CSPM Tools: Automating Cloud Security and Compliance

Did you know 60% of the world’s corporate data is stored in the cloud?

While businesses today heavily rely on cloud infrastructure because of its ability to drive business agility at scale, there’s one aspect that can turn out to be a dealbreaker—security. 

Imagine you’re a salesperson in a cloud-based start-up. What’s the first question a potential client will ask? How secure is the cloud infrastructure? Every cloud infrastructure will be designed in a way to be secure, but is it continuously secure? That’s where Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) tools can help.

The CSPM tool is a significant element that helps you fortify your cloud environment by identifying risks and misconfigurations that occur in the infrastructure. But given the abundance of choice, which solution perfectly fits your organization? Here is a list of the 7 best CSPM tools that will help you strengthen your cloud security posture. 

What are CSPM tools?

Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) tool is an IT security tool that helps companies identify cloud-related misconfiguration issues and compliance risks. It automates the monitoring of cloud infrastructure in real-time, essentially identifies any gaps or issues in the implementation of security policy, and rectifies them.

In simple terms, CSPM tools are like a solution that helps you attain a secure cloud posture. You can effectively configure the settings of your cloud-based systems using the right CSPM solution. It helps you maintain your cloud security posture continuously through real-time threat detection and protects you from potential vulnerabilities and threats.

Why do you need a CSPM tool?

CSPM tools assist organizations in detecting cloud-related risks and remediating them with continuous compliance monitoring and risk assessments. Cloud hosting provider isn’t completely responsible for your data’s security, which is why a CPSM tool is crucial to enhance cloud security.

In fact, cloud misconfiguration is one of the most common reasons behind data breaches. Based on a Gartner study, CSPM tools can reduce misconfiguration-related cloud incidents by 80%. A CSPM tool helps secure the cloud environment by reducing the chances of possible data breaches. Here are a few more benefits of a CSPM tool.

• Gain visibility: Lack of visibility into the cloud infrastructure is a security concern. A cloud security posture management tool gives you real-time visibility and helps you efficiently identify and counteract configuration issues before they lead to a data breach.
  
• Identify security violations and accelerate incident response: The tool can help you identify different security policy violations, such as lack of encryption, authentication loopholes, broken access control, etc. By identifying hidden threats, you can review how they are being detected, quarantined, and remediated for quick response.
  
• Streamline compliance processes and monitor security policies: A CSPM tool continuously monitors your cloud architecture to ensure that all security policies are followed. When any verbiage is identified, the tool triggers the alert so that you can quickly take corrective measures to meet regulatory requirements for different standards such as HIPAA, GDPR, PCI DSS, etc.
  
• Identify unused assets: A CSPM solution helps you save money by identifying unused assets in your cloud environment. Also, it helps you get an overview of what technologies are used the most, which allows you to prioritize risks more effectively.

Enterprises these days have a mix of public, private, and multi-cloud architectures, and hence, safeguarding such a complex cloud infrastructure from threat actors becomes a daunting process. CSPM tools are a powerhouse for cloud environments. So, employing a CSPM solution makes it easier for you to manage your cloud security and keep private data secure. 

Looking to go beyond CSPM to streamline your cloud security and compliance? Sprinto puts your cloud security requirements on auto-pilot. Speak to our cloud compliance experts and put security at the forefront of your operations. See how.

10 Best Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) Software

CSPM solutions are crucial for organizations to take care of their cloud security posture. However, with numerous choices in the market, it gets daunting to find the right solution for your business. We have analyzed the top names and new ones and have come up with a selection of the top 8 CSPM tools in the market today.

1. Sprinto

Sprinto is a powerful and scalable compliance automation platform that seamlessly integrates with your cloud setup to strengthen the cloud’s security posture. It helps in monitoring entity-level risks as well as security controls, all from a single intuitive dashboard.

With the advanced mapping of all your cloud assets, Sprinto enables granular-level gap identification with fully automated checks. The tool also helps in prioritizing identified risks to quickly and systematically take action steps.

