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

Grasping the complexities of Secrets management systems

Secrets management systems evolve from simple tools to complex entities, facing unique challenges and risks along the way. This journey encompasses a variety of phases:

  • Setting up a Secrets management system
  • Implementing granular access control
  • Integrating with directory services
  • Tackling cross-cutting concerns such as resilience, availability, and auditing
  • Aligning with compliance and regulation

In the initial phase of a Secrets management system, the primary challenge is setting up a basic structure with secure storage and encryption. At this stage, access control is limited to exclusive administrative access, and the primary security risk involves the basics of secure storage and encryption. The challenge here is to establish a clear delineation of who has administrative access to Secrets.

As the system expands to accommodate users and service callers, the challenge becomes more nuanced. Implementing...