SecureIQLab evaluates container security protecting workloads and the technology stack as part of its Cloud Workload Protection (CWP) Services.

Containers have become preferred method of packaging and deploying applications as agile-based software development has transformed today’s enterprise to deliver more software faster.

A container is an isolated application running on top of an operating system. When there are multiple containers running, the coordination and managing deployment is done via orchestration.

While container platforms benefit from native built-in security and isolation for the container runtime, there are plenty of security concerns that organizations need to be aware of.

One of them is the risk that a rogue process on a host system, or inside a container, could potentially bypass the isolation that containers are intended to provide and provide unauthorized access to other container images.

Another risk is organizations deploying container application images that include known vulnerabilities. There is also a potential risk of a container that is not inherently vulnerable but is malicious due to backdoor or even just misconfigured so an attacker can execute unauthorized actions. There is also a risk of misconfigured permissions in a container deployment that could potentially be misused or abused by an attacker.

SecureIQLab works with cloud providers as well as container security vendors to satisfy the enterprise workflow currently being adopted by different verticals. We factor in workflows, security (traditional as well as runtime security), ownership cost, and speed as a part of this evaluation effort.