Most importantly, you can automate security compliances and privacy laws such as SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, GDPR, PCI DSS, and more using Sprinto. The real-time security compliance status is reflected on Sprinto’s health dashboard. This helps in keeping your cloud settings and systems aligned with the different compliance requirements.

So, from vulnerability management to policy enforcement and more, Sprinto isn’t just a CSPM solution, but a security enabler for improving the overall security stance of the business.

Features

• Risk library for quantitative and qualitative cloud risk assessment
• Automated checks for monitoring cloud security controls
• Incident response, tiered remediation, and systematic escalations
• In-depth and customizable audit-ready reports for stakeholders
• Built-in security training modules and different policy templates

Pros	Cons
Intuitive interface with easily navigable features Advanced and smart reporting features Automated evidence collection to prove compliance Serves all industries Connects seamlessly with any cloud set-up Excellent support team	Analytics can be improved

2. Astra Pentest

Astra Pentest is a leading SaaS company that combines artificial intelligence and manual penetration testing to provide innovative cloud security solutions.

With zero false positives, industry-specific AI test cases, a GPT-powered chatbot, and a CXO-friendly dashboard, the platform helps simplify year-round security and compliance for multi-cloud environments, including Azure, AWS, and GCP. 

Astra’s seamless tech stack integrations, customizable reports, and real-time support help deliver end-to-end vulnerability management for a security-first approach, saving you millions of dollars proactively. 

Features

• Scan for new and emerging CVEs as well as existing bugs
• Complete cloud gap analysis
• Maintain continuous compliance with ISO, HIPAA, CIS, and SOC2, 
• Seamlessly integrate with tools such as Jira, GitHub, GitLab, Slack, and Jenkins.
• Collaborate with OSCP, CEH, eJPT, eWPTXv2, and CCSP (AWS) certified pentesters

Pros:	Cons:
Prioritize issues by risk rating and potential lossUncover, manage, and fix vulnerabilities in one placeRound-the-clock expert support	Only 1-week free trial is available

3. Cyscale

Cyscale is a scalable cloud security management platform that helps you map, monitor, and manage your complete cloud assets. With an easy-to-use interface and multiple dashboards, your team can quickly navigate through the tool to implement security policies with ease.

Features

• 500+ built-in security policies and controls
• Cloud asset inventorying and mapping of security controls
• Incident response and remediation guidance
• Monitoring of compliance levels for different standards like GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, etc.
• In-depth monitoring to find unused cloud resources
  

Pros	Cons
Compliance reporting features Pre-built security policy templates Security Knowledge Graph to demonstrate all cloud assets Supports all major cloud providers	Can be expensive for businesses with smaller budgets No on-premises version

4. Lacework

Lacework is a smart, data-driven CSPM tool that comes with a vulnerability management module to help organizations automate cloud security at scale. The tool helps you with automated compliance checks, automated intrusion detection, risk visualization, misconfiguration checks, and more to efficiently manage cloud-related security risks.

Features

• Built-in and custom security policy options to get started
• Attack path analysis to quickly fix issues 
• Customizable, audit-ready reports for stakeholders
• Cloud asset inventories (updated daily)
• Risk scoring and contextualized remediation guidance

Pros	Cons
Ability to pair misconfigurations with irregular activities Highly customizable platform AI-driven security management Coverage across multiple hyper-scale providers	Limited support for third-party integrations UI could be more friendly

5. Palo Alto (Prisma Cloud)

Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto is a cloud security posture management solution for multi-cloud and hybrid cloud setups. It offers full functionality set across five public cloud environments like Google Cloud Platform and AWS. It is one of the few platforms that work for both Oracle Cloud and Alibaba. Its AI-driven threat and anomaly detection is one of the standing points in the CSPM domain.

Features

• Customization options and automated workflows
• Automated remedies for common misconfigurations and cloud issues
• Custom reporting capabilities to create comprehensive reports
• Configuration assessments derived from 700+ policies and 120+ cloud services
• Support team to help you respond to threats quickly

Pros	Cons
Machine-learning-driven features Seamless integration with popular tools and technologies 24/7 customer support Tools and integrations for securing cloud-native apps	Can be expensive for small businesses

6. Fugue

Fugue is a popular CSPM solution that offers tools for managing cloud security and maintaining cloud compliance. With continuous monitoring, security checks, automated remediation, and more, Fugue helps you take total control of your cloud security posture.

