The fastest way to get CISSP Certified. Join our bootcamp
Most organizations rely on a variety of cloud services to conduct their business. They use a range of software as a service (SaaS), storage as a service, compute as a service, and so much more. A typical organization will have a host of services from many different providers. While the cloud has made it so much easier to launch projects—we no longer have to anticipate demand and order our servers in advance—managing these many different cloud services and providers can quickly become complicated.
Thankfully, we have cloud access security brokers (CASBs). CASBs are intermediaries that sit between a cloud service customer, such as a typical business, and the cloud service providers, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google.
First generations clouds access security brokers (CASBs)
When CASBs first came onto the scene, they were mainly used to discover cloud resources and provide visibility. They helped organizations track whether shadow IT was being accessed and used at the company. This was critical for enhancing security, because shadow IT is the technology that employees use without explicit approval from the IT department, such as an online filesharing service or a messaging application. Shadow IT is dangerous, because we can’t secure what we don’t know about and haven’t vetted.
Second generation clouds access security brokers (CASBs)
Over time, CASBs evolved beyond the role of discovery and also gained enforcement capabilities. Cloud access security brokers could then enforce governance and security policies on cloud applications. This meant that organizations could apply their on-premises policies to their cloud services as well. Second generation CASBs are capable of:
- Finding misconfigurations on cloud servers – Poorly configured cloud servers can result in data breaches. Alerts sent from CASBs can help us identify these issues before a breach occurs.
- Protecting company data – CASBs can monitor the data flows to and from cloud services. If data is being transmitted in violation of company policy, cloud access security brokers can help to alert us about the issue.
- Monitoring threats – Threats such as account hijacking can result in anomalous behavior. We can detect these threats through user and entity behavior analysis (UEBA), which can show the unusual patterns in a user’s cloud access. If a CASB alerts us of the threat during the early stages, it can help us to prevent a more serious incident from occurring.
The easiest and fastest way to pass the Security+ exam
Build Your Cybersecurity Foundation. Our team has helped thousands of professionals succeed with advanced certifications like CISSP and CCSP. Now we've taken that same proven and tailored it specifically for Security+!
Win a FREE Security+ Exam
Enter to win a $370 Security+ exam and kickstart your cybersecurity career!
Or share this with someone who might be interested.
Act fast—promotion ends July 31, 2025.
Prepare to Pass CCSP: Get the Right CCSP
APP
Studying for the CCSP? Big news! We’ve just added 1,000 brand-new questions to our CCSP Exam Prep App—giving you even more ways to test your knowledge and boost your confidence. Whether you're brushing up on cloud security concepts or getting serious about exam day, the updated app is packed with fresh content that reflects the latest exam trends. Study anytime, anywhere, and get one step closer to becoming CCSP certified.
Free CCSP Data Center Design Mini MasterClass
If you’re interested in cloud security, check out our new FREE Mini MasterClass. It digs into data center design.
It’s based on the CCSP certification requirements, but even if you’re not thinking of getting certified, what you learn is very useful in practice if you ever need to deal with data centers.
