Cloud security posture tools and the identity governance gap

TL;DR: Cloud security posture management tools can improve visibility into cloud misconfigurations and risky entitlements, but they do not solve the identity governance problems created by over-privileged access, delayed remediation, and fragmented multi-cloud control, according to Zluri. The practical issue is that posture visibility without lifecycle discipline still leaves security teams exposed to access sprawl and missed containment opportunities.

NHIMG editorial — based on content published by Zluri: IT Teams 8 Lacework Alternatives For Cloud Security [2026 Updated]

By the numbers:

• Only 44% of organisations have implemented any policies to manage their AI agents, despite 92% agreeing that governing AI agents is critical to enterprise security.

Questions worth separating out

Q: How should security teams govern cloud identities when using CSPM tools?

A: Security teams should use CSPM to identify risky configurations, then connect each finding to an owning identity, approval trail, and revocation process.

Q: Why do cloud posture tools still leave identity risk unresolved?

A: Because posture tools are built to detect misconfiguration, not to govern the lifetime of the credentials that create access.

Q: What do IAM teams get wrong about multi-cloud security?

A: They often treat multi-cloud risk as a discovery problem when it is also an entitlement and offboarding problem.

Practitioner guidance

• Inventory every cloud identity alongside its owning system Tie each alerting source to the underlying service account, token, certificate, or integration it represents.
• Review standing cloud entitlements before buying more detections Prioritise access reviews for the most reused cloud roles, especially where the same credentials touch production, analytics, and SaaS connectors.
• Link posture findings to lifecycle workflows Route high-risk misconfigurations into rotation, offboarding, and recertification processes so findings do not sit in a queue.

What's in the full article

Zluri's full article covers the operational detail this post intentionally leaves for the source:

• Side-by-side feature notes on the 8 Lacework alternatives and their CSPM capabilities.
• Product-level coverage of cloud inventory, alerting, and compliance workflows for each option.
• Vendor-specific pros and cons that help teams compare usability, support, and deployment fit.
• A fuller walkthrough of Zluri's SaaS discovery and security features for teams evaluating access control tooling.

👉 Read Zluri's comparison of 8 Lacework alternatives for cloud security →

Cloud security posture tools and the identity governance gap?

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