled application visibility, change automation and control AlgoSec A30.10 Delivers Enhanced Cloud, SDN and Network Security Management for Cisco ACI, Tetration & FirePower, Microsoft Azure, F5 AFM and Juniper Junos Space Update to AlgoSec’s Network Security Management Suite enhances support for leading vendors and extends Cisco integration, giving unrivalled application visibility, change automation and control April 2, 2020 Speak to one of our experts RIDGEFIELD PARK, N.J., April 2, 2020 – AlgoSec , the leading provider of business-driven network security management solutions, has released the version A30.10 update of its core Network Security Management Suite, which offers new cloud security management capabilities and a range of enhanced features that further extend its technology ecosystem integrations. The AlgoSec Security Management Suite (ASMS) A30.10 builds on A30’s market-leading automation capabilities to enable seamless, zero-touch security management across SDN, cloud and on-premise networks. This gives enterprises the most comprehensive visibility and control over security across their entire hybrid environment. Key features in ASMS A30.10 include: Extended support for Cisco ACI, Tetration and FirePower ASMS A30.10 offers enhanced support for Cisco solutions, including AlgoSec Horizon AppViz integration with Cisco Tetration, giving enhanced application visibility and network auto-discovery to dramatically accelerate identification and mapping of the network attributes and rules that support business-critical applications. The update also extends Cisco ACI Network Map modeling and Visibility. AlgoSec provide accurate and detailed traffic simulation query results and enables accurate intelligent automation for complex network security changes. ASMS now also provides Baseline Compliance reporting for Cisco Firepower devices. AlgoSec Horizon Security Analyzer Administrators can select a specific baseline profile, either the one provided by AlgoSec out-of-the box, a modified version, or they can create their own custom profile. Enhanced automation for F5 AFM and Juniper Junos Space ASMS A30.10 provides enhanced automation through Horizon FireFlow support for F5 AFM devices and several Juniper Junos Space enhancements including: – ActiveChange support for Junos Space: ActiveChange enables users to automatically implement work order recommendations via the Juniper Junos Space integration, directly from Horizon FireFlow. – Enhances Granularity support of Virtual Routers, VRFs, and Secure Wires for a greater level of route analysis and accurate automation design. Technology ecosystem openness ASMS A30.10 offers increased seamless migrations to virtual appliances, AlgoSec hardware appliances, or Amazon Web Services/Microsoft Azure instances. Easy device relocation also enables system administrators on distributed architectures to relocate devices across nodes. The update carries ASMS API improvements, including enhanced Swagger support, enabling the execution of API request calls and access lists of request parameters directly from Swagger. ASMS A30.10 also introduces new graphs and dashboards in the AlgoSec Reporting Tool (ART), which have an executive focus. New multi-cloud capabilities ASMS A30.10 offers streamlined access to CloudFlow, providing instant visibility, risk detection, and mitigation for cloud misconfigurations and simplifies network security policies with central management and cleanup capabilities. “As organizations accelerate their digital transformation initiatives, they need the ability to make changes to their core business applications quickly and without compromising security across on-premise, SDN and cloud environments. This means IT and security teams must have holistic visibility and granular control over their entire network infrastructure in order to manage these processes,” said Eran Shiff, Vice President, Product, of AlgoSec. “The new features in AlgoSec A30.10 make it even easier for these teams to quickly plan, check and automatically implement changes across their organization’s entire environment, to maximize business agility while strengthening their security and compliance postures.” AlgoSec’s ASMS A30.10 is generally available. About AlgoSec The leading provider of business-driven network security management solutions, AlgoSec helps the world’s largest organizations align security with their mission-critical business processes. With AlgoSec, users can discover, map and migrate business application connectivity, proactively analyze risk from the business perspective, tie cyber-attacks to business processes and intelligently automate network security changes with zero touch – across their cloud, SDN and on-premise networks.Over 1,800 enterprises , including 20 of the Fortune 50, utilize AlgoSec’s solutions to make their organizations more agile, more secure and more compliant – all the time. Since 2005, AlgoSec has shown its commitment to customer satisfaction with the industry’s only money-back guarantee . All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners. *** Media Contacts:Tsippi [email protected] Craig CowardContext Public [email protected]+44 (0)1625 511 966

AlgoSec & Palo Alto Networks AlgoSec seamlessly integrates with Palo Alto Networks NGFWs to automate application and user aware security policy management and ensure that Palo Alto Networks’ devices are properly configured. AlgoSec supports the entire security policy management lifecycle — from application connectivity discovery, through ongoing management and compliance, to rule recertification and secure decommissioning. Solution brief View webinar How to Regulatory compliance Learn how to prepare for a regulatory audit Risk Assessment Learn how to assess risk on your Palo Alto devices with AlgoSec Palo Alto Ignite See how Palo Alto Users Can Benefit from AlgoSec Schedule time with one of our experts Explore the partnership Enhance Your Palo Alto Networks Environment With AlgoSec Read document Palo Alto Networks and AlgoSec Solution Brochure Read document Protecting Your Network’s Precious Jewels with Micro-Segmentation, Kyle Wickert, AlgoSec Watch Download these resources to discover more about our partnership with Palo Alto Networks

