Palo Alto Networks is launching a new cloud security platform with Cortex Cloud. The solution is created by integrating Prisma Cloud and Cortex CDR.
Security specialists are getting more and more focused on cloud security. The truism that the cloud is necessarily secure is long gone. Unsecured applications or misconfigurations are just a few ways companies unsuspectingly leave their cloud environments wide open. Palo Alto is responding by launching a new cloud security platform, Cortex Cloud.
Cortex Cloud is new, but at the same time familiar. Those familiar with Palo Alto Networks’ portfolio will notice that the name looks like a contraction of Prism Cloud and Cortex CDR, and it is. The new solution offers AI-driven prioritization, automated remediation and an enhanced user experience.
Two in one
Cortex Cloud brings together Prisma Cloud’s cloud security and Cortex CDR’s SecOps component into a single platform. The system analyzes data from multiple sources, automates workflows and uses AI to mitigate risk and stop attacks in real time. Palo Alto Networks is integrating its Cloud Native Application Protection Platform (CNAPP) within Cortex Cloud at no additional cost to customers.
The platform includes new features such as enhanced application security, AI-driven risk assessment and automated solutions. There is also deeper integration with Cortex XSIAM, allowing SOCs to respond to threats faster. According to Palo Alto Networks, this provides a more complete and efficient way to secure cloud environments.
Automatic upgrade
Palo Alto Networks is offering Prisma Cloud customers an automatic upgrade to Cortex Cloud. Customers using Cortex can add Prisma’s features to the platform at no additional cost. Palo Alto Networks expects to make Cortex Cloud available later in the third quarter of fiscal 2025, looking to integration partners such as Deloitte, IBM and Orange Cyberdefense.
Stubborn firewalls
The security specialist should not lose sight of its other products. Via Palo Alto Networks ‘ Reddit channel, customers reported that their firewalls were behaving strangely. A bug in the PanOS operating system causes firewalls to reboot at random times.
Palo Alto would not roll out a patch until March at the earliest, which is not met with applause among the affected customers. This bug comes shortly after several critical vulnerabilities that allowed the company’s firewalls to be hacked.