Abstract

The rapid adoption of cloud‑native application ecosystems—architectures based on microservices, containerization, serverless computing, and continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) practices—has revolutionized software deployment and scalability. However, this agility introduces complex security challenges across multiple layers of the technology stack, including infrastructure, platform, application code, and supply chains. Traditional perimeter‑centric security models are inadequate for dynamic and distributed cloud environments, necessitating comprehensive, adaptive cyber security frameworks that address evolving risk vectors such as misconfigurations, API vulnerabilities, container escapes, and identity attacks.

This research synthesizes existing cyber security frameworks and proposes an integrated model tailored to cloud‑native ecosystems. The study evaluates best practices—such as Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA), Secure DevOps (DevSecOps), Service Mesh security, runtime threat detection, and automated compliance controls—against real‑world threat scenarios. Through a mixed‑methods approach combining systematic literature review, expert interviews, and simulated cloud breaches, we identify the critical components of an effective security framework: identity and access management, secure software lifecycle automation, workload isolation and segmentation, continuous monitoring, and incident response orchestration.

Findings indicate that cloud‑native environments benefit from layered defenses, automated threat intelligence integration, and policy‑as‑code enforcement to reduce human error and accelerate response times. Additionally, security frameworks must adapt to multi‑cloud and hybrid deployments, enabling consistent policy enforcement across heterogeneous platforms. The adoption of machine learning for anomaly detection shows promise but must be calibrated to minimize false positives without undermining detection of advanced persistent threats.

This paper concludes with recommendations for practitioners and researchers: prioritize cloud security culture through continuous training, leverage native provider security tools in concert with third‑party solutions, and contribute to community standards that evolve with emerging technologies. By aligning cloud‑native architectures with robust, adaptive security frameworks, organizations can proactively defend against sophisticated attacks while maintaining operational speed and innovation.