Why Traditional Vulnerability Management Fails in the Cloud

Traditional vulnerability and application security tools are failing in cloud-native environments. It’s not that these tools aren’t good at what they do. The fact is, they weren’t designed for the particular challenges presented by dynamic cloud environments. These tools rely on static snapshots – a container image at a specific point in time, for example. This makes it nearly impossible for these tools to consistently track ephemeral assets. As a result, security teams are overwhelmed by noise without clear risk prioritization or ownership visibility.

The challenge

Consider the dynamic nature of cloud-native environments with their complex ephemeral asset infrastructures. These assets are moving targets that can disappear entirely from one version to the next. Security teams struggle to keep track of vulnerabilities, and so they turn to tooling to solve the problem. However, since scanning tools are limited to point-in-time snapshots, they cannot continuously track ephemeral assets across versions.

This often leads to the use of numerous scanning tools which only adds to the challenge. Multiple, disparate reports result in fragmented and partial visibility and a lack of ownership continuity. Security teams end up wasting time triaging ephemeral findings that lack clear ownership or prioritization. Meanwhile, exploitation occurs faster than organizations can respond.

Here are five key considerations for effective vulnerability management (VM) in cloud environments:

1. Dynamic Environments Require Continuous Discovery

Cloud infrastructure—particularly in containerized or serverless settings—can quickly spin up, change, and terminate. Traditional moment-in-time scanning often overlooks these transient assets making it impossible for security teams to keep track of vulnerabilities. Without durable visibility across versions, these invisible risks become blind spots that attackers exploit.

Teams should implement VM solutions that automatically discover and assess assets, ensuring new instances or containers don’t slip through the cracks. Consolidate vulnerability data from various sources into a single system for streamlined analysis and reporting. Continuous asset tracking, risk mapping, and deduplication strengthen security workflows.

2. Integrate VM into DevOps

Cloud-native vulnerability management requires continuous, automated, and context-aware practices. Cloud ecosystems evolve rapidly. To keep up, security teams must integrate VM into DevOps pipelines which helps identify issues early and prevents insecure code from reaching production. At the same time, automating patch deployment and ticket creation reduces manual overhead and increases remediation.

3. Contextual Prioritization

Cloud vulnerabilities vary significantly in their potential impact. For example, misconfigurations in cloud environments can present more significant risks than typical software vulnerabilities. Understanding these context-specific factors is critical to remediation efforts. Security teams should deploy VM tools that incorporate threat intelligence and business context to better assess and prioritize urgent issues.

4. Compliance & Regulatory Requirements

Compliance with industry regulations often requires proof of continuous scanning and remediation. A strong VM program that tracks cloud and infrastructure assets across deployments, deduplicates findings, and assigns ownership can help prioritize urgent vulnerabilities and fast-track remediation to meet compliance requirements. A single, unified VM solution can also automate reporting and alleviate time-intensive and duplicative processes.

5. Scalability

Scaling VM programs is not about deploying more tools. Instead, organizations should employ automated processes, risk-based prioritization, and integration with native cloud security services for efficient and scalable scanning. Take it one step further and make use of cloud-native vulnerability and exposure management solutions that consolidate cloud and application data in one unified platform to streamline and accelerate VM.

Cloud-native services and applications are among the fastest-growing attack surfaces, but their ephemeral, fast-changing nature introduces new security challenges. However, traditional scanning tools are not the answer. By integrating continuous discovery, risk-based prioritization, and automated remediation workflows, security teams can modernize their cloud VM programs and stay ahead of fast-moving threats.