Companies around the world are completing their digital transformation initiatives and cloud migrations. As of late 2024, it's becoming increasingly likely that organizations across industries and business models will be running most or all of their applications on the cloud by 2027.

But with the highly dynamic and customizable nature of the cloud and increasingly savvy cyber criminals leveraging new technologies, it's no longer enough to use a one-size-fits-all approach to secure each unique deployment. One recent IDC survey revealed that 79% of companies have experienced one or more cloud breaches in the past 18 months, and evolving threats are making it more difficult to manage potential incidents.

Being able to separate different cloud security tools and identify which model is most effective for your environment is critical for adopting a solution that future-proofs your security strategy.

When looking for an appropriate cloud security tool, consider which model makes the most sense for your application.

There are three types of cloud security solutions you might use:

• Cloud access security broker (CASB): This solution serves as a security barrier between your network and any cloud-based applications you use in normal operations. It manages access authorizations and enforces compliance with relevant cloud usage standards and regulations.
• Cloud security posture management (CSPM): A CSPM with artificial intelligence (AI) features continuously monitors and analyzes your cloud to identify and proactively manage vulnerabilities in your cloud configuration, even in multi-cloud environments.
• Cloud workload protection platform (CWPP): A CWPP is a highly specific solution that protects cloud workloads, such as containerized applications and virtual machines. It does so by managing access, searching for malware in your system, and ensuring your processes work properly.

The right security model for your deployment varies depending on your needs:

• Preventing unauthorized access: While all three solutions have access management capabilities, a CASB is the optimal model for protecting your system against unauthorized access from external sources, which can significantly reduce your risk of a data breach.
• Internal improvements: An automated CSPM is most effective for maintaining a robust internal security posture because it actively enforces your cloud security policies without human intervention.
• Protecting workloads: If you're looking to specifically protect the workloads you have running in the cloud, a CWPP is the best choice for you.

Although an open-source cybersecurity solution can help companies save upfront, it's important to consider how it can negatively impact your security posture.

Compare the benefits and drawbacks of each option:

• Cost savings: Open-source cloud security solutions are typically either inexpensive to license or free to use, reducing your upfront investment. However, maintaining open-source tools is often more resource- and time-intensive than maintaining commercial ones because all the tasks fall on your team.
• Consistency: Commercial cloud security providers offer a consistent user experience and functionality across all deployments, even in multi-cloud environments. Because open-source tools are community-dependent, their functionality can fluctuate based on developer activity.
• Security risk: Open-source technology can be used by anyone for a low cost, which can enable cyber criminals to discover zero-day exploits before the developers can release a patch. Commercial solutions are significantly harder to crack because they're behind a paywall, which can improve your security.
• Deployment complexity: Implementing and configuring open-source solutions often requires extensive resources and expertise, which many smaller organizations lack. When you subscribe to a commercial cloud security software as a service (SaaS) product, your provider will guide you through setup and implementation so you can save time and effort.

Some of the most common challenges enterprises encounter when managing multi-cloud environments include:

Configuration management: Multi-cloud environments become increasingly complex with each new cloud added, which can lead to configuration issues such as outdated resources, accidental internet exposure, and improper identity access management (IAM) policy alignment.

Lack of visibility: Having multiple disparate clouds often limits your ability to gain clear insight into each one's security posture, which can impact your ability to properly manage overall system security.

Incident response and detection: Due to limited visibility into complex multi-cloud environments, standard forensic and response solutions may not be able to efficiently detect and respond to breaches

Compliance and regulatory requirements: Compliance management is challenging for many companies, even in single-cloud environments, and adding new clouds without sufficient preparation can compound those complexities.

When searching for a cloud security solution for your business, consider the following features and capabilities to be necessities:

• Scalability: The cloud is flexible and dynamic, so a properly configured cloud security solution should be able to grow with your business and adapt to your evolving needs.
• Seamless integrations: A solution that can integrate into your existing technologies creates a single source of truth for all your organization's cloud security data, which is essential for gaining visibility into potential threats.
• Security standards and compliance: Your chosen solution should comply with the cybersecurity and data privacy regulations that apply to your industry, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).

Adopting a solution with these essential components can help you establish a basic level of security, though it's important to look for more effective capabilities to tighten your posture.

AI capabilities can help you proactively identify and eliminate vulnerabilities before attackers have a chance to exploit them, such as:

• AI and automation: An AI-driven security tool can learn from your business to recognize normal user behaviors during daily operations. This context allows it to recognize abnormal activity and automatically launch a response to eliminate the threat.
• Real-time threat management: An automated solution can scan for and detect threats in real time, autonomously triggering an appropriate response even if the threat has never been seen before.
• Ongoing adaptations: Machine learning (ML) enables security tools to autonomously learn from historical and new data, which helps them identify novel and unknown threats without using a database.

When you choose the correct solution, your business can strengthen your security posture beyond what is possible with conventional security tools.

Elevate your cloud security with Darktrace / CLOUD, an intelligent solution powered by Self-Learning AI. Here’s what you’ll gain:

• Continuous Visibility: Achieve context-aware monitoring of your cloud assets for real-time detection and response.
• Proactive Risk Management: Identify and mitigate threats before they impact your organization.
• Market Insights: Understand how Darktrace outperforms other solutions in cloud security.
• Actionable Strategies: Equip yourself with effective tactics to enhance compliance, visibility, and resilience.

Ready to transform your cloud security approach? Download the CISO's Guide to Cloud Security now!