Investing in Modern Cybersecurity: Cloud Security

In this five-part series, we set out to explore the world of cybersecurity and its investment opportunities. In the previous issue, we explored the blood vessels of the digital world: networks. Here, we move down the chain and up in the clouds looking for sky-high opportunities.

Bottom line

In the fourth part of the series, we focus on the next frontier - the cloud, and how it is secured. Cloud security relies on securing three pillars: content, access, and processes.

The ongoing cloudification drives the sector as numerous organizations and users are transitioning to cloud-based content and applications. Even harder to secure are the multi-cloud environments, which must all be correctly configured. In such an environment, Cloud security has mission-critical status. Our analysis shows that the booming $52bn (2026e) cloud security market is set to show a 17% 5Y CAGR for revenues and a solid 40% 3Y CAGR for EPS.  

Executive Summary

Content: securing the exponentially growing cloud-stored data

  • The cloud is a data center with servers and storage used to be secured as endpoints. Servers differ from endpoints in their tasks, configurations, and potential threat entry points, thus requiring specific cybersecurity solutions.

  • Content in the cloud is usually scattered across geographically distributed servers. Grouping them as parts of content delivery networks (CDN) helps improve and secure data access by caching content and absorbing harmful traffic.

  • CDNs usually come packaged with additional denial-of-service (DDoS) security against attack traffic. With their solid CDN and DDoS offering, Cloudflare Inc and Fastly Inc are well-positioned to benefit from the unfolding cybersecurity supercycle.

Access: safely connecting networks to the cloud

  • Companies continue moving to the cloud and want to connect their local networks to cloud applications, which raises the authorization problem.

  • The solution to ensure secure access is two-fold: use CDNs with secure "bridges" on one side and cloud access security brokers (CASB) on the other. CASB acts as a security checkpoint between users and cloud applications.

  • CASB is part of the Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) architecture, so it naturally comes prepackaged within SASE solutions (covered in the previous issue), offered by Zscaler, Palo Alto Networks Inc, Fortinet, Check Point Software Technologies Ltd, Cloudflare Inc, and Cisco Systems Inc.

Workload: making sure the cloud keeps good posture

  • A cloud workload is a specific process, application, service, or task that runs on cloud resources, e.g., databases, virtual machines, containers, and applications. Successful attacks on workloads result primarily from cloud misconfiguration, but attacks may come through traffic or be addressed directly at workloads.

  • Three solutions ensure cloud workload security: Web Application Firewalls (WAF) focus on traffic, Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) on workloads, and Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) on configurations.

  • Palo Alto Networks Inc and Crowdstrike, thanks to their know-how and technological lead in tools and platforms securing workloads and cloud configurations, benefit from a leading market positioning and strong ~20-30% YoY revenue growth.

Content: securing the exponentially growing cloud-stored data

When the user accesses the content or does something in the cloud, e.g., application development, high-performance computing, or modifying a picture remotely in the cloud, he, first of all, accesses the cloud, then accesses the content, and finally executes a specific process directly in the cloud. It is, therefore, easy to imagine the cloud security ecosystem. It focuses on three main areas: securing content and traffic, providing secure access to the workloads (anything that runs on cloud resources), and finally, securing these workloads.

The chart below helps visualize the cloud journey (you may also get acquainted with the cloud universe with the help of an interactive tool we created):

A server or an endpoint: a critical difference

The cloud is essentially a data center with servers and storage. Conventionally, these have been secured as endpoints with endpoint security. However, servers and endpoints differ in their tasks, configurations, and potential threat entry points. For example, endpoints access websites and applications or receive emails and are controlled by the end users. Servers used for cloud services instead store the applications, website data, or emails and usually follow a set of automated processes.

Content security is becoming critical as the appetite for safe data exchange grows

People and businesses are delivering and receiving more and more content via the cloud, i.e., today, it is estimated that 252 Exabytes of data (which, for ease of understanding, equates to ~150tn photos) are transferred via CDNs daily. Content in the cloud is usually geographically distributed via a network of servers to improve and secure data access by caching content. When a user accesses a website or application, the data cached in the nearest geographical data center is served to the user, improving speed and overall user experience. Such caching and data availability network is known as Content Delivery Network (CDN).

CDN is a service to handle legitimate traffic and maintains stable data transmission. CDNs, by construction, help against Distributed-Denial-of-Service (DDOS) attacks, which involve oversaturating servers with requests on multiple levels. For example, target servers may be overloaded with the traffic they cannot process, or hackers may send data packets but ignore the server response so that the server will run out of resources. Even the applications run in the cloud may be directly overrun by requests and collapse.

