Data breaches are a significant threat in today’s digital landscape. The scale of these incidents can be staggering, as seen in the 2020 Microsoft leak involving over 250 million customer support records, or the Keepnet Labs breach exposing more than 5 billion records. The financial repercussions for companies experiencing such breaches are substantial, with underperformance averaging over 15% over three years.
However, for every problem, there’s a solution. Implementing robust security measures, particularly Automated Scanning And Monitoring Techniques Or Tools, is crucial for safeguarding systems. This article explores the top continuous security monitoring (CSM) tools available in 2023, highlighting how they leverage automation to enhance your cybersecurity defenses.
What Is Continuous Security Monitoring (CSM)?
Continuous security monitoring (CSM) is a proactive security approach focused on the ongoing assessment of an organization’s security posture. It utilizes automated scanning and monitoring techniques or tools to identify security risks in real-time. Rather than periodic checks, CSM provides a constant vigil, enabling organizations to detect and respond to security threats before they can inflict significant damage.
» Discover more about the best open-source product security tools for developers
How Do Automated Scanning and Monitoring Tools Work?
Continuous Security Monitoring (CSM) tools are designed to empower security teams and developers with the ability to detect and respond to security threats in real-time through automated scanning and monitoring techniques.
These tools operate by automatically collecting data from diverse sources within an IT environment. This includes network traffic analysis, system event logs, and user activity tracking. The collected data is then processed using sophisticated algorithms and threat intelligence to identify patterns indicative of suspicious or abnormal activity. When a potential threat is detected through automated scanning and monitoring techniques, the CSM tool generates an immediate alert, enabling security teams to take swift and appropriate action.
The effectiveness of CSM tools hinges on continuous updates with the latest security intelligence and seamless integration with other security infrastructure components. Integration with intrusion detection systems (IDS) and firewalls is crucial for a cohesive and automated security response.
Top Continuous Security Monitoring Tools Leveraging Automation
Here’s a detailed look at some of the leading CSM tools in 2023, emphasizing their automated scanning and monitoring techniques or tools:
- Nagios
Outstanding 10
Best for monitoring servers
Nagios: The open-source standard in automated infrastructure monitoring
Automated Scanning and Monitoring Features:
- Automated System and Network Monitoring: Nagios excels in the automated scanning and monitoring of system and network infrastructure. It continuously monitors servers, services, applications, and network protocols, providing real-time insights into their status and performance.
- Threshold-Based Alerting: Nagios employs automated monitoring techniques to detect breaches of predefined thresholds for metrics like CPU load, memory usage, and network latency. This triggers automated alerts, notifying administrators of potential issues.
- Log Monitoring and Analysis: While primarily focused on system metrics, Nagios can be extended for log monitoring, enabling automated scanning of log files for specific patterns or errors indicative of security events.
Brief overview:
Nagios is a well-established, open-source monitoring solution renowned for its robust infrastructure monitoring capabilities. Its extensive API and community-driven add-ons enhance its flexibility and integration potential, making it a powerful tool for automated scanning and monitoring of diverse IT environments.
Features:
- Comprehensive IT infrastructure monitoring
- Centralized log viewing and analysis
- Bandwidth usage monitoring
- Centralized visual status dashboard for network-wide visibility
- Email and SMS alerts
- Open-source and extensible
- Easy integration via APIs
Customer review:
“Nagios excels at standard server and network device monitoring. Its reliability and out-of-the-box functionality for monitoring basic protocols make it a strong choice for environments with diverse monitoring needs. Setup is straightforward, and service availability is consistently high.” – Chris Saenz, Lead System Engineer
Pros and cons:
- Extendable architecture
- SLA reporting
- Configuration wizard
- Web UI can be complex
- Potential for false positives
- Command-line configuration
- Jit
Exceptional 10
Best overall CSM tool
Jit: The leading DevSecOps orchestration platform with automated security
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Automated Scanning and Monitoring Features:
- Continuous and Automated Vulnerability Scanning: Jit provides automated scanning and monitoring techniques that are deeply integrated into the development lifecycle. It automatically scans every code change and new deployment for code and cloud vulnerabilities, ensuring continuous security assessment.
