5 Best Cloud Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP)

Cloud native application protection platforms (CNAPP) give enterprises the tools and functionality they need to protect their cloud applications and workloads from security threats.

Securing cloud-native apps requires an extensive approach that goes well beyond basic security solutions. Cloud native application protection platforms (CNAPP) accomplish that by combining a range of cloud security tools and functions such as cloud workload protection platforms (CWPP), cloud security posture management (CSPM), cloud infrastructure entitlement management (CIEM), Infrastructure-as-Code (IAC) scanning and more to secure cloud workloads, applications, identity and access management, dev environments and more from threats and vulnerabilities.

We’ll take an in-depth look at the top five CNAPP solutions available today, followed by recommendations to help you choose the best CNAPP product for your organization's needs.

Top CNAPP tools:

Here is an overview of the top five cloud native application protection platforms, including their CWPP/CSPM integration, agent or agentless approach, free trial availability and pricing details.

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Best for container security and runtime protection

Check Point CloudGuard provides greater security capabilities for cloud-native applications through the combination of CWPP and CSPM. It is ideal for enterprises looking for improved container security and runtime protection in their cloud settings. It has a unified dashboard, a policy rule set, and support for both agent and agentless monitoring and protection. Check Point CloudGuard distinguishes itself with its comprehensive container security and runtime protection features, making it a good alternative for enterprises looking to improve the security of their cloud-native applications.

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Best for advanced threat protection in cloud environments

CrowdStrike‘s CNAPP capabilities were boosted last year through its CrowdStrike Falcon Cloud Security platform. New features are designed to improve threat hunting in cloud environments, reduce response times, and improve overall security. They offer combined CrowdStrike's Falcon Horizon (CSPM) and Falcon Cloud Workload Protection (CWP) modules, resulting in a unified dashboard for managing cloud security issues, reducing runtime risks, and enabling cloud threat hunting.

CrowdStrike also offers agent-based (Falcon CWP) and agentless (Falcon Horizon) solutions for cloud application security on AWS, Azure, and GCP. The agent-based technology protects both before and during runtime, giving organizations total visibility and repair capabilities. This adversary-focused technique helps organizations secure their cloud infrastructure and applications throughout the CI/CD pipeline.

Best for comprehensive cloud-native application security capabilities

Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks’ CNAPP technology offers full security stack protection for cloud settings. The platform's unified strategy helps security operations and DevOps teams work cohesively and expedite secure cloud-native application development. Prisma Cloud CNAPP distinguishes itself with its enhanced and comprehensive cloud-native application protection features, allowing businesses to easily safeguard containerized and serverless applications. It's best suited for enterprises looking for strong and proactive cloud-native application protection.

Also read: CNAP Platforms: The Next Evolution of Cloud Security

Best for consolidated CDR and CNAPP capabilities

Sysdig Secure consolidates cloud detection and response (CDR) and cloud-native application protection platforms (CNAPP), employing the open-source Falco in both agent and agentless deployment modes. With this pairing, threats can be identified quickly anywhere in the cloud, with 360-degree visibility and connection across workloads, identities, cloud services, and third-party applications. Sysdig Secure offers a comprehensive set of capabilities such as identity threat detection, incident response, software supply chain detection, increased Drift Control, and live mapping.

See the Top Container Security Solutions

Best for intuitive single user interface

Wiz CNAPP provides a cloud infrastructure security solution that includes CSPM, CWPP, and other capabilities in a single unified platform. It can identify an isolated misconfiguration in a single layer of the cloud environment, and also consolidates information using a graph-based database across multiple layers of the cloud environment to identify where a breach path could be and risk to the environment. Wiz easily integrates with DevOps and provides intelligent automation.

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Cloud Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) provide a comprehensive set of security capabilities for cloud-native applications. These solutions protect cloud-native environments against evolving threats and ensure the integrity and compliance of applications by providing container security, advanced threat intelligence, DevOps integration, microservices and serverless application security, as well as compliance and governance functionalities.

Container security protections provided by CNAPP systems should be robust, including vulnerability scanning, security configuration management, and runtime protection. These technologies discover vulnerabilities, enforce safe setups, and provide runtime defensive mechanisms by continually monitoring containers.

CNAPP employs advanced threat intelligence approaches such as machine learning algorithms and behavioral analytics. Because of this proactive strategy, the systems can identify and mitigate complex attacks in real time. CNAPP systems identify possible security problems and take proactive actions to reduce risks by identifying patterns and unusual activity.

One of CNAPP systems’ key features should include a seamless integration with DevOps procedures. These systems provide a complete security orchestration architecture that works in tandem with DevOps tools and procedures. CNAPP systems guarantee that security measures are implemented from the beginning of the software development lifecycle, allowing enterprises to construct safe applications without sacrificing development pace.

End-to-end security for microservices-based architectures and runtime defense includes traffic encryption, identity and access management, and runtime defense methods. CNAPP technologies also ensure the integrity and confidentiality of serverless environments by defending against function-level vulnerabilities, API misuse, and data disclosure threats.

CNAPP solutions help enterprises maintain a strong security posture and adhere to industry-specific standards by automating compliance checks and providing governance frameworks.

Matching your requirements and cloud environment with the best CNAPP product for your needs is the surest way to better cloud security. Here are several guidelines to aid you in your CNAPP product evaluation.

Also read: 13 Cloud Security Best Practices

A cloud-native application protection platform (CNAPP) is a comprehensive cloud-native security solution that integrates important cloud protections like cloud security posture management (CSPM), cloud infrastructure entitlement management (CIEM), Infrastructure-as-Code (IAC) scanning, cloud service network security (CSNS), and cloud workload protection (CWPP) into one cohesive platform.

CNAPPs improve cloud security in a number of important ways:

We assessed the best CNAPP products by analyzing the range and quality of security features, ease of use, integration, support, automation, and compliance features, as well as pricing, reputation, and customer feedback. We examined a range of data points and product characteristics, including vendor documentation, analyst reports, security data, and user reviews.

Cloud-native application protection platforms (CNAPP) have become the state of the art in cloud security by unifying important protections such as cloud security posture management (CSPM) and cloud workload protection platforms (CWPP) into a comprehensive platform. Organizations that depend heavily on cloud-native applications and environments should give serious consideration to implementing a CNAPP solution to protect those assets.

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