While Content Delivery Networks absorb partially attack traffic, they may sustain DDoS traffic up to a given capacity. Therefore, CDN providers focus on 1) improving CDN and their throughput to handle more significant amounts of traffic and 2) employing comprehensive DDoS protection in addition to a CDN solution.

Many players, but only one can be the winner

Among the players, we particularly like Cloudflare Inc, already used in 175 countries by >110K clients. Cloudflare Inc already blocks 124bn threats per day. The company is best positioned to benefit from the unfolding cybersecurity supercycle. The company is projected to grow its sales organically at 30–40% YoY, faster than its addressable market. Data shows quarterly DDoS attacks and annual traffic to CDNs worldwide are increasing by ~40%.

Cloudflare Inc remains one of the most innovative players in the market, with significant R&D investments (20% of sales) to ensure a high degree of innovation, and is set to become net profitable this year - all with a solid ~80% gross margin. Competitors in the content security segment include expensive, cloud-incapable on-premise Mandiant, acquired by Google, Cisco Systems Inc, Broadcom , narrow pointed Menlo, Fastly Inc, and disunited AWS by Amazon.com Inc. 

Cloudflare has deserved to be called the "best-in-breed" solution for cloud-content cybersecurity as it has considerable expertise. At the same time, it is fenced in by high barriers to entry, ensuring more stable and predictable growth and margin expansion with a more diverse customer base than its closest competitors, e.g., Fastly Inc.

Access: safely connecting networks to the cloud

The two-part solution

The previous section was dedicated to securing the content, and cloud servers focused on delivering it, i.e., content delivery networks. We learned that CDN platforms help absorb malicious traffic but require additional support from a dedicated DDoS solution to secure content. However, the question of obtaining access to the cloud, the content, and CDNs remains open.

To understand the solutions, we must realize that today, there is an ongoing convergence between the network and the cloud. Many companies continue moving to the cloud and want to connect their local networks to cloud applications. The ensuing problem is securing the link between the two and - more importantly - ensuring that cloud applications will interact only with authorized users.

The first part of the solution relies on the SASE architecture explained in the previous issue and CDNs. The former establishes a bridge between local networks and the cloud, while CDNs ensure anti-DDoS capability. The second part of the solution is Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB).

CASB or not to be?

CASB is an on-premise cloud-based access broker, or in other terms, a "cloud security checkpoint." Its central role is to function as a security layer between users and cloud applications, acting as an intermediary to 1) enable access control and 2) enforce compliance with predefined policies. Additionally, CASBs give visibility into cloud applications. This alleviates the shadow IT problem (using IT, devices, software, apps, etc. without explicit IT department approval) and serves as a tool to conduct an extensive risk assessment.

Access brokers encompass numerous technological blocks. These blocks include but are not limited to authentication, single sign-on, authorization, credential mapping, device profiling, encryption, tokenization, logging, alerting, and malware detection/prevention. Moreover, CASBs may proactively integrate behavioral analytics to detect compromised users and apps.

While cloud access brokers are the true interfaces between the cloud and the network from an administration standpoint, they do not replace other security features. Especially those that focus on the workloads, multi-cloud configurations, and cloud application security that we take a look at in the next section. 

Buying SASE? CASB comes for "free"!

As we have previously learned, Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) are part of the Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) architecture that also includes Firewall-as-a-Service, Secure Web Gateways, and Zero Trust - all extensively covered in the previous article. Therefore CASB's offering usually comes prepackaged with SSE/SASE solutions. Zscaler, Palo Alto Networks Inc, Fortinet, Check Point Software Technologies Ltd, and Cisco Systems Inc are prominent players in the SASE and, by extension, CASB segment. Cloudflare Inc is also extending its content and DDoS offering to successfully provide such services.

Workload: making sure the cloud keeps good posture

Making the cloud work

Any process, e.g., accessing a database or application done in the cloud, is considered a workload. These workloads are protected at two stages: at the connection level and then at the actual runtime stage.

The connection level is secured by Web Application Firewalls (WAF). WAFs are firewalls dedicated to web applications. These barriers usually work alongside Content Delivery Networks to help guide or restrict the traffic to and from cloud applications, allowing access to good website traffic or exhibiting red security flags if needed.

WAFs help support "service as usual" during DDoS attacks and ensure websites' availability, speed, and stability. The WAF market is currently set to grow from $5.5bn this year to $25.6bn by 2030, a CAGR of >16%, which is not surprising given that many businesses use WAFs with CDNs to increase website security. 

In addition to WAFs working at the connection level, there are currently two prominent cybersecurity solutions at the workload runtime level: Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) and Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM).

