Book Image

Kubernetes Secrets Handbook

By : Emmanouil Gkatziouras, Rom Adams, Chen Xi
Book Image

Kubernetes Secrets Handbook

By: Emmanouil Gkatziouras, Rom Adams, Chen Xi

Overview of this book

Securing Secrets in containerized apps poses a significant challenge for Kubernetes IT professionals. This book tackles the critical task of safeguarding sensitive data, addressing the limitations of Kubernetes encryption, and establishing a robust Secrets management system for heightened security for Kubernetes. Starting with the fundamental Kubernetes architecture principles and how they apply to the design of Secrets management, this book delves into advanced Kubernetes concepts such as hands-on security, compliance, risk mitigation, disaster recovery, and backup strategies. With the help of practical, real-world guidance, you’ll learn how to mitigate risks and establish robust Secrets management as you explore different types of external secret stores, configure them in Kubernetes, and integrate them with existing Secrets management solutions. Further, you'll design, implement, and operate a secure method of managing sensitive payload by leveraging real use cases in an iterative process to enhance skills, practices, and analytical thinking, progressively strengthening the security posture with each solution. By the end of this book, you'll have a rock-solid Secrets management solution to run your business-critical applications in a hybrid multi-cloud scenario, addressing operational risks, compliance, and controls.
Table of Contents (20 chapters)
Free Chapter
1
Part 1:Introduction to Kubernetes Secrets Management
6
Part 2: Advanced Topics – Kubernetes Secrets in a Production Environment
10
Part 3: Kubernetes Secrets Providers

Configuring external secret stores in Kubernetes

The decentralized nature of Kubernetes and its dynamic workloads necessitate a robust Secrets management solution. This section provides insights into the general configuration process and delineates two predominant paradigms for secret consumption within Kubernetes.

The following are the general configuration steps:

  1. Selection of secret store: Begin by choosing a Secrets management tool that suits organizational needs, factoring in aspects such as security requirements, scalability, compliance standards, team familiarity, and more. Options abound, ranging from cloud-native solutions such as AWS/GCP Secrets Manager and Azure Key Vault to tools such as HashiCorp Vault and CyberArk.
  2. Initialization and connecting to Kubernetes: Once the secret store is selected, proceed with its initialization. Deploy it either within the Kubernetes cluster or alongside it based on architectural preferences, ensuring smooth connectivity between...