Features

• Creates actionable cloud compliance reports for stakeholders
• Advanced vulnerability detection tools
• Offers interactive cloud security maps
• Built-in remediation guidance for all security and compliance violations
• 24/7 support for incident response and more

Pros	Cons
Quick deployment and set-up Interactive UI Offers single policy engine Automated remediation tools	Comparatively costly when compared to other tools

7. Check Point

Check Point is an advanced CSPM and cyber security platform that offers automation features to strengthen your cloud security. It gives you complete visibility into your cloud infrastructure and you can manage all security controls and compliance requirements from one unified place.

Features

• 300+ cloud-native service integrations
• Advanced threat detection and protection features
• 360-degree complete visibility with a centralized dashboard
• Automation features for overall cloud security
• Security controls monitoring

Pros	Cons
24/7 incident response Suitable for businesses of all sizes Offers free trial User-friendly interface	Some functionality issues in complex business operations

8. PingSafe 

PingSafe is an agentless CNAPP platform with capabilities of CSPM, CWPP, and CDR solutions for different verticals and all company sizes that continuously detects exploitable vulnerabilities and remediates emerging threats. It enables automated compliance checks IaC security monitoring and detects cloud misconfigurations across multi-cloud environments. PingSafe scans for 800+ types of secrets in real-time in GitHub, GitLab, and BitBucket to safeguard sensitive data. It has a user-friendly interface is straightforward, simple, intuitive, and uses minimal resources. 

Key Features:

• PingSafe features an Offensive Security Engine that simulates all forms of cloud resource attacks and identifies each threat’s exploitability, ensuring zero false positives. It prioritizes cloud workloads and goes beyond traditional CSPM solutions by analyzing vulnerability metrics across cloud environments. PingSafe generates graph-based visualizations of Kubernetes clusters, identifies risks, and makes effective recommendations to resolve them.

• It can use Terraform, CloudFormation, and other IaC templates, providing seamless CI/CD integration support. PingSafe secures cloud VM’s serverless functions and prevents cloud credentials leakages.
  
• PingSafe provides Kubernetes Security Posture Management (KSPM). It detects, defends, and decimates container vulnerabilities and cluster misconfigurations.
  
• It ensures all cloud resources stay compliant and generates an indicative compliance score for assessing the company’s overall cloud security posture. PingSafe supports more than 20+ security standards and regulations, including HIPAA, NIST, PCI-DSS, ISO 27001, and others. 
  
• PingSafe can generate customized compliance reports SBOM from code and can conduct zero-day vulnerability assessments. It has a threat watch dashboard that monitors active threats and keeps all assets up-to-date. 

Pros	Cons
Quick Deployment & proof of exploitability Offensive Security Engine Automated Cloud Compliance Agentless vulnerability assessments for organizations of all sizes  Offers a 30-day Free Trial	PingSafe has indicative pricing for $2000/mo, but no upfront pricing details are available.

9. BMC Helix Cloud Security

BMC Helix Cloud Security is a comprehensive CSPM tool that has a configuration scanner for cloud service providers like AWS, GCP, and Azure services. The tool is easy to set up without any coding knowledge and helps you fix your cloud security issues quickly.

Features

• Automated remediation actions to quickly fix issues
• Cross-platform supervision
• Ready-to-use compliance policies for GDPR, PCI DSS, and CIS
• Automated cloud server security management
• Cloud security scoring to enhance security

Pros	Cons
Custom policies templates for different data protection standards Integrates with ISMS ticketing systems Remediation playbook Great customer support	No development testing feature

10. Aqua Security

Aqua Security is a cloud security posture management software that aims to help you secure your cloud applications and architectures from development to production. It allows you to identify cloud misconfigurations, helps you follow secure coding practices, enforces regulatory standards controls, and much more for a strong cloud security posture.

