Effective Container Security Requires a Holistic View

This won’t come as a surprise, but technology is evolving quickly. The transition from physical servers to virtual servers, to virtual servers in the cloud, to DevOps tools and practices, to microservices has all happened in a relatively short period time. Each shift has introduced significant benefits, but one of the biggest challenges—particularly when everything changes so quickly—is how to implement and maintain cloud security. Organizations are enthusiastically embracing containers while simultaneously struggling to understand how to secure and protect them.

One thing has become clear: Effective container security requires a holistic view of the environment and the end-to-end life cycle.

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Which of the following best describes how you currently monitor and manage systems across your hybrid cloud environment?(Required)

Multiple separate tools for different environments

Multiple separate tools for different monitoring and management functions

Single consolidated dashboard

Custom built monitoring and management solution

No full monitoring and management solution

Don’t know

How valuable would it be for your monitoring and management solution to incorporate predictive analytics to help you identify and address system issues that are critical and not waste time or effort working through all the data and “noise” that is not critical?(Required)

Extremely valuable

Moderately valuable

Somewhat valuable

Slightly valuable

Not valuable

How do you most typically address potential system issues BEFORE they impact your operations?(Required)

Automated workflows and playbooks to remediate potential issues as soon as they are detected

An orchestrated response process that leverages automation, AI, and human expertise to rapidly respond to potential issues

Advanced monitoring tools such as predictive analytics and anomaly detection to proactively identify and address potential issues

Respond to issues as they arise, using manual processes and troubleshooting techniques

A combination of automated remediation, orchestrated response, and/or proactive monitoring to address potential system issues

Don’t know

Other

What methods does your organization use to control and monitor cloud/IT spending?(Required)

Centralized procurement processes

Pre-approved budget thresholds

Automated cost monitoring tools

Department-level spending controls

Regular cost audits and reviews

Cloud cost optimization platform

Approval workflows for resource provisioning

Native financial operations tools provided by the cloud provider

No formal controls in place

Don’t know

Other

Please specify:

Which methods do you rely on most to detect security vulnerabilities in your systems?(Required)

Automated scanning tools

Manual assessments

Vendor notifications

Threat modeling (for early detection)

None of these

Don’t know

Other

Please specify:

What are the TWO most common ways you prioritize vulnerabilities to address within your environment?(Required)

Based on potential impact

Based on exploitability

Regulatory compliance requirements

Based on CVSS scores

Risk-based analysis of multiple factors

First-in-first-out approach

No formal prioritization process

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How do you typically handle system updates and security patches?(Required)

Automated updates and patches

Manually review and apply updates and patches on a regular schedule

A combination of automation and manual review

Apply updates and patches on an as-needed basis.

Outsourced update and patch management

No defined process

Don’t know

Other

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Three Stages of the Container Life Cycle

There are a number of stages in the life cycle of a container as it moves from initial development to an image in a repository, to deployment and execution in production and eventually is shut down and disappears. The container life cycle is comprised of three main stages—build, deploy and run. Each stage is exposed to risk and potential compromise, and each stage requires protection.

Effective container security requires a broad view that provides visibility across all three stages. You must secure container images and assess the risk profile of assets during the build stage, harden the container environment and reduce the available attack surface in the deploy stage and be able to detect malicious activity in your container ecosystem in real time and take action to block attacks or alert IT personnel to respond.

Visibility and Context are Essential

Tracking CVEs or monitoring containers without understanding the broader context is not enough. That approach results simultaneously in both missing suspicious and malicious activity and focusing effort and resources on perceived issues that don’t really pose a significant risk. You need a deployment-centric view—across all elements of Kubernetes deployment versus a single container—for comprehensive visibility.

Different factors affect the risk or impact of a given vulnerability. A vulnerability—even a critical vulnerability—needs to be weighed based on broader context. A container with a serious vulnerability on a publicly exposed application or production environment is a much more serious issue than the same vulnerability in an isolated development environment. To make better decisions and implement effective container security that makes efficient use of limited resources, you need to be able to prioritize risk based on the broader context.

Rinse and Repeat

One of the features of developing in a DevOps environment is that there is no “beginning” or “end,” in the traditional sense. There is a constant loop of development, deployment and monitoring and feedback that fuel the next iteration of development. It is a much more responsive and dynamic approach to developing and deploying software.

A similar feedback loop is also integral to effective container security. As containers flow from build to deploy to run, then back to build, container security issues are continuously identified and resolved as well. With each iteration, security learnings throughout the container life cycle constantly shrink the available attack surface at the same time. Data from the build and deployment stages enable more accurate detection of potential security issues, and monitoring container activity during runtime yields more effective and actionable feedback that enables you to harden your container environment.

Container security is holistic. You can’t effectively secure and protect your container environment without broad visibility of your environment across the container life cycle, combined with the necessary context to assess risk and prioritize your resources.