Learn how application-centric firewall rule recertification connects rules to applications, owners, business need, and audit evidence before access changes. What is application-centric firewall rule recertification? What is application-centric firewall rule recertification and why is it better than rule-based review? During a recurring firewall review, application owners are often sent a spreadsheet filled with rule IDs, source and destination objects, services, comments, and hit counts. Then they are asked to certify access they cannot easily connect to a business service. A rule may look inactive yet support a disaster-recovery path. It may also be shared by several applications, so one yes-or-no answer can keep obsolete access or remove something another team still needs. Application-centric firewall rule recertification changes the unit of review. Instead of treating firewall rules as isolated technical objects, teams review the applications and connectivity flows those rules support. They combine ownership, business justification, usage, dependencies, risk, exceptions, and change history to decide which flows should be approved, changed, or removed. The decision is then translated into governed policy changes and retained as evidence for audit readiness. Schedule a Demo Why rule-by-rule recertification loses business context Traditional recertification starts with the rule. That makes sense to a firewall administrator, but it is often the wrong starting point for an application owner. A row containing source 10.20.4.0/24, destination db-prod-02, and TCP 1521 does not explain which application needs the connection, whether the traffic is seasonal, or what would break if access were narrowed. Hit counts and comments help, but they do not provide a decision by themselves. A quiet rule may be reserved for failover or month-end processing. A busy rule may still be broader than the application requires. Comments can be outdated, and the listed owner may have moved roles. At enterprise scale, network security management spans multiple devices, records, and teams. These gaps turn a scheduled review into an investigation across tickets, configuration records, and several conversations. Shared rules make the problem harder. One rule might allow flows for a billing application, a reporting service, and a migration tool. If the migration is finished, the right outcome may be to remove only the obsolete source, destination, or service combination. The business decision belongs at the flow level; the rule remains the enforcement object. Schedule a Demo What changes when applications and flows become the unit of review An application-centric approach starts with the service the business still needs. It connects that service to its owner, required connectivity flows, underlying rules, usage evidence, and relevant risk or exception data. This is closely related to application connectivity management : teams need to understand which connections support the application before a reviewer approves a change. That shift gives stakeholders a common language. Application owners confirm business need. Security and network teams assess scope and impact. Compliance teams see who reviewed the access and what evidence supported the decision. Change owners can then convert an approved decision into a controlled policy update. Rule-by-rule review vs. application-centric recertification Review dimension Rule-by-rule review Application-centric recertification Unit of review One firewall rule or policy object The application and its required connectivity flows Primary question Is the rule present, used, and valid? Which application needs each flow, who owns it, and why? Evidence Rule fields, comments, hit counts, and configuration Ownership, business need, traffic, dependencies, risk, exceptions, expiry, and history Decision Reapprove or flag the rule for cleanup Approve, change, or remove flows, then govern the resulting policy change Audit record Rule status and reviewer response Application, owner, flow, reason, decision, exception, change, and evidence A rule-centric campaign can produce a status for each rule while still leaving engineers to reconstruct what the reviewer meant. An application-centric campaign records which flows remain justified and what should happen next. That makes the result more useful for firewall policy cleanup without treating a cleanup candidate as authorized for removal. Schedule a Demo How an application-centric recertification cycle works A practical cycle moves through six connected stages: scope the review, map relationships, enrich the record, route it to accountable reviewers, record flow-level decisions, and implement approved changes while preserving evidence. Automation can support repetitive work, but ownership and impact decisions remain governed. Map applications, connectivity flows, rules, and owners Start by defining the applications, environments, policies, or review period in scope. Map each application to its required source, destination, service, protocol, and access path, then associate those flows with the rules or cloud controls that enforce them. Because one rule may serve several applications, the model needs to support many-to-many relationships rather than assign one rule to one owner. Roles also need context. The application owner explains why a connection exists; the firewall or network team understands how it is implemented. Risk or compliance owners may need to review sensitive zones, privileged services, or exceptions. Clear accountability reduces repeated outreach and