According to research from Google Cloud, “cloud-first is the dominant policy for deploying new applications.” In fact, “47% of organizations within various industries follow a cloud-first strategy by deploying new applications using public cloud services. Meanwhile, 27% of organizations consider both public cloud services and on-premises resources for new applications, while 26% are on-premises-first but still consider compelling cases to deploy in cloud.”
This means that almost 75% of (surveyed) organizations utilize cloud computing to some extent, emphasizing the growing trend of cloud adoption for key business initiatives. As a result, the need for robust cloud security is a necessity for the vast majority of organizations.
Cloud Security Fundamentals: Workload Protection and Posture Management
Cloud workload protection (CWP) is a foundational element of cloud security and has traditionally been reliant on the installation of agents. The purpose of CWP is to secure and safeguard workloads running applications and storing data in the cloud, providing vulnerability scanning, malware detection, and data security management .
Now, cloud workload protection is truly nothing without its partner in crime: CSPM, or cloud security posture management. While CWP provides security controls for the workloads themselves, it has exactly zero insight into the actual configurations of the assets. This is where CSPM provides an essential contribution. With CSPM, organizations can continuously detect misconfigurations, policy violations, and compliance risks on cloud assets. In layman’s terms, workload protection secures what’s inside the shed, and cloud posture management makes sure the shed door is closed and secured with a fully compliant padlock. To drive the point home, while CWP is definitely important, it is of limited use without CSPM.
Enter the Convergence of CWP and CSPM: Cloud Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP)
Now, you could definitely find vendors who support cloud workload protection… and then other vendors who provide cloud security posture management. But as we mentioned above, the real value of these foundational security efforts lies in pairing them together. But, I hear you say: Don’t I already have enough cloud security tools?
This is where cloud native application protection platforms (CNAPPs) have emerged to help solve this issue. CNAPPs consolidate multiple tools in a single platform while providing essential context for each detected risk, bringing much needed clarity amongst the noise. Ultimately, this brings about the ability to prioritize the risks that truly matter, increasing the effectiveness of your organization’s security efforts and helping avoid alert fatigue amongst security teams.
The best part of all of this? There is a CNAPP platform that does all of this without requiring a single agent, meaning that there is no asset left behind simply because an agent wasn’t installed on it or configured properly.
Orca Security is the Agentless Cloud Security Pioneer
Since day one, Orca Security has offered agentless cloud security. In fact, we’re the creators of it and have earned a patent for this revolutionary technology. While other vendors may be racing to catch up to add agentless capabilities, we started there from the beginning.
Orca takes the pain out of workload protection and posture management. No agents required means no operational headaches, no slowing down workloads or DevOps teams, and most importantly: no blind spots.
In addition to being agentless, Orca is the industry’s most comprehensive CNAPP by providing cloud workload protection, cloud security posture management, cloud infrastructure entitlements management (CIEM), data security posture management (DSPM), API security, and Cloud Detection & Response, all without requiring any third-party integrations. But honestly, we don’t expect you to take only our word for it.
2023 SC Media Awards Finalist: Cloud Workload Protection and Cloud Security Posture Management
Described as “honoring the best in cybersecurity, the SC Awards recognize the people, products and companies that are forging the industry’s future and advancing the cause of safe and secure commerce and communications.” For the second year in a row, Orca Security is proud to be named a finalist for both Best Cloud Workload Protection Solution and Best Cloud Security Posture Management Solution. It is a clear testament to the real value we provide customers, and the power of our platform. Of note is also the fact that we’re amongst players in this space where some have been around for 10+ years, emphasizing just how needed our solutions are in the ever-evolving cloud security industry.
We encourage you to read the specifics of why we were nominated for each award, and see what customers have to say about our workload protection and posture management solutions. Thank you to SC Media for this prestigious honor (not once, but twice!). We’re excited to keep paving the way for cloud security that, in short, simply works.
