How to secure Docker Containers - Container Security Best Practices

Summary

Containers are a great way to isolate applications, but they aren't immune to security threats. This video by Sysdig highlights key container security best practices that focus on reducing attack surfaces and preventing vulnerabilities. From careful Dockerfile creation to robust CI/CD pipelines, image signing, and runtime security measures, it offers a holistic guide to securing containers effectively. Techniques like automating tests, scanning for vulnerabilities, and using threat detection tools are emphasized to ensure a resilient container environment.

Highlights

• Containers can be exploited if not secured properly! Work towards reducing attack surfaces and preventing vulnerabilities. 🔒
• Use low privileged users in Dockerfiles and opt for minimal base images to decrease potential risks. 📉
• Automate vulnerability checks in CI/CD processes to maintain secure container images. 🤓
• Sign your images to ensure they haven't been tampered with before pushing to a registry. ✍️
• Use orchestrator configurations and policies to adhere to the least privilege principle and prevent unauthorized actions. 📋
• Keep runtime environments updated with the latest security patches and vulnerability checks. 🛠️
• Employ threat detection tools to monitor and block malicious activities at runtime. 🚫

Key Takeaways

• Always avoid running Docker containers as root. 🛡️
• Use minimal base images and keep them updated. 🔄
• Automate tests in your CI/CD pipeline to catch bugs and misconfigurations early. 🤖
• Sign container images before uploading to verify their integrity. ✅
• Continuous scanning and configuration checks are crucial even after deployment. 🔍
• Implement admission controllers in Kubernetes to enforce security policies. 🚦
• Use threat detection tools as a last line of defense against unforeseen vulnerabilities. 🚨

Overview

Security is a cornerstone of container management. This engaging guide by Sysdig delves into best practices that help maintain your containers' integrity. By addressing issues like running containers with root privileges and the importance of minimal base images, the video sets a strong foundation for secure container development and deployment.

From the development phase to CI/CD automation, it's crucial to ensure that every step includes security measures. By incorporating automated tests to catch bugs and misconfigurations, and signing images to verify integrity, Sysdig emphasizes the importance of preventive actions.

Post-deployment doesn't mean post-security! With a focus on continuous scanning and threat detection, Sysdig underlines the significance of ongoing vigilance. Orchestrator configurations, Kubernetes admission controllers, and runtime scans are discussed as effective methods to keep containers secure in production environments.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction to Container Security The chapter introduces the concept of container security, posing the question of whether containers are secure despite their ability to isolate applications inside hosts. It acknowledges the potential for exploitation and breach of isolation in containers, emphasizing the significance of security best practices. The chapter outlines two primary goals: reducing the attack surface and decreasing potential weaknesses, as well as detecting and preventing vulnerabilities early in the process.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Dockerfile Best Practices The chapter 'Dockerfile Best Practices' focuses on essential guidelines for writing secure and efficient Dockerfiles. Key points include: avoiding running containers as the root user and instead using a low privileged user, using minimal images to reduce the attack surface, employing multi-stage builds for complex images, not exposing unnecessary ports, and using base images that have the latest security patches while keeping them updated.
• 01:00 - 01:30: CI/CD Automation & Vulnerability Checks The chapter discusses the importance of CI/CD automation in software development. It emphasizes that every new code commit should automatically trigger tests not just for bugs, but also to prevent configuration errors. Automated tools can enforce policies to avoid including secrets such as passwords and API tokens in container images. Additionally, it highlights the necessity of checking for vulnerabilities in all code dependencies. Various programming languages provide tools that can compile vulnerability information on libraries used by the code and generate comprehensive reports.
• 01:30 - 02:00: Image Signing & Scanning The chapter titled 'Image Signing & Scanning' emphasizes the importance of signing container images before uploading them to a registry. Image signing ensures that during runtime, the integrity of the container images can be verified, ensuring they have not been tampered with. Furthermore, once the images are uploaded to a registry, it is crucial to automate regular scanning of these images to detect any known vulnerabilities. Continuous and frequent scanning is essential to quickly identify and address new vulnerabilities.
• 02:00 - 02:30: Orchestrator Configuration This chapter focuses on the critical importance of properly configuring orchestrators like Kubernetes or Cloud Foundry when running images. It emphasizes adhering to the least privilege principle by using service accounts with limited permissions. Additionally, it covers the use of policies to define and enforce what can run in environments, with a specific mention of utilizing Kubernetes admission controllers to prevent non-compliance and misconfigurations.
• 02:30 - 03:00: Post-Deployment Security The chapter titled 'Post-Deployment Security' highlights the continual nature of security management even after deployment in production. It underscores the risks associated with deviations from a secure posture, newly discovered vulnerabilities, and evolving threats that can expose the environment to risk. It emphasizes the importance of keeping the runtime environment updated with timely security patches and ensuring that environments are checked against the latest security benchmarks. The chapter also notes that despite adhering to best practices from the coding phase, there may still be unknown vulnerabilities affecting workloads.
• 03:00 - 03:30: Continuous Scanning & Threat Detection The chapter emphasizes the importance of continuous scanning at runtime to promptly address newly discovered vulnerabilities. It highlights the necessity of threat detection tools as a final defensive measure. These tools are designed to alert users of any malicious activities, such as the opening of a shell in an internet-facing container, and to respond to attacks through automated actions like terminating a container or blocking unauthorized executables from running. The discussion underscores these practices as essential for maintaining container security in the cloud.
• 03:30 - 04:00: Conclusion and Further Resources The conclusion encourages the reader to explore additional resources and articles on the blog to enhance their understanding of container security. It invites viewers to like the video and subscribe to the channel for more content.