exposes ownership gaps early. Review evidence and record flow-level decisions Before asking for a decision, enrich the record with recent and historical traffic, application status, business justification, asset criticality, exposure, exceptions, expiration dates, prior decisions, and pending changes. Usage is evidence, not a verdict. A flow that looks quiet during a short observation window may be needed for quarterly processing or disaster recovery. Reviewers can approve a flow as defined, request that it be narrowed or corrected, remove it because the business need has ended, or document an exception with an owner and review date. Different flows on a shared rule can receive different decisions. Routing, reminders, deadlines, and decision tracking can be automated while accountable people make the business and risk judgment. Govern policy changes and preserve the audit trail A recertification decision is not the same as a deployed firewall change. Approved modifications should move through security policy change management with impact analysis, required approvals, implementation planning, validation, and rollback where appropriate. The final record should connect the application and flow to the reviewer, decision, exception, change ticket, implementation result, and retained evidence. That trail supports continuous compliance for firewall and network security policies because teams can show how access was reviewed and what happened afterward. It also reduces the effort of rebuilding the story during an audit. The evidence supports audit readiness; it does not replace the organization's responsibility to interpret its policies and applicable requirements. Schedule a Demo Where teams need extra care Some access looks unnecessary until the business calendar is considered. A financial-close flow may run only a few times a year, while a disaster-recovery connection may stay quiet until a test or incident. Before narrowing it, reviewers should confirm the scenario, owner, last successful use, and expected test cadence. Decommissioning also requires flow-level precision. If an old reporting application and a current customer portal share one rule, retiring the reporting application does not make the rule obsolete. The approved change may remove one source object or service while preserving the portal's path. Temporary vendor access and migration exceptions need the same discipline: an owner, business reason, expiration date, and governed removal when the work ends. Schedule a Demo How AlgoSec Horizon supports application-centric recertification AlgoSec Horizon helps teams connect firewall rules to the applications, connectivity flows, owners, risk, review decisions, and audit evidence those rules support. This platform view helps security, network, application, compliance, and audit stakeholders move from a rule list to a shared understanding of business access across hybrid environments. Within a recertification cycle, the platform supports the context needed to review whether an application still exists, whether a flow remains required, who owns the decision, and whether access should be approved, changed, or removed. It also helps connect review outcomes to governed change work and retained evidence. In practice, that can reduce manual investigation, support more consistent review campaigns, strengthen audit readiness, and help teams make better risk decisions without handing approval to an automated process. Schedule a Demo Frequently asked questions Is application-centric recertification the same as firewall policy cleanup? No. Recertification produces an accountable decision about whether access is still justified and appropriately scoped. Cleanup implements approved changes, such as removing an obsolete flow, narrowing an object, or retiring a rule through a governed process. Can firewall rule recertification be automated? Parts of it can. Automation can collect evidence, map records, route reviews, send reminders, track deadlines, and create change work. Application owners and security stakeholders still need to validate business need, impact, risk, and exceptions, especially for sensitive or shared access. How often should firewall rules be recertified? Use a cadence based on internal policy, access risk, application criticality, change frequency, and applicable requirements. High-risk or temporary access may need more frequent review than stable, lower-risk connectivity. The schedule should be documented and repeatable. See how AlgoSec Horizon can help your team connect firewall rules to applications, owners, connectivity flows, and audit evidence for governed recertification across hybrid networks. Schedule a Demo Select a size What is application-centric firewall rule recertification and why is it better than rule-based review? Why rule-by-rule recertification loses business context What changes when applications and flows become the unit of review How an application-centric recertification cycle works Where teams need extra care How AlgoSec Horizon supports application-centric recertification Frequently asked questions Get the latest insights from the experts Choose a better way to manage your network

