Get a 1-on-1 cloud security posture assessment

A cloud security assessment is a review of an organization's security posture in the cloud, scanning and detecting risk across the cloud infrastrucutre, applications, and policies. The primary goal of this evaluation is to identify critical risks that create attack paths in your environment, and allow you to proactively remove them. An effective cloud security assessment helps your organization adhere to security best practices, bolstering your defenses against cyber threats. Let's take a look at each element of a cloud security assessment.

What are the components of a cloud security assessment?

• Agentless scanning: Wiz's agentless scanning provide visibility into every resource in your environment and every technology running on top of them, across virtual machines, containers, and serverless.

• Deep risk assessment: Detect risk across vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, identities, network exposures, secrets, and malware, all without agents all on the same unified platform.

• Critical risk prioritization: Prioritize risk remediation with a single queue of prioritized risk providing the best next action for your teams to take, enabling all your teams to collaborate and improve your security and compliance posture.

Why do organizations need a cloud security assessment?

As businesses increasingly transition to cloud-based solutions, the complexity of potential vulnerabilities also multiply. Specifically, the adoption of cloud solutions broadens the attack surface, making businesses more susceptible to threats like data breaches, misconfigurations, and human errors.

Here are common cloud challenges to keep in mind:

• The evolving attack surface: With every passing day, cyber threats targeting cloud infrastructures become more sophisticated. Gone are the days when basic firewalls and antivirus software were enough to keep companies protected. Today, attackers employ advanced techniques like zero-day exploits, ransomware, and phishing attacks tailored to cloud environments. A proper cloud security assessment is a critical tool that helps you stay one step ahead of these threats.

• Hidden vulnerabilities: It's a common misconception that a system is secure if everything seems fine on the surface. Many vulnerabilities lie dormant, only to be exploited when least expected. You can unearth these silent threats through cloud security posture assessments and mitigate them before they become full-blown issues.

• Regulatory and compliance obligations: Particularly in sectors handling confidential data, such as finance and healthcare, there are stringent compliance standards to meet. Failure to adhere to these standards can result in substantial penalties and legal consequences. A thorough cloud security assessment ensures that your organization's cloud operations align with industry regulations, eliminating potential pitfalls.

What types of misconfigurations will a risk assessment uncover?

Here are the 5 most common misconfigurations that our team identify that need to be addressed.

1. Inadequate Access Controls: Misconfigured access controls often lead to over-privileged accounts or exposed resources. This can occur when permissions are not properly restricted, allowing users or services to access data and resources they shouldn't have access to.

2. Improperly Configured Storage Buckets: Cloud storage services, such as Amazon S3 or Google Cloud Storage, are frequently misconfigured, leaving sensitive data exposed to the public internet. Misconfigured bucket permissions can allow unauthorized users to read, write, or delete data stored in these buckets.

3. Unsecured API Endpoints: Many cloud services provide APIs for interaction and management. Misconfigurations in API endpoints can leave them vulnerable to attacks, including injection attacks, data leaks, and unauthorized access.

4. Neglected Identity and Access Management (IAM): Misconfigurations in IAM policies can result in users having more privileges than necessary. This can lead to unauthorized actions and data exposure. Overly permissive policies are a common mistake in cloud environments.

5. Lack of Encryption: Failing to implement proper encryption for data at rest and in transit is a significant misconfiguration. Unencrypted data is susceptible to interception, theft, and exposure in the event of a security incident.