6 Must-Have Tools to Scan Infrastructure as Code for Vulnerabilities


Infrastructure as Code (IaC) has completely changed the game for IT infrastructure deployment and management. By enabling infrastructure to be defined and provisioned through code, IaC provides immense benefits like:

• Faster application deployment cycles
• More reliable and consistent environments
• Easier infrastructure scaling
• Improved efficiency through automation
• Cost savings

These benefits explain why IaC adoption has exploded. According to Flexera‘s 2021 State of the Cloud Report, the use of IaC tools has increased over 300% in the last few years alone!

However, with great power comes great responsibility. As a technology geek like me knows, misconfigured IaC templates can open up dangerous security vulnerabilities including network exposures, data leaks, unauthorized privilege escalations, and compliance violations.

Research shows that misconfigurations are the top cause of cloud security incidents. And according to IBM, more than two thirds of data breaches originate from inadvertent human error!

So securing Infrastructure as Code has become an urgent priority. And one of the most effective ways to do that is by scanning IaC configurations for security risks.

In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll explore six awesome tools I highly recommend for scanning Infrastructure as Code for vulnerabilities. I‘ll also share key insights and best practices I‘ve learned for implementing effective IaC scanning in the real world.

Let‘s get started!

Why Continuous Scanning of IaC Is Crucial

Before jumping into the tools, it‘s important to understand what‘s at stake and why scanning IaC for security risks is so critical:

IaC Expands the Threat Surface Area

By its very nature, Infrastructure as Code extends organizations‘ attack surfaces. IaC allows infrastructure to be defined by anyone with access to the code repository. So there are exponentially more opportunities for security lapses to be introduced compared to purely manual processes.

According to a report by Fugue, 73% of companies using IaC have experienced at least one major IaC security incident.

Cloud Breaches Carry a Heavy Price Tag

Breaches related to cloud infrastructure misconfigurations result in significant financial losses. According to DivvyCloud research, these incidents cost companies an astounding $5 trillion in 2018-2019 alone!

The average cost of a cloud data breach is now over $4 million. But the damage to customer trust and brand reputation can be even more devastating.

Post-Deployment Protection Isn‘t Enough

Traditional security tools are designed to protect infrastructure after it‘s been deployed. But by that point, it‘s often too late.

Flaws in the foundational IaC templates expose organizations to risks from day one. IaC scanning provides protection where it matters most – before deployment even occurs.

Risks Lurk in Policy Gaps

Well-intentioned employees may inadvertently introduce risks by deploying infrastructure that violates organizational policies and compliance regulations.

Continuously scanning IaC configurations against security best practices and compliance frameworks helps avoid policy gaps before they can be exploited.

In summary, IaC introduces both greater efficiency and greater risk. To stay secure, you need scanning tools purpose-built to analyze Infrastructure as Code before deployment.

Next, let‘s explore some excellent options.

6 of the Best Tools for Scanning Infrastructure as Code

There are a growing number of automated tools available for analyzing IaC configurations for security risks. Based on extensive research as well as real-world experience, here are six top options I recommend considering:

1. Checkov – The Open Source IaC Scanner

Checkov is an open source static code analysis tool specialized for scanning Infrastructure as Code. It supports scanning Terraform, CloudFormation, Kubernetes, Docker, and more. Checkov is extensible too – you can create custom plugins for other IaC frameworks.

Out of the box, Checkov contains over 300 built-in policies covering both security best practices and compliance standards like PCI, CIS, NIST, HIPAA, and ISO.

Checkov displays scan results directly in the console output. But results can also be exported in formats like JSON, JUnit XML, SARIF, and GitHub Security Code Scanning Alerts.

As an open source tool, Checkov is free and easy to install via pip or as a Docker container. It also integrates smoothly into CI/CD pipelines – I‘d recommend configuring it to run on every commit or pull request.

For any team embracing Infrastructure as Code, Checkov is a top choice that provides comprehensive scanning capabilities without the enterprise price tag.

2. TFLint – The Terraform Linter

TFLint is a popular open source linter tool focused specifically on scanning Terraform code. It analyzes Terraform files to catch possible errors, security flaws, and violations of best practices.

TFLint comes preloaded with over 200 built-in rulesets covering security, reliability, and efficiency. Rules are parameterized so they can be fine-tuned to fit your organization‘s specific policies.

Out of all the Terraform scanners, TFLint stands out for being fast, flexible, and easy to customize. It works with Terraform 0.12+ and HCL2 syntax. TFLint can be installed via Homebrew, Chocolatey, APT, and other package managers.