Features

• Automated detection of malware and vulnerabilities
• Tools to detect other security issues to minimize the attack surface
• Real-time monitoring of security controls
• Offers detailed insights on anomalous behavior
• Alerting tools for quick security management

Pros	Cons
Quick and easy integration with your cloud setup and technologies Intuitive UI with user-friendly features Daily scan reports Free trial	Bit costlier than alternatives Some features are not useful for all businesses

How to select the right CSPM tool?

Trying every CSPM solution to choose the right tool for your organization is not feasible. To manage the compliance and security of your cloud architecture, you have to make the right and intelligent choice. To select the best CSPM tool for your business, here are a few things to consider:

• Assess your cloud posture management requirements: Before looking for CSPM tools, analyze your specific security requirements. Conduct an in-depth assessment of your cloud security to understand your challenges. Maintain a list of cloud-related requirements for the various compliance standards you follow.
  
• Check compatibility with your cloud infrastructure: Next, you must find a CSPM solution that seamlessly integrates and works with your cloud environment. Specific solutions work with particular cloud providers. So, ensure your chosen solution works with your cloud setup and the tools and technologies you use.
  
• Compare key features and functionalities: While some basic features of CSPM tools are common, you need to look at the unique key features and functionalities to understand how each solution can help you with your specific requirements. Prioritize the features that directly address your security concerns.
  
• Consider ease of use: The CSPM solution should have a manageable learning curve. As your IT and security teams regularly use the CSPM tool, it should be user-friendly and intuitive. This enhances productivity and makes it easier for teams to navigate the software for implementing cloud security policies.
  
• Consider cost and request demos/trials: There is custom pricing for most of the CSPM tools so that they can vary significantly from one vendor to another. While comparing the cost, look for additional charges, support fees, one-time license fees, etc. Schedule a demo session to see the tool in action and clear all your doubts if in doubt.

Stepping beyond the scope of CSPM with Sprinto

Organizations are quickly shifting to the cloud, and securing sensitive client data is crucial. You need to have a secure framework in place that not only helps you patch misconfigurations and related security issues but gives you complete control of your cloud security and compliance.

Sprinto lends granular, entity-level control over security policies while enabling risk assessments and automation at multiple levels. You can easily manage your cloud security from a single comprehensive dashboard and seamlessly adhere to popular compliance and data security requirements.

A robust compliance automation solution like Sprinto steps beyond the capabilities of CSPM and enables the adoption of a more holistic approach to sustained compliance and enhanced cloud security posture.

Sprinto has been named a leader in the Cloud Security and Cloud Compliance categories by G2 for Ease of Implementation, User Adoption, Usability, and ROI.

Let’s get you started. Talk to our experts.

FAQs

Why is cloud security posture management necessary?

Cloud security posture management is necessary because it ensures the security of your cloud environment and safeguards sensitive data and the assets involved by restricting access and minimizing the impact of security breaches. It helps you identify and address vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and other risks and enables you to stay compliant with the regulations. 

Why do misconfigurations occur?

Misconfigurations occur due to errors in the servers and security settings and also due to common mismanagement. These kinds of errors might leave your organization’s data at risk; hence, having a CSPM tool will help you control complex systems and enable you to track, assess, and restrict the usage of data.

What is the difference between CSPM and CWPP?

Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) predominantly focuses on identifying and assessing misconfigured cloud infrastructure and vulnerabilities in cloud environments and making them secure. 

While Cloud Workload Protection Platform (CWPP) offers emphasized protections on all types of workloads and applications such as servers on-premise, virtual machines, and serverless workloads within the cloud. 

What are the few benefits of cloud security posture management?

• It helps identify and address any wrong cloud configurations, vulnerabilities, and security gaps in the cloud environment.
• It improves the effectiveness of security operations by streamlining manual security checks and saves time and resources.
• Provides real-time alerts and protects the cloud environment from potential threats by throwing light at the blind spots.
• Continuously monitors against requirements and ensures compliance.

What is application security posture management?

Application security posture management is an application security process that gives holistic visibility into the application environment. It helps in protecting the application from insider as well as outsider threats. Through automation and implementing comprehensive security measures, ASPM helps organizations improve application security programs.