CNAPPs & CSPMs don’t tell the full cloud security story
Cloud Security Podcast13 Maalis 2025

CNAPPs & CSPMs don’t tell the full cloud security story

In this episode we speak to Nick Jones, an expert in offensive cloud security and Head of Research at WithSecure to expose the biggest security gaps in cloud environments and why CNAPPs and CSPMs alone are not enough often.

  • How cloud pentesting differs from traditional pentesting
  • Why CSPMs & CNAPPs don’t tell the full cloud security story
  • The biggest cloud attack paths—identity, IAM users, and CI/CD
  • Why “misconfigurations vs vulnerabilities” is the wrong debate
  • How organizations should prepare for a cloud pentest


With real-world examples from red team engagements and cloud security research, Nick shares insider knowledge on how attackers target AWS, Azure, and Kubernetes environments—and what security teams can do to stop them.


Guest Socials: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Nick's Linkedin

Podcast Twitter - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@CloudSecPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

If you want to watch videos of this LIVE STREAMED episode and past episodes - Check out our other Cloud Security Social Channels:

-⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Cloud Security Podcast- Youtube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

- ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Cloud Security Newsletter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

- ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Cloud Security BootCamp⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

If you are interested in AI Cybersecurity, you can check out our sister podcast -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ AI Cybersecurity Podcast


Questions asked:

(00:00) Introduction

(02:40) A bit about Nick Jones

(03:56) How has Cloud Security Evolved?

(05:52) Why do we need pentesting in Cloud Security?

(08:09) Misconfiguration vs Vulnerabilities

(11:04) Cloud Pentesting in Different Environments

(17:05) Impact of Kubernetes Adoption on Offensive Cloud Security

(20:19) Planning for a Cloud Pentest

(29:04) Common Attacks Paths in Cloud

(33:05) Mitigating Common Risk in Cloud

(35:14) What is Detection as Code?

(41:17) Skills for Cloud Pentesting

(45:28) Fun Sections

Jaksot(344)

Cybersecurity Isn’t Crowded: Security Engineering and the 5,000 Vendor Problem

Cybersecurity Isn’t Crowded: Security Engineering and the 5,000 Vendor Problem

In this episode our host Ashish Rajan sat down with Ross Haleliuk, author of Cybersecurity for Builders and creator of the Venture in Security blog, to explore the current state and future of the cybe...

10 Tammi 20251h 10min

Centralized VPC Endpoints - Why It Works for AWS Networking

Centralized VPC Endpoints - Why It Works for AWS Networking

In this episode, Meg Ashby, a senior cloud security engineer shares how her team tackled AWS’s centralized VPC interface endpoints, a design often seen as an anti-pattern. She explains how they turned...

17 Joulu 202448min

What is CADR?

What is CADR?

In this episode, recorded at Kubecon NA in Salt Lake City, we spoke about about Kubernetes security with Shauli Rozen, co-founder and CEO of ARMO Security. From the challenges of runtime protection to...

5 Joulu 202429min

Building Platforms in Regulated Industries

Building Platforms in Regulated Industries

At HashiConf 2024 in Boston, our host Ashish Rajan had a great chat over some cannolis and a game of Jenga with AJ Oller, AVP of Engineering at The Hartford about how automation, mainframes, and compl...

21 Marras 202436min

Dynamic Permission Boundaries: A New Approach to Cloud Security

Dynamic Permission Boundaries: A New Approach to Cloud Security

In this episode, Ashish spoke with Kushagra Sharma, Staff Cloud Security Engineer, to delve into the complexities of managing Identity Access Management (IAM) at scale. Drawing on his experiences from...

12 Marras 202446min

Building a Resilient Cloud Security Program after Merger and Acquisition

Building a Resilient Cloud Security Program after Merger and Acquisition

In this episode, host Ashish Rajan sits down with Prahathess Rengasamy, a cloud security expert with extensive experience at companies like Credit Karma, Block, and Apple. Together, they explore the c...

9 Marras 202439min

Building Data Perimeter in Cloud in 2024

Building Data Perimeter in Cloud in 2024

In this episode, Ashish gets into the critical topic of data perimeters in AWS with our guest, Tyler Warren, a Lead Cloud Security Engineer at USAA. As cloud environments continue to evolve, the impor...

31 Loka 202456min

Navigating NIST CSF 2.0: Guide to Frameworks and Governance

Navigating NIST CSF 2.0: Guide to Frameworks and Governance

In this episode, we sat down with Lukasz Gogolkiewicz, an Australia-based Cybersecurity Leader and former pentester, to explore his journey from offensive security into cybersecurity leadership. Lukas...

22 Loka 202436min