The “cloud security” subset of cyber security safeguards the cloud computing infrastructure. Maintaining data security and privacy across web-based platforms, infrastructure, and apps is particularly important. Cloud service providers and customers, whether individuals, small and medium-sized businesses, or enterprises, must work together to secure these systems.
Cloud service providers always use internet connections to host services on their servers. Using cloud security solutions, customer data is kept private and secure because the company’s success depends on consumer confidence. Nevertheless, the client has some of the responsibility for cloud security. Both must be thoroughly understood in order to create a successful cloud security solution.
This article will discuss Cloud workload protection programs, Cloud Security Posture Management, and the Differences Between CWPP and CSPM (CWPP vs CSPM).
What is CWPP?
A cloud workload protection platform (CWPP) is a security solution created to secure cloud workloads in modern cloud and data center settings. For serverless workloads, virtual machines, containers, and physical machines everywhere, a powerful CWPP can offer standard security controls and visibility. When deployed workloads, CWPPs perform a vulnerability check before securing them with host-based intrusion prevention, identity-based micro-segmentation, optional anti-malware, and other measures.
Characteristics of CWPP:
- The ability to find vulnerabilities sooner in the process
- Exploit and live threat detection
- enhanced investigation and context capabilities for incident resolution
Use case scenarios for CWPP:
- Workload discovery and inventory across various environments
- System integrity assurance and whitelisting of applications in virtual machines
- Workload behavior monitoring and threat detection and prevention tools
- Protection for containers and Kubernetes
- serverless protection
What is CSPM?
In order to discover misconfiguration issues and compliance risks in the cloud, IT security technologies have created a market niche called cloud security posture management (CSPM). Inconsistencies in implementing security policies are checked continuously on cloud infrastructure with the help of CSPM.
By automating visibility, continuous monitoring, threat detection, and remediation workflows, cloud security posture management (CSPM) identifies and eliminates risk by looking for misconfigurations across a variety of cloud environments and architectures, such as:
IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service), SaaS (Software as a Service), and PaaS (Platform as a Service) are just a few of the services that CSPM may provide for you. Aside from handling incident responses, recommending remediation, monitoring compliance, and integrating DevOps into hybrid and multi-cloud platforms and infrastructures, CSPM technologies also do several other tasks. Before a breach occurs, specific CSPM solutions assist security teams in proactively identifying weak points in cloud systems and correcting them.
Characteristics of CSPM:
- Find your Oracle, AWS, Azure, GCP, and other accounts in a single window.
- Allocation of resources and cost control
- Cloud migrations, backup, and recovery
- Effective management of the continuing migration to cloud infrastructure
- Compliance with a range of requirements, such as CIS, NIST, HIPPA, etc., as well as security problems caused by misconfiguration problems
Use cases for CSPM:
- Constant monitoring and application of security measures across many cloud environments
- Discovering and identifying cloud workloads and services
- Prioritization of threat detection and notifications
- Prioritization, visualization, and risk management in cloud settings
- Monitoring ongoing compliance with regional and industry-specific rules
Difference between CWPP and CSPM
CSPM and CWPP systems have many characteristics, but their main distinction is scope.
The goal of CSPM is to provide recommendations for remediation and automation while providing visibility into the security of cloud infrastructure and applications. By comparing cloud resources to security best practices, CSPM solutions ensure that data is protected and that access to sensitive resources is restricted.
The security of application and service workloads operating in cloud environments is prioritized by CWPP, which provides malware protection, manages access controls, and keeps an eye out for unusual behavior. CWPP technologies, like CSPM, can assist enterprises in meeting regulatory requirements for workloads running in the cloud and prove compliance.
CSPM concentrates on making sure that the cloud environment is configured securely. In contrast, CWPP concentrates on safeguarding the workloads executed in that environment, despite the two being identical in many aspects.
