# Best Cloud Workload Protection Platforms - Page 6 *By [Lauren Worth](https://research.g2.com/insights/author/lauren-worth)* Cloud workload protection platforms help protect servers and cloud infrastructure and virtual machines (VMs) from web-based threats. To qualify for inclusion in the Cloud Workload Protection Platforms category, a product must: - Protect cloud infrastructure and virtual machines. - Support container-based application security - Monitor and protect public, private, or hybrid-cloud environments ## Category Overview **Total Products under this Category:** 89 ## Trust & Credibility Stats **Why You Can Trust G2's Software Rankings:** - 30 Analysts and Data Experts - 4,300+ Authentic Reviews - 89+ Products - Unbiased Rankings G2's software rankings are built on verified user reviews, rigorous moderation, and a consistent research methodology maintained by a team of analysts and data experts. Each product is measured using the same transparent criteria, with no paid placement or vendor influence. While reviews reflect real user experiences, which can be subjective, they offer valuable insight into how software performs in the hands of professionals. Together, these inputs power the G2 Score, a standardized way to compare tools within every category. ## Best Cloud Workload Protection Platforms At A Glance - **Leader:** [Wiz](https://www.g2.com/products/wiz-wiz/reviews) - **Highest Performer:** [Plerion](https://www.g2.com/products/plerion/reviews) - **Easiest to Use:** [Wiz](https://www.g2.com/products/wiz-wiz/reviews) - **Top Trending:** [Wiz](https://www.g2.com/products/wiz-wiz/reviews) - **Best Free Software:** [Wiz](https://www.g2.com/products/wiz-wiz/reviews) --- **Sponsored** ### Upwind Upwind is the runtime-first cloud security platform that secures your deployments, configurations, and applications by providing real-time visibility from the inside out. We’ve built a unified fabric that maps your environment as it runs - revealing what’s truly at risk, what’s actively happening, and how to respond quickly and effectively. With Upwind, security, dev, and ops teams move faster, stay focused, and fix risks that matter most. [Visit company website](https://www.g2.com/external_clickthroughs/record?secure%5Bad_program%5D=ppc&secure%5Bad_slot%5D=category_product_list&secure%5Bcategory_id%5D=1456&secure%5Bdisplayable_resource_id%5D=1456&secure%5Bdisplayable_resource_type%5D=Category&secure%5Bmedium%5D=sponsored&secure%5Bplacement_reason%5D=page_category&secure%5Bplacement_resource_ids%5D%5B%5D=1456&secure%5Bprioritized%5D=false&secure%5Bproduct_id%5D=1333227&secure%5Bresource_id%5D=1456&secure%5Bresource_type%5D=Category&secure%5Bsource_type%5D=category_page&secure%5Bsource_url%5D=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.g2.com%2Fcategories%2Fcloud-workload-protection-platforms%3Fpage%3D6&secure%5Btoken%5D=7c6213293b450dbb7160698e0e9aa2b02b09694288bcedea7c39a07a4aa64105&secure%5Burl%5D=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.upwind.io&secure%5Burl_type%5D=custom_url) --- ## Parent Category [Cloud Security Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/cloud-security) ## Related Categories - [Container Security Tools](https://www.g2.com/categories/container-security-tools) - [Cloud Compliance Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/cloud-compliance) - [Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/cloud-security-posture-management-cspm) --- ## Buyer Guide ### What You Should Know About Cloud Workload Protection Platforms ### What are Cloud Workload Protection Platforms? Cloud workload protection is not a very intuitive term and likely sounds alien to people who do not operate cloud infrastructure. However, individuals that work frequently with cloud infrastructure are probably somewhat familiar with cloud workload protection. For context, cloud workload protection is typically described as a family of workload-centric security solutions designed to secure on-premises, physical, and virtual servers along with a range of [infrastructure as a service (IaaS) providers](https://www.g2.com/categories/infrastructure-as-a-service-iaas) and applications. Cloud workload protection platforms are an evolution of endpoint protection solutions designed specifically for server workloads. Cloud workload protection solutions provide users with automated discovery and broad visibility of workloads deployed across cloud service providers. In addition to providing visibility, these tools protect individual workloads with malware protection, [vulnerability scanning](https://www.g2.com/categories/vulnerability-scanner), access control, and anomaly detection features. Malware and vulnerability scanning are often paired with automated remediation or patching features to simplify and scale workload management. The platforms also provide access control through privilege management and micro-segmentation. However, their most interesting feature might be behavior monitoring powered by [machine learning](https://www.g2.com/categories/machine-learning) that discovers errors or unexpected changes. This makes it harder for threat actors and nefarious insiders to alter workloads, policies, or privileges. Once detected, access can be automatically restricted and reverted to its previous state. **Key Benefits of Cloud Workload Protection Platforms** - Complete visibility of workloads in the cloud - Automated threat detection and response - Custom protection for unique servers and workloads - Workload, application, and infrastructure hardening ### Why Use Cloud Workload Protection Platforms? Cloud workload protection platforms provide numerous benefits, the most important being automated scaling, workload hardening, cross-cloud security management, anomaly detection, and response functionality. **Automation and efficiency —** Cloud workload protection platforms automate a number of security operations related to the cloud. The first is discovery; after workloads are discovered, these platforms scale to protect large numbers of workloads and identify their unique security requirements. These platforms automatically detect new workloads and scan them for vulnerabilities. They can also automate the detection and response of security incidents. Automation can save significant time for security teams, especially those that are tasked with protecting DevOps pipelines. These environments are constantly changing and need adaptable security solutions to protect them no matter their state. Some