Cloud Native Security in 2025 

There’s no doubt that the cloud computing landscape has grown significantly in the past couple of years. Organizations and developers have been migrating to the cloud in hordes, Palo Alto Networks estimates that over 50% of organizations have spent more than $10 million just last year. Cloud computing is a technological titan pushing for streamlined innovation the globe, with its growth showing no signs of stopping. Adopters and spending aren’t the only thing growing though- it’s been estimated that 80% of companies have been affected by some type of cloud security incident in the past year.  

With industries such as healthcare, finance, education, and manufacturing depending on cloud computing to deliver real-time value, all eyes are on securing the cloud. And this shows in the growth prospects of the global cloud security market itself- projected revenue in 2025 is expected to reach $2.7 billion, with a CAGR of 25% from 2025 to 2029. While cloud security is blanketed, cloud native security goes a layer deeper, seeking to secure every aspect of every cloud tool and platform you use.

‘Cloud native’ refers to anything built, deployed, and managed within a cloud computing environment, relating to concepts such as containerizations, microservices, DevOps, and more. Many developers have turned to the cloud native approach because of its powerful benefits such as reduced costs, increased efficiency, higher availability, and more. Despite this, securing cloud native assets present a whole new set of challenges.

Cloud Security Threats

In their 2024 State of Cloud Native Security Report, cybersecurity leader Palo Alto Networks have identified the top cloud security threats, attributing some of them to aspects designed to make development more efficient. Alongside a staggering 71% of respondents stating that just rushing development can cause vulnerabilities, the top threats within the cloud include:

• Code generated by artificial intelligence (AI)
• Risks created by API interactions
• Attacks powered by AI
• Faulty access management
• Vulnerability access through CI/CD pipelines
• Insider threats
• Unknown and unmanaged assets

Alongside these threats, the danger of other vulnerabilities still loom. 

More common threats like data breaches, compliance violations, and downtime due to backend issues have been consistently wrecking havoc alongside newer threats. While these threats happen to be the most common, with companies experiencing data breaches 64% of the time, compliance violations 48% of the time, and downtime due to backend 45% of the time, these threats have proven to be the most costly towards companies. IBM estimates that the average cost of a data breach in 2024 has risen 10% from 2023, costing companies a jarring $4.88 million. 

Believe it or not, one of the biggest threats to organizations in the cloud is having too many options.

One of the standout characteristics in cloud computing is that there is a tool or service for everything, which has its pros and cons. More choices and prices lets you customize your security loadout perfectly, however, more tools can be overwhelming. Palo Alto Networks estimates that on average, companies use 16 cloud native security tools, with 98% of these companies desperately wanting to reduce this number through consolidation. In the same study done by Palo Alto Networks, it was found that 54% of respondents cited cloud complexity and fragmentation as major security threats, increasing the chance for compliance violations.

When building your security to not only react to these threats, but to prevent them in the first place, it’s important to keep in mind the systems and tools you have in place and how to downsize. With so many different tools on the markets and dangers posing a threat, it’s hard to know where to begin with building security. 

The 4 C’s of Cloud Native Security

One of the leading guidelines for developing a cloud native security strategy is the 4C’s of Cloud Native Security. The C’s are as follows:

Cloud

As it stands, the cloud layer is the infrastructure that your application is built upon. The cloud layer holds everything for your application, including clusters and containers. Infrastructure is typically provided by a CSP, however you can create your own and are responsible for data security, with compromising this aspect proving to be lethal in some cases.

Cluster

The cluster layer is made up of Kubernetes components and is vital to the health of your systems. It is important to bolster the security of this system through Kubernetes’ native security as well as through your own tooling; breaching the cluster level layer can lead to vulnerabilities across all of your applications.

Container

The container layer consists of container images, but requires two separate types of security. Image security scans container images for vulnerabilities while runtime security protects containers while in operation. Both security running in tandem results in an ultra-secure environment fitting the importance of containers.

Code

Cloud native security should extend all the way down to your code, where faulty development practices and a general lack of care can lead to security exploits.

These guidelines set the foundation for a strong cloud native security strategy. And in making said strategy, organizations have been able to curb down their breaches and access benefits such as:

• Enhanced scaling and flexibility
• Stronger visibility through intuitive monitoring
• Increased efficiency

And much more!

Cloud Native Security Operations Must Haves

Cloud native security operations come in many shapes and sizes, with your loadout dependent on your own security needs. That being said, almost every competent security system has:

Identity and Access Management (IAM)

IAM is a framework that seeks to manage and secure access to important information across an organization. As detailed in the name ‘identity and access’, IAM identifies individuals within an organization and provides access via roles, which can be adjusted through admins. A key example of IAM is role-based access (RBAC), which grants access to information as one’s role sees fit.

IAM is a must for organizations by controlling the outflow of information, safeguarding from threats both external and internal.

Network and Application Security

Network security protects your network, using concepts like firewall and encryption to do so. Application security protects individual apps, ensuring that no one is able to get inside your network through your application.

Data Protection 

Data protection within cloud native environments is no different than securing data in any system. Ensuring that databases, data transfers, and data usage are all protected should be a top priority for all companies, providing strict guidelines towards data confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Encryption and data-specific protocols will be critical for this

Cloud Workload Security 

In a similar vein to container runtime security, cloud workload security works to secure cloud services through monitoring and other protective measures.

Kubernetes Security 

For more information on Kubernetes security, visit the Kubernetes documentation. 

Protecting from Security Threats in Cloud Computing with Lyrid

Cloud security is of the utmost importance for organizations dealing with cloud computing tech. With so many different ways to implement safeguards, it's hard to even start. Here are some of the ways that Lyrid can help develop your cloud security architecture and curb threats: 

Infrastructure Safeguarding

A huge gripe amongst cloud users is the amount of tools needed to get something done, and with cloud security, tooling inventory grows significantly. Lyrid approaches cloud native security as a shared responsibility: users get to implement any security they deem fit, Lyrid protects the backend infrastructure and doesn’t overstep boundaries. 

The benefits of this approach are two-pronged:

• Users are able to optimize their cloud security approach without wasting any resources they might have otherwise not used
• Users no longer have to pay keen attention to infrastructure security and management, Lyrid takes care of it so their users can focus on core development.

Lyrid’s protection is also two-pronged:

• Protecting infrastructure in a software sense, safeguarding compute, storage, database, and networking resources
• Protecting infrastructure on the physical front, guarding regions, edge locations, and availability zones, as well as the physical infrastructure involved. 

For your assets housed within Lyrid infrastructure, we provide mitigation strategies and monitoring capabilities via Prometheus and Grafana to enhance your visibility.

Data Security

Lyrid offers a variety of data security options that fit within any cloud native security strategy. Some of these features include: 

• BackupHero Database: Automated backups every 24 hours, allows for backtracking
• SafeGuard Database: Data access based on trusted IP addresses
• Secure Data Hub: A centralized interface that keeps users backup files, data dumps, logs, and data sets within Lyrid’s object storage
• Lyrid Object Storage: Disconnects data from servers and VMs that can be corrupted

These data features can be found within a single interface, no need to add more tools to a collection.

Cloud security is complicated, but it doesn’t have to be. If you’re interested in learning how to protect your infrastructure and data to the fullest, reach out to one of our product specialists!