MITRE ATT&CK offers an open source framework for understanding adversarial tactics, techniques, and common knowledge in use today. MITRE attack framework Select a size Which network Can AlgoSec be used for continuous compliance monitoring? Yes, AlgoSec supports continuous compliance monitoring. As organizations adapt their security policies to meet emerging threats and address new vulnerabilities, they must constantly verify these changes against the compliance frameworks they subscribe to. AlgoSec can generate risk assessment reports and conduct internal audits on-demand, allowing compliance officers to monitor compliance performance in real-time. Security professionals can also use AlgoSec to preview and simulate proposed changes to the organization’s security policies. This gives compliance officers a valuable degree of lead-time before planned changes impact regulatory guidelines and allows for continuous real-time monitoring. What is the MITRE ATT&CK® framework? MITRE ATT&CK offers an open source framework for understanding adversarial tactics, techniques, and common knowledge in use today. It aggregates and catalogs cyber threats based on real-world adversary behavior observed across thousands of incidents, and outlines defenses to protect organizations against them. MITRE ATT&CK helps organizations understand how adversaries operate and guides them towards developing security measures to protect their assets and operations. Understanding the MITRE ATT&CK layout MITRE ATT&CK is organized into three matrices, each representing a dedicated technology domain: Enterprise Mobile Industrial control systems (ICS) Most organizations will use the enterprise matrix, which covers attacks against Windows, macOS, Linux, cloud platforms, network infrastructure, and containers. However, companies must first understand what malicious actors are seeking to achieve. Tactics The enterprise matrix opens to 14 columns representing adversary tactics, i.e., high-level goals: Initial access (getting in) through execution Reconnaissance Persistence Execution Privilege escalation Exfiltration and impact Next, comes the how. Techniques and Sub-Techniques Each tactic column leads to rows containing techniques and sub-techniques, i.e., specific methods for achieving a goal. The latest MITRE ATT&CK v18 features 8 to 47 techniques for each tactic. For example, under Reconnaissance, there are 11 techniques, including “Active Scanning” and “Phishing for Information.” Persistence lists techniques such as "Create Account" or "Boot or Logon Autostart Execution." Sub-techniques are nested within techniques for specific attack implementations. For instance, under "Phishing," you have "Spearphishing Attachment," "Spearphishing Link," "Spearphishing via Service," and “Spearphishing Voice.” This granularity is key, as you need a different technique to defend against phishing via email attachments than via compromised messaging platforms. MITRE ATT&CK Matrix The MITRE ATT&CK Matrix catalogs adversaries into groupings such as data sources, cyber threat intelligence (CTI) groups, and defense strategies. This allows users to filter their navigation to specific adversaries, tools, and campaigns relevant to their business operations. MITRE ATT&CK is constantly updated as adversaries and their tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) evolve. Each version has new features based on empirical threat intelligence, incident response findings, and community research. This is especially important in the face of emerging threat trends, such as AI-assisted cyberattacks and the growth of ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS). Benefits of the MITRE ATT&CK framework MITRE ATT&CK doesn’t simply offer threat intelligence but also shapes organizations’ security operations for multiple use cases: Threat intelligence gathering: Gain context for cloud indicators of compromise (IOCs); beyond "bad IP address detected," know if the address is associated with a specific technique adversaries use for command and control. Threat hunting: Use a hypothesis-driven approach to systematically hunt for evidence of specific techniques used, instead of randomly searching logs. Attack simulation and red team exercises: Leverage real-world, standardized playbooks for testing both offensive capabilities and defensive responses; map your red team's successful tactics against your blue team's detection rates to identify coverage gaps with precision. Gap analysis: Visualize which techniques you can detect, which you can prevent, and most importantly, which represent blind spots in your security architecture. Response validation: Test whether your incident response procedures actually work against the techniques most relevant to your threat profile. The use cases above are a proof of concept, but the bottom line is the actual benefits companies reap from them: Shared understanding of the threat landscape: MITRE ATT&CK offers a common language for discussing adversaries across technical teams, executives, and even board members. Accurate simulation of attacks and validation of defenses: Mapped exercises tell you whether you can detect and respond to techniques adversaries actually use. Informed development and deployment of security policies: Craft policies that specifically address the techniques most relevant to your business risk profile. Intelligent selections of security solutions: Ask vendors which ATT&CK techniques they address and check those claims against your coverage gaps. Best practices for MITRE ATT&CK mapping The MITRE ATT&CK framework's value comes from mapping security data to specific ATT&CK techniques. But mapping without context is like having a map without knowing your starting location; it’s technically interesting, but operationally useless. The CISA best practices guide identifies two fundamental approaches to ATT&CK mapping: Mapping into finished reports (creating security insights for decision-making) Mapping into raw data (embedding ATT&CK context into operational security workflows). Understanding which approach fits your business needs is crucial. Mapping MITRE ATT&CK into finished reports This approach starts with collating incident reports, threat intelligence, or post-mortem analyses, extracting behavioral patterns, and then translating them into ATT&CK language. This creates artifacts that inform security strategy, resource allocation, and executive communication. The process follows six steps: Find the behavior. Identify specific actions the adversary took. Look beyond IoCs, such as malware names and IP addresses, to “how the adversary interacted