CNAPP (Cloud Native Application Protection Platform)

Cloud-native application protection platforms bring together multiple cloud security capabilities in one place. They typically include CSPM, CWPP, CIEM, and sometimes DSPM. The goal is to provide security and platform teams with a connected view of risk across cloud accounts, workloads, and the software delivery lifecycle, rather than juggling separate tools for misconfigurations, vulnerabilities, and excessive entitlements.

Standalone CSPM focuses on configuration drift in cloud services. CWPP protects workloads at runtime. CNAPP sits above both. It correlates findings across build, deploy, and run so you can see how issues in IaC templates, container images, Kubernetes manifests, live workloads, identities, and data stores combine into practical attack paths rather than isolated alerts.

Modern CNAPP platforms also add “shift-left” controls by integrating with source control and CI systems. This lets teams fail builds or block deployments when critical policies are violated, and reserve runtime controls for catching what slips through. For leadership, that means a clearer story: which cloud risks matter most, where they sit in the lifecycle, and who owns the fix.

7 Common Requirements in This Category

Technical buyers typically look for:

1. Cloud and Workload Coverage

Support for the major cloud providers, containers, Kubernetes, serverless, and managed services. A deployment model that fits how workloads actually run (agents, sidecars, eBPF, agentless, or a mix) and can be operated by platform and SRE teams without excessive friction.

2. Build-Time and Pipeline Integration

Scanning of IaC templates, container images, and deployment manifests. Integration with SCM and CI/CD systems. Policy-as-code so cloud and security policies can be versioned, tested, and reviewed like application code, with clear ownership for engineering teams.

3. Posture and Vulnerability Management

Detection of cloud misconfigurations, exposed services, and unpatched packages or images. Normalisation and deduplication of findings across accounts, clusters, and regions, allowing security and platform teams to work from a single, prioritised view.

4. Identity and Entitlement Awareness (CIEM)

Visibility into cloud identities, roles, and permissions. Detection of over-privileged principals, unused access, and risky trust relationships between services and accounts, with enough context for both security engineers and cloud owners to make changes confidently.

5. Risk Correlation and Attack Path Analysis

Grouping of findings into risk scenarios. For example, an internet-exposed workload, a vulnerable image, a privilege escalation path, and access to sensitive data. Clear explanation of impact and likely entry points so leadership can understand the risk and teams can agree on priorities.

6. Runtime Visibility and Protection

Telemetry from workloads and orchestration layers. Anomaly detection for processes and network flows. Optional enforcement controls that align with existing incident response and change management processes, so operations teams are not surprised by blocking actions.

7. Operational Fit and Reporting

Integrations with ticketing, messaging, SIEM, and SOAR. Role-aware dashboards for security, platform, and application teams. Reporting that can be reused for audits, customer assessments, and executive updates, showing how cloud risk is trending over time.

With Cybermatch, CNAPP platforms are compared against these criteria so teams can quickly see which vendors align with their cloud footprint, delivery practices, and risk priorities before investing in a PoC.