What is cloud workload protection (CWP)?

Cloud workload protection (CWP) is a cloud security strategy that defends your active cloud computing resources — like virtual machines (VMs), containers and serverless functions — from runtime threats, misconfigurations and exposure.

It is the core of runtime security in modern cloud-native architectures.

CWP solutions protect cloud workloads from threats such as:

• Malware
• Data breaches
• Compliance violations
• Insider threats
• Unauthorized access and use

As many businesses aggressively move more operations to the cloud, the CWP market is growing. By 2030, the market forecast will exceed $26.4 billion by 2030, increasing at by more than 21% CAGR.

Factors driving growth:

• Digital transformation and cloud computing migration
• Rising cybersecurity threats
• Regulatory compliance and data privacy
• Adoption of AI and cloud infrastructure

As your organization migrates more workloads to the cloud, your teams must adjust their cyber hygiene practices. That means shifting away from those that traditionally only worked on-prem. Instead, implement cloud security workload protection controls that address the unique threats facing dynamic cloud workloads, like cloud-native CWP solutions as part of a cloud-native application protection platform (CNAPP).

Unlike traditional security solutions, cloud-native CWP tools protect cloud workloads and improve cloud visibility and control.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are also fueling CWP adoption. That’s because AI and ML can automate many CWP tasks, such as vulnerability scanning, threat detection and incident response.

Additionally, a growing number of organizations are also using AI as part of their core business services. While AI speeds up many key business functions, it also rapidly expands the cloud attack surface by introducing new vulnerabilities and cloud security complexities. 

The 2025 Tenable Cloud AI Risk Report highlights a significant shift in cloud security risks created by AI services integrations:

• Approximately 70% of cloud workloads utilizing AI services contain at least one unremediated vulnerability. Notably, the critical curl overflow vulnerability CVE-2023-38545 was found in 30% of those workloads. 
• AI-enabled cloud workloads are also 20% more likely to have critical vulnerabilities compared to non-AI workloads. This indicates a higher risk associated with AI adoption.

These findings underscore the unique challenges AI integration in cloud environments creates. Implementing continuous monitoring, reviewing default configurations and enforcing strict access controls supported by a CWP strategy are key to mitigating these cloud risks.

Cloud workload protection (CWP) is a set of security solutions and practices to protect cloud workloads from threats. It helps secure the cloud and protect sensitive data.

How does cloud workload protection work?

CWP analyzes and protects cloud workloads, containers and virtual machines from cyber risks like vulnerabilities, malware, misconfigurations and data exposure.

CWP platforms give valuable insights to security, developers and DevOps teams. They can use a CWP to allocate resources and strategize based on prioritized risk. This approach supports a more secure and resilient cloud environment by safeguarding critical assets and sensitive information.

CWP protects cloud workloads in five key ways:

1. Scanning for known CVEs, exposures, unpatched packages and insecure configurations across OS, containers and libraries.
2. Detecting anomalous behavior, malware signatures, lateral movement attempts and privilege escalation in real time.
3. Enforcing encryption, access control and data loss prevention (DLP) across regulated or sensitive workloads.
4. Mapping controls to standards like CIS Benchmarks, NIST 800-53, ISO 27001 and automating evidence collection to support audits and other compliance reviews.
5. Correlating workload risk with network exposure and identity privileges to surface your most urgent issues.

CWP is important because it helps secure cloud workloads against the growing number of threats in dynamic cloud environments. 

With increased cloud use, more sensitive data is moving into internet-facing environments, making it an increasingly frequent cyber-attack target. Implementing robust cloud workload protection solutions can reduce attack risks like ransomware and data breaches.

CWPPs aren’t just reactive. They help your cloud security teams proactively reduce your cloud attack surface, support incident response and enforce least privilege in environments where workloads quickly spin up and down.

According to Tenable’s 2024 cloud security study, 95% of organizations experienced at least one cloud-related breach in the past 18 months, which underscores the CWP’s importance.

As a result, security leaders surveyed said they plan to prioritize:

• Implementing zero trust and least privilege access (38%)
• Detecting and remediating misconfigurations (38%)

Enabling just-in-time (JIT) access for DevOps and similar roles (33%)

What makes cloud attack surfaces harder to protect?

