A plurality of system entities described in an asset repository are identified, the asset repository defining a particular hierarchical organization of the plurality of system entities within a computing environment. A particular system entity in the plurality of system entities is tagged with a particular tag. The particular system entity is associated with a particular security policy based on the particular system entity being tagged with the particular tag. The particular security policy is applied to system entities in the asset repository tagged with one or more tags in a particular set of tags including the particular tag.