How to secure Docker Containers - Container Security Best Practices Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 Containers isolate applications inside hosts. But are they secure? Let's see some of the container security best practices! In short, containers can be exploited and their isolation broken. A weakness in containers can let an attacker do a lot of harm! All the tips we'll provide in a second will aim at two major goals: Reduce the attack surface, and decrease potential weaknesses Detect and prevent vulnerabilities as early as possible. It is easier and faster that way!
• 00:30 - 01:00 Let's start at the source, better, at the code! You build container images using Dockerfiles or Containerfiles. These are a couple of best practices to follow when writing a Dockerfile: Avoid at all costs running containers as root and instead use a low privileged user. Use minimal images to reduce the attack surface, like distroless to build complex images, you should use multi-stage builds. Do not expose unnecessary ports. Use base images with the latest security patches and keep them up to date.
• 01:00 - 01:30 After your code is ready, the next step is your CI/CD automation. Every new commit should trigger automated tests, not only to check for bugs in the code, but also to prevent misconfigurations. For example, an automated tool could use policies to prevent usage of secrets (like passwords, API tokens, keys) in the container images. You should also check for vulnerabilities in all the dependencies: the major programming languages offer tools that can gather vulnerability data on the libraries your code depends on and generate a report.
• 01:30 - 02:00 Finally, after building a solid container image, you should sign it before uploading it to a registry! Image signing guarantees that you will be able to verify at runtime that the container images you're running have not been tampered with. Once you upload your container images in a public or private registry, you should have automation in place to continuously scan the images for known vulnerabilities. It is important to scan them frequently in order to be alerted of new vulnerabilities.
• 02:00 - 02:30 If you run your images in an orchestrator, like Kubernetes or Cloud Foundry, you should take extra care in its configuration. As a general rule, adhere to the least privilege principle and use service accounts with limited capabilities. Use policies to precisely define what should be able to run in your environments, and enforce those policies with automated tools. In Kubernetes, admission controllers can prevent the execution of misconfigured and non-compliant containers.
• 02:30 - 03:00 The job is not over after deployment in production. Drift from a secure posture, newly discovered vulnerabilities and evolving threats expose your environment to risk. Keep your runtime updated with timely security patches, and check your environments against the latest security benchmarks. Even if you follow all the best practices starting from the code phase, your workloads may have a vulnerability that is not yet known.
• 03:00 - 03:30 That's why you need continuous scanning at runtime, to act as soon as new vulnerabilities are discovered. And to get anything you missed, as a last line of defense you need threat detection tools. Threat detection tools should alert on malicious activities, like opening a shell in an internet facing container, and block attacks with automated actions, like killing a container or preventing executables that were not in the original container from running. These are only a few security best practices when dealing with containers in the cloud.
• 03:30 - 04:00 Want to know more? We have lots of great articles on our blog that can help you secure your containers! And don't forget to like this video and subscribe to our channel. Thanks for watching!