Comparison & Alternatives
How is Mitigant different from standalone CSPM tools?
Standalone CSPM Tools:
- Identify misconfigurations
- Provide compliance dashboards
- Alert on policy violations
- Stop there
Mitigant Platform (CSPM + CAE):
- Identify misconfigurations (CSPM)
- Validate exploitability (CAE)
- Prove which issues are real vs. theoretical
- Provide validated prioritization
- Continuous red team validation
Example:
- Standalone CSPM: "S3 bucket is public" → You get an alert
- Mitigant: "S3 bucket is public" (CSPM) → "We accessed it and here's the data" (CAE) → You know it's critical
The integration is the differentiator.
How does this compare to vulnerability scanners?
Different Focus:
- Vulnerability scanners: Software vulnerabilities (CVEs)
- Mitigant CSPM: Cloud misconfigurations, IAM issues
- Mitigant KSPM: Container/Kubernetes vulnerabilities and misconfigurations
- Mitigant CAE: Detection gaps, response readiness
Different Approach:
- Vulnerability scanners: Passive scanning
- Mitigant CAE: Active attack emulation
Complementary Value:
- Use both together
- Vulnerability scanners find CVEs
- Mitigant validates cloud-specific security and proves exploitability
What about other attack simulation tools?
Mitigant CAE differentiates through:
Cloud-Native Design:
- Purpose-built for cloud environments (AWS, Azure, Kubernetes)
- Understands cloud-specific attack patterns
- Not adapted from traditional pen testing tools
Customer-Controlled Safety (BYOR):
- You define the blast radius through IAM policies
- No vendor lock-in or opaque permissions
- Complete transparency and control
Integrated Platform:
- Works seamlessly with CSPM and KSPM
- Unified view of posture + validation
- Single vendor, single platform
Realistic Attack Strategies:
- Some attacks create resources (like real attackers do)
- Others target existing resources
- Most alternatives only create-then-destroy test resources
Enterprise-Grade:
- Suitable for organizations of all sizes
- Backed by academic research (Security Chaos Engineering)
- Validated by partnerships with government agencies (BSI)