For teams using Terraform, TFLint is an essential companion tool that makes continuous scanning smooth and seamless.

3. Terraform Compliance – BDD Testing for IaC

Terraform Compliance brings a unique approach to IaC scanning by leveraging behavior-driven development (BDD) and Cucumber syntax. It allows writing plain text test scenarios that describe your desired security policies and requirements.

For example:

Scenario: Checking an encrypted EBS volume
    Given I have AWS infrastructure as code
    When it contains ebs_block_device
    Then it must contain encrypted as true

These simple, human-readable tests enable anyone to define infrastructure compliance and security policies in code. Automated testing can then validate that Terraform templates adhere to these policies before deployment.

By codifying your governance policies and integrating testing into your pipelines, Terraform Compliance helps provide continuous assurance for critical cloud environments.

4. Terrafirma – Open Source Multi-Cloud Scanning

Terrafirma is an open source Infrastructure as Code scanner supporting both Terraform and CloudFormation. It analyzes IaC files to uncover security misconfigurations and violations of best practices.

Out of the box, Terrafirma includes over 70 built-in checks for security issues like open security groups, unencrypted resources, and broad IAM permissions. The tool also enables writing your own custom checks using Ruby or Go.

Results are returned in an easy-to-read tfjson (Terraform JSON) format. I‘d recommend piping the output to a file for review after scans complete.

As an open source project backed by Wayfair, Terrafirma is a great option bringing advanced scanning capabilities without licensing costs. It‘s complementary to options like Checkov and TFLint.

5. CloudSploit – Dedicated AWS Scanner

While many IaC scanning tools cover multiple cloud providers, CloudSploit focuses specifically on securing AWS environments.

It scanning engine can detect over 100 types of AWS misconfigurations, security risks, and best practice violations across 40+ AWS services – far more than any other tool.

I like that CloudSploit provides an intuitive dashboard showing security scores, risk levels, and actionable remediation advice for findings. Scan results can be filtered, exported, or accessed via API for integrating scans into AWS-centric pipelines.

For security-conscious teams embracing modern AWS services like Lambda, CloudSploit brings an unparalleled degree of AWS-specific scanning and visibility.

6. Trivy – The Comprehensive Open Source Scanner

Trivy has quickly emerged as my favorite open source vulnerability scanner because it‘s so comprehensive yet easy to use. This versatile tool can scan containers, web apps, Infrastructure as Code, clouds, binaries, and more.

For IaC, Trivy analyzes configurations for misconfigurations and security issues. It natively supports scanning Terraform, CloudFormation, Kubernetes, Dockerfiles, and many other formats.

Trivy‘s true magic lies in its comprehensive vulnerability database that‘s continuously updated. It maintains an extensive catalog covering vulnerabilities from NVD, security advisories, and many other reputable sources.

Trivy aims to provide the most complete scanning coverage possible while avoiding false positives. It‘s also incredibly fast – scans take just seconds. This makes Trivy a top choice for strengthening CI/CD security.

For organizations wanting an enterprise-grade open source scanner, Trivy can‘t be beat. It‘s become an indispensable tool in my own security toolkit.

Key Metrics on IaC Security Risks

Now that we‘ve covered top scanning tools, let‘s zoom out and examine some revealing statistics that demonstrate why securing IaC needs to become a top priority:

% of Companies Suffering IaC Breaches	# of Misconfigurations per 100K LoC	Avg. Time to Fix IaC Issues
73%	66	Over 80 days

These metrics expose how widespread IaC security incidents have become. With porous security, costs and risks will only continue growing exponentially alongside increasing IaC adoption.

Some other eye-opening data points:

• 95% of companies use IaC, with Terraform and AWS CloudFormation the most popular platforms (Flexera)

• 50x more IaC configuration errors occur compared to hand-coded infrastructure (Bridgecrew)

• Over 80% of developers self-report accidentally introducing security risks into IaC code (Lightspin)

• Only 13% of developers fully understand the cloud security implications of the IaC they author (Fugue)

Bottom line – very few organizations have IaC security mastered. That makes scanning solutions essential for finding overlooked risks before they can lead to disastrous breaches.

Next let‘s dig into best practices for successfully implementing IaC scanning.

Implementing Effective IaC Scanning: Tips & Best Practices

Adding scanning tools is an important first step, but not sufficient alone. You also need well-designed processes, policies, and integrations.

