News

Kubernetes: don’t let a bad implementation spoil your day

It is not the first time that we have talked about the security problems that can arise from a bad implementation of Kubernetes and we fear that it will not be the last.

In this sense, a study carried out by researchers from the Shadowserver Foundation shows that practically all Kubernetes API servers are exposed to the public Internet, which significantly increases the chances that they will be attacked and, therefore, compromise the business security.

In this sense, the study explains that of the 450,000 Kubernetes API servers identified by this organization, 380,000 admitted some type of access from the Internet, with the United States (with 52% of the identified servers) being the most lax country in this regard. appearance. This makes cloud security even more difficult, as it requires a better supervisionobservation capacity and knowledge of the interdependencies in the company’s cloud applications.

“While this does not mean that these instances are fully open or fully vulnerable to attack, it is likely that this level of access was not anticipated, and these instances increase an attack surface that is unnecessarily exposed,” the researchers explained, adding. In addition, this way of working “also facilitates the leak of information about the version and the compilations”.

To remedy this situation, Shadowserver suggests that companies implement new access permissions at the firewall level, so as to reduce the exposed attack surface.

“Although Kubernetes provides enormous benefits to enterprises for agile application delivery, there are some characteristics that make it an ideal attack target for exploitation,” says Erfan Shadabi, one of the researchers signing this study. “The fact is that By managing many containers, Kubernetes has a large attack surface that could be exploited if not proactively secured.”

It is true that Kubernetes offers built-in security features, such as role-based access control, pod security policies, and network policies, which if used correctly should provide enterprises with adequate protection against cyber attacks. However, as this researcher also explains, Kubernetes covers a lot of ground and will run any container you tell it to, without scanning for potential vulnerabilities or malicious content.

This means that companies need to have good data practices and potentially take advantage of external tools to reinforce the security gaps presented by the container-based system.

The fastest way to take the leap…safely

As we have seen, securing work with Kubernetes is not always easy. But it doesn’t have to be a headache either, neither when implementing a new environment nor when doing it with total security.

And this is something that VMware promises in an offer in which it promises that the advantages of working with containers can be compatible with a classic IT environment, in which most companies still move.

In this sense, in its eBook “Introduction to VMware vSphere with Kubernetes”, the company puts in the hands of technology managers a document in which…

  • They will discover what VMware vSphere with Kubernetes is.
  • They will understand the value that a Kubernetes namespace offers to both VMware administrators and developers.
  • They will understand the differences between vSphere Pod Service and a Tanzu Kubernetes cluster.
  • They will learn how to use vSphere with Kubernetes and VMware Cloud Foundation Services.
  • And they will do it for sure.

If you want to know more, how to develop modern applications in a secure environment and not worry about exposing your server to external dangers, don’t think twice and download this guide.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *