Threat Detection

Threat Detection Policies allow security teams define what threats ARMO detects, prioritizes, and responds to across their application and cloud environments.

Instead of managing detections as isolated rules or alerts, policies let you define detection behavior in a structured way: which environments to focus on, which conditions should apply, which rules should run, and how ARMO should respond when a threat is detected.

Security teams can use threat detection policies to:

  • Apply consistent detection coverage across clusters, workloads, cloud accounts, and regions.

  • Focus detection on the environments and assets that matter most.

  • Reduce noise and alert fatigue by narrowing policies to specific scopes, criteria, or rule sets.

  • Route threat notifications to the right teams and tools.

  • Use automated response actions, where supported, to help contain active threats faster.

View and manage policies

The Threat Detection Policies page lists the threat detection policies defined in your environment, where you can review existing policies, create new policies, edit policy configuration, and enable or disable policies.

Use the filters above the table to find policies by policy name, type, response, cluster, or namespace.

The policies table includes the following columns:

ColumnDescription
EnableShows whether the policy is active. Disable a policy to stop it from applying to new detections.
Policy NameThe name of the policy.
TypeIndicates whether the policy is managed by ARMO or custom-created by a user.
ScopeShows the environments, resources, or assets the policy applies to, such as clusters, namespaces, cloud accounts, or regions.
ResponseShows how detections are handled, where supported.
Last updateShows when the policy was last updated and by whom.

To edit an existing policy, click the edit icon at the end of the policy row.

To create a new policy, click Add Policy and select either ADR policy or CDR policy.

Policy types

ARMO Platform has two types of policies Application Detection & Response (ADR) and Cloud Detection & Response (CDR):

ADR policies

ADR policies monitor runtime activity across Kubernetes workloads, hosts, VMs, and containers to detect suspicious behavior in the application layer, and can apply supported response actions.

Learn more about ADR policies

CDR policies

CDR policies monitor cloud accounts, regions, and infrastructure activity to detect threats, suspicious changes, and security events across your cloud environments.

Learn more about CDR policies

ADR vs. CDR policy components:

CapabilityADR policiesCDR policies
Primary environmentApplication and runtime environmentsCloud infrastructure
Typical scopeClusters, namespaces, workloads, and labelsCloud providers, accounts, and regions
RulesApplication and runtime threat rulesCloud infrastructure threat rules
CriteriaSupportedNot supported
Runtime response actionsSupportedNot supported
NotificationsSupportedSupported

Managed vs. custom policies

Managed policies are predefined out of the box policies created and maintained by ARMO. The underlying detection logic is managed by ARMO and updated as needed, ensuring consistent and up-to-date security coverage.

Custom policies are user-defined policies that enable organizations to tailor the scope, criteria, detection logic, actions, and notifications to their specific needs. They provide greater control over detection behavior, allowing security policies to align with specific business, operational, and security requirements.