- Prioritized Alerting through Contextual Analysis: Jit’s Context Engine is a key feature, utilizing automated monitoring techniques to prioritize vulnerabilities based on their runtime context. This drastically reduces false positives, focusing developer attention on genuinely critical issues.
- Automated Security Tool Orchestration: Jit acts as an orchestration layer, unifying various security tools (SAST, SCA, secrets detection, IaC scanning, CSPM, DAST). This automated scanning and monitoring aggregation provides a single pane of glass for security management, simplifying DevSecOps workflows.
Brief overview:
Jit is a DevSecOps orchestration platform designed to empower developers to proactively address vulnerabilities early in the development process. By providing automated scanning and monitoring within developer environments like GitHub, GitLab, and VS Code, Jit facilitates seamless security integration without hindering development velocity.
Features:
- Unified SAST, SCA, secrets detection, IaC scanning, CSPM, DAST, and more
- Unified execution and UX for all security tools
- Fast, automated scanning in developer environments
- Context-aware vulnerability prioritization
- Unified monitoring and reporting
Customer review:
“Jit delivers continuous security by enabling my team to find and fix vulnerabilities directly within pull requests, without slowing them down or requiring specialized security expertise.” – Jeff Haynie, CTO at ShopMonkey
Pros and cons:
- Developer-centric design
- Fix-first approach
- Tool orchestration and unification
- Not open source
- Syxsense
Outstanding 9.9
Best patch management software
Syxsense: Automated vulnerability scanning and endpoint remediation
Automated Scanning and Monitoring Features:
- Automated Endpoint Vulnerability Scanning: Syxsense is built for automated scanning and monitoring of endpoint vulnerabilities. It continuously scans endpoints for security weaknesses, providing real-time visibility into the security posture of every device.
- Automated Patch Management and Remediation: A core strength of Syxsense is its automated monitoring techniques for patch compliance. It automatically scans for missing patches and facilitates automated patch deployment and vulnerability remediation, streamlining endpoint security management.
- Real-time Visibility and Compliance Reporting: Syxsense offers automated monitoring dashboards that provide real-time visibility across the entire environment. It also automates compliance reporting for standards like PCI DSS, HIPAA, and ISO, simplifying regulatory adherence.
Brief overview:
Syxsense is a comprehensive endpoint security solution focused on vulnerability scanning and remediation. Its intuitive interface and automation capabilities simplify complex endpoint management tasks, enabling organizations to proactively address security vulnerabilities and maintain compliance.
Features:
- Automated endpoint and vulnerability platform
- Real-time environment visibility
- Built-in compliance and security reporting
- Automated patch scanning, deployment, and vulnerability remediation
Customer review:
“Syxsense solves the critical challenge of keeping machines updated without manual intervention. It’s an excellent support tool, and package building is quite easy. Their support options are also readily available and helpful.” – Derek E., User Review on G2
Pros and cons:
- Remote system access for updates and patches
- Intuitive interface
- Remote access instability
- Slow admin portal performance
- Splunk
Outstanding 9.8
Best for managing big data volumes
Splunk: Unified security and observability with powerful automated analytics
Automated Scanning and Monitoring Features:
- AI-Powered Threat Detection and Anomaly Detection: Splunk leverages automated scanning and monitoring techniques coupled with artificial intelligence to identify key risks and detect threats. Its powerful log analysis and anomaly detection capabilities provide advanced threat intelligence.
- Automated Incident Response Workflows: Splunk enables the automation of actions in response to detected alerts. This automated monitoring techniques driven incident response saves time and resources, streamlining security operations.
- Comprehensive Data Ingestion and Analysis: Splunk excels at ingesting and analyzing massive volumes of data from diverse sources. Its automated scanning and monitoring capabilities extend across endpoints, logs, and various data streams, providing a unified security and observability platform.
Brief overview:
Splunk is a leading platform for unified security and observability, renowned for its ability to handle massive data volumes and provide meaningful, analytical outputs. Its strength lies in its automated scanning and monitoring capabilities, particularly in log analysis and threat detection, making it ideal for large enterprises with complex IT environments.
