10 Best Cloud Security Tools for 2024

While concerns about cloud security tools may be overblown, monitoring and managing public cloud platform configurations is a bigger challenge. According to Gartner, misconfigured databases and third-party mismanagement are the most common culprits. Thus, the problem isn’t choosing a cloud vendor or security tool but choosing one that meets your needs.

Simply put, effective cloud security tools and PTaaS platforms empower organizations to implement the Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP) for their cloud infrastructure, ensuring only authorized users have the minimum access required.

As such, to navigate this landscape, we’ll explore the top 10 cloud security tools in this piece, highlighting their key offerings and how they can address such policy and access control challenges.

10 Best Cloud Security Tools (Expert’s Opinion)

1. Astra
2. Palo Alto
3. Qualys
4. Symantec
5. Intruder 
6. Lookout
7. Sophos 
8. Probely
9. Lacework
10. Orca Security

Essential Features in a Cloud Security Assessment Tools

• Centralized Management: Simplify security controls for all your cloud environments from a single pane of glass.
• Multi-Cloud Capabilities & Experience: Ensure expertise across major cloud providers (AWS, Azure, GCP, etc.) for consistent security.
• Compliance Support: Navigate complex regulations and industry standards with their guidance and tools.
• Threat Intelligence: Gain insights into emerging threats and proactive measures to mitigate them.
• Scalability: Adapt your security posture as your cloud usage and data grow.
• Seamless Integration: Effortlessly integrate their security solutions with your existing cloud infrastructure.

Why Astra is the best in Cloud Pentesting?

• We’re the only company that combines artificial intelligence & manual pentest to create a one-of-a-kind pentest platform.
• Runs 180+ test cases based on industrial standards.
• Integrates with your CI/CD tools to help you establish DevSecOps.
• A dynamic vulnerability management dashboard to manage, monitor, assign, and update vulnerabilities.
• Award publicly verifiable pentest certificates  which you can share with your users.
• Helps you stay compliant with SOC2, ISO27001, PCI-DSS, HIPAA, etc.
• Trusted by the brands you trust like Agora, Spicejet, Muthoot, Dream11, etc.

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3 Best Cloud Application Security Tools Compared

10 Best Cloud Security Companies (Expert’s Opinion)

1. Astra Security

Key Features:

• Platform: SaaS
• Capabilities: Continuous automated scans with 9300+ tests, manual pentests 
• Accuracy: Zero false positives
• Compliance Scanning: OWASP, PCI-DSS, HIPAA, ISO27001, SOC2
• Workflow Integration: Slack, JIRA, GitHub, GitLab, Jenkins, etc.
• Price: Starting at $1999/yr

As a comprehensive suite of cybersecurity services, Astra Security is one of the best cloud security tools that combines automated scanning with artificial intelligence and human expertise to run 180+ tests on your cloud environments.

It conducts IAM config reviews, network logging, monitoring checks, and organization and security group reviews to ensure complete security across Azure, AWS, and GCP with clear, actionable reporting, including PoC videos and step-by-step remediation guidance.

Moreover, its CXO-friendly dashboard offers a centralized platform for vulnerability, remediation, and team management, while the publicly verifiable certificates help build stakeholder trust. Don’t believe us? Take a look at what our customers have to say!

Pros 

• Ensure zero false positives through thorough manual vetting of scan results. 
• Periodic penetration tests to understand and remediate any exploitable flaws found. 
• Runs 180+ tests specific to cloud environments.
• Helps with cloud vulnerability management.
• Provides round-the-clock customer support.

Cons 

• Free trial available at $7 for a week. 

2. Palo Alto

Key Features:

• Platform: SaaS
• Capabilities: Threat Prevention, IDP, continuous monitoring and remediation guidance 
• Accuracy: False positives possible 
• Compliance Scanning: HIPAA, PCI-DSS, and GDPR
• Workflow Integration: Cisco, AWS, Slack, and more
• Price: Available on quote

With cloud security services ranging from code security to asset discovery and remediation guidance, Plato Alto offers a suite of cloud security management tools designed to safeguard your cloud infrastructure, assets, and data.

Divided into primarily Prisma Cloud (CNAPP), Global Protect, and their CSPM capabilities, they help identify bugs and zero-days with real-time monitoring, asset discovery, compliance monitoring, and remediation guidance for Azure, AWS, and GCP.

