Abstract
In the
present era of widespread cloud technology adoption, it is necessary to ensure
the compliance and security of cloud deployments. This research examines the
effectiveness of the Prisma Cloud for the enhancement of the security level
within the cloud environments through compliance and vulnerability scanning.
The Prisma Cloud is a cloud-native security platform that assists in
maintaining compliance and scanning vulnerabilities. Through leveraging the
cloud security posture management and cloud workload protection, the Prisma
cloud provides continuous monitoring, real-time alerts and automated
remediation for maintaining regulatory compliance and identifying security
issues. This study tries to explore the functionalities and features of the
Prisma cloud related to compliance and vulnerability scanning through the
identification of the strengths and limitations. This research study also
offers probable recommendations for the optimisation of its utilisation in
organisational settings.
Keywords: Cloud security, compliance management, Prisma Cloud, vulnerability
scanning, automated remediation, cloud workload protection.
1. Introduction
1.1. Project specification
In the present landscape of increasing
adoption of cloud technologies, it is necessary to ensure the compliance and
security of cloud deployments become a necessary concern for organisations. The
Prisma Cloud refers to the native security solution which provides “Cloud Workload Protection” (CWP) and “Cloud Security Posture Management”
(CSPM) components that assist in preserving the cloud environments1. The present research focuses on
leveraging the Prisma cloud for the enhancement of the security posture of
cloud deployments through the identification of the issues associated with
vulnerability and compliance management. This project includes a comprehensive
examination of the abilities of Prisma Cloud in the conduction of vulnerability
and compliance scanning for cloud deployments.
1.2. Aims and objectives
This research aims to evaluate the
effectiveness of Prisma cloud to ensure compliance and address the
vulnerabilities in cloud deployments.
The key objectives are as follows:
·To explore the functionalities of Prisma cloud relevant to
vulnerability and compliance scanning
·To analyse the outcomes of the assessment and address the
main strengths and limitations of Prisma Cloud
·To provide recommendations for organisations to optimise
the use of Prisma Cloud for compliance and security
1.3. Research questions
RQ 1: What functionalities of Prisma
cloud are relevant to compliance and vulnerability scanning?
RQ 2: What are the results of the
assessment related to the identification of strengths and limitations of Prisma
cloud?
RQ 3: What are the main recommendations
for the optimisation of the use of the Prisma cloud?
1.4. Research rationale
Issues: The
research will address the complications of the cloud environments which make it
challenging to maintain compliance and consistent security. It focuses of the
identification of vulnerabilities and ensures the timely improvement of
large-scale cloud environments.
Reason for the issues: Cloud environments evolve continuously with frequent alterations in deployments and configurations. The scale of the cloud environments makes it difficult to conduct a holistic and continuous vulnerability assessment.
Present issues: The present landscape of cloud security presents several challenges. Many organisations lack detailed visibility into the cloud environments which hinders their effective compliance and vulnerability management2. The traditional vulnerability management techniques are not well-suited for the cloud leading to the ineffective detection and elimination of the issues.
2. Literature review
2.1. Research background
The adoption of cloud computing has
transformed the IT landscape which offers better scalability, cost-efficiency
and flexibility. This shift introduces significant security issues as the
traditional security measures are inappropriate for the dynamic and distributed
nature of the cloud environments. Many organisations face dual challenges to
ensure compliance with regulatory standards and protect against
vulnerabilities. The Prisma Cloud is developed by Palo Alto Networks which is
the cloud-native security platform. It is structured for the identification of
issues through delivering detailed tools for compliance and vulnerability
scanning across multi-cloud and hybrid environments3.
2.2. Critical assessment
The primary cloud offers a wide range of
features designed for the enhancement of the security posture of cloud
deployments. The Prisma cloud monitors the cloud environment continuously to
maintain compliance with the various regulatory standards such as PCI-DSS, GDPR
and many more through delivering comprehensive reports and real-time alerts4. Prisma Cloud provides automated
improvement of the capabilities which enables the organisation to address the
vulnerabilities quickly. This platform integrates with various security tools
such as DevOps facilitate seamless workflows and the automation of the security
process5.
2.3. Linking with aim
The primary aim of this research is to
evaluate the efficiency of the Prisma cloud to ensure compliance the address
the vulnerabilities in the cloud deployments. Through the critical assessments
of the capabilities of Prisma Cloud, this research tries to provide actionable
insights along with the best practices for the organisation's aims to enhance
its cloud security. The critical assessment highlights the strengths and the
limitations of Prisma cloud which sets the stage for a detailed investigation and
practical recommendations.