Features:
- AI-driven risk identification and threat detection
- Automated alert response actions
- Streamlined incident response workflows
- Full visibility across digital environments
- Expert guidance and support
Customer review:
“Splunk’s simplicity in capturing enterprise application data is remarkable. It acts as a central repository, enabling us to analyze data, generate reports, improve business intelligence, and react proactively to trends.” – Azhar C., IT Security & Compliance Analyst
Pros and cons:
- Digestible security log analysis
- Automated alerts and reports
- Steep learning curve
- Linux and system administration expertise required
- Resource-intensive
- Lightrun
Great 9.7
Best for debugging third-party libraries
Lightrun: IDE-native observability and debugging with automated data capture
Automated Scanning and Monitoring Features:
- Real-time Context Capture without Code Stoppage: Lightrun offers unique automated monitoring techniques that allow developers to capture context in real-time without halting code execution. This enables dynamic debugging and observability in live environments.
- Automated Log and Metric Instrumentation: Lightrun automates the instrumentation of logs, traces, and metrics. This automated scanning and monitoring approach provides real-time insights into application behavior and runtime dynamics without requiring code redeployments.
- Production Codeflow and Behavior Understanding: Lightrun’s automated monitoring techniques help developers understand codeflow and behavior in production by highlighting user code paths. This facilitates faster incident resolution and real-time debugging.
Brief overview:
Lightrun is an innovative IDE-native observability and debugging platform that brings debugging directly into live environments. Its automated scanning and monitoring capabilities significantly enhance developer productivity by providing real-time insights without disrupting application performance.
Features:
- Real-time context capture
- Visibility across environments
- Production codeflow understanding
- No code changes or redeployments needed
- Dynamic instrumentation
Customer review:
“Lightrun is a fantastic tool for faster incident resolution and real-time debugging. It eliminates the need for adding new code for debugging, streamlining the process significantly.” – Shir M, Software Engineering Intern at Google
Pros and cons:
- Faster incident resolution
- Reduced logging costs
- Requires live production access
- Primarily post-production focused
- Spectral
Great 9.6
Best for remediating security misconfigurations
Spectral: Automated security blind spot identification and remediation
Automated Scanning and Monitoring Features:
- Automated Secret and Misconfiguration Scanning in CI/CD: Spectral integrates automated scanning and monitoring techniques into the CI/CD pipeline to automatically identify security blind spots, sensitive assets, and misconfigurations in real-time.
- Real-time Threat Detection and Notifications: Spectral’s automated monitoring techniques continuously scan codebases for API keys, credentials, and misconfigurations. It sends instant notifications upon issue detection, enabling rapid remediation.
- AI-Powered Detection with Low False Positives: Spectral utilizes advanced AI-backed technology with a vast detector library to perform automated scanning, minimizing false positives and maximizing confidence in security findings.
Brief overview:
SpectralOps is a powerful scanning tool focused on automating the identification and remediation of security blind spots within codebases and CI/CD systems. Its automated scanning and monitoring capabilities ensure that sensitive assets are protected and misconfigurations are addressed proactively, reducing the risk of data breaches.
Features:
- Automated secret protection at build time
- Real-time monitoring for threats and misconfigurations
- Continuous blind spot discovery
- Customizable playbooks and detectors
- AI-backed technology
- Real-time alerts and workflow integration
Customer review:
“Spectral stood out due to its low false-positive rate, giving us high confidence in its findings and saving valuable development time.” – Nimrod Peretz, VP R&D, Wobi
Pros and cons:
- Rapid sensitive asset identification
- Specialized in secrets discovery
- Minimal configuration
- Language and stack agnostic
- Code vulnerability focus
- Cloudflare
Great 9.5
Best for overall website security
Cloudflare: Automated cloud infrastructure and network traffic monitoring for website security
Automated Scanning and Monitoring Features:
- Automated DDoS Protection and Mitigation: Cloudflare’s core strength is its automated scanning and monitoring techniques for network traffic to detect and mitigate DDoS attacks. It automatically diverts malicious traffic away from infrastructure, ensuring website availability.
- Automated Web Application Firewall (WAF): Cloudflare’s WAF employs automated monitoring techniques to inspect web traffic for malicious payloads and attack patterns, providing automated protection against web-based threats.
