Cis-Benchmarks

Container Security: Hardening Kubernetes and Beyond Container security is a cross‑layer effort. In Kubernetes, you reduce risk by combining hardened nodes, trusted images, and strict access controls. The goal is simple: limit what can go wrong, prevent spread if a breach occurs, and detect anomalies early so you can respond quickly. Harden Kubernetes clusters Build from trusted, scanned images and sign provenance to prove authorship. Pin image versions and enable imagePullPolicy to avoid unverified changes. Apply RBAC with least privilege; regularly review who can do what. Enforce Pod Security Standards to block privilege escalation and excessive rights. Implement Network Policies to limit pod-to-pod and pod-to-service traffic. Turn on audit logging and export events to a security monitoring system. Run pods with a non‑root user, a read‑only root filesystem, and minimal privileges. Use security contexts, disable unnecessary capabilities, and prefer a restricted runtime. Beyond Kubernetes Harden the host OS and container runtime; keep patches current and monitor kernel settings. Strengthen the image supply chain with SBOMs, vulnerability scanning, and signed images. Manage secrets carefully: encrypt at rest, restrict exposure, and consider external secret stores. Treat policies as code. Use tools like Open Policy Agent to enforce rules at admission time. Adopt runtime protection to detect misbehavior; tools can alert on unusual file access or process activity. Regularly test backups and disaster recovery plans; practice incident response. A steady cadence helps. Start with a baseline, automate checks, and continuously improve with a security culture that treats every deployment as a risk to manage, not a problem to fear. ...