As workloads scale across multiple clouds and regions, your cloud attack surface expands. Security teams struggle to track assets across ephemeral environments, especially when services constantly spin up and down. A CSPM solution can help identify misconfigurations and blind spots and enforce policies across accounts, environments and regions.

Who owns what in the shared responsibility model?

You and your cloud services provider (CSP) both have roles in the shared responsibility model. However, what that means for who isn’t always obvious. Your provider secures the infrastructure. You’re on the hook for workload configurations, access and data. Understanding your CSP’s shared responsibility model helps avoid gaps and ensures ownership of runtime risks.

To overcome this, review the shared responsibility model for each of your CSPs. They all may be different. However, this review should help you better understand your security responsibilities for each. From there, work with your cloud provider to develop a joint security plan.

Why is visibility still a challenge in modern cloud stacks?

Many organizations lack clear insight into workload behavior, user access patterns or exposed services. A lack of logging, drift from secure baselines and fragmented tools make it worse. Cloud-native security event and information management (SIEM) tools and CWPP integrations can restore visibility and surface hidden risks.

How can teams reduce compliance fatigue?

Compliance frameworks continue to multiply — HIPAA, PCI DSS, NIST, ISO and more. Without automation, compliance becomes a manual, high-friction process. CWP tools can continuously validate controls, generate audit evidence and track posture against multiple frameworks from a single dashboard.

What’s driving the cloud security skills shortage?

Cloud-native expertise is in short supply. With millions of open cybersecurity roles and growing pressure to securely scale, many teams are under-resourced. Security automation, managed services and training programs bridge the gap while reducing burdens on in-house staff.

How are emerging cloud threats evolving?

Zero-day attacks, supply chain compromises and novel privilege escalation techniques continue to evolve. Sophisticated threat actors often combine small missteps, like unpatched workloads or over-permissioned roles, into high-impact attack paths.

A CWPP with behavioral analytics and anomaly detection helps detect and stop attacks in real time.

Putting it all together: Best-practice responses to cloud workload threats

To address these challenges and support your cloud workload protection strategy, consider:

• Using a cloud-native CWPP for real-time threat detection, visibility and scalable protection.
• Automating routine security tasks like vulnerability scanning, misconfiguration detection and policy enforcement.
• Continuously monitor cloud workloads for behavioral anomalies, privilege misuse or unauthorized access.
• Educate your teams and partners on secure cloud practices, identity management and response workflows.
• Integrate CWP with cloud security posture management (CSPM), cloud infrastructure and entitlement management (CIEM), data security posture management (DSPM) and SIEM tools to close visibility gaps and unify response.

Cloud workload protection is a foundational layer of a cloud-native application protection platform. While CSPM focuses on misconfigurations and CIEM manages access risks, CWPP provides runtime defense, like monitoring workloads for threats, vulnerabilities and unexpected behaviors as they happen.

Together, CSPM, CIEM and CWPP can help you:

• Secure infrastructure configurations before deployment
• Control access to sensitive systems and workloads
• Monitor live workloads for anomalies, malware and zero-day attacks

CWPP is your runtime shield. It helps CNAPPs close the loop between shift-left security and real-time protection.

Without CWPP, a CNAPP cannot fully detect or respond to live threats that affect your production workloads.

Cloud workload protection protects cloud workloads, such as virtual machines, containers and serverless functions. These solutions typically include features such as:

• Vulnerability scanning
• Intrusion detection and prevention (IDP)
• Data protection
• CSPM

CWPs are dynamic to respond to rapidly changing cloud needs. This is especially important as workloads frequently spin up and down.

Are CWPP and CSPM the same?

CWPP and CSPM are similar cloud security solutions that protect cloud workloads. However, they differ.

CWP solutions have a broader scope than CSPM solutions. CWPP includes features such as vulnerability scanning, IDP, data protection and CSPM. CSPMs monitor cloud workloads and infrastructure for security risks and compliance issues. You can deploy both to the cloud. You can also deploy CWP solutions on-prem.

Are CWPP and CASB the same?

A cloud access security broker (CASB) and CWPP are both cloud security solutions. They protect the cloud, but aren’t the same. CWPs secure cloud workloads. CASBs manage access to cloud resources to prevent unauthorized access and data breaches. CASB features include encryption, user authentication, alerting and credential management.