Here are my top tips for implementing effective, sustainable scanning of Infrastructure as Code based on lots of learning (and trial and error!) in the trenches:

Choose Scanners Aligned to Your Tech Stack

Carefully evaluate scanners against the specific IaC platforms and cloud providers you use. Prioritize tools that offer deep, native support for your tech stack vs generic scanners.

For example, if you rely heavily on Terraform, choose a scanner like TFLint that specializes in pinpointing Terraform risks. Use CloudSploit if your environments are primarily AWS-based.

Tightly Integrate Scanning into CI/CD Pipelines

For maximum impact, directly incorporate scanning tools right alongside your continuous integration and continuous delivery workflows.

Configure scans to run automatically on every code commit and pre-deployment. This enables identifying and remediating issues immediately vs waiting for separate audits.

Close the Loop with a Risk Management Process

Simply flagging vulnerabilities isn‘t enough – you need a closed-loop process for managing risks revealed by scans.

Have clear policies determining risk severity levels and remediation timeframes. Integrate scan results into your ticketing system to ensure vulnerabilities get addressed, not just documented.

Codify Infrastructure Compliance as Code

Terraform Compliance illustrates the power of codifying your security and compliance policies themselves as testable code. This enables automation versus manual policy reviews.

Explore tools like Open Policy Agent that allow codifying governance guardrails your IaC configurations must align with.

Start with the Most Critical Checks

The multitude of scans and findings from advanced tools can overwhelm developers. Start by enabling only security policy checks considered critical. Slowly expand scanning depth over time.

Leverage Multiple Complementary Tools

Tools have different strengths – using a combination provides more comprehensive coverage. Deploy general scanners like Checkov along with specialized tools like TFLint.

You can also mix static scanning with runtime security tools like Prisma Cloud for defense-in-depth.

Maintain Scanner Agility

Prioritize scanners like Trivy that stay continuously updated as new vulnerabilities are discovered and cloud platforms evolve.

Beware scanners relying on stale vulnerability data – they will miss emerging threats.

Promote IaC Security Training

Tools aren‘t enough by themselves – secure coding practices need reinforcement through training.

Raise developer knowledge of risks like secrets leakage, excessive permissions, and misconfigured access control in IaC scripts.

By following practices like these, you can achieve robust, layered security over your organization‘s Infrastructure as Code.

Scanning IaC for vulnerabilities provides immense value – but only if findings are acted upon. That‘s why frameworks enabling continuous security are crucial for cloud native organizations.

The Future of IaC Scanning

As Infrastructure as Code usage continues accelerating, new innovations will undoubtedly emerge to help secure this powerful technology.

Here are a few cutting-edge developments I‘m excited about when it comes to the future of IaC security:

• Predictive Scanning – New tools that can forecast the security impact of proposed infrastructure changes before deployment based on intelligence and past outcomes.

• Integrated Fixes – Scanners that not only flag issues but can automatically generate fixes tailored to remediate specific vulnerabilities.

• Holistic Dashboards – Platforms providing centralized visibility across IaC, application code, networks, and more – enabling understanding the full security posture.

• Machine Learning Analysis – ML-enhanced scanners that can learn patterns from past breaches and configuration errors to recommend proactive hardening steps.

• Custom Benchmarking – The ability to assess IaC security posture compared to industry peers based on vulnerability stats, compliance levels, and other key metrics.

• Live Policy Conformance – Extending the concept of "Compliance as Code" to enable continuously certifying infrastructure against key regulations in real time.

While these capabilities will take time to mature, it‘s clear that securing IaC is a fast-evolving space. As both infrastructure automation and cyber risk grow exponentially, innovative tools that bring these two worlds together will continue emerging.

The future is bright when it comes to taming Infrastructure as Code security risks!

Go Forth and Secure Your Infrastructure Automation!

I hope this guide has shed light on both the importance of securing Infrastructure as Code and the excellent scanning tools available today to make it happen.

Here‘s a quick recap of key insights:

✅ Scan IaC configurations before deployment to find and fix issues early.

✅ Leverage specialized scanners aligned to your particular IaC platforms and cloud providers.

✅ Integrate scanning into CI/CD pipelines for preventative protection.

✅ Combine multiple scan types like static, dynamic, and software composition analysis.

✅ Support findings remediation through ticketing integration and risk management processes.

✅ Promote IaC security best practices through org-wide training.

By steadily improving your organization‘s IaC security posture, you‘ll be well positioned to enjoy all of the tremendous benefits of infrastructure automation safely and confidently.

I‘m excited to see the continued evolution of IaC scanning tools bringing security firmly into the modern DevOps era. What emerging capabilities are you most looking forward to? I‘d love to hear your thoughts!