2.4. Vulnerability scanning
process and its benefits
The vulnerability scanning process
started with the findings of the cloud resources including the virtual machines
and serverless functions. The Prisma Cloud conducts a thorough assessment of
the discovered resources and scanning of the vulnerabilities. The
identification of the vulnerabilities is prioritised depending on the severity
and exploitability which enables the organisation’s focus on the most critical
issues. Incorporation of the Prisma Cloud increases the pace of scanning that
identifies the security gaps before exploitation6. Through ensuring compliance with the
regulatory standards, various organisations can able to avoid costly penalties
and enhance their reputations.
2.5. Theoretical framework
This proposed research is grounded in the
principles of cloud security and compliance management which have been drawn
from the establishment of the theories and the models in this field. Cloud
Security Alliance and the Cloud Control Matrix refer to a framework for
the assessment of cloud security controls and compliance with industry
standards7. The shared responsibility model
relies on the concept that cloud security is a shared responsibility among the
cloud service provider and customer8. This further emphasises the need for
vigorous security measures on each side.
2.6. Literature Gap
Though there exists vast varied enriched
literature on cloud security along with compliance, specific research on the
practical application and the effectiveness of comprehensive platforms such as
Prisma remain limited. There is a lack of empirical studies for the evaluation
of the real-world effectiveness of Prisma Cloud in diversified cloud
environments.
3. Methodology
3.1. Research philosophy
The interpretivism research philosophy
has been used in this research as it focuses on understanding the
context-specific gradation of the organisations in the implementation of the
Prisma Cloud for vulnerability and compliance scanning. This philosophy
provides values to the complications of the cloud environments and aims to
interpret the actual implications and meanings of the features embodied into
Prisma clouds within these environments. Through the utilisation of the interpretivism
research philosophy, this research can be able to provide in-depth insights
about the process of perceives of Prisma cloud and its usage through the
different stakeholders. This further assist in the captivation of the practical
realities and the challenges faced in the current phenomenon.
3.2. Research approach
A deductive approach in implemented in
this research as this research study started with the establishment of the
frameworks and theories associated with the cloud security. Deductive approach
is concerned about the development of the theories related to the existing
study9. These theories are used
in the formulation of the hypothesis about the effectiveness of the Prisma
clouds. The incorporation of the various theories through the empirical
observations leads to the testing of the validity of these theories within the
data collection process. Through following the deductive approach, this
research study can bale to verify the theoretical assumptions in a systematic
manner and evaluate the performance of the prisma cloud. This further ensures
the structured analysis of the capabilities of Prisma cloud in identifying and
eliminating vulnerabilities issues.
3.3. Research design
The descriptive research design is
selected in this study to deliver a vigorous overview of the prisma cloud’s
functionalities and its implementation of the prisma process and its result.
The descriptive research design includes the utilisation of a ranger of
quantitative and qualitative research methods for the collection of the data
that assists in the accurate description of the research problem10. This research design
allows the researchers for the detailed documentation and the analysis of the
process through which prisma cloud is used for the compliance along with the
vulnerability scanning in various cloud environments. Through focusing on the
description, this research can comprehensively capture and showcase the present
state of the cloud security practices and the identification of the common
issues and best practices. Incorporation of this research design ensures that
the findings are practical and informative enough for the organisations looking
for the enhancement of the cloud security.
3.4. Data collection method
In this research, the secondary data
collection method is used to analyse the vulnerability scanning by using Prisma
Cloud for the cloud deployments. This method is used in this research as it
allows the researchers to navigate the existing information and the actionable
insights from the previous studies, databases and the reports related to the
cloud security through Prisma cloud. The secondary data offers a broader range
historical context and perspectives which enhance the in-depth analysis of the
proposed research. This approach is cost-effective and time-efficient which
allows the wider foundation of knowledge without the requirement for the
extensive primary data collection.
3.5. Ethical considerations
Ethical considerations are the baseline
for the research that used secondary data to ensure the credibility and
integrity of the research. It is necessary to verify and validate the sources
through ensuring that the data is relevant and unbiased. The proper citation
and the attribution of the secondary data sources are essential for maintaining
intellectual property rights and avoid plagiarism. The researchers have to be
aware of the context when interpreting the secondary data. It is also essential
to ensure the confidentiality and privacy of any type of personal data within
the secondary data to foster the ethical standards in this research.
4. Results
4.1. Critical analysis
There exist various security control
tools such as CSA Cloud control matrix and the NIST cybersecurity framework
which provides holistic guidelines for the cloud security along with the
compliance11. However, the Prisma Cloud contributes
significantly in the cloud security through monitoring, automated remediation
and the vulnerabilities scanning. The prisma cloud accelerates to provide
holistic compliance and the vulnerabilities scanning features. The automated
remediation along with the real-time alerts fosters the operational efficiency.
