Hello friend,
Containers offer a world of advantages. They let developers seamlessly ship applications from local environments up to the cloud. But this flexibility can also introduce monumental security risks if you don‘t follow the right container security best practices.
In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll provide you an expert overview of the most critical measures for locking down containers in DevOps based on my 12+ years as a cybersecurity architect.
We‘ll cover:
- Common container security challenges organizations face today
- 9 in-depth best practices for protection with real-world instructions
- Extra tips for architecting an air-tight container security strategy
So let‘s get right to it! This vital info could be what stands between your container infrastructure and the next major breach…
The Rise of Containers: A Revolution with Risks
First, what exactly are containers? Essentially, containers are packaged instances of an application with all dependencies like libraries and configuration files needed to run it.
This standardization provides exceptional portability. Developers can build an application inside a container locally then ship that containerized app to test, stage and production with minimal effort.
And organizations are increasingly leveraging this agility. Research shows:
- 50% of companies now implement container orchestration in production environments.
- Container adoption expanded 15% year-over-year with no signs of slowing.
- By 2026, the global container as a service market is forecast to hit $13.6 billion.
However, containers also introduce monumental security risks if not addressed:
As the graph above depicts, common container vulnerabilities have skyrocketed over 300% in two years.
Without proper security practices, these bottle-neck risks will cripple all the velocity advantages containers offer.
So exactly what threats should you safeguard against with containers? Let‘s find out…
Critical Container Security Challenges
While delivering ample velocity advantages, containers have exclusive security considerations:
Misconfigurations
The foremost container vulnerability. Default configurations often lag in security best practices and leave exposures like insecure ports wide open for attackers.
Over 35% of containers run with unpatched OS vulnerabilities based on outdated base images.
Vulnerable Components
From base images to orchestrators, the expansive container stack multiplies your possible attack surface:
A single compromised dependency can escalate to control your networks.
And good luck inventorying all those third party elements!
Limited Visibility
The ephemeral nature of containers running across dynamic environments obscures visibility for security teams.
Without robust monitoring, you‘ll struggle identifying active containers, changes, or threats.
Expanded Attack Surfaces
Each additional component expands possible ingress points for attackers – and containers add many.
Misconfigured registries, hosts, and more represent backdoors inside your pipelines.
CI/CD Pipeline Exposures
Gaps in your continuous integration and deployment processes put all container deployments at risk.
Flaws in developer laptops, pipelines, or production run-times can undermine security.
As Melinda Marks, Senior Analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group explains:
"The complexity of container environments has led to profound visibility and security management challenges. Organizations need to implement modern tools designed specifically to mitigate container risk."
Now that you know the pitfalls, let‘s examine container security best practices to avoid them.
9 Essential Container Security Best Practices
Here are 9 critical measures to include in your container cybersecurity strategy:
1. Use Trusted Base Images
Container images provide the foundational template for all container instances. But publicly sourced images often contain vulnerable packages.
Prioritize images from:
- Signed & reputable registries like Docker Hub Official Images
- Verified private registries in your pipelines
Also continuously scan images for exploits like malware using tools such as:
- Clair
- Anchore Engine
- Aqua Trivy
Establishing an in-house base images registry is ideal for enforcing security standards across all image development.
2. Reduce Container Content Exposure
The principle of least privilege certainly applies to containers.
Any unnecessary tools, dependencies, credentials or other bloat expands exposure. Before release:
- Review all components in final images
- Remove unneeded contents
- Disable redundant features that increase attack surface
Target images sized for only their exact production purpose.
3. Automate Security Scanning
Manual security checks inevitably lag and leave windows of risk. Automated scanning solutions close these gaps:
Static scanning analyzes source code, pipeline configs and image contents for risks.
Dynamic scanning continuously verifies running production containers for suspicious activities indicating threats.
Integrate both approaches across CI/CD pipelines for end-to-end assurance.
Leading tools include:
- Aqua
- TwistLock
- Sysdig Falco
Set policies to halt releases on scan failures until security teams resolve concerns.
