×
Best CSPM Tools

As technology advances, more and more companies are relying on cloud-based tools for their day-to-day operations. Cloud technologies’ ability to connect to hundreds of networks daily makes it powerful, however, it also causes a variety of security challenges.

Since traditional security policies can’t be uniformly applied to cloud infrastructures, businesses have to rely on cloud-specific tools to secure their cloud infrastructures. CSPM is defined by Gartner as “a continuous process of cloud security improvement and adaptation to reduce the likelihood of a successful attack”.

CSPM tools are therefore tasked with helping businesses with assessing risks, reacting to security threats, and ensuring regulatory compliance. Today, we’ll be going over the best CSPM tools available on the market.

Here is our list of the best CSPM tools on the market today:

  1. Datadog Datadog’s CSPM module integrates seamlessly with the rest of the Datadog ecosystem, and provides cutting-edge features in an intuitive package. Datadog supports over 500 different integrations and will cover all of your cloud security posture management needs. It’s also quite simple to use and deploys in a matter of minutes.
  2. CrowdStrike Falcon Horizon CSPM A tool that provides real-time monitoring seamlessly integrates with countless SIEM tools and provides over 50 IOA detections.
  3. CloudGuard Posture Management A CSPM tool with excellent visualization features and Automated regulation compliance and governance.
  4. BMC Helix Cloud Security BMC Helix Cloud Security is a tool with dependency mapping features and superb reporting capabilities.
  5. Trend Micro Hybrid Cloud Security Trend Micro Hybrid Cloud Security is a solution that provides a holistic monitoring experience and boasts automated deployment and discovery features
  6. Lacework An innovative CSPM solution that relies on machine learning to create more sophisticated features. Lacework also features behavioral analysis capabilities.
  7. Prisma Cloud An advanced, enterprise-focused CSPM tool with full-stack runtime protection capabilities, IaC template scanning, and container image scanning.
  8. Threat Stack A modern, customizable tool that focuses on threat detection and neutralization with machine learning capabilities.

The Best CSPM Tools

1. Datadog

Datadog

Datadog is a big name in the world of network security. The company provides firms with a variety of tools to help them ensure they’ve got proper visibility of their infrastructure. Datadog is modular software, and the CSPM module is nothing short of fantastic.

Key Features:

  • Continuously scans your entire infrastructure.
  • Rapid installation.
  • Provides real-time visibility and monitoring capabilities.
  • Data aggregation features.
  • Supports over 500 different integrations.
  • Robust alerts system.
  • Extremely scalable.

Datadog provides continuous monitoring and scanning of all of your hosts, accounts, containers, and overall infrastructure performance. If you’re already using a Datadog tool and have the Datadog Agent installed, you won’t need to install any additional agents for the CSPM module.

Datadog continuously scans all of your configurations and provides full visibility into them. Since misconfigurations are one of the leading causes of data breaches in cloud infrastructures, it’s extremely helpful to have a tool that will alert you when something is amiss.

Datadog helps you scan your infrastructure for any hidden or incoming threats within your cloud instances or containers. Datadog is also great for companies that rely on a variety of different technologies as it supports over 500 different integrations.

Another perk of the tool is that it’s fairly easy to start using(although some advanced features are a bit harder to grasp) and installation only takes a few minutes.

Datadog helps you look at threat movement in real-time, and will provide you with a security posture score based on which you can evaluate your current measures’ performance. If your business needs a tool that provides rapid threat detection and provides an easy way to find and fix misconfigurations in real-time, Datadog might be just the tool for you.

Some of Datadog’s more advanced features might be hard to get the most out of in a small business environment. The tool offers a free, 14-day trial.

2. CrowdStrike Falcon Horizon CSPM

CrowdStrike Falcon FileVantage File integrity

The CrowdStrike Falcon Horizon is an excellent choice for enterprises and SMBs alike. It provides a quick and lightweight CSPM experience while ensuring that you’re protected from misconfigurations and external threats.

Key Features:

  • Real-time monitoring.
  • Seamless integration with SIEM tools.
  • Identifies and monitors data breaches.
  • Over 50 IOA detections.
  • Finds and automatically eliminates compliance violations.
  • Useful suggestions for improving the cloud security posture.

The CrowdStrike Falcon also provides data regulation compliance assistance. It’ll immediately alert you if it finds any compliance violations. The tool also provides insights into your overall security posture. In addition to this, it monitors the APIs you use in your infrastructure in case malicious actors try to use them as an attack vector. The tool’s API can also allow your team to connect to a variety of different security tools.

