Cloud Native App Protection Platforms: 6 Tips Before Buying
Harsh truth: 90% of businesses take the wrong route to choose a cloud native application protection platform (CNAPP) vendor.
Most enterprises focus on:
- Finding the most popular CNAPP vendor
- Comparing features and pricing
- Reading customer reviews and ratings
In doing so, they often overlook the most crucial factors specific to their organization. It leads to wrong choices and dissatisfaction with their CNAPP solution. Here are some of the non-negotiable factors you must consider to choose the right CNAPP solution for your organization.
Your Requirements First, the Best Vendor Second
Most organizations jump straight to finding the best vendor in the market. However, most of them end up dissatisfied with their initial vendor selection. So, the focus shouldn’t be on finding the best vendor, but rather the vendor that fits your unique business needs.
Let’s say you choose a vendor offering real-time threat detection, automated compliance reporting, and security analysis based on machine learning.
While these features are impressive, if you run on AWS Cloud, a vendor optimized for Google Cloud won’t be a good fit.
To understand your requirements, write down the answers to these questions:
- What cloud(s) do you use? (AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud or multicloud?)
- How many developers push changes? (Small team <10 or large team >50?)
- What automation level do you need? (Basic or real-time workflows?)
- What’s your security budget? (Cost-effective or premium platform?)
- What integrations are essential? (DevOps tools, ticketing systems or third-party software?)
Answers to these questions will determine your options. Broadly, vendors fall into three categories:
- Built-in options by your cloud provider: Best for organizations heavily relying on a specific cloud provider and seeking seamless integration with built-in tools.
- Roll your own with open source: Best for organizations with highly customized environments or those with internal expertise to build and maintain security solutions.
- Commercial SaaS tools: Best for companies seeking turnkey solutions with extensive features, scalability and third-party integrations.
By focusing on your specific requirements, you can avoid frequent vendor changes and secure a stable, long-term solution for growth.
A Holistic View Is Essential
As organizations implement CNAPP solutions, adopting a holistic framework is key for complete security.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) stresses the need for a broad approach that covers all aspects of security and protection. Yet not many organizations take a holistic approach due to the old way of thinking.
Richard Ford, CTO at Praetorian, says, “The biggest hurdle to creating a holistic approach to security is not technical or financial, but mental.”
Changing old ways of thinking is hard, but vital for protecting your data. A holistic view is a non-negotiable for a CNAPP solution because real-world risks often involve many layers. For example, if you focus only on CNAPP’s technical features, like real-time threat detection, but ignore how it works with your current tools, problems soon pile up.
If problems aren’t sent to the right teams, it leaves a gap in your security. By shifting to a broader mindset, organizations can ensure CNAPP integrates well with their overall security strategy, covering all technical and operational risks.
Deployment Complexity = Delayed Benefits
Deployment of the CNAPP platform is one of the biggest challenges that decision-makers face. The sole purpose behind implementing CNAPP is end-to-end visibility, but 90% of platforms still require:
- Agents to be installed
- Detailed configuration
- Custom scripts and tons of other details
Not all CNAPP solutions are versatile enough to work seamlessly across environments.
This limits scalability and makes the initial setup complex and error-prone. Furthermore, organizations have to pay extra to train their internal team or hire a professional.
Pro Tip:
Look for a CNAPP solution that is not only easy to deploy, but can also seamlessly adapt to any environment. It should be able to protect your application whether it is deployed on a hybrid, on-premises or public and cloud environment. A platform with minimal setup requirements can save you time and resources while ensuring your security efforts scale smoothly across all workloads.
True Integration Can Be Difficult
Most enterprises approach CNAPP as a quick fix to their existing security challenges. CNAPP is not a swap for your existing tools; rather it empowers your entire security strategy.
Your existing tool and the CNAPP service should work in harmony to make the most out of your current investments. Hence, a smooth integration with all your existing tools is a must.
In an April 2023 survey of more than 1,200 organizations, 51% said they have started integrating CNAPP, and only 35% have managed to fully integrate. This gap highlights a significant challenge: Many CNAPPs promise easy integration but fall short in reality.
When a CNAPP doesn’t integrate with your existing tools and workflows, it can create a patchwork of security measures that are hard to manage and offer limited visibility into threats.
Pro Tip:
Don’t choose solutions just for their attractive user interface. Many have weak backends due to mismatched architectures from multiple acquisitions, resulting in poor integration. Ensure the CNAPP provider offers a unified data model and can trace cloud issues back to the specific line of code.
Always Track KPIs
Let’s say you have selected a service provider, and you have deployed and integrated it. But how do you determine if it’s truly enhancing your security strategy or just adding unnecessary costs? By setting up KPIs to track. KPIs provide clear benchmarks for evaluating how well the platform secures your cloud environment. They help you identify security fragments that require improvement.
Here are the KPIs you should calculate:
- Reduction in security incidents: Track the number of incidents detected and resolved to measure the efficiency of your CNAPP in mitigating threats.
- Compliance audit success rate: Measure how often your CNAPP helps you pass compliance audits to ensure regulatory adherence.
- Operational efficiency gains: Assess the number of tools consolidated and the time saved from streamlined processes to evaluate how the CNAPP improves productivity.
- Cost savings: Calculate the financial impact of avoided security incidents and compare the total cost of ownership before and after CNAPP implementation.
What Not To Do:
Avoid setting vague or overly broad KPIs, like “improved security” without specific metrics. Also, don’t focus solely on the initial costs without considering long-term benefits. Ensure your KPIs align with your organization’s specific security goals.
CNAPP Is Still Maturing
CNAPPs are gaining traction as the go-to solution for cloud security. In 2023, 40% of organizations employed a CNAPP, with another 45% planning to adopt one by the end of 2024.
This rise indicates organizations are realizing the importance of CNAPP in security. However, it is important to note that CNAPPs are still in the maturing stage. Every solution in the market has strengths and weaknesses.
This means that while a CNAPP adds a lot of value, you will 100% encounter challenges in the process.
The only way to get through them is with support from experts. So, check the level of support and resources provided by the vendor. Having strong vendor support can make a big difference in troubleshooting and optimizing the solution.
With thoughtful consideration and careful implementation, CNAPPs can play a significant role in your cloud security strategy.
Wrapping Up
CNAPP is a powerful tool for protecting cloud native apps, offering top-notch security, improved compliance, and solutions for the unique challenges of cloud environments.
As cloud tech evolves, CNAPP will only become more essential. Hence, choosing a solution that has proactive threat prevention, seamless integration and deployment should be a top priority for businesses.
Agentless CNAPP by AccuKnox takes it to the next level by applying zero trust principles across all layers, from identity and network to the application and data layers. If your organization is looking for a robust, holistic security solution to prevent zero-day attacks, start a free trial of AccuKnox GenAI-powered zero trust CNAPP.
