Kubernetes is the most used platform among admins and developers. Containerization has made it easier than ever to swiftly design and deploy application environments with Kubernetes. However, security is the most common source of concern when it comes to container adoption, with 54 percent of respondents citing security concerns as a reason for application deployment delays. Kubernetes security is all about establishing and implementing security measures to protect container-based applications from potential threats and attacks.
As security is the most important part, the Kubernetes community has been very active in releasing open source security tools to fill in the security gaps present in Kubernetes. In this blog, we are going to discuss the most popular open-source Kubernetes security tools.
Let’s take a look at some of the most useful and commonly-used such tools:
Kube-bench
The Center for Internet Security’s (CIS) Kube-bench is an excellent tool for determining if your Kubernetes cluster and nodes fulfill the CIS criteria. The Center for Internet Security (CIS) is a semi-regulatory industry organization that provides recommendations and benchmarking tests for building safe code.
Kube-bench can be found on Github. It is especially valuable since, in addition to exposing non-compliant sections of your Kubernetes setup, it also provides solutions and advice on how to resolve them. In a nutshell, Kube-bench verifies that user permission and authentication adhere to CIS principles, that the Kubernetes deployment adheres to the concept of least privilege, and that data is encrypted both at rest and in transit.
KubeLinter
KubeLinter, which is tied for first place, is a static analysis tool that reads YAML files and Helm charts. KubeLinter examines Kubernetes YAML files and Helm charts for compliance with a number of best practices, with an emphasis on production readiness and security.
KubeLinter comes with a set of default tests that are intended to provide you with relevant information about your Kubernetes YAML files and Helm charts. This enables teams to check for security misconfigurations and DevOps best practices early and frequently. Running containers as a non-root user, ensuring the least privilege, and keeping sensitive information solely in secrets are some frequent instances.
Open Policy Agent (OPA)
32% of respondents use the Open Policy Agent to safeguard Kubernetes (OPA). While OPA is a general-purpose policy engine, it is an extremely effective tool for imposing context-aware security regulations. With the deprecation of Pod Security Policy beginning with Kubernetes v.1.21 (and the total removal by v.1.25), many businesses will most likely turn to OPA to fill the void.
Kube-hunter?
Aquasec has got the security game strong. It has built another tool (kube-hunter) that checks for all the vulnerabilities of a Kubernetes Cluster. It’s intended to boost awareness and visibility of the security controls in Kubernetes environments.
kube-hunter is an open-source tool that hunts for security issues in your Kubernetes clusters.
kube-hunter is an open-source tool that hunts for security issues in your Kubernetes clusters.It proposes three options: remote scanning, network scanning, and internal scanning. Users will be able to see a list of the tests run, either in passive or active mode and set the logging level as desired.
Terracan
Terracan, an open-source static code analyzer for Infrastructure as Code built on top of OPA, is utilised by 22% of respondents. Terrascan can detect security vulnerabilities and compliance violations and reduce risks before provisioning infrastructure with over 500+ Policies for security best practises across numerous apps, including Terraform, Kubernetes (JSON/YAML), AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes, and GitHub.
Falco
Falco, the only open source technology on this list designed for runtime security, is utilised by 21% of respondents to safeguard containerized apps running in Kubernetes. Falco also provides security controls that identify unusual application activity suggestive of a threat by utilising contextual data from Kubernetes and kernel events.
Clair
Clair is a free and open-source security tool that searches container images for known vulnerabilities. Clair is a static analysis tool, hence it cannot find vulnerabilities during runtime. Clair is used by 11% of respondents.
Project Calico
Calico is an open-source solution that is not Kubernetes-specific, and it is mostly a networking technology that may be leveraged for security. It operates on a variety of platforms, including Kubernetes, Docker enterprise, OpenStack, and even bare-metal services. Calico functions by effectively constructing a micro-firewall for each workload and applying and rendering preset connection policies into rules for each micro-firewall.
Calico, interestingly, can control and redirect pod-specific network traffic on individual network routers and switches by establishing a firewall at the workload level.
Istio
Istio is a free and open-source service mesh that lets you govern, connect, and protect your Kubernetes services. It has features like as automated load balancing, fine-grained traffic control, automatic metrics, log collecting, and secure cluster-to-cluster communication.
Kubesec.io
Kubesec.io is an open-source security analysis tool that examines your Kubernetes resources (deployments and pods) and assigns grades based on a predetermined list of security characteristics. It aids in the verification and alignment of resource settings with Kubernetes security best practices.
Conclusion
As we’ve seen, when it comes to security, Kubernetes is an ‘open book’ – it’s up to you to customize and define it, balancing the often-conflicting requirements of access versus security. The security tools described above are excellent for assuring the security of your Kubernetes clusters.
Related/References
- Visit our YouTube channel “K21Academy”
- Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) Certification Exam
- (CKA) Certification: Step By Step Activity Guides/Hands-On Lab Exercise & Learning Path
- Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD) Certification Exam
- (CKAD) Certification: Step By Step Activity Guides/Hands-On Lab Exercise & Learning Path
- Create AKS Cluster: A Complete Step-by-Step Guide
- Container (Docker) vs Virtual Machines (VM): What Is The Difference?
- How To Setup A Three Node Kubernetes Cluster For CKA: Step By Step
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