Overview of Cloud Native Security

This overview defines a model for thinking about Kubernetes security in the context of Cloud Native security.

Warning: This container security model provides suggestions, not proven information security policies.

You can think about security in layers. The 4C’s of Cloud Native security are Cloud, Clusters, Containers, and Code.

Note: This layered approach augments the defense in depth) computing approach to security, which is widely regarded as a best practice for securing software systems.

The 4C’s of Cloud Native Security

Each layer of the Cloud Native security model builds upon the next outermost layer. The Code layer benefits from strong base (Cloud, Cluster, Container) security layers. You cannot safeguard against poor security standards in the base layers by addressing security at the Code level.

Cloud

In many ways, the Cloud (or co-located servers, or the corporate datacenter) is the of a Kubernetes cluster. If the Cloud layer is vulnerable (or configured in a vulnerable way) then there is no guarantee that the components built on top of this base are secure. Each cloud provider makes security recommendations for running workloads securely in their environment.

If you are running a Kubernetes cluster on your own hardware or a different cloud provider, consult your documentation for security best practices. Here are links to some of the popular cloud providers’ security documentation:

Suggestions for securing your infrastructure in a Kubernetes cluster:

  • Securing the cluster components that are configurable

If you want to protect your cluster from accidental or malicious access and adopt good information practices, read and follow the advice about securing your cluster.

Depending on the attack surface of your application, you may want to focus on specific aspects of security. For example: If you are running a service (Service A) that is critical in a chain of other resources and a separate workload (Service B) which is vulnerable to a resource exhaustion attack, then the risk of compromising Service A is high if you do not limit the resources of Service B. The following table lists areas of security concerns and recommendations for securing workloads running in Kubernetes:

Container

Container security is outside the scope of this guide. Here are general recommendations and links to explore this topic:

Application code is one of the primary attack surfaces over which you have the most control. While securing application code is outside of the Kubernetes security topic, here are recommendations to protect application code:

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