About Tigera
Tigera Calico Enterprise software from Tigera is an enterprise software company providing security and compliance solutions for Kubernetes platforms. Kubernetes or K8 is an open-source container management and orchestration platform that provides the tools to automate, deploy, and scale applications and services. K8 works by clustering groups of hosts on different operating systems to manage containerized workloads for the smooth functioning of applications. As the platform is open source, it can be subjected to a number of security risks and threats, and that’s where Tigera comes in.
Tigera is built on the foundation of three principles that focus on security, including:
- Providing security controls
- Implementing access controls
- Providing a platform for visibility and troubleshooting
Providing security controls
Implementing access controls
Tigera works to give Kubernetes platforms Zero Trust security and continuous compliance and security and compliance solutions to tackle Kubernetes security challenges, with support for on-premises, multi-cloud, and legacy settings. Tigera powers the bulk of Kubernetes distributions and is integrated with a wide array of Kubernetes providers.
Tigera is the industry leader in Kubernetes in terms of security and observability, and it has diversified its product offering as they currently provide product editions to support different functionalities, including:
- Calico Open Source, which is specifically designed to manage open-source networking and provide security for Kubernetes, Docker EE, OpenStack, and other application platforms for superior scalability functionality, seamless communication, and performance
- Calico Enterprise, which is a self-managed security and observability platform that businesses and organizations can use to manage their applications and resources in containers, Kubernetes, and even the cloud.
- Calico Cloud which is a next-generation Kubernetes-native cloud service that extends the declarative nature of Kubernetes while acting as a software as a service (SaaS) platform that allows for immediate response to security threats with flexibly priced packages
Tigera Calico Enterprise
Tigera’s Calico provides optimum security and observability for businesses and organizations to manage their resources, ensuring that the tools and security and compliance policies are administered over multi-cluster, multi-cloud, and hybrid deployments while also ensuring transparency, observability, and troubleshooting. Calico, as a CNI (Container Network Interface), also supports the broadest range of data points on platforms such as Windows and Linux to leverage all the benefits of the platform while improving interconnectivity. Leading enterprises, including AT&T, Discover, Merck, ServiceNow, and HanseMerkur, employ Tigera’s products to maintain secure systems across different platforms.
When talking about container systems, Tigera Calico is a pioneer in scalable networking and network policy. Tigera Calico is an open-source project that aims to make cloud networks easier to manage, expand, and protect. Customers can get constant and rapid convergence times with excellent troubleshooting and network security with Tigera Calico.
Project Calico is an open-source project that’s maintained and developed at Tigera, and it’s one of the most widely adopted networking applications and network policy providers for Kubernetes, which has allowed it to be used in hundreds and thousands of clusters around the world. It is also the default out of the box solution within every major cloud provider hosting Kubernetes such as Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (Amazon EKS), Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service (IKS), and it is also included in some of the widely used distribution of Kubernetes including Mirantis, Docker, Rancher, and many more.
Calico Enterprise builds on the Calico core to deliver more advanced network security solutions and provide tools that you would need to take Calico and help operationalize the network security and compliance for your entire Kubernetes platform. From a policy perspective, that means it helps their customers adopt best practices around Zero Trust and the least privilege approach to next network security while also focusing on enforcing policies at layer three and layer four by accounting for TCP and UDP traffic all the way up to layer seven by monitoring DNS policies as well.
Tigera’s Calico Enterprise has a lot to offer when it comes to navigating different systems in a variety of organizations as it provides:
- The industry standard for K8s security and observability
- Hybrid, Multi-Cloud, On-Premises integrated support
- Centralized monitoring and management
Project Calico is a community-driven open-source project with a successful development and user base. Calico Open Source is an amalgamation of this initiative and is now the most extensively used networking and security solution for Kubernetes, with more than 1.5 million nodes running on a daily basis in 166 countries.
Calico Enterprise is a self-managed Kubernetes security and observability platform built on a Kubernetes-native architecture that extends Kubernetes’ declarative nature by allowing security and observability to be specified as code. This guarantees that security regulations and compliance are consistently enforced and provide observability for troubleshooting across multi-cluster, multi-cloud, and hybrid deployments.
Containers and microservices make up cloud-native apps, which have direct access to cloud and legacy applications. Microservices and containers in Kubernetes clusters are invisible to typical perimeter-based security solutions. Furthermore, because microservices are very dynamic and transient in nature, any security control based on a static IP address is as a result ineffective as they require dynamic security solutions. There are many impressive features of the Calico Enterprise solution that can be used to manage data and network security when using Kubernetes, including:
Secure Access Control
Secure connections to the outside of the cluster (DB, Data Center, SaaS) and at the Kubernetes Pod level are supported.
Visibility and Troubleshooting
Visualize and analyze connectivity difficulties in the K8s environment by following the flow.
Enterprise Security Controls
Apply your enterprise security policies to the K8s environment and monitor their compliance for homogeneity of information
Extend Firewalls to Kubernetes
By connecting existing firewall policies with K8s, security policies may be operated together through a single policy.
