Palo Alto Networks unveils innovative Cortex Cloud solution

Palo Alto Networks has announced the introduction of Cortex Cloud, a cloud security solution designed to enhance real-time threat prevention and response capabilities.

The new solution combines the components of Prisma Cloud and Cortex CDR to form a comprehensive cybersecurity platform. According to Palo Alto Networks, this development addresses the growing demand for robust cloud security measures, driven by increasing cloud adoption and the rise in threats targeting cloud environments. Unit 42 reports highlighted that 80% of security exposures are found in cloud attack surfaces with a significant 66% growth in threats directed at cloud systems.

Cortex Cloud integrates AI-powered prioritisation, automated remediation, and offers a simpler user experience. It equips security teams with data ingestion and analysis capabilities from third-party tools, centralising visibility, and providing AI-driven insights for effective threat prevention and end-to-end remediation.

Lee Klarich, Chief Product Officer of Palo Alto Networks, remarked, "As more critical business applications move to the cloud, cloud security must expand to include industry-leading runtime protection. And to make it as easy as possible for our customers to adopt end-to-end cloud security, we're including CNAPP at no additional cost for every Cortex Cloud Runtime Security customer. With Cortex Cloud, we are delivering the next generation of cloud security — enabling organisations to swiftly prevent, detect, investigate, and respond to evolving threats across their entire enterprise."

Palo Alto Networks asserts that the Cortex Cloud aligns with its platformization strategy by leveraging AI-driven solutions on the Cortex SecOps platform to offer a unified user experience. This unified approach aims to reduce costs and increase value by introducing new features designed to enhance application security, cloud posture management, and real-time cloud runtime attack prevention.

These features include the integration of secure application building processes that prevent issues during development, enhanced multi-cloud risk management tools, and the ability to stop attacks in real time by integrating the Cortex XDR agent with additional cloud data sources.

Cortex Cloud is also promoted as the preferred Security Operations Centre (SOC) platform for enterprise and cloud businesses. The solution integrates data and workflows within Cortex XSIAM to reduce the mean response time to modern threats, providing a comprehensive SecOps solution.

Melinda Marks, Practice Director, Cybersecurity at Enterprise Strategy Group, stated, "Security teams need to mitigate risk to reduce the chance of cybersecurity incidents, and if and when an incident occurs, they need to respond as quickly as possible. Our research shows that security teams struggle with remediation efficiency because application security, cloud security, and security operations tools and processes have been historically siloed. With the introduction of Cortex Cloud, Palo Alto Networks delivers a unified code-to-cloud-to-SOC platform giving security teams the context to prioritise and drive remediation actions with the highest impact on reducing risk, while speeding up detection and response for security operations."

Existing Prisma Cloud customers will receive a seamless upgrade to Cortex Cloud, allowing them access to enhanced real-time cloud security functionalities. Current Cortex XSIAM users will gain the ability to adopt CNAPP capabilities natively.

The introduction of Cortex Cloud involves collaboration with integration partners, including CyberCX, Deloitte, IBM, and Orange Cyberdefense. These partners are expected to assist in driving end-to-end SecOps transformation, ensuring improved risk reduction, rapid threat prevention, and enhanced operational efficiency for organisations.