Latest news with #SCPs
Techday NZ
6 days ago
- Business
- Techday NZ
ZEST Security adds AWS Service Control Policies to AI cloud platform
ZEST Security has announced the integration of AWS Service Control Policies (SCPs) into its Agentic AI-powered Cloud Risk Resolution platform to provide security teams with new, code-free mitigation methods for reducing cloud exposure. According to research conducted by ZEST Security, over half of cloud security risks are not immediately remediable due to several barriers such as unavailable patches, the inability to make code changes, or limitations brought about by legacy systems. This often results in organisations accepting these risks, which can increase the potential for security incidents if appropriate mitigating controls are not in place. Remediation challenges ZEST Security's "2025 Cloud Risk Exposure Impact" report underscores the difficulties of traditional cloud risk management. The report found that 56% of risks cannot be remediated primarily because a patch may not be available, a code change cannot be made immediately, or legacy systems do not support upgrades. In these cases, the report notes that, "organizations often accept the risk, increasing the potential for security incidents when appropriate mitigating controls aren't applied." Proactive SCT deployment By integrating AWS Service Control Policies as a core element of its mitigation toolkit, ZEST Security is targeting the issue of non-remediable risks. SCPs offer security teams the ability to enforce restrictions and compliance across AWS accounts, reducing the need to wait for work from other internal teams or available patches and upgrades before acting on a vulnerability or exposure. According to the company, "ZEST Security's mitigation pathways, now including AWS SCPs, offer a fast and reliable way to mitigate exposure, prevent exploitation and disrupt attacks at every stage, without waiting for patches, code changes or other teams to deliver full remediation." Blocking attacker activity By mobilising SCPs as a mitigation pathway, security teams can block both common and advanced attack techniques by controlling access to sensitive resources, encryption settings and public exposure, ZEST Security states. This reduces the risk of exploitation and helps prevent key attack stages such as reconnaissance, privilege escalation, and data encryption. Technology and AI support The ZEST Security platform leverages artificial intelligence agents to map vulnerabilities and misconfigurations identified by cloud security posture management and vulnerability management tools to corresponding mitigation pathways. The company's resolution engine assesses possible actions, including code or infrastructure-as-code fixes, patches, upgrades, cloud guardrails, and now SCPs, to identify the most effective means of reducing exposure at scale. "The ZEST platform leverages AI Agents to map vulnerabilities and misconfigurations identified by CSPM and vulnerability management solutions to remediation and mitigation pathways. ZEST's resolution engine analyzes all available options, including code/IaC fixes, patches, upgrades, policies and cloud guardrails to identify the most direct and impactful path to reduce cloud exposure at scale, even in scenarios when remediation isn't immediately possible," ZEST Security stated. Expanding mitigation options While SCPs represent the latest addition to ZEST Security's suite of mitigation capabilities, the platform also enables mobilisation of other controls such as Web Application Firewalls, VPC, and GuardDuty. These options allow organisations to harden cloud configurations, enforce policy compliance, and establish custom protection rules, particularly when code changes or upgrades are impractical. "While SCPs represent ZEST's latest mitigation pathway, ZEST provides a broader mitigation offering that mobilizes other controls and services such as Web Application Firewalls, VPC and GuardDuty to harden configurations, enforce stricter policies and create customized protection rules when code changes or upgrades aren't possible," the company stated. The announcement highlights ZEST Security's strategy of operationalising standard cloud policies and AI-driven mapping to address risks that cannot be resolved through traditional remediation approaches, offering practical alternatives to address persistent vulnerabilities in cloud environments.
Time of India
29-04-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Punjab lags behind in smart city project execution: SBI report
With Smart Cities Mission approaching its 10-year milestone, Punjab is lagging behind in project execution. According to the latest Ecowrap report by the State Bank of India (SBI), the state completed 87 per cent of its smart city projects, notably below the national completion rate of 93 per cent. Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 25, 2015, the Smart Cities Mission was designed to transform 100 cities across India into citizen-centric, sustainable urban centres. The mission aims to provide core infrastructure, a clean and liveable environment, and enhanced quality of life through the integration of smart solutions. In Punjab, three cities were selected under the initiative. Of the 205 projects sanctioned in the state, amounting to ₹4,450 crore, 179 projects worth ₹3,969 crore were completed. However, 26 projects, with a total value of ₹481 crore, are still pending. By comparison, 7,504 out of 8,063 approved projects were completed nationwide as of March 4. Neighbouring Himachal Pradesh performed better, with a 91 per cent completion rate. In the hill state, 265 of 291 projects worth ₹1,552 crore across two smart cities were executed, amounting to ₹1,206 crore in completed works. At the top of the performance chart is Jharkhand with 100 per cent project completion, followed by Tamil Nadu (98 per cent), and West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Gujarat, each recording 97 per cent completion. On the lower end, Telangana ranks last with a 64 per cent completion rate, followed by Manipur (70 per cent), Mizoram (71 per cent), and Arunachal Pradesh (73 per cent). At the national level, nearly 50 per cent of the total project cost under the Smart Cities Mission has been allocated to mobility and water/sanitation-related projects, covering over 3,000 initiatives. On average, ₹22 crore has been spent per project. The Smart Cities Mission is a centrally sponsored scheme, requiring equal financial contributions from both state govt and urban local bodies (ULBs). States are encouraged to leverage multiple funding avenues, including state/ULB resources, transfers under the 14th Finance Commission, municipal bonds, pooled finance, and borrowing from financial institutions, to fund the projects outlined in their smart city proposals (SCPs). Despite its slow progress, Punjab is expected to gain from a new Indo-Canadian partnership aimed at fast-tracking smart city development. Under this initiative, 20 cities across Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan are being prioritised for accelerated reforms in governance and infrastructure. The initiative will focus on training at least 150 urban planners and designers and developing localised platforms and tools to improve planning, implementation, and delivery of services, particularly in areas such as water supply and sewerage.
