Industry standards like CIS benchmarks provide a common framework for evaluating and improving cloud security. Adopting these benchmarks ensures that your organisation meets best practices while maintaining a consistent security posture across workloads.

For compliance with NIS 2 and DORA, benchmarks act as a measurable standard for risk mitigation and operational resilience. By aligning your organisation’s practices with recognised frameworks, you gain both technical and regulatory confidence.

Why Benchmarks Matter

CIS benchmarks serve as a checklist for securing cloud resources, offering:

• Detailed guidance on secure configurations for cloud platforms, containers, and workloads.
• A measurable way to demonstrate compliance with regulatory standards.
• A roadmap for continuous improvement in security practices.

Adopting benchmarks ensures that your security posture evolves alongside emerging threats.

How Aqua CNAPP Supports Benchmarking

1. Enable CIS Benchmark Scans:

   • Use Aqua’s Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) tools to enable benchmark testing for your cloud accounts.
   • Configure scans to align with your environment’s specific needs (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP).

2. Customise and Tune Tests:

   • Review Aqua’s default CIS test configurations to ensure relevance to your workloads.
   • Exclude non-applicable tests to reduce noise and improve actionable results.

3. Leverage Compliance Programs:

   • Aqua provides prebuilt compliance programs that align with CIS benchmarks and other frameworks.
   • Tailor these programs to match your organisation’s goals, focusing on areas like access controls, encryption, and network configurations.

4. Track and Report Progress:

   • Use Aqua’s compliance dashboards to monitor improvements over time.
   • Generate reports for audits, showcasing adherence to benchmarks and demonstrating progress.

Practical Example: CSPM for AWS

Aqua’s CSPM can be configured for an AWS environment to:

• Scan IAM configurations for overly permissive policies.
• Detect storage buckets with public access.
• Identify unencrypted databases.

These scans ensure alignment with CIS benchmarks, reducing the risk of misconfigurations in your cloud environment.

Summary

Benchmarks like CIS provide a clear path to improved security and compliance. By leveraging Aqua’s CSPM tools, organisations can automate testing, customise policies, and track progress with ease. Aligning with industry standards ensures not only technical resilience but also regulatory confidence under frameworks like NIS 2 and DORA.