CWPP vs CSPM: Key Differences
Take a look at the critical points in CWPP vs CSPM.
| Parameters | CWPP | CSPM |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A host-centric solution that focuses on the specific needs of server workload protection in hybrid data centers | Solution for evaluating the cloud environment against best practices and security violations and offering the necessary remedial actions, frequently through automation |
| Visibility | Keeping track of workloads and discovery | Continuous monitoring and application of security measures across many cloud deployments |
| Data Protection | Applications whitelisting and integrity assurance | Finding and locating cloud workloads and services |
| Threat Protection | Monitoring workload behavior and spotting threats | Prioritizing alerts and identifying threats |
| Policies | Protection for containers and Kubernetes | Risk prioritizing, risk visualization, and management on the cloud |
| Data Sovereignty | Provides serverless defense | Monitoring of ongoing compliance with industry- and region-specific requirements, such as GDPR and FISMA |
| Products | Sentinelone, Trend Micro Security, IaaS, Prisma Cloud, and Symantec | Sentinelone, Zscaler, Lacework, Amazon Web Services, and CloudPassage |
CNAPP Buyer’s Guide
Learn everything you need to know about finding the right Cloud-Native Application Protection Platform for your organization.
Read Guide
Conclusion
CNAPP Buyer’s Guide
Learn everything you need to know about finding the right Cloud-Native Application Protection Platform for your organization.
Read GuideIn this article, you have read about CWPP vs CSPM. Tools like CSPM and CWPP are crucial for safeguarding contemporary cloud settings. Despite some functional overlap, each solution has unique strengths and scopes, making them perfect partner technologies that should cooperate to offer a complete security solution. To explore more on the platform how it helps your business, Request a demo.
CWPP vs CSPM FAQs
CSPM is a set of tools and processes that continuously checks cloud environments for misconfigurations and policy violations. It scans resource settings—such as storage buckets, identity roles, and network rules—and flags any gaps against best practices or compliance standards.
You can use CSPM to get visibility into your cloud account, enforce consistent security controls, and fix risky settings before they’re exploited.
CSPM tools automatically map your cloud inventory and evaluate configurations against policies you set or industry benchmarks. They alert you to issues like open storage buckets, overly permissive roles, or unencrypted databases.
You can track compliance over time, get guided remediation steps, and generate reports for auditors. Many CSPM solutions also integrate with ticketing or automation systems to roll out fixes at scale.
CWPP defends the workloads running inside your cloud—virtual machines, containers, and serverless functions—by installing lightweight agents or leveraging cloud-native APIs. It monitors activity at the host or container level, inspects process behavior, and blocks malware or suspicious actions in real time.
CWPP keeps your compute instances safe from threats that slip past perimeter defenses or evade network controls.
CWPP solutions provide runtime protection, file integrity monitoring, and vulnerability scanning for each workload. They detect threat behaviors—such as anomalous processes, in-memory exploits, or unauthorized binaries—and quarantine or kill malicious activity. Many also track software versions and known CVEs in your images, so you know when to patch. Some CWPPs can roll back changes to a known good state if an attack succeeds.
CSPM focuses on securing your cloud configuration and accounts—spotting issues before workloads run. CWPP secures the workloads themselves during runtime—stopping threats inside virtual machines or containers. Think of CSPM as checking your doors and windows are locked, while CWPP watches for intruders that slip inside and shuts them down.
You use CSPM to ensure your cloud infrastructure follows security policies and compliance requirements, especially during rapid provisioning or scale-up. It’s ideal for audit readiness and preventing misconfiguration risks.
CWPP is used to guard active workloads, catching malware or suspicious processes as they execute. It’s suited for high-risk applications, dynamic container environments, and post‐deployment threat hunting.
CSPM detects policy violations and insecure settings before they become live threats, offering alerts and remediation guidance. CWPP detects actual malicious behavior at runtime—memory exploits, unauthorized code execution, or file tampering—and can block or quarantine it immediately.
CSPM is preventive posture management; CWPP is active threat protection inside workloads.
Start with CSPM early, as soon as you spin up cloud accounts, to catch misconfigurations from day one. Once you launch workloads—VMs, containers, or functions—add CWPP to monitor and protect them in real time. Both can run side by side, but posture checks without runtime guards leave active workloads exposed, and runtime protection without proper settings control carries unnecessary risk.
Organizations can deploy SentinelOne Singularity™ Cloud Security because it includes both CWPP and CSPM. SentinelOne also offers its own dedicated Singularity™ Cloud Security Posture Management and Singularity™ Cloud Workload Security solutions.
CSPM and CWPP cover different stages of your cloud lifecycle. CSPM stops security holes in your setup before they lead to breaches. CWPP catches threats that slip through or emerge later during runtime. Using both gives you end-to-end defense: locked-down configurations plus active shielding of workloads, so you reduce misconfiguration risks and respond to live attacks without gaps.