Here are some common components of cloud workload protection (or cloud workload security):

Vulnerability management

Use vulnerability management practices to find, evaluate and fix vulnerabilities in cloud workloads. Tenable Cloud Security, for example, can help your organization manage vulnerabilities in your cloud workloads by providing continuous vulnerability scanning, prioritization and remediation.

Intrusion detection and prevention (IDP)

Monitor cloud workloads for malicious activity and block malicious traffic. Tenable Cloud Security can detect and prevent intrusions into your cloud environment. It provides real-time monitoring for malicious activity, intrusion detection rules and threat blocking.

Data protection

Protect information like customer data, financial data and intellectual property from unauthorized use, access, disclosure, modification, damage or exfiltration. Tenable Cloud Security can help protect data with encryption, data loss prevention (DLP) and data activity monitoring.

Cloud security posture management (CSPM)

CSPM continuously monitors cloud workloads for security risks and compliance violations. Tenable's CSPM helps prioritize and remediate misconfigurations in real time to reduce risk and maintain compliance across multi-cloud environments.

Threat hunting

Proactively search for and identify threats in cloud workloads that many traditional security solutions may miss. With Tenable Cloud Security, you can hunt for threats using threat intelligence and incident investigation tools.

Other components to consider:

• Scan for vulnerabilities to identify cloud security issues, including vulnerabilities, exposed secrets, malware, misconfigurations and other threats.
• Prioritize risk. Analyze vulnerabilities across various components (OS packages, applications, libraries, etc.). Correlate risk with factors like network exposure, real-time threat intelligence, asset criticality and user permissions to prioritize remediation efforts.
• Ensure adherence to compliance standards like AWS Well-Architected, NIST, ISO 27001, CSA and SOC II. Scan for compliance gaps and implement necessary security controls.
• Get a unified view of security posture across cloud workloads, including containers, virtual machines, serverless functions and Kubernetes clusters.
• Deployment options (agent-based and agentless):
  • Agent-based solutions offer deep visibility but need deployment on each device.
  • Agentless solutions are easier to implement and less disruptive, but may have limitations in scan depth.

The CWP landscape is constantly evolving. There are many emerging trends, such as:

• Increased use of cloud-native security solutions. These offer many advantages over traditional security solutions, such as improved visibility and control.
• Growing importance of security automation to reduce security teams’ workloads and improve the CWP efficiency.
• Evolution of artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve and speed up threat detection and prevention with security task automation.

Cloud workload protection is most effective when embedded into daily workflows, not forced after deployment.

The following seven cloud security best practices will help you reduce risk, improve visibility and respond to cloud threats in real time:

1. Use a cloud workload protection platform (CWPP) as your foundation

Choose a platform that provides continuous visibility across virtual machines, containers and serverless functions. A strong CWPP should scan for vulnerabilities, detect live threats and surface misconfigurations across every workload stage.

2. Adopt a zero-trust security model

Trust nothing by default. Enforce access control at every layer using multi-factor authentication (MFA), role-based access control (RBAC), least privilege, just in time (JIT) access and micro-segmentation to isolate critical systems.

3. Automate vulnerability scanning and vulnerability management

Manual remediation doesn't scale in the cloud. Use automated scans and workflows to catch issues early — and resolve them faster — by integrating your CWPP into CI/CD pipelines and ticketing systems.

4. Continuously monitor your cloud workloads

Cloud workloads are dynamic, often short-lived and exposed to frequent changes. Real-time analytics, logging and behavioral monitoring detect cloud threats as they emerge.

5. Shift security left in development

Scan infrastructure-as-code (IaC) templates, container images and build artifacts early in your dev lifecycle. Catch misconfigurations and vulnerabilities before workloads hit production.

6. Implement a cloud-native application firewall

Traditional firewalls weren’t built for containerized or serverless environments. A cloud-native firewall can help block OWASP Top 10 threats, API abuse and bot traffic that target your workloads.

7. Integrate CWPP with your SIEM

When CWPP data flows into your SIEM, you can correlate workload behavior with identity activity, cloud events and network telemetry. This gives security teams deeper investigation context and helps them detect multi-stage attacks that span users, workloads and services.

These best practices aren’t checkboxes on a list. They’re how you should embed cloud security into your organizational culture.

Want to see CWPP in action?