with specific platforms and applications.” Research the behavior. Was this a standard administrative task gone rogue or a sophisticated persistence mechanism? Investigate the original source, technical details, timing, and surrounding activity. Consult malware analysis reports from reliable organizations, security reports, or your own forensic data. Translate the behavior into a tactic. Map the identified behavior to one of the tactics in the MITRE framework. Identify the technique used for the tactic. For example, within the Execution tactic, scan for the technique that best describes the method. ATT&CK provides detailed descriptions for each technique to help you map to the right one. Identify the sub-techniques. Was it a Windows scheduled task? A Linux Cron job? The sub-technique matters because detection and mitigation strategies for each differ significantly. Compare results to those of other analysts. CISA recommends that analysts treat mapping as a team sport where they work together to identify ATT&CK techniques and ensure quality control. Different analysts examining the same behavior should arrive at the same ATT&CK mapping. Mapping MITRE ATT&CK into raw data While finished reports inform strategy, mapping into raw data enables operations. This approach embeds ATT&CK context directly into your detection engineering, threat hunting, and daily security workflows. Organizations can choose from three viable starting points, each suited to different operational scenarios. 1. Start with a data source A specific data source , say, authentication logs from your cloud identity provider, allows you to see what ATT&CK techniques generate observable activity in these logs. For authentication logs, you would map to techniques like "Valid Accounts," "Brute Force," and "Credential Stuffing." You would then define procedures, i.e., the specific log patterns that indicate these techniques in action. This approach is ideal when deploying new data sources or optimizing existing ones. 2. Start with specific tools or attributes If threat intelligence indicates adversaries targeting your industry are using a specific software , malware family, or penetration testing tool, you can start mapping from there. After identifying techniques that the tool enables, you can then look up the groups and campaigns that have implemented these techniques. Cobalt Strike (S0154) , for example, maps to dozens of techniques across multiple tactics. By understanding this breadth, you can develop ways of identifying not just the tool itself but the behaviors it facilitates. 3. Start with analytics Just as adversaries use software to target businesses, analysts can use cloud enterprise tools to track adversary behavior. SIEM platforms like the AlgoSec Cloud Enterprise (ACE) have built-in detection rules that collect, log, and correlate events from multiple endpoints, cloud services, and identity providers. These events originate as raw telemetry, which are then mapped to specific MITRE ATT&CK techniques. Mapping with detection analytics from such tools is increasingly the most practical approach for organizations with mature security tooling. Note: Mapping into raw data shouldn't exist in isolation. Operational mappings should ultimately feed into finished reports. Your day-to-day detection analytics reveal what you're actually seeing in your environment. These observations, aggregated and analyzed over time, become the foundation for strategic reporting. How to ACE your operations with the MITRE ATT&CK framework Enterprises generate millions of security events daily across cloud infrastructure, endpoints, network boundaries, and SaaS applications. With this deluge, it is unreasonable to expect analysts to hand-map behaviors. Enter AlgoSec Cloud Enterprise (ACE), a cloud enterprise tool that offers full visibility into your operations by collecting log data, aggregating and contextualizing it, and then mapping it automatically to MITRE ATT&CK techniques. This transforms raw telemetry streams into structured threat intelligence aligned with the MITRE ATT&CK framework. ACE’s finished reports provide a clear, risk-oriented view of your adversary exposure, using language that every analyst and decision-maker can understand. See why more than 2,200 companies trust AlgoSec. Schedule a demo today. Get the latest insights from the experts Schedule time with one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Continue

Learn best practices to secure your cloud environment and deliver applications securely Webinars Master the Zero Trust strategy for improved cybersecurity Learn how to implement zero trust security into your business In today’s digital world, cyber threats are becoming more complex and sophisticated. Businesses must adopt a proactive approach to cybersecurity to protect their sensitive data and systems. This is where zero trust security comes in – a security model that requires every user, device, and application to be verified before granting access. If you’re looking to implement zero trust security in your business or want to know more about how it works, you’ll want to watch this webinar. AlgoSec co-Founder and CTO Avishai Wool will discuss the benefits of zero trust security and provide you with practical tips on how to implement this security model in your organization. March 15, 2023 Prof. Avishai Wool CTO & Co Founder AlgoSec Relevant resources Protecting Your Network’s Precious Jewels with Micro-Segmentation, Kyle Wickert, AlgoSec Watch Video Professor Wool - Introduction to Microsegmentation Watch Video Five Practical Steps to Implementing a Zero-Trust Network Keep Reading Choose a better way to manage your network Choose a better way to manage your network Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Continue