- Global Network for Scalable Monitoring: Cloudflare’s global network infrastructure provides a scalable platform for automated scanning and monitoring of website traffic and security events worldwide.
Brief overview:
Cloudflare is a leading cloud infrastructure platform offering comprehensive website security and performance solutions. Its automated scanning and monitoring capabilities, particularly for DDoS protection and web application security, make it a crucial tool for maintaining online presence and security.
Features:
- DDoS protection and mitigation
- Unified IT and security visibility
- Secure employee and device connectivity
- Enhanced website security, reliability, and performance
Customer review:
“Cloudflare is easy to use, well-documented, reasonably priced, and offers excellent support. Its DDoS protection is stable and effective.” – Andrii Prager, CTO at QROK GmbH
Pros and cons:
- Stable DDoS protection
- Scalability
- Cost considerations
- Limited live tracking clarity
- MemcyCo
Good 9.4
Best real-time website spoofing protection
MemcyCo: Real-time automated website spoofing and brand impersonation protection
Automated Scanning and Monitoring Features:
- Automated Impostor Site Detection: MemcyCo utilizes automated scanning and monitoring techniques to surveil communication touchpoints and detect cloned or spoofed versions of websites in real-time.
- Automated Brand Impersonation Monitoring and Alerting: MemcyCo provides automated monitoring for brand impersonation attempts across the web. When spoofing attempts are detected, it automatically alerts the company before end-users are affected.
- Proof of Source Authenticity (PoSA) Watermark: MemcyCo offers an authentication watermark, enhancing customer trust through automated monitoring and verification of website authenticity.
Brief overview:
MemcyCo is a specialized security tool focused on protecting digital assets from impostor attacks like website spoofing and phishing. Its automated scanning and monitoring capabilities provide real-time detection and protection against brand impersonation, safeguarding customer interactions and brand reputation.
Features:
- Impostor site alerts
- Forge-proof authenticity watermark
- Real-time brand impersonation monitoring
- Spoofing attempt visibility
Pros and cons:
- Real-time tampering detection
- Secure, customizable watermark
- Easy installation
- Email and SMS authenticity verification as add-ons
- FirstPoint
Good 9.3
Best for securely deploying IoT devices
FirstPoint: Targeted automated cellular IoT network monitoring and security
Automated Scanning and Monitoring Features:
- Automated IoT Network Threat Detection: FirstPoint provides automated scanning and monitoring techniques specifically designed for cellular IoT networks. It detects emerging threats like identity compromises, eavesdropping, and malicious SMS.
- Automated Security at the Cellular Signaling Level: FirstPoint’s automated monitoring techniques operate at the cellular signaling network level, offering a unique layer of security for IoT deployments.
- Centralized and Automated Management Platform: FirstPoint provides a centralized online management platform for automated monitoring and control of IoT network security, simplifying deployment and management.
Brief overview:
FirstPoint is a targeted cellular IoT monitoring platform focused on securing IoT networks and data transmission. Its automated scanning and monitoring capabilities are tailored to address the specific security challenges of cellular IoT environments, providing robust protection against emerging threats.
Features:
- Distributed EPC/5GC architecture
- Mobile core network and use-case specific security
- Public and private network roaming support
- Multiple deployment options
- Customizable API functions
Customer review:
“FirstPoint’s innovative solution offers a unique and crucial added layer of protection at the cellular signaling network level – a true industry first.” – Eric Williams, Founder, CEO & Innovator, iJura
Pros and cons:
- 2G to 5G range coverage
- On-premise and in-cloud options
- Centralized online management
- Limited to cellular IoT
- Galooli
Good 9.2
Best for industrial IoT remote monitoring and management
Galooli: Automated IoT monitoring and management for energy efficiency and operational savings
Automated Scanning and Monitoring Features (focused on operational efficiency and security implications):
- Automated Remote Asset Performance Monitoring: Galooli provides automated monitoring techniques for remote assets, offering real-time visibility into their performance and operational status. This includes monitoring energy consumption, which indirectly contributes to security by ensuring efficient resource utilization and preventing anomalies that could indicate security breaches.
