Linux Container Security: 10 Essential Elements

Many organizations are interested in containers because they enable users to easily package an application, and all its dependencies, into a single image that can be moved from development, to testing and production without changing. The technology makes it easy to ensure consistency across environments and multiple deployment targets like physical servers, virtual machines (VMs), and private and/or public clouds. As a result, IT teams can more easily develop and manage the applications that deliver business value.

However, whether organizations are considering transitioning their current legacy infrastructure to containerized applications, or building containerized applications for the first time, one of the biggest questions that comes up is whether the technology is secure. While container technology may be new to many organizations, the philosophy behind securing them should be very familiar: You need to think about security throughout the layers of the solution stack before you deploy and run your container. You also need to think about security throughout the application and container life cycle.

Containers do inherit many of the security features of Linux, but there are some specific issues that need to be considered when it comes to the model --10, in fact. 

In the end, organizations need a secure, enterprise-grade container-based application platform that does not compromise the functions needed by each team, while also improving operational efficiency and infrastructure utilization.

Continue on to learn about the 10 key elements of container security and how to deliver continuous and comprehensive security for containers.

(Image: Hachi888/Shutterstock) 

As senior principal technical product marketing manager of security at Red Hat, Kirsten Newcomer works closely with Red Hat’s many security professionals across the Red Hat portfolio of enterprise-ready open source offerings. Kirsten is a diversified software management professional with 15+ years of experience in application development and infrastructure solutions. Prior to joining Red Hat, Kirsten provided strategic direction for Black Duck’s open source governance solutions, designed to help organizations maximize the benefits of open source. Her career has spanned successful roles at IBM Software Group, Rational Software and BMC Software. Kirsten is an active member of the Linux Foundation's Software Package Data Exchange (SPDX) working group.