Tenable Cloud Security offers comprehensive workload protection built into a unified CNAPP platform. Discover misconfigurations, detect live threats and reduce cloud attack paths with real-time visibility across all your cloud environments — public, private and hybrid.

Explore Tenable Cloud Security now

A cloud workload protection platform (CWPP) can automate essential CWP processes based on your cloud policies and industry-recognized best practices. For example:

• Visibility and monitoring to identify and quickly respond to security threats.
• Vulnerability assessment includes discovering outdated software, missing patches and misconfigurations. This helps your teams prioritize remediation and reduce risk.
• Threat detection and prevention protect workloads from zero-day attacks and advanced persistent threats (APTs). Examples: machine learning, intrusion prevention and sandboxing.
• Comply with government regulations and industry standards such as HIPAA, PCI DSS and GDPR. Use tools like audit logging, reporting and policy enforcement.

Cloud protection platforms can help your organization:

• Mature your cloud security posture
• Reduce cloud security workloads
• Optimize security processes

CWP is often part of a more comprehensive cloud security solution like CNAPP. When reviewing CWP capabilities, whether standalone or as part of a combined solution like CNAPP, ensure they meet your use case needs. 

Here are some key features to look for:

• Comprehensive protection against all significant cloud security threats, including malware, zero-day attacks, APTs and breaches.
• Cloud-native support, such as containers, Kubernetes security posture management and serverless functions, has unique security requirements compared to on-prem assets.
• Multi-cloud support across multiple cloud providers, which is important if your workloads are in a hybrid or multi-cloud environment.
• Easy to use and manage.
• Unified threat detection and prioritization
  • Scan environments to identify critical vulnerabilities, exposed secrets, malware and misconfigurations.
  • Prioritize risks based on context, including OS security, application/library vulnerabilities, workload exposure and permission levels to focus on threats with the most significant potential impact.
• Centralized visibility and granular control
  • A holistic view into your entire cloud security posture.
  • Detailed insights into specific findings to understand exposure and effectively prioritize remediation.
• Shift-left security that integrates container scanning with CI/CD pipelines to identify vulnerabilities early in development and track issues back to the original image, enabling proactive security.
• Ensure adherence to cloud security best practices and compliance requirements through automated vulnerability scanning and implementation of appropriate security controls.
• Look for agentless solutions that provide comprehensive protection without impacting performance or requiring time-consuming and costly deployments.

This comprehensive approach empowers you to answer key questions:

• Which cloud workloads do we have?
• Which workloads are exposed?
• How are they exposed?
• What are the most impactful security risks across our cloud environments?

With so many CWPPs on the market, knowing which is right for your organization can be difficult. Here are some recommendations to help select a CWPP:

Consider your organization’s unique cloud security needs

Not all CWPPs are equal. Some are better for certain cloud environments and workloads than others. That's why it's important to understand your unique cloud security needs.

For example, if you use a multi-cloud environment, look for a CWPP that supports all your cloud providers. If you store sensitive data in the cloud, you need a CWPP with solid data protection.

Evaluate features and functionality

Once you have considered your specific cloud security needs, evaluate features and functionality such as vulnerability scanning, intrusion detection and data protection. Also, consider ease of use and whether the solution integrates with your existing security tools.

Read reviews from other customers.

Once you have short-listed your favorite CWPPs, read reviews from other customers to get insights into their real-world performance. Ask for case studies. Gartner Peer Insights and TrustRadius are good places to start.

Request a free trial or demo

See if the vendor will allow you to demo or try the CWPP before you commit to purchasing it. Request time to see how it works and to evaluate features and functionality for your unique environment and needs.

Partner with a cloud security consultant

If you are still unsure which CWPP is right for you, consider partnering with a cloud security consultant. These specialized professionals can help assess your cloud security needs and choose and implement the best CWPP for those needs. They can also help identify cloud security risks to develop your cloud security strategy.

A cloud workload protection platform offers many advantages and benefits:

Improved security

CWPPs provide multiple layers of protection for cloud workloads such as cloud vulnerability scanning, intrusion detection and data protection.

Cost savings

CWPPs help save money by consolidating security solutions and reducing on-prem hardware. A CWPP can also help reduce the risk of costly data breaches. 

Increased visibility

CWPPs give you unified visibility into your cloud workloads and cloud security posture. They help you more effectively identify and fix cloud security gaps.