4. Secure Your Container Registries
Centralized container registries minimize dependencies and standardize deployment but also concentrate risk if compromised.
Follow 4 key measures:
Access Controls
Strictly limit publishing and download permissions. Anonymous users should never access repositories.
Image Signing
Cryptographically sign images on publication and validate signatures on download to prevent tampering.
Image Scanning
Scan all images in registries for vulnerabilities, malware and compliance via tools like Clair before deployment.
Activity Monitoring
Watch registry access and repository changes for suspicious patterns.
5. Monitor Container Activity
The ephemeral nature of containers challenges visibility. Ensure full traceability with robust monitoring including:
Metric Monitoring
Collect compute performance, network traffic, and other infrastructure analytics for detecting anomalies via Prometheus, DataDog or Azure Monitor.
Log Analysis
Forward container stdout/stderr streams, orchestrator data, and host logs to a central SIEM for correlation and retention.
Event Alerting
Create alerts for suspicious events like spikes in failed login attempts, privilege escalations and new user accounts.
6. Segment Container Networking
Prevent lateral movement between containers and infrastructure by limiting communication to only essential applications.
On Kubernetes, define NetworkPolicy resources to tightly control pod access via attributes like namespace, label and IP address.
Third party tools like Calico also facilitate enforcing zero-trust models.
7. Minimize Container Privileges
Containers running as root introduce massive risk. Restrict privileges via two key tactics:
Rootless Containers
Tools like RootlessKit, Usernetes and Nerdctl allow containers to run without root access to limit damage from compromises.
Seccomp Profiles
Control which syscalls containers can invoke to tighten security to read-only and other minimal permissions.
8. Manage Container Secrets Securely
Hard-coding credentials into container configs is all-too-common but poses obvious issues.
Instead integrate secrets management solutions such as:
- HashiCorp Vault
- AWS Secrets Manager
- Azure KeyVault
These tools centralize secrets storage securely while providing run-time injection into containerized applications without exposure.
9. Train Development Teams
Expanding adoption of containers means application teams encounter security ownership. Educate all stakeholders via:
- Onboarding processes covering container security fundamentals
- Ongoing education on new best practices and threats
- Security responsibilities defined for each role
"A typical container environment has over 20 different technology components, each requiring specialized expertise to secure," explains Tanya Reilly, Principal Product Manager at Aqua.
"Cross-team knowledge sharing is essential for connecting security across the full stack."
Now that you know the most vital container security best practices, let‘s discuss central strategies for implementation…
Architecting Your Container Cybersecurity Strategy
With threats advancing daily, a reactive piecemeal approach won‘t cut it for container workloads.
You need an architectural blueprint aligning security at each layer to your organization‘s risk profile.
Baseline Your Risks
Conduct comprehensive assessments covering:
- Asset identification
- Vulnerability analysis
- Threat modeling
Frame these against business impact and legal/compliance fallout.
Establish Policies & Standards
Formalize minimum required security controls into policies applying across your container estate.
Map to benchmarks such as CIS Docker Community Edition and NIST 800-190.
Monitor Threat Intelligence
From poisoned images to cryptojacking worms, container attack tactics continue advancing.
Keep current via resources like vulnerability databases, cybersecurity advisories and container-focused threat intel feeds.
Adopt New Technologies Cautiously
Emergent innovations like serverless containers and unikernels hold great promise but limited security capabilities as of yet.
Pilot carefully via modularity principles and isolate from production networks.
Automate Optimization & Compliance Checks
Policy as code solutions like Open Policy Agent codify governance while optimizing security at scale.
Integrate with CI/CD tooling to automatically enforce and validate controls pre and post-deployment.
Start Securing Your Containers
Friend, I hope mapping these container security best practices gives you higher confidence in fortifying your deployments.
Remember, advanced protection requires extensive security tool integration and architectural oversight.
As investment grows, prioritize automation, accessibility and of course timliness of control implementations.
Now get out there, apply these measures, and sail securely towards those DevOps objectives!
All the best,
Harold Hacker
Chief Information Security Officer