- Automated Alerting and Event Management: Galooli’s automated monitoring system triggers immediate alerts for relevant events or anomalies. While primarily focused on operational parameters, these alerts can also indirectly highlight security-related issues affecting asset performance.
- Carbon Emission KPI Tracking (ESG): Galooli automates the tracking of carbon emission KPIs, aligning with ESG goals. While not directly a security feature, this automated monitoring contributes to overall corporate responsibility and can indirectly enhance security posture by demonstrating organizational maturity and risk awareness.
Brief overview:
Galooli is an IoT monitoring and management platform focused on energy efficiency and operational savings, particularly for businesses managing on-premise infrastructure. While not primarily a security tool, its automated monitoring capabilities contribute to operational resilience and can indirectly support security efforts by ensuring efficient resource management and anomaly detection.
Features:
- Carbon emissions KPI tracking
- Real-time remote asset visibility
- Web and mobile accessibility
- Immediate alerts and event access
Customer review:
“Galooli is user-friendly and easily accessible. Even someone with basic software knowledge can effectively use it with a simple explanation.” – Arinze, SoftwareAdvice Review
Pros and cons:
- Industry versatility
- User-friendly interface
- Enterprise focus
- Physical IoT asset focus
Types of Continuous Monitoring with Automated Techniques
Continuous monitoring, especially when leveraging automated scanning and monitoring techniques, is crucial for ongoing security control assessment. It’s an integral part of a robust organizational security program.
There are three primary types of continuous monitoring, each benefiting significantly from automation: infrastructure, application, and network monitoring.
1. Automated Infrastructure Monitoring
Infrastructure monitoring, when automated, involves using automated scanning and monitoring techniques to oversee the physical components of a system. This includes servers, storage systems, and networking hardware.
The key advantage of automated infrastructure monitoring tools is their ability to proactively identify hardware-related issues. For instance, automated monitoring can detect a server consistently operating at high temperatures, indicating a potential hardware problem before it leads to failure.
2. Automated Application Monitoring
Application monitoring, enhanced with automation, utilizes automated scanning and monitoring techniques to supervise the software components of a system. This encompasses application code, application servers, and databases.
Automated application monitoring is vital for identifying software-related problems. It can detect slow performance, memory leaks, and even the presence of malicious code through automated scanning and analysis.
3. Automated Network Monitoring
Network monitoring, when automated, employs automated scanning and monitoring techniques to observe a system’s network traffic. This includes routers, switches, and other networking equipment.
Automated network monitoring plays a crucial role in identifying network-related issues. It can detect high latency, packet loss, and suspicious traffic patterns through automated scanning and analysis, contributing to overall network security and performance.
Continuous Security Monitoring Benefits through Automation
Organizations face relentless cyberattacks from sophisticated actors. Automated monitoring and cybersecurity tools are essential for defending against these malicious activities. Active monitoring, especially when automated, provides significant advantages:
- Early Risk and Vulnerability Identification: Automated scanning and monitoring techniques enable early detection of potential security risks and vulnerabilities, preventing exploitation.
- Reduced Breach Impact: Automated monitoring facilitates timely detection and response to security breaches or attacks, minimizing their impact.
- Improved Security Posture: Automated scanning and monitoring provide continuous visibility into potential risks and vulnerabilities, strengthening an organization’s overall security posture.
- Time and Resource Savings: Automated monitoring significantly reduces manual effort, saving time and resources in the security management process.
- Enhanced Compliance: Automated monitoring helps organizations improve compliance with security-related regulations and standards by providing continuous evidence of security controls.
A Security Plan is Paramount, Even with Automated Tools
While CSM tools, particularly those with automated scanning and monitoring techniques, are crucial for real-time threat response, they are most effective when part of a comprehensive security plan. For maximum protection across your entire CI/CD system, integration with various security tools and a well-defined strategy are essential. This can be complex for DevOps teams.
Jit offers a Minimum Viable Security plan designed to simplify and strengthen software development security. Acting as an orchestration layer, Jit facilitates seamless integration with essential security tools for each development stage. Get started for free and continuously protect your product with minimal complexity through automated security.