Reduced risk

CWPPs reduce the risk of cloud breaches and other security incidents. For example, protection against ransomware, data breaches and compliance violations.

Risk-based prioritization

Correlate vulnerabilities across operating system packages, apps, libraries and other workload criteria to identify and remediate what matters most for your organization.

Improved compliance

Continually scan for vulnerabilities and compliance violations that put sensitive data at risk.

Other benefits include:

• Minimize breach risk and blast radius
• Decrease sensitive data exposure
• Prevent workload-related risks and other threats
• Assess risk quickly without impacting workflow performance
• Shift-left security for container-based workloads

Tenable has a comprehensive suite of cloud workload security solutions to protect your cloud workloads. 

Here are some examples of how you can use Tenable Cloud Security to protect your cloud:

If you’re a financial institution, you could use Tenable to scan for vulnerabilities, monitor your cloud environment for compliance and protect sensitive customer data. Tenable can help you:

• Identify and patch vulnerabilities in cloud workloads
• Detect and block malicious traffic
• Encrypt sensitive data
• Monitor workloads for security policy violations

If you’re in healthcare, Tenable Cloud Security can help protect your electronic patient records from malware and data breaches. This can help you more effectively safeguard patient privacy and comply with healthcare industry regulations. For example, conducting vulnerability scanning, data protection and CSPM.

If you’re in retail, Tenable Cloud Security can help you scan your cloud-based e-commerce platform for vulnerabilities and monitor your cloud environment for misconfigurations. For example, it can identify trends indicative of a security issue so you can prioritize, mitigate and remediate risk.

If you are working in the cloud, consider implementing Tenable's cloud workload security solutions to protect your workloads.

How is cloud workload protection different from endpoint detection and response (EDR)?

Cloud workload protection secures compute resources like containers, virtual machines and serverless functions using vulnerability scanning, intrusion detection and runtime monitoring tools. EDR, on the other hand, protects endpoints like laptops and mobile devices. CWP is cloud-native. EDR is endpoint-focused.

Why do you need cloud workload protection?

Cloud environments are dynamic and exposed to evolving threats. Traditional security tools weren’t built to handle this complexity. CWP helps reduce the risk of breaches by securing workloads at runtime, enforcing policy and supporting compliance with cloud-focused regulations.

What is an example of a cloud workload?

A cloud workload is any process, service or app that runs in the cloud. Examples:

• Websites
• Microservices
• Virtual machines
• Containers
• Databases
• SaaS applications
• Apps running on Kubernetes

Cloud workloads host examples:

• Public cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP)
• Private cloud environments
• Hybrid cloud environments that combine elements of both public and private cloud

Why is cloud workload protection important?

Cloud workloads are high-value targets for attackers. They often store sensitive data and are difficult to protect using legacy security models. Cloud workload protection platforms secure workloads in real time, to help you manage risk, meet compliance standards and scale securely in the cloud.

Can CWPP help with compliance?

Yes. A CWPP can continuously assess workloads against frameworks like NIST, CIS, HIPAA, PCI DSS and others. It helps automate evidence collection and maintain compliance across the cloud — reducing audit fatigue and manual effort.

What’s the difference between CWPP and CSPM?

CWPP protects workloads at runtime by monitoring active threats, behavior and vulnerabilities. CSPM addresses misconfigurations and policy violations in cloud services before runtime. Together, they offer proactive and real-time security for cloud environments.

Does CWPP support multi-cloud environments?

Modern CWPP platforms support AWS, Azure, Google Cloud and hybrid environments. They provide centralized visibility and policy enforcement across providers so you can reduce complexity and close coverage gaps in multi-cloud deployments.

How does CWPP detect threats?

To identify threats, CWPP tools combine behavioral analytics, AI and machine learning, signature-based detection, workload telemetry and threat intelligence. They monitor for malware, lateral movement, unauthorized access and suspicious process behavior in real time.

What should I look for in a CWPP platform?

Look for support across all workload types, agentless and agent-based options, integration with CI/CD and SIEM tools, automated remediation, least privilege enforcement and compliance mapping. A strong CWPP should improve visibility without adding operational drag.

Tenable’s cloud workload security solutions protect your cloud workloads from exposures. See how with Tenable Cloud Security you get more visibility into all of your cloud environments to detect and prevent threats quickly.