Time of India
26-04-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Punjab lags in enforcing Smart Cities Mission; only 87% of projects completed in nearly 10 years
Chandigarh: With Smart Cities Mission approaching its 10-year milestone, Punjab is lagging behind in project execution. According to the latest Ecowrap report by the State Bank of India (SBI), the state completed 87% of its smart city projects, notably below the national completion rate of 93%. Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 25, 2015, the Smart Cities Mission was designed to transform 100 cities across India into citizen-centric, sustainable urban centres. The mission aims to provide core infrastructure, a clean and liveable environment, and enhanced quality of life through the integration of smart solutions. In Punjab, three cities were selected under the initiative. Of the 205 projects sanctioned in the state, amounting to Rs 4,450 crore, 179 projects worth Rs 3,969 crore were completed. However, 26 projects, with a total value of Rs 481 crore, are still pending. By comparison, 7,504 out of 8,063 approved projects were completed nationwide as of March 4. Neighbouring Himachal Pradesh performed better, with a 91% completion rate. In the hill state, 265 of 291 projects worth Rs 1,552 crore across two smart cities were executed, amounting to Rs 1,206 crore in completed works. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Google Brain Co-Founder Andrew Ng, Recommends: Read These 5 Books And Turn Your Life Around Blinkist: Andrew Ng's Reading List Undo At the top of the performance chart is Jharkhand with 100% project completion, followed by Tamil Nadu (98%), and West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Gujarat, each recording 97% completion. On the lower end, Telangana ranks last with a 64% completion rate, followed by Manipur (70%), Mizoram (71%), and Arunachal Pradesh (73%). At the national level, nearly 50% of the total project cost under the Smart Cities Mission has been allocated to mobility and water/sanitation-related projects, covering over 3,000 initiatives. On average, Rs 22 crore has been spent per project. The Smart Cities Mission is a centrally sponsored scheme, requiring equal financial contributions from both state govt and urban local bodies (ULBs). States are encouraged to leverage multiple funding avenues, including state/ULB resources, transfers under the 14th Finance Commission, municipal bonds, pooled finance, and borrowing from financial institutions, to fund the projects outlined in their smart city proposals (SCPs). Despite its slow progress, Punjab is expected to gain from a new Indo-Canadian partnership aimed at fast-tracking smart city development. Under this initiative, 20 cities across Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan are being prioritised for accelerated reforms in governance and infrastructure. The initiative will focus on training at least 150 urban planners and designers and developing localised platforms and tools to improve planning, implementation, and delivery of services, particularly in areas such as water supply and sewerage. Chandigarh: With Smart Cities Mission approaching its 10-year milestone, Punjab is lagging behind in project execution. According to the latest Ecowrap report by the State Bank of India (SBI), the state completed 87% of its smart city projects, notably below the national completion rate of 93%. Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 25, 2015, the Smart Cities Mission was designed to transform 100 cities across India into citizen-centric, sustainable urban centres. The mission aims to provide core infrastructure, a clean and liveable environment, and enhanced quality of life through the integration of smart solutions. In Punjab, three cities were selected under the initiative. Of the 205 projects sanctioned in the state, amounting to Rs 4,450 crore, 179 projects worth Rs 3,969 crore were completed. However, 26 projects, with a total value of Rs 481 crore, are still pending. By comparison, 7,504 out of 8,063 approved projects were completed nationwide as of March 4. Neighbouring Himachal Pradesh performed better, with a 91% completion rate. In the hill state, 265 of 291 projects worth Rs 1,552 crore across two smart cities were executed, amounting to Rs 1,206 crore in completed works. At the top of the performance chart is Jharkhand with 100% project completion, followed by Tamil Nadu (98%), and West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Gujarat, each recording 97% completion. On the lower end, Telangana ranks last with a 64% completion rate, followed by Manipur (70%), Mizoram (71%), and Arunachal Pradesh (73%). At the national level, nearly 50% of the total project cost under the Smart Cities Mission has been allocated to mobility and water/sanitation-related projects, covering over 3,000 initiatives. On average, Rs 22 crore has been spent per project. The Smart Cities Mission is a centrally sponsored scheme, requiring equal financial contributions from both state govt and urban local bodies (ULBs). States are encouraged to leverage multiple funding avenues, including state/ULB resources, transfers under the 14th Finance Commission, municipal bonds, pooled finance, and borrowing from financial institutions, to fund the projects outlined in their smart city proposals (SCPs). Despite its slow progress, Punjab is expected to gain from a new Indo-Canadian partnership aimed at fast-tracking smart city development. Under this initiative, 20 cities across Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan are being prioritised for accelerated reforms in governance and infrastructure. The initiative will focus on training at least 150 urban planners and designers and developing localised platforms and tools to improve planning, implementation, and delivery of services, particularly in areas such as water supply and sewerage.
