ASPM vs. CSPM: Key Differences

With dozens of cybersecurity threats out there, maintaining your company’s security posture is more important than ever. And with so many types of technology to oversee—from cloud infrastructure to AI-generated code—there are just as many ways to manage your security practices. 

Two prominent security solutions include Application Security Posture Management (ASPM) and Cloud Posture Security Management (CSPM). Both aim to manage security risks and mitigate the impact of issues, but they focus on different types of tech. 

Let’s compare ASPM versus CSPM to determine which your organization needs—and why the best choice is likely both. 

What is ASPM?

ASPM is a security category that focuses on comprehensive, ongoing security of both your applications and the the entire software factory that produces these apps, identifying and mitigating risks at every stage of the software development lifecycle (SDLC). This approach  empowers businesses to boost application security, track and speed remediation of vulnerabilities, and put proper security measures in place from the beginning. 

Key Features and Benefits of ASPM

ASPM security has unique advantages, which include (but aren’t limited to):

• Vulnerability detection, prioritization, and remediation: ASPM helps organizations identify vulnerabilities that matter most, preventing exploitation and minimizing the risk of harm to data and systems. The ASPM methodology allows for prompt remediation to address the risk that is most critical to the business before it becomes a larger issue.
• Visibility into application security: ASPM gives organizations full transparency into the development environment and its security controls and gaps. 
• Regulatory compliance monitoring: ASPM simplifies compliance with regulatory and security standards by continuously checking code, security practices, and configurations across applications and the developer environment. If any compliance issues arise, alerts notify your team to take immediate action.
• Upholding security policies: Thanks to integrated security checks, ASPM helps teams consistently apply security policies throughout the SDLC. This guarantees compliance and reduces the risk of security gaps.

What is CSPM?

CSPM focuses on the security of your business’s cloud infrastructure. It offers constant visibility into cloud security posture while monitoring for threats and addressing them as they arise. 

Key Features and Benefits of CSPM

The hallmark features and benefits of leveraging CSPM include: 

• Constant cloud monitoring: CSPM security safeguards your cloud environment with continuous monitoring. This helps you rapidly identify variations and anomalies, which could be signs of cyberattacks.
• Manage and address vulnerabilities: Your cloud environment may have vulnerabilities, and CSPM enables your team to spot them. If misconfigurations and weaknesses are present, CSPM offers actionable insights and ways to remediate.
• Protects the settings of cloud resources: CSPM protects cloud tools’s existing configurations by enforcing existing security policies.
• Reports the state of security and cloud resources: Automated reports equip your team with the information necessary to understand security status and spot risks.
  
  

  ASPM vs. CSPM: Key Differences Explained

  The primary difference between ASPM and CSPM lies in their areas of focus. CSPM is dedicated to cloud security, while ASPM centers on security across the software factory—from code to cloud. Because of their different focuses, ASPM and CSPM operate at separate levels within an organization’s infrastructure. 
  
  At the infrastructure layer, CSPM watches configuration settings to ensure compliance and adherence to security best practices. This includes evaluating cloud services, network configurations, and identity and access management (IAM) settings. CSPM tools usually offer insights into misconfigurations and recommendations for remediation, helping businesses maintain a secure cloud environment. 
  
  ASPM operates at the code, application and developer infrastructure layers, giving teams deep, end-to-end visibility of all their development assets, pipelines, repositories, and cloud services, plus automated guardrails in the tools and processes their developers use on a daily basis.
  
  

  Typical Use Cases 

  Walking through use cases can help you fully understand the extent of differences between ASPM and CSPM. 
  
  Here are some ways teams use APSM:
  
  
• Prioritized vulnerability assessment: ASPM correlates the findings from all application security testing tools to help teams prioritize and remediate the critical risks first, enhancing security posture.
• Full visibility: Connect and see everything across the entire development environment.
• Continuous monitoring: Ongoing monitoring allows businesses to respond to security or compliance issues in real-time. If an application deviates from its established security policies or standards, your team receives immediate notification, enabling prompt remediation and minimal fallout.
• Compliance assurance: ASPM automates compliance checks, ensuring that your business adheres to industry regulations and standards throughout the SDLC. This helps maintain security and compliance from development through deployment and beyond.
  
  And CSPM’s use cases include: 
  
  
• Ensuring compliance monitoring: CSPM can support compliance with several standards, helping you avoid fines and other consequences. These tools check on the cloud for regulatory issues and offer solutions to resolve any problems.
• Establishing secure cloud configurations: CSPM tools scan your cloud configuration, including IAM policies, network security groups, and storage bucket permissions. The goal is to make sure the cloud configuration matches required security policies.
  
  

  ASPM and CSPM Integration Benefits

  When it comes to ASPM versus CSPM, it’s not really a question of which to choose. These approaches complement each other. By integrating both approaches, organizations gain a comprehensive understanding of their overall security posture, encompassing both application and cloud-based environments. 
  
  Leveraging ASPM and CSPM together equips your business to maintain compliance across both application and cloud environments. This allows for a more holistic view of security, enabling teams to identify and address vulnerabilities more effectively.
  
  For example, CSPM continuously monitors the cloud infrastructure for compliance with industry regulations and best practices, aligning configuration settings with security standards. At the same time, ASPM focuses on the application layer, working to analyze code for vulnerabilities and enforcing security measures throughout the SDLC.
  
  

  ASPM and CSPM: Better Together With Legit Security

  Legit Security offers a powerful ASPM solution that enhances security throughout the entire SDLC, from code to cloud. It allows organizations to identify vulnerabilities and risks early in the development process, with contextual insights into security threats, a unified risk assessment, and streamlined remediation workflows that prioritize critical issues based on business impact. Continuous compliance monitoring further aligns security controls with regulatory requirements, delivering real-time evidence for audits. 
  
  

  Ready to see the difference Legit Security makes? Get a demo today and try it yourself.