CSPM tools play a critical role in ensuring cloud infrastructure security and compliance. When selecting a deployment strategy for a CSPM solution, several key factors should be considered. These factors include data privacy and ownership, scalability, accessibility, customization, and control. In this chapter, we explored the diverse deployment strategies, methodologies, and best practices for effective implementation. Cloud-based deployment involves hosting the tool on a cloud provider’s infrastructure, offering scalability and easy maintenance. On-premises deployment entails running the tool within an organization’s infrastructure, providing greater control but requiring dedicated resources. Hybrid deployment combines both cloud-based and on-premises approaches, catering to specific needs. Managed service deployment involves outsourcing the deployment and management of the CSPM tool to a third-party provider. This chapter also explored different deployment methodologies for CSPM tools. API-based deployment utilizes cloud provider APIs to collect data and analyze the cloud environment for security issues. Agent-based deployment involves installing lightweight agents on cloud instances to monitor and assess their security posture. Proxy-based deployment utilizes a proxy server to intercept and analyze traffic between the organization and the cloud provider, identifying potential security gaps. Finally, we discussed industry best practices involving CSPM deployment.
That concludes this chapter. In the next chapter, we will dive deep into different aspects of onboarding cloud accounts to CSPM.
Further reading
To learn more about the topics that were covered in this chapter, take a look at the following resources:
- Guideline on Effectively Managing Security Service in the Cloud, by Cloud Security Alliance: Guideline on Effectively Managing Security Service in the Cloud | CSA (cloudsecurityalliance.org)
- Getting Started with Cloud Security Posture Management, by Microsoft Azure: Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) with Azure Security Center | Microsoft Learn
- A Guide to CSPM Tools and Strategies, by Palo Alto Networks: A Guide to CSPM Tools and Strategies – Palo Alto Networks