What Is a Cloud-Native Application Protection Platform (CNAPP)? A 2025 Guide for Modern Security Teams

As organizations move rapidly to the cloud, microservices, containers, and serverless functions are becoming the new normal.
But so are new attack surfaces, misconfigurations, and runtime threats.

Traditional security tools can’t keep up.

That’s why Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPPs) are emerging as the next big thing in cloud security.

In this article, we’ll explore what CNAPPs are, what problems they solve, and which platforms are leading the charge in 2025.

What Is a CNAPP?

A Cloud-Native Application Protection Platform (CNAPP) is an integrated security solution that protects cloud-native applications across the entire development lifecycle — from build-time to runtime.

Rather than using separate tools for:

• Cloud security posture management (CSPM)

• Cloud workload protection (CWPP)

• Container and Kubernetes security

• Infrastructure as code (IaC) scanning

• Runtime threat detection

CNAPPs bring it all together into a single, unified platform.

Why CNAPP Matters in 2025

• Developers are shipping code faster than ever

• Infrastructure is now software-defined

• Threats can exploit misconfigurations in seconds

• Security teams need visibility and control without slowing DevOps

CNAPP solves this by shifting security left, protecting at runtime, and bridging the gap between DevOps and SecOps.

Key Capabilities of a CNAPP

1. Posture management: Detect misconfigurations and policy violations across cloud accounts

2. Workload protection: Monitor VMs, containers, and serverless functions in real time

3. IaC scanning: Prevent risky configurations before deployment

4. Runtime defense: Block attacks on live environments (e.g., memory injection, privilege escalation)

5. Compliance monitoring: Automate checks for SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, etc.

6. Risk prioritization: Use context (exposure, permissions, CVEs) to triage threats

Leading CNAPP Platforms in 2025

1. Wiz

Wiz is one of the fastest-growing CNAPPs, known for its agentless, fast deployment and deep visibility.

• Best for: Enterprises needing fast, multi-cloud visibility

• Key features:

  • Agentless scanning of AWS, Azure, GCP, OCI

  • Identity risk graph and toxic combinations

  • Built-in CSPM, CWPP, and IaC scanning

  • Runtime insights without kernel access

  • Rapid onboarding with minimal friction

Ideal for: Cloud-native orgs that need fast time to value.

2. Palo Alto Prisma Cloud

Prisma Cloud is a comprehensive CNAPP offering from Palo Alto, built for large enterprises with complex environments.

• Best for: Regulated industries and large-scale cloud infrastructure

• Key features:

  • Cloud code security for Terraform, CloudFormation, Helm

  • Runtime protection for containers, VMs, and serverless

  • Software Composition Analysis (SCA)

  • CI/CD pipeline integration

  • Threat detection with machine learning

Perfect for: Enterprises with a strong DevSecOps model.

3. Lacework

Lacework offers a CNAPP with strong anomaly detection and behavioral analytics.

• Best for: Security teams seeking AI-driven risk insights

• Key features:

  • Polygraph data model for detecting behavior drift

  • Posture management, workload protection, IaC analysis

  • Agent-based and agentless options

  • Prebuilt compliance templates

  • Native multi-cloud support

Recommended for: Teams focused on behavioral cloud threat detection.

4. Sysdig Secure

Sysdig brings strong runtime security and deep observability into the CNAPP market, especially for Kubernetes-heavy environments.

• Best for: DevOps teams running Kubernetes and containers at scale

• Key features:

  • eBPF-powered runtime threat detection

  • Falco-based policies

  • Container and cloud scanning

  • Drift control and file integrity monitoring

  • Kubernetes audit and compliance reports

Top pick for: Container-first cloud infrastructures.

5. Orca Security

Orca delivers agentless CNAPP with a focus on risk context and prioritization.

• Best for: Teams needing a lightweight deployment with strong context

• Key features:

  • SideScanning™ technology for deep visibility

  • Attack path analysis

  • IaC scanning and misconfiguration detection

  • Integration with Slack, Jira, SIEMs

  • Coverage across major cloud providers

Great for: Teams that want high-impact insights without complexity.