However, the complications in this area may poses issues for the newly engaged
users. The integration with the existing tools can become challenging which
requires comprehensive management and configuration.
4.2. Findings and
discussion
The prisma cloud enhance the cloud
security through the continuous monitoring and the identification of the
vulnerabilities. Prisma cloud scans the open-sourcing dependencies in the
source packaging, registries and deployment of images and compares these with
the public databases such as NDV. This assist in the in-depth identification of
the vulnerabilities at any dependency point. This platform integrates with the
Ci/CD pipeline which allows an individual to scan the container images during
the building process of central dashboards12. This offers the vigorous automated
remediation through the integration with the DevOps workflows. AS the Prisma
Cloud significantly enhance the cloud security, it is necessary for the sports
organisations to increase investment level in the training and management of
integration.
Theme 1: Functionalities of prisma cloud
relevant to vulnerability and compliance scanning.
The prisma cloud provides a centralised
insights of the vulnerabilities across the public and private cloud and the
on-promises environments. The vulnerability scanning process of the prisma
cloud includes the acquirement of visibility into the vulnerabilities across
virtual machines, Kubernetes, misconfiguration and serverless functions13. The prisma cloud assist
in the visualisation of the potential risk factors across the container images,
host operating system and the serverless functions within the vigorous risk
sourcing. Through the conduction of correlation between the vulnerabilities
with the various risk factors such as excessive permissions, external exposure
and misconfigurations, Prisma cloud can foster its remediation efforts. The
Prisma cloud scans across the languages with the accuracy and identify the
issues in the open-sourcing package. This supports the popular languages and
leverage more than 300 data sources for the minimisation of the false
positives.
Theme 2: The result related to the
identification of strengths and limitations of Prisma cloud.
The Prisma cloud provides a combined view
of the vulnerabilities across various cloud environments such as private,
public and on-promises environments14. The Prisma cloud supports the agent
based this includes the containers, hosts and serverless functions which
ensures the comprehensive visibilities15. As well as the agentless scanning which
allows various organisations of the sports industry to select the most suitable
approach for its organisational infrastructure.
Theme 3: Key
recommendations for the optimisation of the use of the Prisma cloud.
4.3. Evaluation
The prisma cloud is evaluated depending
on the capability to deliver the continuous compliance monitoring and the
efficient vulnerabilities scanning and the seamless integration with the
existing security tools. The performance of the cloud environments is assessed
in the various cloud environments through investigating its scalability,
user-friendliness and the accuracy.
5. Conclusion
This research
showcases that the Prisma cloud is an efficient tool for the enhancement of
cloud security through the holistic vulnerabilities along with compliance
scanning abilities. The Prisma cloud assists in continuous monitoring and
automated remediation is paramount in maintaining compliance with the different
regulatory standards and the protection against security issues. The findings
suggested that the Prisma cloud significantly enhances cloud security. There
exist various challenges in the integration along with the user management
which require proper identification. The optimisation of the Prisma Cloud
performance can be conducted by the organisations through the improvement of
automation capabilities and the integration of advanced machine learning
algorithms for early detection of security threats. It further enhances the
user interface and develop more customizable reporting options.
6. Research Recommendations
·Improve the automation capabilities for the compliance
checking and the vulnerabilities which requires the integration of the CI/CD
pipeline.
·Implement advanced machine learning algorithms for the
detection of threats and challenges clearly.
·Enhance the user interface for providing more congenital
navigation and easier access to the essential features.
·Develop more comprehensive and customizable reporting
options which allows the users to generate those reports that includes
different regulatory needs and internal security policies.
·Foster strong communication through creating webinars,
cloud-based programmes and training initiatives.
·Expand the integration abilities with the other compliance
and security tools which enables the more holistic security ecosystem.
7. Future Work
Future work for the proposed research
should focuses on the various aspects related to the Prisma cloud features for
the maintenance of compliance and scanning of the vulnerabilities. The further
research on this topic should examine the application of the advanced AI and
machine learning techniques for the enfacement of the threat detection along
with the predictive analysis. The future research has to study the integration
of the Prisma Cloud with the emerging technologies including edge computing, serverless
commuting and IoT. Through the exploration of the methods for ensuring
consistent compliance coupled with the security across the multiple cloud
providers in the sports industry. The further research can conduct the user
studies for the collection of feedback on the usability and the effectiveness
of the Prisma Cloud to maintain compliance and mitigate vulnerabilities.
Through focusing on these areas, the future research significantly contributes
in the enhancement of the capabilities and thew applicability of Prisma Cloud
in the various cloud deployment contexts.
8. References