The tool seamlessly integrates with SIEM solutions and provides real-time insights into your infrastructure. It’ll also give you suggestions on how you can improve your overall cloud security posture. With over 50 IOA detections and endpoint detection capabilities, the CrowdStrike Falcon Horizon is one of the most flexible CSPM tools on the market today.

Some users have complained that the tool can be hard to get to grips with for non-technical users. You can get the CrowdStrike Falcon Horizon with a 15-day free trial.

3. CloudGuard Posture Management

CloudGuard Posture Management

CloudGuard Posture Management is a tool designed to aid you with visualizing your cloud security posture and providing helpful automation to simplify compliance and governance in multi-cloud environments.

Key Features:

  • Kubernetes monitoring.
  • Prioritization and automatic remediation of events.
  • In-depth visibility.
  • Access control features.
  • Detects intrusions and irregularities automatically
  • Automated regulation compliance and governance

The tool enforces cloud security best practices and policies across all of your projects, accounts, VMs, and virtual networks to ensure your data never falls into the wrong hands.

CloudGuard helps you scale up your operations across a variety of different cloud platforms including Azure, GCP, and AWS. Another excellent feature of CloudGuard is its ability to protect your data against insider threats. With insider threats on the rise lately, one can never be too careful.

The tool allows you to control IAM roles and users, which can help your administrators create granular permission structures across your cloud environment. Automating governance and compliance also lets you pour your administrators’ efforts into less tedious tasks.

The tool also performs regular audits to detect irregularities and provide trustworthy visibility. In case a threat slips by, or a misconfiguration is left standing, the tool allows you to automatically remediate events and prioritize them according to pre-set metrics.

Some customers have complained about the tool’s lack of extensive customization. You can request a free demo on the company site.

4. BMC Helix Cloud Security

BMC Helix Cloud Security

BMC Helix Cloud Security is an easy-to-use CSPM tool made with agile environments in mind. The tool helps you automate config checks and remediation across your IaaS, PaaS, multi-cloud, on-prem, and hybrid cloud environments. One of the best parts of this tool is that the automated remediation feature doesn’t require any coding skills to use.

Key Features:

  • Provides you with a cloud security score.
  • Automatic remediation facilities.
  • CI/CD integration.
  • Wide coverage and in-depth visibility.
  • Dependency mapping capabilities.
  • Excellent reporting features.

The BMC Helix Cloud Security provides advanced analytics and tracking capabilities to help you find threats and aid you in improving your business’ efficiency and enhancing its security. It also simplifies patching processes, hastening them and ensuring you’re only installing security patches.

BMC Helix also provides asset discovery and dependency mapping features. These can be incredibly useful when you want to analyze the efficiency of your infrastructure. As an agentless, lightweight tool, it’s very simple to install and easily scales to any business size. The tool easily conducts blind-spot detection and creates audit assessments to keep you up to date with any vulnerabilities or out-of-date software in your infrastructure.

The tool also provides out-of-the-box policies such as GDPR, PCI, and CIS. It also supports using cloud advancement tools to update user data. The MBC Helix will also detect anomalies and ensure the configuration integrity of your containers. Finally, it has standout reporting features, providing highly specialized, in-depth reports at the press of a button.

The tool is mostly focused on medium to large businesses. You can get a free trial from the company site.

5. Trend Micro Hybrid Cloud Security

Trend Micro Hybrid Cloud Security

Trend Micro Hybrid Security is a holistic solution aiming to provide organizations with everything they need when it comes to cloud security. This flexible solution secures your entire infrastructure while monitoring it constantly for a sign of threats or misconfigurations.

Key Features:

  • Automated deployment and discovery features.
  • IoC detection.
  • Holistic security solution with a single console.
  • Real-time monitoring and detection.
  • Easily integrates into the CI/CD pipeline.
  • Full visibility.

The tool can be easily integrated into the CI/CD pipeline and supports the Azure, AWS, and Google cloud toolchains. To provide your business with the utmost efficiency, the tool relies on its automated deployment and discovery capabilities.

Trend Micro helps you monitor your entire infrastructure from a single security management dashboard. This helps your technicians as they won’t have to deal with multitudes of consoles and dashboards to get the full picture of your cloud infrastructure.

The tool facilitates flexible cloud security migration and secures your file storage, servers, and containers. It’ll also perform real-time analysis of your infrastructure. Finally, the Trend Micro Hybrid Cloud Security provides not only automated policy management but also a 24/7 MDR(Managed Detection Response) service.

Some users have complained about a lack of user-friendliness in the UI. The Trend Micro Hybrid Cloud Security comes with a 30-day free trial.

6. Lacework

Lacework

Lacework is yet another cloud security platform that provides a highly automated and scalable architecture, providing you with complete cloud security and compliance across your GCP, Azure, AWS, and private cloud infrastructure.

