Runtime visibility indispensable in cloud-native security

The security landscape for cloud-native applications is undergoing a significant transformation as Containers, Kubernetes, and Serverless technologies become the standard for modern enterprises. This shift accelerates delivery but also expands the attack surface in ways that traditional security models struggle to address. As adoption increases, so does complexity, with security teams tasked to monitor sprawling hybrid environments and sift through thousands of alerts. The challenge is not only to detect risks earlier but also to prioritise and respond to what truly matters in real time. Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPPs) emerge as a solution, consolidating visibility, compliance, detection, and response into a unified system. By 2025, runtime visibility is proving to be an indispensable capability, allowing security teams to observe actual workloads and their behaviours, thereby prioritising threats effectively.

For years, cloud security has relied heavily on preventative controls such as code scanning and compliance enforcement, which only provide a partial view of risks. These measures identify theoretical vulnerabilities but fail to determine if those risks are active and exploitable in production. Runtime visibility addresses this gap by providing critical insights into whether vulnerabilities are reachable, misconfigurations create real attack paths, or workloads are currently being exploited. Without this context, organisations risk pursuing false positives while attackers exploit genuine weaknesses. As modern enterprises face an overwhelming volume of alerts from various security tools, effective prioritisation becomes essential. By mapping vulnerabilities to actively running workloads and the business applications they support, organisations can bridge the gap between security and development. This alignment ensures that the right teams address the right problems at the right time, enhancing overall security posture. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is also beginning to reshape the CNAPP landscape, helping to correlate signals and streamline the security process.