• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

My TechDecisions

  • Best of Tech Decisions
  • Topics
    • Video
    • Audio
    • Mobility
    • Unified Communications
    • IT Infrastructure
    • Network Security
    • Physical Security
    • Facility
    • Compliance
  • RFP Resources
  • Resources
  • Podcasts
  • Project of the Week
  • About Us
    SEARCH
IT Infrastructure, Network Security, News

How To Harden Your Kubernetes Infrastructure From Cyberattacks

A new guide from the NSA and CISA can help organizations harden their Kubernetes infrastructure as hackers increase attacks.

August 4, 2021 Zachary Comeau Leave a Comment

Kubernetes
stock.adobe/dennizn

The U.S. National Security Agency and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has released a guide that can help IT administrators and cybersecurity professionals minimize risk in Kubernetes environments as attacks targeting the open-source system are increasing.

The guide comes as threat actors are looking for new ways into IT networks, including Kubernetes via supply chain risks, malicious threat actors and insider threats, the agencies say in an advisory.

The agencies say supply chain risks arise in the container build cycle or infrastructure acquisition and can be tough to mitigate. Meanwhile, threat actors can exploit vulnerabilities and misconfigurations in components of the Kubernetes architecture, including the control plane, worker nodes or containerized applications. Threats can also come from the inside from administrators, users, or cloud service providers with special access to an organization’s Kubernetes infrastructure.

Data theft is the main attack that system admins need to mitigate, but criminals are also seeking compute power for cryptocurrency mining or to cause a denial of service.

The guide is meant for system administrators and developers of National Security Systems, but IT departments and cybersecurity professionals in other sectors can take away some meaningful advice from the advisory as well.

Read Next: Cloud Infrastructure Spending To Reach $112.9 billion by 2025

“Although this guidance is tailored to National Security Systems and critical infrastructure organizations, administrators of federal and state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) government networks are also encouraged to implement the recommendations provided,” the advisory says. “Kubernetes clusters can be complex to secure and are often abused in compromises that exploit their misconfigurations.”

According to CISA and the NSA, system administrators should do the following to harden their Kubernetes architecture and mitigate some of these attacks.

  • Scan containers and Pods for vulnerabilities or misconfigurations
  • Run containers and Pods with the least privileges possible
  • Use network separation to control the amount of damage a compromise can cause
  • Use firewalls to limit unneeded network connectivity and encryption to protect confidentiality
  • Use strong authentication and authorization to limit user and administrator access as well as to limit the attack surface.
  • Use log auditing so that administrators can monitor activity and be alerted to potential malicious activity
  • Periodically review all Kubernetes settings and use vulnerability scans to help ensure risks are appropriately accounted for and security patches are applied.

Read the advisory for more information on how to harden your Kubernetes infrastructure.

If you enjoyed this article and want to receive more valuable industry content like this, click here to sign up for our digital newsletters!

Tagged With: Kubernetes

Related Content:

  • Cloud, SASE, Aryaka How the Cloud is Redefining Media Production and…
  • Singlewire Software mass notification interview Singlewire Software on Mass Notification Solutions
  • URI catchbox 1 Catchbox Plus: The Mic Solution That Finally Gave…
  • Engaging virtual meeting with diverse participants discussing creative ideas in a bright office space during daylight hours Diversified Survey: Workplace AV Tech is Falling Short,…

Free downloadable guide you may like:

  • Practical Design Guide for Office SpacesPractical Design Guide for Office Spaces

    Recent Gartner research shows that workers prefer to return to the office for in-person meetings for relevant milestones, as well as for face-to-face time with co-workers. When designing the office spaces — and meeting spaces in particular — enabling that connection between co-workers is crucial. But introducing the right collaboration technology in meeting spaces can […]

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest Downloads

Practical Design Guide for Office Spaces
Practical Design Guide for Office Spaces

Recent Gartner research shows that workers prefer to return to the office for in-person meetings for relevant milestones, as well as for face-to-fa...

New Camera Can Transform Your Live Production Workflow
New Camera System Can Transform Your Live Production Workflow

Sony's HXC-FZ90 studio camera system combines flexibility and exceptional image quality with entry-level pricing.

Creating Great User Experience and Ultimate Flexibility with Clickshare

Working and collaborating in any office environment today should be meaningful, as workers today go to office for very specific reasons. When desig...

View All Downloads

Would you like your latest project featured on TechDecisions as Project of the Week?

Apply Today!

More from Our Sister Publications

Get the latest news about AV integrators and Security installers from our sister publications:

Commercial IntegratorSecurity Sales

AV-iQ

Footer

TechDecisions

  • Home
  • Welcome to TechDecisions
  • Contact Us
  • Comment Guidelines
  • RSS Feeds
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linkedin

Free Technology Guides

FREE Downloadable resources from TechDecisions provide timely insight into the issues that IT, A/V, and Security end-users, managers, and decision makers are facing in commercial, corporate, education, institutional, and other vertical markets

View all Guides
TD Project of the Week

Get your latest project featured on TechDecisions Project of the Week. Submit your work once and it will be eligible for all upcoming weeks.

Enter Today!
Emerald Logo
ABOUTCAREERSAUTHORIZED SERVICE PROVIDERSYour Privacy ChoicesTERMS OF USEPRIVACY POLICY

© 2025 Emerald X, LLC. All rights reserved.