Agent-Based vs. Agentless Cloud Security: Benefits, Limitations, and Combined Approaches
Summary
The article compares agent-based and agentless cloud security, outlining their strengths and limitations and recommending a combined approach to balance detailed monitoring, broad visibility, scalability, and response needs.
Key points
- Agents provide host-level visibility, real-time monitoring, and direct response capabilities, but require installation and can consume resources.
- Agentless tools use cloud-provider APIs to scan assets and configurations with less overhead and easier scaling, but offer less host-level detail and often rely on external or manual response.
- The article recommends using agents for sensitive or critical workloads and agentless tools for broad coverage of dynamic cloud assets.
- Agentless checks can identify asset inventory gaps, misconfigurations, excessive permissions, and compliance issues.
- Darktrace describes its cloud security product as agentless by default, with optional host agents for deeper inspection and real-time action.
Article Details
- Topic
- Comparison of agent-based, agentless, and combined approaches to cloud security deployment, including their capabilities, limitations, use cases, and Darktrace / CLOUD deployment options.
Vendors
Products
Industries
financedeep monitoring and granular control, such as securing sensitive high-value workloads in industries like finance and healthcare. In fact, over 50% of enterprises with critical infrastructure report relying onHealthcareand granular control, such as securing sensitive high-value workloads in industries like finance and healthcare. In fact, over 50% of enterprises with critical infrastructure report relying on agent-based solutions