CSMP vs Attack Chains: Why Series B Companies Need Both

Your CSMP tool found 847 misconfigurations. Your attack path analysis shows 12 exploitable chains. Which should you prioritize?

The answer: both. But they serve very different purposes.

What CSMP Tools Do Well

Cloud Security Posture Management (CSMP) tools excel at:

Configuration compliance: - S3 buckets should not be public - Security groups should not allow 0.0.0.0/0 - IAM policies should follow least privilege - Encryption should be enabled

Regulatory requirements: - SOC 2 compliance checks - ISO 27001 controls - PCI DSS requirements - Industry-specific standards

Broad coverage: - Every AWS service and configuration - Thousands of security rules - Continuous monitoring - Policy enforcement

What CSMP Tools Miss

CSMP tools treat each finding in isolation:

Example CSMP findings: - EC2 instance has public IP (Medium) - Security group allows SSH (Low) - IAM role has S3 permissions (Informational) - No MFA on root account (High)

But they don't show you how these connect.

What Attack Chain Analysis Adds

Attack chain analysis shows exploitation paths:

Same findings, connected: Public EC2 + SSH access + IAM role = Direct path to all S3 data

The difference: - CSMP: 4 separate findings, unclear priority - Attack chains: 1 critical path, immediate action needed

Real-World Scenario

A Series C company had: - 1,200+ CSMP findings - "Everything is high priority" - Security team overwhelmed - No clear remediation plan

Attack chain analysis revealed: - 8 exploitable paths to sensitive data - 3 paths could be eliminated with 1 fix each - 73% risk reduction with minimal effort

Why You Need Both

CSMP for compliance: - Auditor requirements - Regulatory standards - Policy enforcement - Broad security hygiene

Attack chains for security: - Real breach scenarios - Prioritized remediation - Business impact analysis - Offensive security validation

The Integration Approach

DevSecured integrates with your existing CSMP tools:

We don't replace: - AWS Security Hub - Wiz findings - Orca configurations - Prisma Cloud policies

We enhance: - Add exploitation context - Show attack relationships - Prioritize by exploitability - Validate with OSCP methodology

Making It Practical

Daily workflow: 1. CSMP tool finds misconfigurations 2. Attack chain analysis shows exploitable paths 3. Fix chains first, compliance second 4. Measure risk reduction, not finding count

Monthly reporting: - Compliance dashboard for auditors - Attack chain metrics for executives - Risk reduction trends for board

Getting Started

Most Series B companies need both approaches: - Keep your existing CSMP tool for compliance - Add attack chain analysis for security prioritization - Focus remediation on exploitable paths first

Ready to see how your CSMP findings connect into attack chains? Get a free assessment and we'll show you which configurations actually matter for preventing breaches.