Pros:

• Palo Alto Network’s cloud security solution is easy to set up.
• Provides zero-day monitoring and scope for integrations.

Limitations: 

• Can be an expensive choice to opt for.
• No alerts for cloud performance degradation.

3. Qualys

Key Features:

• Platform: SaaS
• Capabilities: Automated monitoring and threat detection with remediation
• Accuracy: False positives possible 
• Compliance Scanning: PCI-DSS, HIPAA, GDPR
• Workflow Integration: IBM, Splunk, Cisco, and more
• Price: Available on quote (Trial starts at $500/month)

As a cloud security tool, Qualys facilitates the security and compliance of your cloud assets and data at a lower cost with internal policies and external regulations. Its centralized controls, asset tagging features, and diversified collaboration tools help simplify the above.

With cloud inventory, monitoring of assets for misconfigurations and unusual deployments, and container security, Qualys also delivers global visibility and response agents with 30+ customizations.

Pros:

• Well-designed and easy-to-navigate user interface. 
• Constant updates ensure the current security measures for the cloud environment. 

Limitations:

• Limited scheduling options. 
• Scans do not apply to all applications. 

4. Symantec

Key Features:

• Platform: SaaS
• Capabilities: Threat intelligence & compliance reporting
• Accuracy: False positives possible 
• Compliance Scanning: PCI-DSS, HIPAA, GDPR
• Workflow Integration: JIRA, GitHub, GitLab, and more
• Price: Quote upon request

Part of the Broadcom Umbrella, Symantec is a cloud penetration testing and security tool that helps protect against cyber threats by granular policy enforcement. Its CASB capabilities provide complete visibility and facilitate monitoring for suspicious behavior and shadow IT in the cloud.

Its unified threat management, sensitive data protection,  and network security features, such as secure web gateways and firewall services, help safeguard against internal and external threats.

Pros:

• Offers malware detection capabilities with the capacity for immediate remediation.
• Delivers simplified scalability.

Limitations: 

• User onboarding processes and intuitive interfaces can be improved.
• Can seem overwhelming initially, especially to amateurs.

5. Intruder 

Key Features:

• Platform: SaaS
• Pentest Capabilities: Vulnerability assessment, threat detection, and complaint
• Accuracy: False positives possible 
• Compliance Scanning: SOC2, and ISO 27001
• Workflow Integration: GitHub, Jira, Atlassian, and more
• Price: $1958/ year (Vulnerability Scanning only. Pentest quote available on request)

As one of the leading automated penetration testing and cloud-based security tools, Intruder continuously scans for vulnerabilities in internet-facing systems, including cloud infra, to prioritize missing updates, patches, misconfigurations, and encryption issues.

Its threat detection capabilities, enhanced by perimeter scanning for networks, contextual risk assessment, and clear, actionable reports, help deliver end-to-end vulnerability management.

Pros:

• Conducts hourly checks for new IP addresses and hostnames. 
• Multiplatform visibility with a single view into multiple cloud accounts.

Limitations:

• Does not provide key security features like malware detection and firewalls.
• The reports provided could be more detailed.

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6. Lookout

Key Features:

• Platform: SaaS
• Capabilities: SSE, CASB, SWG and data-centric security
• Accuracy: False positives possible 
• Compliance Scanning: GDPR
• Workflow Integration: Splunk, SentinelOne, and more
• Price: Available on quote

As one of the top cloud security tools, Lookout’s Security Service Edge or SSE was designed to offer multiple security capabilities, including Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), Secure Web Gateway (SWG), and Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), on a single platform.

Its data-centric approach helps deliver better access control services and real-time traffic monitoring, empowering you with threat protection.

Pros:

• Management view helps you cover diverse security needs.
• Offers a user-friendly design and experience.

Limitations:

• The reporting function can be improved.

7. Sophos 

Key Features:

• Platform: SaaS
• Capabilities: Firewalls, workload protection, and security posture management
• Accuracy: False positives possible 
• Compliance Scanning: HIPAA, CIS, PCI-DSS, and SOX
• Workflow Integration: Microsoft and Crowdstrike
• Price: Available on quote

With a primary aim of optimizing cloud spending, Sophos, as a cloud security solution, facilitates real-time monitoring, identification, and response to real-world threats such as malware, misconfigurations, and unsanctioned activities.