Zero Trust Security
Stay secure by implementing in-depth security measures such as workload authentication, authorization, and granting least privilege access
Intrusion Detection (IDS)
IDS support when using Kubernetes can facilitate in monitoring abnormal behavior and generating alerts in case of any unauthorized access attempts
Cloud Micro-segmentation
The Unified Segmentation Policy can be effectively applied in a static or dynamically mixed host and container environment.
Self-Service Security
There is a degree of customization involved as each team member automatically creates their own security policy as a code to ensure they can access the service safely
Unified Control
Provides unified network security across Multi-Cloud, Multi-Cluster, and Hybrid Cloud platforms
Tigera’s Portfolio Of Satisfied Enterprises
- Orange
- ServiceNow
- Michaels
- Merck
- Meridianlink
- Mulligan funding
- HanseMerkur
- RealPage
- Berenberg
- Mindbody
- Discover
- GM Financial
- Ford
- Globus
- Elocal.com
- AT&T
- Marsh and McLennan companies
- Nowcom
- Box
- Bloomberg
- IBM
- Engie
- Coinmetrics
- L3Harris
Schedule an Appointment
Fill contact form below with date and time for no obligation cloud consulting assessment and starting your journey into AWS.
The Cloud Computing Technologies Approach
Cloud Computing has taken the world by storm. Many organizations that thought they can build their applications with their know-how and tools have now started realizing the benefits of Cloud Computing. This realization has resulted in a steep increase in the adoption of cloud technologies.
At Cloud Computing Technologies, we take pride in guiding our customers through their cloud migration. We offer secure, scalable, and fully on-demand cloud services through our enterprise-level cloud partners like Amazon AWS.
If you’d like to find out more information about all of our innovative service offerings, or if you’d just like to discuss your own needs with someone in a bit more detail, please don’t delay – contact Cloud Computing Technologies today
What clients say about Cloud Computing Technologies
★★★★★ 5/5
"CCT delivered to our needs for repeatability, versioning, and consistency with our AWS platform configurations."
Mrs. Johnson
★★★★★ 5/5
"Through rapid growth and thoughful innovation, CCT's team scaled our cloud platform capabilites."
Mr. Edwards
★★★★★ 5/5
"Delivering global digital services has been realized with the support of CCT's expertise and approach."
Mr. Nowlan
★★★★★ 5/5
"With CCT microservices development, we are more agile in public response to getting requests fulfilled with excellent efficiency."
Small Business Owner
★★★★★ 5/5
"CCT has really streamlined our innovation and software delivery with AWS and Kubernetes."
Mr. Sorenson
★★★★★ 5/5
"Our profits have soared 4x after the digital transformation led by Cloud Computing Technologies."
Federal Agency
How Do We Fit In The Equation?
Calico Implementation
Whether you want to get Calico up and running quickly with a basic setup or implement something built for a large and sophisticated system, we’ve got you covered. Our domain expertise allows us to introduce best practices in your organization that we have learned while closely with our clients over the years.
Calico Consulting & Advisory
Take advantage of our cloud computing and Kubernetes experts’ extensive understanding of the digital landscape to advise and implement best practices for Kubernetes Network and Security Design with Calico. Our skilled team can offer consultations on a range of topics and areas of concern as it consists of certified GitLab, Kubernetes, and cloud developers.
Calico Training
For end-to-end operations, we assist your team in coming up to speed and provide them with the relevant skill to tackle Calico OSS/Enterprise and Kubernetes. Our training program helps your team get acquainted with the system while also providing them insight into its functionalities and benefits.
Professional Services & Support
Our Calico support team consists of software experts and engineers who have contributed to Project Calico and sales and marketing team members to break down complex problems and provide simple solutions.
Relevant Competencies
As a solution provider, we have competencies in Amazon Web Services (AWS), Azure, Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), OpenShift, and Suse Rancher Kubernetes which are requirements for becoming Tigera partners, while also excelling in practices related to DevOps, microservices, networking, and security.
Zero Trust Security Like No Other
The impact and evolution of security in the digital landscape has transformed entirely. Security was initially based on Trust and specified parameters. For example, all physical and digital assets were maintained within the confines of a specific location, whether it was an office or a government facility. The systems maintained an infrastructure that was often connected via an intranet, but the development of the Internet and the functionality it offers allowed these local networks to join the online platform via the cloud and other technology to make the best use of shared resources and interconnectivity. This transition allowed data, technology, and infrastructure to move outside the parameter that required the security models to be reassessed. In Zero Trust, there need to be appropriate safeguards in place to verify users from remote locations and not from within a specific parameter.
The foundation of Zero Trust security arises from always verifying user identity to grant or revoke access to certain information depending on need and authorization clearance. The security authorization can be provided or removed at any point to protect the integrity of the system in case there has been a breach. Zero Trust is both a mindset and a methodology. According to the National Security Agency’s guidelines, it assumes that a breach is inevitable or has likely already occurred, so it constantly limits access to only what is needed. The zero-trust mindset includes four components which are also called the four A’s
- An aggressive approach to monitoring, management, and defense
- Assuming that all resource requests and traffic may be malicious
- Assuming your systems and devices already compromised
- Accepting that whenever you let someone end this access inherently opens the door to risk
Putting the zero trust mindset into practice requires the right user to be logged into the right laptop with appropriate credentials and them having access to the right application. This method frequently employs zero trust technologies such as identity access management, security, micro segmentation, web gateways, and next-generation firewalls, but we all know that criminals can gain access to our laptops or convincingly impersonate an employee, so it’s critical to keep an eye on how people’s devices are behaving and intervene if they appear to be acting suspiciously by limiting access.
