Kubernetes, or k8s, is a platform that provides container orchestration. It’s a critical part of the DevOps toolchain and is used by many organizations as an integral part of their software development lifecycle.
However, as with any platform, there are security risks associated with it as well. In this article, we’ll discuss why zero trust and microsegmentation is critical to k8s security.
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What Are K8s Clusters?
Kubernetes manages K8 clusters, which are pools of computational resources. These pools can be installed either on-premises or in the cloud.
The user may deploy workloads across these clusters using pods, which are groups of containers that collaborate to complete a single job, without having to worry about how Kubernetes will provide or manage them.
Consider a typical firewall. It allows for access control from the outside. It will evaluate the traffic passing through it to determine if it is authentic or malicious. The objective is that this will avoid assaults and restrict the harm caused by an attack to the resources within the breached boundary. But what if we require additional control? What if we can’t put our faith in everyone in our network?
Microsegmentation is an important aspect of zero trust. It can aid in the protection of applications at the network layer as well as the implementation of granular access control at the K8s cluster level. By recognizing anomalous traffic patterns, microsegmentation may also be used to detect attackers attempting to gain unauthorized access to your infrastructure or data.
It’s important to note that microsegmentation is not a replacement for strong authentication and identity management; it’s just one more tool in your arsenal against bad actors who want your crown jewels (and don’t mind breaking some eggs).
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A Shift To Cloud-Native Applications
Cloud-native apps are made out of containers and microservices, allowing them to be updated in real-time. These apps are commonly deployed in big numbers on the same cloud infrastructure. This trend toward cloud-native architectures offers numerous advantages for organizations that have implemented them, but it also introduces new security issues. Because these apps are spread over the network and are frequently updated or redeployed, achieving a zero trust paradigm is important for their security.
The “Zero Trust” Model For Cloud-Native Applications
The “zero trust” model for cloud-native applications is a concept that can be applied to both physical and virtual environments. It’s not a way to secure networks or infrastructure, but it is a new approach to securing the application itself.
Zero trust is defined as “a security paradigm in which users are presumed to be hostile unless they demonstrate otherwise by displaying possession of an identifying credential (e.g., a token).” Only those who have been expressly allowed access through authentication and authorization methods should have access to any portion of your system. Data, on the other hand, should be accessible from anywhere within your organization’s network when needed—but only with valid authentication credentials, much as individuals require credentials to enter buildings or park at work (or even get up into elevators).
Zero Trust And Microsegmentation
A zero trust network architecture is one in which the user or program has no network access. The cloud-native application security paradigm is founded on the premise that any administrator, regardless of who they are or where they are located, should be able to set their Kubernetes cluster and its rules. Zero Trust Network Architecture (ZTNA) is a method of establishing zero trust that treats identities as untrustworthy until proven otherwise—that is, users must demonstrate that they have legal access privileges before they are allowed them. Zero Trust is about more than simply network security; it’s about access control, compliance, and governance across all IT resources, physical and virtual.
Zero Trust For K8s Clusters
The zero trust model is a new approach to security. It can help you create secure environments and enable you to reduce risk. In this model, you assume that all users are malicious and take measures to protect your systems from their actions, even though the users themselves are not malicious. Microsegmentation is key for enforcing this principle in K8s clusters.
Microsegmentation (also known as virtualization) separates networks into isolated segments (for example, physical or virtual firewalls), which prevents attackers from connecting different containers on the same machine into one network segment with each other. If an attacker manages to access one container within a K8s cluster, he cannot easily get access to other containers because they are already isolated by microsegmentation technology!
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Final Note Why Zero Trust And Microsegmentation Is Critical To K8s Security
It’s no secret that we see Kubernetes as the future of infrastructure. You can run almost any workload in it, and with the right orchestration layer (which could be your own API or even an out-of-band solution if you enjoy pain), deployments and updates can be done (relatively) smoothly. That said, it’s not the only game in town when it comes to orchestrating containers – Rancher, Mesosphere, and Amazon Container Services are some of the competition. But K8s is free, it’s open-source, and it has a lot of momentum on its side.
Without the ability to enforce policies on applications, data and users at every layer of the stack, vulnerabilities will continue to grow. As in many aspects of cybersecurity, security is based on risk management. So it’s important to balance investment costs with the organization’s tolerance for risk. Contact us to learn Why Zero Trust And Microsegmentation Is Critical To K8s Security.
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