Moreover, its firewall and access control services help you establish a zero-trust architecture with integrated controls and an integrated threat response force.

Pros:

• Helps you initiate auto-discovery across multiple cloud environments.
• Pinpoints operational inefficiencies. 

Limitations:

• Requires extensive levels of hands-on expertise and technical knowledge

8. Cisco

Key Features:

• Platform: SaaS
• Capabilities: CSPM, CWP, and SASE
• Accuracy: False positives possible 
• Compliance Scanning: 
• Workflow Integration: JIRA, ServiceNow, Zendesk
• Price: Available on quote

Cisco offers a comprehensive suite of cloud security tools to protect hybrid and multi-cloud environments. Its CSPM capabilities deliver real-time monitoring and conscious alerts for suspicious behavior, while workload protection enables ZTA using segmentation.

Most importantly, as a mature tool, it combines the above with API security and infrastructure as code (IaC) security, it offers a unified Cloud Native Application Protection Platform (CNAPP) to enable the shift-left to DevSecOps.

Pros:

• Offers multi-layered security.
• Ensures consistent protection for both on-premises and remote users.

Limitations:

• Pricing model may be prohibitive for some organizations.
• Learning curve can be quite steep.

9. Lacework

Key Features:

• Platform: SaaS
• Capabilities: CNAPP, CSPM, and container security 
• Accuracy: False positives possible 
• Compliance Scanning: PCI, HIPAA, and SOC 2
• Workflow Integration: Buildkite, ServiceNow, Atlassian, and more 
• Price: Available on quote

As a CNAPP cloud security provider, Lacework provides valuable insights into cloud activity with automated scanning, continuous monitoring, risk correlation, and anomaly detection.

It leverages its Polygraph Data Platform, to automatically learn what defines ‘normal behavior’ of your cloud environments and detects deviations that may indicate potential threats or misconfigurations.

Pros:

• Helps you gain complete visibility of your workload.

Limitations:

• In some cases, columns are unnecessarily truncated.
• Timely security monitoring can be better.

10. Orca Security

Key Features:

• Platform: SaaS
• Capabilities: CSPM, CIEM, and vulnerability management
• Accuracy: False positives possible 
• Compliance Scanning: 150+ frameworks for multi-cloud environments
• Workflow Integration: JIRA, Okta, Slack, and more
• Price: Available on quote

Orca Security offers an intelligent security tool for cloud infrastructure and multi-cloud environments. It delivers pre-deployment scanning, automated remediation, and exhaustive compliance reporting facilities.

Its CIEM also helps detect misconfigurations and ensure least-privilege access policies while prioritizing vulnerabilities and compliance issues in every stage to help develop a culture of security from the ground-up.

Pros:

• Discovery and modeling of interrelationships between multi-cloud assets
• Strong support for multi-cloud enterprise

Limitations:

• Occasional problems with user authentication.

Astra Pentest is built by the team of experts that helped secure Microsoft, Adobe, Facebook, and Buffer

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Maximize the ROI of Your Cloud Security Companies

Focus on Configuration and Access.

While tools for cloud security offer robust solutions, they can’t guarantee complete invulnerability. The security of your cloud environment is a shared responsibility. 

Cloud providers don’t make your cloud invincible but complement your efforts. To fortify your cloud environment, prioritize strong configurations, access controls, and user management practices.

Choose Expertise Aligned with Your Needs.

Cloud security companies specialize in different areas. Some excel in threat detection and response, while others focus on data encryption or access control. 

It is crucial to evaluate your specific needs and choose a company with expertise in those areas instead of a one-size-fits-all approach.

Prioritize Open Standards and Data Portability.

Don’t get trapped in lock-in period confidentialities. Reputable cloud security companies offer solutions compatible with multiple cloud platforms and prioritize data portability. Choose a provider that adheres to open standards for easier migration if needed.

While vendor lock-in can occur, you can mitigate this risk by conducting thorough research and choosing an open-standards-based provider.

Final Thoughts

Cloud security is a shared responsibility, and the best companies offer specialized solutions to fit your needs. Look for features that simplify management across your cloud environments, ensure consistent platform security, and help you navigate compliance complexities.

Moreover, while the above cloud security tools is far from exhaustive, companies like Astra Security, Qualys, and Orca Security help you secure your multi-cloud environments with end-to-end vulnerability management platforms.

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