Zero Trust security is a robust security theory that states networked entities should not be trusted by default, and therefore you should act as if your application or infrastructure has been hacked and is actively hosting malware. Zero Trust policies rely on real-time transparency into workflows, and they can only work if companies can continually monitor and confirm that requested connections have the appropriate capabilities and attributes to ensure they are secure. As threats and connection properties are all subject to change, a one-time validation will not suffice, and it requires constant updating. Zero Trust is essential for security compliance as it ensures that all access requests are thoroughly reviewed before authorizing connectivity to any of your corporate or cloud assets.
Because of the open nature of cluster networking, Kubernetes is particularly vulnerable to malware dissemination. By default, every pod can link to any other pod, even across namespaces. Without a security approach like Zero Trust, detecting malware or its proliferation within a Kubernetes cluster is incredibly difficult. This inspired Calico to create a Zero Trust environment by combining three key features:
- encryption
- least privilege access controls
- defense-in-depth
Zero Trust Security offers some exciting features to enhance your information and network safety. The system:
Protects sensitive information and facilitates compliance
It ensures compliance with business and regulatory data protection regulations that demand encryption, such as HIPAA, PCI, GDPR, and SOX
Unauthorized access is automatically blocked.
By default, least privilege access control blocks all network traffic, allowing only approved connections to be executed
Self-service policy modifications empower developers.
Helps shift-left teams maintain the security posture required to meet legislation or your own internal security team’s compliance requirements, allowing you to go to production faster.
Security For Everyone
Tigera’s Calico Enterprise Zero Trust Security is designed to cater to a wide network of customers ranging from the private to the public sector. Take a look at how your business, enterprise, or government entity can benefit from the security features Tigera has to offer.
Commercial Enterprises
Commercial enterprises and organizations must evolve with the times, and Kubernetes is the future to building scalable modern applications to enhance customer experience and business functions. The ease of using K8 apps comes with the need to implement safeguards for monitoring and securing Kubernetes applications without impacting their availability. Tigera’s Calico Enterprise offers a cost-effective solution to manage security threats and access control modules when using Kubernetes to automate and manage different applications essential for the functioning of the business.
Government Entities
Government organizations process large data stores of information through software and applications stored on local systems, making it challenging to keep up with the latest technological advancements. This process can be especially debilitating to departments that need the latest technology to keep the country running smoothly and efficiently, such as the Department of Defense, which prompted them to move to Kubernetes. However, another major issue arose relating to security and access protocols on an open-source network which is why Zero Trust Security principles need to be adopted throughout both north-south and east-west traffic. Tigera’s Calico Enterprise is readily available to manage the security risks associated with government departments to allow their systems to remain updated and vigilant.
Take Advantage of All The Services Tigera Has To Offer By Working With Their Chosen Partners
Tigera has expanded its partner network to increase its footprint in the digital landscape while providing its clients with value-adding services to take their operations to the next level.
“We want to help partners evolve their offerings to capitalize on the growth of containers, Kubernetes, and microservices opportunities in order to grow their business and expand their value to customers. Now, we’re formalizing what has been an ad hoc network of partners as we see increasing inbound activity from partners of all types. This builds on our existing relationships with partners in North America and Europe that include AWS, Azure, Fortinet, Red Hat, and Suse Rancher, where we’re already working together on customer engagements.”
Vice President Of Business Development And Product Management, Tigera
“As our business opportunities grow helping our customers deploy Kubernetes and microservices, we have found the traditional security and monitoring tools just don’t cut it for understanding the dynamic nature of Kubernetes workloads, VMs, containers and microservices. With Tigera’s Calico, we are able to provide security and connectivity, see real-time status and drill down to understand what is going on when more information is needed. It has helped us build confidence with our customers in their deployments of Kubernetes and microservices.”
CEO of Tigera
Still Have Questions?
Contact Cloud Computing Technologies today if you have any questions about Tigera and its Calico Enterprise Zero Trust Security for your Kubernetes and microservices needs! As a trusted Tigera business partner, CCT specializes in planning, designing, implementing, and maintaining Azure workloads.
Experience and Agile Expertise
you can trust
Years in business
20
Contracts Awarded
180
+
The CCT Process for Superior Outcomes
Cloud Computing Technologies contributors are passionate in creating the next generation of innovative cloud-native microservices with AWS landing zones and Kubernetes for agility, efficiency, cost avoidance, and high security regulatory compliance. We truly believe in the transformative power of excellent architecture and agile collaboration to bring applications elevated beyond expectations. Strong client relationships and creative collaborations result in superior application design. We’re excited to start a dialog, learn about your objectives, and develop the platform and applications for your strategic fruition.