automation features may only be available through APIs and other integrations, but nonetheless simplify numerous tasks for IT professionals, engineers, and security teams. **Multicloud management —** No two multicloud environments are alike. Multicloud architectures are complex, intricate environments that span across on-premises servers and cloud providers to deliver powerful, scalable, and secure infrastructure. Still, their inherent complexity can [present challenges to security teams](https://research.g2.com/insights/challenges-of-multicloud-solution-management-and-security). Each workload has its own requirements and cloud workload protection platforms provide a single pane of glass and automated discovery to ensure no workload goes unprotected or unnoticed. Different workloads may run on different operating systems or possess different compliance requirements. Regardless of the countless variations in security needs, these platforms can adapt to changes and enable highly customizable policy enforcement to protect a wide range of workloads. **Monitoring and detection —** Workload discovery is not the only monitoring feature provided by cloud workload protection platforms. Their most important monitoring capability is behavioral monitoring used to detect changes, misuse, and other anomalies automatically. These platforms can harden workloads by detecting exploits, scanning for vulnerabilities, and providing next-generation firewalls. Still, prevention is only the first phase of cybersecurity. Once protection is in place, baselines must be measured and privileges must be distributed. Any activity deviating from the established baselines should be detected and administrators should be alerted. Depending on the nature of the threat, various response workflows can be established to remedy the issue. Servers might require endpoint detection and response while applications require processes to be blocked. Regardless of the issue, threats should be modeled and workflows should be designed accordingly. ### What are the Common Features of Cloud Workload Protection Platforms? Cloud workload protection platforms can provide a wide range of features, but here are a few of the most common found in the market. **Cloud gap analytics —** This feature analyzes data associated with denied entries and policy enforcement, giving information for better authentication and security protocols. **Cloud registry —** Cloud registries detail the range of cloud service providers a product can integrate with and provide security for. **Asset discovery —** Asset discovery features unveil applications in use and trends associated with traffic, access, and usage. **Governance —** User provisioning and governance features allow users to create, edit, and relinquish user access privileges. **Logging and reporting —** Log documentation and reporting provides required reports to manage business. Provides adequate logging to troubleshoot and support auditing. [**Data security**](https://www.g2.com/categories/data-security) **—** Data protection and security features help users manage policies for user data access and data encryption. [**Data loss prevention (DLP)**](https://www.g2.com/categories/data-loss-prevention-dlp) **—** DLP stores data securely either on-premise or in an adjacent cloud database to prevent loss of data. **Security auditing —** Auditing helps users analyze data associated with security configurations and infrastructure to provide vulnerability insights and best practices. **Anomaly detection —** Anomaly detection is conducted by constantly monitoring activity related to user behavior and compares activity to benchmarked patterns. **Workload diversity —** Diverse workload support would imply a cloud security solution that supports a range of instance types from any number of cloud service providers. **Analytics and** [**machine learning**](https://www.g2.com/categories/machine-learning) **—** Analytics and machine learning improve security and protection across workloads by automating network segmentation, malware protection, and incident response. ### Software and Services Related to Cloud Workload Protection Platforms These technology families are either closely related to cloud workload protection platforms or there is a significant overlap between products. [**Endpoint detection and response (EDR) software**](https://www.g2.com/categories/endpoint-detection-response-edr) **—** EDR software is used to protect devices such as servers, laptops, and mobile devices from threats, discover security incidents, and automate their resolution. This concept is mirrored with cloud workload protection platforms, but those tools are not designed to protect cloud workloads. They may be able to resolve server issues or other minor incidents, but do not provide scalable cloud-based workload protection or policy management functionality. [**Data center security software**](https://www.g2.com/categories/data-center-security) **—** While data centers are commonly used to power cloud services and applications, data center security software is not designed for managing and securing multicloud environments. These tools have similar workload protection features, but they are limited to individual data centers or groups of servers running on-premises. Securing a multicloud architecture requires significant adaptability and diverse workload support across numerous services and providers. [**Cloud management platforms**](https://www.g2.com/categories/cloud-management-platforms) **—** Cloud management platforms are tools used to provide a single pane of glass for multicloud environments. There is some overlap between cloud management and workload protection platforms, but most of them do not provide the same level of protection and incident response functionality as cloud workload protection platforms. Instead, they may integrate with additional security tools or simply monitor their activity without providing the means to resolve issues as they arise. [**Cloud compliance software**](https://www.g2.com/categories/cloud-compliance) **—** Cloud compliance software is used to ensure data, workloads, APIs and other cloud services are properly protecting sensitive information and abiding by established regulations. While they can be used to protect workloads and discover services, they don’t have the same runtime-level or workload-centric protection features such as vulnerability scanning, malware protection, virtual firewall, or intrusion detection.