Cloud Security Technologies: CSPM, CASB, CIEM, CWPP and CNAPP in the AWS Ecosystem

As more companies move to the cloud, new security challenges are emerging. When using cloud service providers like Amazon Web Services (AWS), it's important to protect everything from misconfigured resources to user access, application workloads, and data shared with SaaS platforms.

To address these challenges, four core categories of cloud security technologies have emerged:

• CSPM - Cloud Security Posture Management
• CASB - Cloud Access Security Broker
• CIEM - Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management
• CWPP - Cloud Workload Protection Platform
• CNAPP - Cloud-Native Application Protection Platform

In this post, we’ll break each one down and explore how AWS supports or integrates with these models, including use cases and tools.

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🛡️ 1. Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM)

🎯 Purpose

CSPM tools continuously monitor and assess cloud resources to identify misconfigurations and ensure compliance with policies or regulatory standards.

✅ Capabilities

• Identify insecure or non-compliant configurations
• Enforce security baselines (e.g., CIS, NIST)
• Enable auto-remediation
• Provide multi-account, multi-region visibility

🔧 AWS Native Tools

• AWS Config - Rule based compliance tracking
• AWS Security Hub - Aggregates security findings
• Amazon GuardDuty - Detects threats from poor posture
• AWS Trusted Advisor - Security best practice checks

💡 Example

Security Hub detects an S3 bucket with public read access. AWS Config automatically triggers a remediation to revoke access.

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🔐 2. Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB)

🎯 Purpose

CASB platforms sit between users and cloud services (typically SaaS) to enforce security policies and monitor data transfers.

✅ Capabilities

• Shadow IT discovery
• DLP enforcement (e.g., sensitive file sharing)
• Threat detection (e.g., compromised accounts)
• OAuth app control

🚫 AWS Native Support

AWS does not provide a native CASB. However, CASBs can integrate with:

• AWS IAM (for access control)
• AWS CloudTrail (for user activity logs)
• Amazon S3 (for DLP enforcement)

💡 Example

A CASB detects a file containing PII being uploaded to a personal Dropbox account and blocks the transfer.

🔗 Popular Vendors

• Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps
• Netskope
• McAfee MVISION Cloud
• Palo Alto Prisma SaaS

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👤 3. Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM)

🎯 Purpose

CIEM helps manage identity permissions, ensuring users and workloads follow least privilege access principles.

✅ Capabilities

• Visualize access across accounts/services
• Detect overprivileged roles or unused permissions
• Automate rightsizing policies
• Govern third-party access

🔧 AWS Native Tools

• IAM Access Analyzer - Flags unused or risky permissions
• Access Advisor - Reports last-used permissions
• AWS Identity Center (SSO) - Central access management
• Service Control Policies (SCPs) - Organization-wide access limits

💡 Example

A Lambda function has AdministratorAccess but only sends messages to SQS. IAM Access Analyzer flags this, and a policy update is suggested.

🔗 Popular Vendors

• Sonrai Security
• Ermetic
• CyberArk
• SailPoint
• Microsoft CloudKnox

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🧩 4. Cloud Workload Protection Platform (CWPP)

🎯 Purpose

CWPP focuses on securing workloads such as VMs, containers, serverless functions whether running in cloud, on-prem, or hybrid environments.

✅ Capabilities

• Runtime protection of EC2, ECS, Lambda, etc.
• File integrity monitoring
• Host-level anomaly detection
• Application allow/deny listing
• Vulnerability and malware detection

🔧 AWS Native Tools

• Amazon Inspector - Finds vulnerabilities in EC2 and container images
• Amazon GuardDuty - Detects suspicious behavior and malware
• AWS Systems Manager - Manages patches and configurations
• AWS CloudTrail + Config - Provide forensic context and change tracking

CWPP often overlaps with CNAPP in functionality, especially in runtime protection and vulnerability management.

💡 Example

GuardDuty detects unusual login attempts on an EC2 instance, and Systems Manager is used to temporarily block access and investigate.

🔗 Popular Vendors

• Trend Micro
• CrowdStrike Falcon Cloud Workload
• Prisma Cloud Compute
• Aqua Security
• SentinelOne

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🔒 5. Cloud-Native Application Protection Platform (CNAPP)

🎯 Purpose

CNAPP unifies multiple security layers - CSPM, CWPP (workload protection), and CIEM to provide full stack security across the application lifecycle.

✅ Capabilities

• Image/container vulnerability scanning
• Identity and access analysis
• Runtime workload protection
• Shift-left security via CI/CD integration

🔧 AWS Native Tools

• Amazon Inspector - Vulnerability scanning (EC2, ECR)
• Amazon GuardDuty - Threat detection
• AWS Security Hub - Centralizes alerts
• AWS CodeWhisperer / CodeGuru - Secure code generation/analysis
• IAM Access Analyzer - Identity assessment

📝 Note: AWS does not provide a single CNAPP platform, but you can build one using these services or integrate a third-party CNAPP.

💡 Example

Amazon Inspector flags a vulnerable container image. GuardDuty later detects outbound traffic to an unknown domain. These are correlated in Security Hub.

🔗 Popular Vendors

• Wiz
• Prisma Cloud (Palo Alto)
• Orca Security
• Lacework
• Microsoft Defender for Cloud

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📊 Summary Table

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🔚 Final Thoughts

No single tool or platform can secure your cloud environment alone. By leveraging technologies like CSPM, CASB, CIEM, CWPP, and CNAPP and integrating them with AWS-native services, you can build a layered, scalable cloud security strategy.

🔐 Stay proactive. Secure continuously. Build securely.