RUNTIME security, the practice of safeguarding containerized applications during their deployment, is paramount in defending against real-time cyber threats that can jeopardize active workloads. Kaspersky, a global cybersecurity and digital privacy company, has recently delved into the complexities of runtime security for geo-distributed businesses, organizations operating across multiple locations and regions.
A recent Kaspersky study, “Managing geographically distributed businesses: challenges and solutions,” revealed that 85 percent of businesses employing container development methods have encountered cybersecurity incidents related to containers and/or Kubernetes in the past year. Notably, a third of these incidents occurred during runtime, exposing serious system vulnerabilities.
Runtime security encompasses the protection of containerized applications and their environment while deployed in the orchestrator. This involves monitoring and managing several aspects, each with its associated risks.
For example, yhe dynamic and interconnected nature of containers, particularly in a microservices architecture, presents challenges in monitoring traffic across different regions. Unmonitored traffic can be exploited by attackers for lateral movement within the network, potentially compromising sensitive data and services.
Each container runs processes that can become entry points for security breaches. Monitoring these processes for unusual behavior is essential, but the ephemeral nature of containers and the sheer volume of processes in large-scale deployments make this a daunting task, especially across multiple locations with varying security requirements.
Gaining visibility into container operations and understanding the context of detected anomalies pose significant challenges. In geo-distributed environments, maintaining visibility across regions and discerning benign from malicious activities require deep insight into application behavior and environmental baselines, which can differ substantially.
Anton Rusakov-Rudenko, Product Marketing Manager for Kaspersky’s Cloud & Network Security Product Line, emphasizes the importance of runtime security solutions that integrate seamlessly into geo-distributed infrastructures without compromising efficiency.
