State and federal government agencies today face the dual challenge of modernizing and securing their cloud infrastructure on shrinking budgets and fewer resources. The Department of Defense (DoD) recently shared their cloud security playbook, which represents a heightened focus on security systems in the cloud. In addition to heightened attention regarding cloud cybersecurity there are new strategic objectives from Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to establish performance metrics for IT investments ultimately aiming to achieve more with less budget (OMB Circular A-11, Section 280). Below we explore three key considerations when evaluating CNAPP (Cloud-Native Application Protection Platform) solutions to protect your cloud-native applications across development and production.
#1: Unify tools and cut costs across the SDLC and cloud
When working with a tight budget, it is unrealistic to accommodate a bunch of point solutions, ensure proper coverage across development and production, and then figure out how to aggregate the data to make good decisions with all the context. There just aren’t enough human resources to optimize the use of each individual tool, there isn’t enough time to investigate thoroughly across so many disconnected tools, and there aren’t enough dollars to go around.
Tool consolidation is an opportunity to re-examine how teams operate and how data flows between cross-functional team members. Consider CNAPP solutions that can deliver agentless multi-cloud security and compliance coverage from cloud to development while identifying and classifying sensitive data that must be protected.
The Orca Platform enables state and federal agencies to command their cloud with an agentless-first approach by identifying, prioritizing, and remediating security risks and compliance gaps. Orca’s patented SideScanning™ technology builds an asset inventory of your entire multi-cloud estate within minutes and delivers a comprehensive view of risks by detecting misconfigurations, vulnerabilities, malware, lateral movement, data risks, API risks, AI risks, active breaches, and more—without the overhead of agents. At the beginning of the year, we announced new Application Security capabilities, as well as the Orca Sensor, our lightweight eBPF-based sensor for runtime visibility on the most mission critical assets. From development to production, we have the entire application lifecycle covered.
#2: Combine risk-based prioritization with efficient remediation workflows
Taking a risk-based approach to protecting cloud-native apps is more important than ever with fewer resources to investigate, validate, and implement security fixes. By first understanding the whole cloud estate, critical assets, and important context like sensitive data detected, internet exposure, and attack paths, lean teams can more precisely prioritize which issues are the most critical and effectively reduce cloud risk, like the known exploited vulnerabilities listed in BOD 22-01.
Furthermore, these teams can automatically pass consolidated, granular data related to alerts to the owners of remediation for context at their fingertips. Efficiency is all about making sure the right people have the right information at the right time, with clarity on the sequence of actions to take.
Consider CNAPP solutions that provide precise risk scores for alerts based on a variety of factors like asset context, internet exposure, attack paths, and sensitive data detected. Additionally, consider how solutions integrate with workflows across different functions, including compliance.
The Orca Platform delivers intelligence for the entire application lifecycle from a Unified Data Model that aggregates data from a variety of sources and calculates precise risk scores for alerts and assets to drive clarity on what to fix first. Through bi-directional integrations with Jira and ServiceNow, security teams can automatically send context to the right owner in workflows teams are already using to track work and see the latest progress within Orca. The Orca Platform integrates with a wide range of tools to ensure you can put the right data in the right hands, no matter where they want to see that data.
Orca also provides 185+ customizable compliance and data privacy frameworks, including the NIST CSF, NIST SP 800-53, ISO 27001, CIS Benchmarks, CMMC, and more. Compliance gaps are connected directly with alerts, making it easy to align remediation with existing alert workflows.
#3: Equip teams to modernize with GenAI securely
Limitations on government use of AI were recently lifted to encourage innovation and responsible AI adoption to improve public services. As agencies explore how to use AI in their digital services, visibility and guardrails must be implemented to ensure sensitive data remain protected. GenAI also has great potential to shore up the skill gap that has only widened with workforce reductions.
Consider CNAPP solutions that show what AI models are being used in production applications while also using AI to close the cloud security skill gap and deliver better cloud security outcomes through AI-driven remediation.
The Orca Platform supports the safe adoption of AI in two ways: AI-SPM and AI-driven discovery and remediation. Orca’s SideScanning™ technology identifies deployed AI models and adds it to the asset inventory for security teams to monitor and protect from tampering or data leakage.
Orca also provides GenAI support across the platform to make remediation steps easier to determine and carry out. Developers and security practitioners alike can lean on ready-to-use AI-generated remediation steps, simplified search, and suggested IAM policy configurations.
Command Your Cloud with Orca
Orca Security is FedRAMP® Moderate and StateRAMP authorized. Orca offers a unified and comprehensive cloud security platform that identifies, prioritizes, and remediates security risks and compliance issues across AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Oracle Cloud, Alibaba Cloud, and Kubernetes. The Orca Platform leverages Orca’s patented SideScanning™ technology to provide complete coverage and comprehensive risk detection.
Learn More
Interested in discovering the benefits of the Orca Cloud Security Platform? Contact Orca Security’s government team today to learn how we can help you thrive securely in the cloud at [email protected].