Learn about firewall rule automation and change management to streamline processes, reduce human error, and enhance network security with effective change controls. Firewall rule automation & change management explained ---- ------- Schedule a Demo Select a size ----- Get the latest insights from the experts Choose a better way to manage your network

Compared to on-premises data storage, cloud computing comes with a lot of benefits. On-demand access to company data, flexibility, and fast collaboration are just a few. But along with these advantages come increased security risks. To manage them, companies should invest in regular cloud security assessments. What Is a Cloud Security Risk Assessment? A cloud security assessment evaluates the potential vulnerabilities of an organization’s cloud environment. These assessments are essential to... Cloud Security What is a Cloud Security Assessment? (and How to Perform One) 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 7/12/23 Published Compared to on-premises data storage, cloud computing comes with a lot of benefits. On-demand access to company data, flexibility, and fast collaboration are just a few. But along with these advantages come increased security risks. To manage them, companies should invest in regular cloud security assessments. What Is a Cloud Security Risk Assessment? A cloud security assessment evaluates the potential vulnerabilities of an organization’s cloud environment. These assessments are essential to mitigate risks and ensure the continued security of cloud-based systems. By looking at cloud applications, services, and data, companies can better understand the biggest threats to their cloud environment. By managing these threats, businesses can avoid costly workflow interruptions. A security assessment can be done by an organization’s internal security team or by an outside security expert. This can happen one time only, or it can be done regularly as part of an organization’s overall cybersecurity plan. How Do Cloud Security Risk Assessments Protect Your Business? Cloud-based systems and services are an essential part of most businesses nowadays. Unfortunately, what makes them convenient is also what makes them vulnerable to security threats. A cloud security risk assessment helps organizations find out what might go wrong and prevent it from happening. It also helps with prioritizing and managing the most serious issues before they become full-on data breaches. One way assessments do this is by identifying misconfigurations. Cloud misconfigurations are behind many security breaches. They result from errors introduced by network engineers working on early cloud systems. A cloud security assessment earmarks these and other outmoded security features for repair. What’s more, cloud security assessments identify third-party risks from APIs or plugins. When your company identifies risks and manages permissions, you keep your cloud environment safe. By mitigating third-party risks, you can still benefit from outside vendors. Of course, none of this information is valuable without employee education. Employees need to know about risks and how to stop them; this is the best way to reduce the number of security incidents caused by human error or carelessness. To put it simply, a cloud security assessment helps your business run smoothly. When you know the risks your company faces and can manage them, you reduce the impact of security-related incidents. That means you can recover faster and get back to work sooner. 7 Benefits of Cloud Security Risk Assessments Cloud security risk assessments provide lots of benefits. They can help you: Improve cloud security posture . Understanding the ins and outs of a cloud-based system helps organizations plan better. For example, they can modify their security budget or improve their risk management strategy based on the results. Uncover security vulnerabilities . Cloud security assessments pinpoint weak spots. This includes misconfigurations , access control issues, and missing multi-factor authentications (MFAs). Once identified, organizations can fix the issues and avoid security breaches. Develop a more secure multi-cloud environment . Most organizations use multiple cloud platforms. Usually, this involves private or public clouds or a combination of both. This is ideal from a financial and agility perspective. But every extra layer in a cloud environment introduces potential risks. A cloud security assessment is essential in identifying these cross-cloud threats. Achieve compliance with industry standards and regulatory bodies . Ensuring compliance with GDPR, PCI-DSS, and HIPAA helps protect organizations from millions of dollars of potential fines . Manage your reputation. A sensitive data leak or other cloud security incident damages a company’s reputation. Think of companies like Target, Facebook, and LinkedIn. All have faced backlash after security breaches . Conducting cloud security assessments shows that organizations value customer and stakeholder privacy. Detect past threats . A cloud security assessment looks for things that might be wrong with the way your cloud system is set up. It can also help you find out if there have been any past security problems. By doing this, you can see if someone has tried to tamper with the security of your cloud system in the past, which could signal a bigger problem. Increase efficiency . Cloud security assessments show you which security measures are working and which aren’t. By getting rid of security tools that aren’t needed, employees have more time to work on other tasks. Cost savings . The most compelling reason to run a cloud security assessment is that it helps save money. Cost savings come from eliminating unnecessary security measures and from missed work time due to breaches. What Risks Do Cloud Security Assessments Look For? Cloud security assessments focus on six areas to identify security vulnerabilities in your cloud infrastructure: overall security posture, access control and