Securing those workloads

Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) are similar to endpoint security solutions. However, they extend to include cloud-specific elements such as virtual machines and containers. Also, as most applications are developed and run in containers and virtual machines, such tools secure cloud applications and processes during their entire development cycle. As more businesses switch from on-site to cloud application development and container-based applications, demand for Cloud Workload Protection Platforms may only grow.

Gartner estimates that 95% of cloud security issues result from misconfiguration. As we have previously explained, the responsibility for cloud security is split between the provider and the customer depending on the solutions, i.e., Infrastructure-, Software-, or Platform-as-a-Service. Cloud security means securing the physical side "of" it and the applications "in" it. Such complexity means that cloud configurations must be continuously monitored, issues quickly identified, and security gaps reinforced, e.g., enforce policies, apply best practices, and verify configurations for known risks. Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) platforms are made precisely for this. CSPM tools detect and auto-rectify misconfigurations, update the list of best practices, and may even contextualize alerts and initiate a response by assigning them to the right security team.

CWPP and CSPM are also integral to the broader shift to Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP). Cloud applications have unique characteristics (e.g., containers and fragmented software components), making them expensive to secure and configure. CNAPP, just like application security tools, offers security from application development to deployment. However, it additionally combines application development tools such as Dynamic/Static Application Security Testing with CWPP and CSPM. This allows developers to have a continuous turnkey application security framework.

The dynamic workload security market is shifting again

The market of cloud security vendors is vast. WAF market is well represented by traditional firewall players (Cisco Systems Inc, Check Point Software Technologies Ltd, Palo Alto Networks Inc, Fortinet), CDN (Akamai Technologies Inc, Fastly Inc, Cloudflare Inc), and cloud providers (Amazon.com Inc, Microsoft Corp). The two workload solutions above are standalone tools. However, with the ongoing cloudification, especially boosted by COVID-19, there is ongoing consolidation in the market. For example, CWPP-only vendors Aqua Security, Palo Alto Networks Inc, and Crowdstrike now offer CSPM solutions. Aqua Security and Palo Alto Networks Inc obtained these capabilities through the acquisition of CloudSploit and RedLock, while Crowdstrike developed their Horizon offering in-house.

Crowdstrike noticed that customers were using their Endpoint Detection & Response solutions (endpoint solution), which we covered in the previous issue, to secure cloud servers. To improve its offering, the company developed CWPP and CSPM modules and Falcon Horizon, which not only secure clients' cloud servers but look for misconfigurations in the public cloud (when a client is also using dropbox, google drive, etc.), containers, and even serverless environments. Crowdstrike remains our top pick in the cybersecurity universe - it is best positioned to capture growth with its innovative thinking, timely market offerings, and excellent financial health to sustain growth.

Finally, the shift to CNAPP has only started and is a nascent platform. Actors that offer CWPP and CSPM and naturally best positioned to offer CNAPP, e.g., Palo Alto Networks Inc, Microsoft Corp, Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.

Catalysts

  • Cloud tipping-point. Although many companies use cloud applications, core processes generally remain on-premise. With the cloud gaining momentum, there will be a tipping point with applications massively being switched to the cloud. 

  • Convenience and ease of use. Regulation will force administrations and corporations to upgrade their systems. From a security perspective, using the cloud is way less painful and much more efficient than upgrading on-premise systems.

  • The exponential amount of data. The volume of generated data keeps increasing, making on-premise storage data more and more difficult. In the meantime, shifting to the cloud requires securing its access.

Risks

  • Disruption of communications. Uninterrupted communications with cloud networks remain one of the weakest links in case of cyber warfare or massive cyber attacks, which are expected to increase in frequency. 

  • Loss of control. Switching to the cloud means some loss of control for users. This may spook some, especially if the almighty cloud providers abuse their position.

  • Unsecured interfaces. The cloud is only secured if the APIs and interfaces used to communicate with it are secure. Compromised interfaces would lead to data breaches, loss, and potentially complete account hijacking, slowing the global cloudification process. 

Companies mentioned in this article

Fortinet (FTNT); Crowdstrike (CRWD); Zscaler (ZS); Akamai Technologies Inc (AKAM); Amazon.com Inc (AMZN); Aqua Security (Not listed); Broadcom (AVGO); Check Point Software Technologies Ltd (CHKP); Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO); CloudSploit (Not listed); Cloudflare Inc (NET); Fastly Inc (FSLY); Mandiant (MNDT); Menlo (Not listed); Microsoft Corp (MSFT); Palo Alto Networks Inc (PANW); RedLock (Not listed)

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