Key Features:

  • Excellent reporting features.
  • Risk prioritization features.
  • Machine learning makes a lot of common tasks much smoother.
  • Behavioral analysis capabilities.
  • Robust alerts system.

The tool relies on machine learning to provide some of the most innovative features on the market today. It uses ML to help admins detect, monitor, and resolve threats and vulnerabilities more efficiently. Furthermore, Lacework provides you with contextual information that covers any configuration or compliance issues that might’ve arisen.

The tool provides excellent, insightful reports to help facilitate productive inter-team communication. It’ll also help you detect threats, find suspicious activity, and any misconfigurations that might leave room for a malicious actor to get into your infrastructure.

Lacework also provides behavioral analytics and lets your administrators prioritize risks based on their preferences. The tool also aids managers in workflow management and adapts your infrastructure to known cloud security best practices.

Laceworks is largely designed with larger businesses in mind, so SMBs might find some of its features a bit difficult to get the most out of. You can request a free trial on the company site.

7. Prisma Cloud

Prisma Cloud

Prisma Cloud is a cloud-native CSPM tool providing excellent visibility and a variety of advanced features for keeping track of your cloud security posture. The tool supports container image sandboxing, providing threat discovery through the inspection of all of your files, processes, and pre-deployments.

Key Features:

  • API security features.
  • Enterprise-focused.
  • Blind-spot detection.
  • Full-stack runtime protection capabilities.
  • IaC template and container image scanning.
  • Microsegmentation features.
  • Malware scans on your public cloud storage.

The tool is cram-packed with enterprise-focused advanced features. You can easily eliminate blind spots and the Prisma Cloud will streamline your alerts to reduce fatigue. If you’re looking for a single purchase that will provide you full control over your entire infrastructure within a single agent framework, the Prisma Cloud might be just the tool for you.

Prisma Cloud supports API security and monitoring, as well as full-stack runtime protection and network visibility. It will also regularly back up the important segments of your infrastructure to ensure you can restore them at will.

The tool can also integrate brilliantly with dozens of popular 3rd party software. This, together with its flexibility in dealing with different hybrid or multi-cloud environments makes it a great choice for high-tech enterprises.

The tool will also provide you with IaC (infrastructure-as-code) template scanning and can scan container images automatically or manually. It also provides behavioral monitoring capabilities.

As Prisma Cloud is an enterprise-focused tool, smaller businesses might have a difficult time getting to grips with it. You can request a free trial on the company site.

8. Threat Stack

Threat Stack

Threat Stack is a modern CSPM tool made with modern app infrastructures and cloud-native environments. It aims to provide complete visibility across all of your cloud management consoles, apps, containers, etc.

Key Features:

  • Machine learning allows for increased sophistication.
  • Quite customizable.
  • Anomaly detection capabilities.
  • Secures Kubernetes and containers.
  • CloudTrail monitoring capabilities.

The tool has a variety of advanced features including policy and incident management, configuration audits, vulnerability assessments, and more. This is another tool that takes advantage of machine learning to exceed its predecessors in sophistication.

Threat Stack attempts to combine rigid rules, full-stack telemetry, and machine learning to provide the best CSPM experience. The tool also supports CloudTrail monitoring and IAM policy management. When it comes to threat response and detection, there are few tools as good as Threat Stack.

Threat Stack provides excellent application infrastructure protection features, in addition to conducting EC2 inventory. The tool is also quite customizable, letting you configure its rules and alerts in great detail. It also aids your business in ensuring that you’re compliant with data regulation policies.

Users have complained that Threat Stack’s UI can be a bit confusing to navigate through. You can request a live demo at the company site.

Closing Words

CSPM tools are a powerful asset in any cloud security endeavor. They will help ensure all of your cloud data is kept secure and find misconfigurations if any occur. Since misconfigurations have played a part in a majority of data breaches in the past few years, CSPM tools have become practically mandatory for cloud-oriented businesses.

Most of these tools will help you find risks, resolve issues, fix misconfigurations, and aid with complying with regulations. However, they’re not all made equal. In our testing, Datadog has proven itself supreme with its modular approach to CSPM and wide variety of advanced features. However, the best CSPM tool for your business will always depend on your needs.

Our number 8 spot might be your number 1, however, we’ve made an effort to ensure that the top 3 spots are ones you can’t go wrong with. You should always have an outline of your needs ready before you opt for a CSPM tool. Once you’re done with that, simply look through this list and get the tool that matches them the closest.

What is your favorite CSPM tool?

What feature do you wish more CSPM tools had?

Let us know in the comments below!