management, incident management, data protection, network security, and risk management and compliance. Some specific risks cloud security assessments look for include: Cloud Misconfigurations Misconfigurations are one of the most common threats to overall security posture. In fact, McAfee’s enterprise security study found that enterprises experience 3,500 security incidents per month because of misconfigurations. From improperly stored passwords to insecure automated backups, misconfiguration issues are everywhere. Because they’re so common, fixing this issue alone can reduce the risk of a security breach by up to 80%, according to Gartner . Access Control and Management Problems This assessment also highlights ineffective access control and management. One way it does this is by identifying excessive network permissions. Without the proper guardrails (like data segmentation) in place, an organization’s attack surface is greater. Plus, its data is at risk from internal and external threats. If an employee has too much access to a company’s network, they might accidentally delete or change important information. This could cause unintended system problems. Additionally, if hackers get access to the company’s network, they could easily steal important data. Cloud security assessments also look at credentials as part of user account management. A system that uses only static credentials for users or cloud workloads is a system at risk. Without multifactor authentication (MFA) in place, hackers can gain access to your system and expose your data. Improper Incident Management and Logging When it comes to incident management, a cloud security assessment can reveal insufficient or improper logging — problems that make detecting malicious activities more difficult. Left unchecked, the damage is more severe, making recovery more time-consuming and expensive. Insufficient Data and Network Security Data protection and network security go hand in hand. Without proper network controls in place (for example firewalls and intrusion detection), data in the cloud is vulnerable to attack. A cloud security assessment can identify gaps in both areas. Based on the results of a cloud security assessment, a company can make a risk management plan to help them react as quickly and effectively as possible in the event of an attack. The last aspect of cloud security the assessment looks at is compliance with industry standards. 7 Steps To Perform a Cloud Security Assessment The main components of cloud security assessments include: Identifying your cloud-based assets, discovering vulnerabilities through testing, generating recommendations, and retesting once the issues have been addressed. The steps to performing a cloud security assessment are as follows: Step One: Define the project Get a picture of your cloud environment. Look at your cloud service providers (CSPs), third-party apps, and current security tools. First, decide which parts of your system will be evaluated. Next, look at the type of data you’re handling or storing. Then consider the regulations your business must follow. Step Two: Identify potential threats Look at both internal and external threats to your cloud-based system. This could include endpoint security, misconfigurations, access control issues, data breaches, and more. Then figure out how likely each type of attack is. Finally, determine what impact each attack would have on your business operations. Step Three: Examine your current security system Look for vulnerabilities in your existing cloud security. In particular, pay attention to access controls, encryption, and network security. Step Four: Test Penetration testing, port scanners, and vulnerability scanners are used to find weaknesses in your cloud environment that were missed during the original risk assessment. Step Five: Analyze Look at the results and determine which weaknesses need immediate attention. Deal with the issues that will have the biggest impact on your business first. Then, focus on the issues most likely to occur. Finish by handling lower-priority threats. Step Six: Develop an action plan Come up with a time-bound remediation plan. This plan should spell out how your organization will deal with each security vulnerability. Assign roles and responsibilities as part of your incident response program. Depending on the results, this could include updating firewalls, monitoring traffic logs, and limiting access control. Step Seven: Maintain Cloud security assessments can be done as a one-off, but it’s much better to monitor your systems regularly. Frequent monitoring improves your organization’s threat intelligence. It also helps you identify and respond to new threats in real time. Getting Help With Your Cloud Security Assessment Cloud security assessment tools are used to identify vulnerabilities in a cloud infrastructure which could lead to data loss or compromise by attackers. As an agentless cloud security posture management (CSPM) tool , Prevasio helps identify and fix security threats across all your cloud assets in minutes. Our deep cloud scan checks for security weaknesses, malware, and compliance. This helps ensure that your company’s cloud environment is protected against potential risks. But any CSPM can do that . Prevasio is the only solution that provides container security dynamic behavior analysis. Our technology spots hidden backdoors in your container environments. It also identifies supply chain attack risks. Paired with our container security static analysis for vulnerabilities and malware, your containers will never be safer. Our CSPM works across multi-cloud, multi-accounts, cloud-native services , and cloud assets. Whether you’re using Microsoft Azure, S3 buckets in AWS, or Cosmos DB in GCP, Prevasio is the security system your company has been looking for. But we do more than identify security threats. We increase your team’s