Backpack Networks Uses Aqua to Scale Security Across Cloud Native Stack

Backpack is the first company to affordably make the individualized data of a building and how it operates available in one unified, cloud-based system of record. Its platform ingests, digitizes, and organizes building data-streamlining operations and enabling the innovations that power buildings. 

A fast-growing startup, it is deployed in 18 markets with leading owner/operators of commercial real estate, as well as other adjacent industries, including insurance brokers and parking operators. It covers over 200 buildings and over 1 trillion data points. 

Backpack Networks is an innovative startup that connects onsite operational building tech and cloud-based data to be a single source of truth about the built world. Because building owners leverage the company’s platform to instantly share data with other applications and key stakeholders, including lenders, insurers and regulators, security is essential.

Over the past year, rapid company growth prompted a need for protection that scaled and covered the full cloud native stack. The company brought on Tyler Page to lead DevOps security as the company pursued critical compliance standards, including SOC 2 Type II attestation. 

With a small team in a fast-paced environment, Page needed a solution that was easy to implement and manage, worked seamlessly within their existing workflows and infrastructure, and provided value beyond just scanning and monitoring — and Aqua was the clear winner. 

Aqua’s sole focus on the cloud native technology stack made it an ideal fit for Backpack, which needed security technology that could scale to keep pace with its own rapid growth. With Aqua’s tightly integrated cloud native application protection platform (CNAPP), Backpack achieves frictionless security throughout its cloud native stack and seamless adoption across all teams. Backpack’s development teams trust Aqua to protect code, build tools, and delivery pipelines, while the infrastructure teams leverage Aqua’s Kubernetes security posture management, cloud security posture management and cloud workload protection capabilities. 

Aqua provides a single source of truth that enables seamless collaboration across teams, giving everyone the context to prioritize and fix what’s most important. With one source of security truth for dev and cloud, teams can quickly trace cloud security issues back to the original code and users to improve efficiency and speed up remediation.

Page added that onboarding was smooth, and value was immediate. Although the initial scans didn’t reveal any big surprises, the initial report saved substantial time and gave his team a plan for tackling the most pressing issues, multiplying the results of their efforts. They continue to use Aqua to integrate security across teams into every stage of the software development life cycle (SDLC). 

As Backpack works toward major assessment goals, Page also finds substantial value in Aqua’s compliance reporting. He especially appreciates the visualizations and charts that are easily digestible by leadership and said they use Aqua’s reporting capabilities daily.