The cloud will become the cornerstone of business operations, with IDC estimating that by 2025, there will be more than 750 million cloud-native applications worldwide. Additionally, more than 90% of organizations expect to use a multi-cloud approach over the next few years. Given that the cloud offers unparalleled flexibility, scalability, and agility, these numbers should come as no surprise.
However, the rapid adoption of cloud infrastructure has also led to the introduction of expanded enterprise attacks, which often outpace security precautions. According to the Unit 42 Incident Response Report, cloud-related incidents have risen from 6% in 2021 to 16.6% in 2023, a trend that is likely to continue. As organizations move to the cloud, it’s clear that the gap between traditional SOC capabilities and cloud security requirements is widening, leaving critical assets vulnerable to cyber threats and introducing a new set of security challenges that traditional SOC tools are unable to address. But why are they failing? And what can we do to protect our operations from threats?
Old Tools vs. Modern Threats
Legacy SOC tools weren’t designed for the modern world. They were designed for on-premises environments and often lacked native capabilities to help analysts detect and respond to cloud-specific threats. For example, most legacy tools provide limited visibility into cloud infrastructure, leaving sensitive data unmanaged and exposed. Our recent Cloud Threat Report found that 63% of publicly exposed storage buckets contained personally identifiable information (PII), things like financial records and intellectual property. What’s more, attackers are becoming more efficient, with the average time from breach to data leak falling to just two days in 2023, down from nine days in 2021. In nearly half of these cases, the data leak occurred within a day of the breach.
Securing cloud environments is complex and can seem overwhelming. It requires constant coordination across multiple teams, including CloudOps, DevOps, and SecOps. Each team has distinct responsibilities and tools, leading to fragmented security efforts that can leave gaps. The original State of Cloud Security 2024 report notes that the average organization uses more than 30 security tools, with 6 to 10 dedicated to cloud security alone. This siloed approach hinders the ability to respond to threats in real time and manage security holistically. Moreover, businesses know this siloed approach needs to be addressed, with 80% of respondents expressing a desire for a centralized security solution, further underscoring the need for integrated, comprehensive security strategies.
The need for a modern security platform
As cloud threats evolve, businesses need to recognize the limitations of traditional SOC tools and the need for a modern security operations platform. To effectively address these challenges, organizations need solutions that provide end-to-end visibility, control, and real-time threat response capabilities.
A modern security platform should not be considered modern unless it is driven by principles that address the dynamic and evolving nature of cloud threats. This includes real-time detection and response capabilities that can keep pace with the fast-moving threat landscape. Advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning are now more important than ever in providing a comprehensive and adaptable security posture.
Cloud security operations must also require complete visibility and context. Without a clear view of the entire cloud environment, security teams cannot accurately detect or respond to threats. Real-time insights are essential to enable proactive threat response, allowing security teams to anticipate and neutralize threats before they cause significant damage.
Using traditional SOC tools can lead to security coverage failures and often complicate threat response efforts. A unified security platform integrates vulnerability management, compliance capabilities, runtime protection, and threat detection, simplifying deployment and operations across the entire security program—a necessity in today’s cloud-centric world.
Addressing Modern Cloud Threats
To address cloud threat challenges, Palo Alto Networks introduced XSIAM for Cloud, which combines enterprise security and cloud detection into a single, easy-to-use, AI-powered platform. XSIAM enables real-time security insights, making it the industry’s first cloud-optimized SOC platform. This is achieved through real-time cloud workload protection, detection and response capabilities, and cloud-native analytics and automation.
Protecting cloud workloads in real-time is essential to maintaining the security integrity of dynamic cloud environments. As organizations increasingly move their critical operations to the cloud, they become more vulnerable to sophisticated cyber threats. Real-time protection ensures that any anomalies or malicious activity are detected and mitigated immediately, preventing potential breaches and minimizing downtime.
Offering Cloud Detection and Response (CDR) as part of XSIAM’s Cloud Command Center enables SOC teams to quickly and accurately identify and respond to threats. With advanced detection mechanisms, organizations can identify unusual behavior patterns and potential threats as they emerge, enabling rapid intervention before they escalate into major security incidents.
Finally, cloud analytics and automation play a pivotal role in enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of SOC operations. XSIAM leverages advanced analytics so that organizations can gain deeper insights into their security posture and more easily predict potential threats. Additionally, automation streamlines routine tasks and response procedures, allowing SOC teams to focus on more complex threat analysis and strategic decision-making. This combination of analytics and automation not only improves the speed and accuracy of threat detection and response, but also makes security operations more resilient in the face of an increasing volume of threats.
Mismatch matching
The mismatch between legacy security tools and modern cloud threats highlights the need for advanced solutions like XSIAM for Cloud. By providing comprehensive visibility, real-time insights, and unified security measures, we aim to ensure that modern platforms stay ahead of evolving cyber threats while effectively securing cloud environments.