efficiency. How? By providing a prioritized list of cloud risks. That means no more uncertainty about what needs to get done. Our easy-to-understand results help your team concentrate on the most important things. This saves time and money by reducing the need for extra administrative work. A Final Word on Cloud Security Assessments Performing regular cloud security assessments helps your business spot security issues before they become major problems. When you reinforce your security controls and define your incident response plan, you make your organization more efficient. Plus, you keep things going even when issues arise. Put together, these proactive measures can save you money. Sign up today and see how Prevasio can help your team ! FAQs About Cloud Security Assessments What are the four areas of cloud security? The four pillars of cloud security are data availability, data confidentiality, data integrity, and regulatory compliance. What is included in a security assessment? Cloud security assessments include: Identifying your cloud-based assets, discovering vulnerabilities through testing, generating recommendations, and retesting once the issues have been addressed. 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

Understand how to achieve and maintain firewall compliance with ISO/IEC 27001. Learn key requirements, best practices, and how to strengthen your overall security posture. Firewall ISO compliance: ISO/IEC 27001 explained ---- ------- Schedule a Demo Select a size ----- Get the latest insights from the experts Use these six best practices to simplify compliance and risk mitigation with the AlgoSec platform White paper Learn how AlgoSec can help you pass PCI-DSS Audits and ensure continuous compliance Solution overview See how this customer improved compliance readiness and risk management with AlgoSec Case study Choose a better way to manage your network

Explore Algosec's customer success stories to see how organizations worldwide improve security, compliance, and efficiency with our solutions. Global Energy Group Streamlines Change Requests Process Organization Energy Group Industry Utilities & Energy Headquarters International Download case study Share Customer
success stories "Now we can do a firewall change in around one hour. Before, it took five days or more with 20 engineers. Today, we do the same job, but much quicker, with 4 people - resulting in happier customers,” says the Security Service Delivery Manager. “One of the best things you win in the end, is the cost. With 500 changes on a firewall a month, that’s significant.” IT Integrator Gets Faster Implementation of Firewall Changes – Leading to Greater Efficiency and Lower Costs BACKGROUND The company is the IT integrator for a large energy group, which offers low-carbon energy and services. The group’s purpose is to act to accelerate the transition towards a carbon-neutral world, through reduced energy consumption and more environmentally friendly solutions, reconciling economic performance with a positive impact on people and the planet. The IT integrator of the group designs, implements and operates IT solutions for all its business units and provides applications and infrastructure services. It includes four “families” of services: Digital and IT Consulting, Digital Workplace, Cloud Infrastructures, and Network and Cybersecurity, and Agile business solutions. CHALLENGES This large group (with 170,000 employees) had a complex network with multiple elements in the firewall. With 240 firewall change requests and 500 changes a month, they needed an easier and faster way to manage these changes, ensuring their business applications functioned properly while maintaining their security posture. The main challenges were: Large network with lots of rules. Slow execution of change requests. Change requests were very labor intensive. SOLUTION With 500 monthly firewall changes, the customer was searching for a solution that provided: Faster implementation of firewall changes. Clear workflow and easier change management processes. Comprehensive firewall support. Visibility into their business applications and traffic flows. The client chose AlgoSec for its workflow solution, requiring a tool that would help the customer seamlessly submit the request and enable the engineer to implement the optimal changes to the firewall. They implemented the AlgoSec Security Policy Management Solution, made up of AlgoSec Horizon Security Analyzer, AlgoSec Horizon FireFlow, and AlgoSec Horizon AppViz and AppChange (formerly AlgoSec BusinessFlow). AlgoSec Horizon Security Analyzer ensures security and compliance by providing visibility and analysis into complex network security policies. AlgoSec Horizon FireFlow improves security and saves security staffs’ time by automating the entire security policy change process, eliminating manual errors, and reducing risk. AlgoSec Horizon AppViz provides critical security information regarding the firewalls and firewall rules supporting each connectivity flow by letting users discover, identify, and map business applications. AlgoSec AppChange empowers customers to make changes at the business application level, including application migrations, server deployment, and decommissioning projects. RESULTS “We do the job quicker, with less people. With 500 changes on a firewall a month, that’s significant. I recommend AlgoSec as it gives a quick solution for the request and analysis,” said the Security Service Delivery Manager. By using the AlgoSec Security Management Solution, the customer gained: Greater insight and oversight into their firewalls and other network devices. Identification of risky rules and other holes in their network security policy. Easier cleanup process due to greater visibility. 80% reduction in manpower. Faster implementation of policy changes – from five days to one hour. Schedule time with one of our experts