Cloud posture management has improved remediation and optimizes costs with contextual risk insights
What is our primary use case?
In my previous company, I used Orca Security as a CSPM tool, which stands for Cloud Security Posture Management. The tool is very nice, and with it, we achieved a lot of our remediation activities. Orca Security looks good in terms of Kubernetes and in terms of telling us about cloud misconfigurations and many other things.
I used Orca Security for approximately one and a half years, or roughly 11 to 12 months. Orca Security proved to be a good tool in my previous company.
I did not use the Cloud to Dev feature because it was recently rolled out at that time. At that point, we were moving to secure code and code review processes.
We did not use Orca Security sensor because we installed Orca Security API integration with our Azure Entra ID, in which all devices on our cloud infrastructure were scanned every 24 hours. However, after I left, the team considered using sensors because they have some limitations, particularly on legacy devices.
What is most valuable?
The standout part of Orca Security is the package approach. When they provide remediation or alerts, they also provide the exact path for a particular vulnerability or alert. They show us the specific path that needs to be fixed in order to remove the vulnerability or alert. They provide path information directly from the systems, so sometimes we don't need to log in directly and investigate ourselves. This feature is valuable, though there are occasional false positives, which is a normal part of security.
Regarding prioritization and assigning risk, Orca Security was good at analyzing risks contextually and holistically. As the tool and product mature, they will definitely announce new features. On a scale of ten, I would rate this around seven or eight. I have not given a ten because there are a few false positives and some areas where the product needs improvement on a regular basis. Sometimes they release the product, but modifications could still be required on their side.
It is good to prioritize risks with Orca Security because they are not only targeting the CVSS score but also the EPSS, which is the Exploit Prediction Scoring System. They monitor particular assets based on both approaches. On the CVSS side, they reference the National Vulnerability Database, and on the EPSS side, they target the Exploit Prediction Scoring System. So they are targeting both risk-based approaches as well as the CVSS approach.
What needs improvement?
Since I have not used Orca Security for 10 months, I am uncertain what areas still need improvement, as they may have rolled out features that addressed issues I faced in the past. However, I can say the tool is good. A few things could potentially be improved, particularly regarding false positives and the UI. What I observed is that they release updates to the platform without notifying the customer. Every time the UI is upgraded, they release something without notification. This could be a slight improvement. If they released some kind of notification to just inform the customer about UI changes, the customer would be aware of the changes that Orca Security is making in the backend.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Regarding stability, I would rate Orca Security an eight.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
In terms of scalability, I would rate it an eight because it performed well with what I worked with at that point in time.
How are customer service and support?
I would rate the technical support of Orca Security as eight. The customer success manager was also very helpful in terms of resolving issues.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I am currently using Wiz as well, and Wiz is also good. I think both Orca Security and Wiz are comparable and can work hand-in-hand. I would not say one is better than the other. I have started using Wiz and I like it because they also do similar things. I am yet to explore more on the Wiz side of things, but both are comparable and good.
How was the initial setup?
Orca Security is deployed in the cloud.
What was our ROI?
I can say Orca Security roughly reduced the operating expenses by around 20-50%.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Regarding the extent to which Orca Security helps in preventing risks and attacks across application lifecycles, I think it is the same scenario because there are many CSPM tools available. We have Wiz, Orca Security, and Lacework. All CSPM tools do the same work by scanning the infrastructure and providing reports either through API or through sensors. Definitely, the risk is more important on the cloud misconfiguration side because they tell us about the misconfigurations. CSPM is not a vulnerability management tool. It is more on the cloud side where they provide misconfigurations related to that. After you have deployed something on your infrastructure or cloud infrastructure, once you put a CSPM in your infrastructure, it will tell you how effectively you can remove those misconfigurations. That is the edge that CSPM is giving.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend Orca Security to other users because it was good at the point in time I used the product.
Regarding how Orca Security has helped reduce the time it takes to address cloud security alerts, this is a complex scenario because it is totally dependent on the situation of the alert. I cannot say it takes one or two minutes because it depends on how critical the alert is and how critical it is in our environment. Some of the time, based on our infrastructure, we have to keep things as exceptions. We cannot fix all things. But many times we got the right alert and fixed it by checking and updating the risk provided by Orca Security in my previous organization.
We used the cloud cost optimization feature and it was very effective. We used it alongside Microsoft Azure where we had a specific subscription for cloud cost optimization. They provided better features showing us which features we were not utilizing much and could turn off, or which features we were utilizing more so we could adjust the bandwidth level. For every feature there is a cost associated with it. In that way, we used it effectively.
Orca Security saves resources because it provides the actual output on the screen with the package path. The resources aspect is definitely valuable because of how it uses Linux and goes deep down into the assets. It provides that particular information directly on the portal itself.
Orca Security was used by approximately 50 to 100 users. I believe Orca Security was purchased through the AWS Marketplace.
I rate Orca Security an overall eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?