CyberRatings report exposes critical flaws in cloud-native firewalls

A recent report from CyberRatings.org has revealed significant shortcomings in cloud-native firewalls from Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform, highlighting major vulnerabilities in their ability to block known exploits, according to SDxCentral.

The firewalls underwent a series of basic functionality tests, where they demonstrated inadequate performance, with Amazon Web Services scoring a mere 0.38% in effectiveness, a steep decline from its already low score of 5.39% six months ago. Google Cloud Platform performed best with 50.57%, while Microsoft Azure achieved only 24.14%.

The test used an “open-book” approach designed to evaluate responses to standard hacker exploits, but the poor performance highlighted fundamental flaws in the products’ detection strategies, particularly for Amazon Web Services. Despite prior feedback, Amazon Web Services failed to address these issues, raising concerns about its internal processes and commitment to security improvements. The findings suggest broader challenges in cloud security, where unique cloud architectures often hinder traditional security approaches. CyberRatings advises businesses to reconsider reliance on native firewalls and explore third-party options, as well as to conduct independent security assessments and push cloud providers for greater transparency and accountability.