Cloud-native applications are being deployed through the CI/CD process. Why? Because today if you’re not on the cloud, and your team is not on the cloud, you don’t exist. Having a cloud-based CI/CD is incredibly efficient — it makes your teams act faster, have more control over their process, and deploy code and products much more efficiently. It also means that, due to the very nature of cloud-based applications and the ecosystem, your team and your secrets are that much more exposed. The CI/CD process provides more flexibility to the developer as they can deploy the code at any time and make changes to it without having to wait for a new release cycle — but that process has to be secured. Let’s talk about cloud-native application protection platforms and security.
Cloud-Native Application Security — Its History
Cloud-native technologies were officially launched in 2014 — but before that, the idea, and the backbone that would herald that paradigm shift were very much in motion. From 2004-to 2007, Google applied container tech such as Cgroups throughout its interposer. From there, the tech giant began to invest and experiment with the concept — “In the future, the software will grow on the cloud.” It took cloud-native computing about 15 years to reach its zenith – in 2019 with the rise and adoption of the tech. By this time, THE CLOUD was already on everyone’s lips and even casual consumers knew what it was.
Nevertheless, cloud-native application security is a relatively new field that has been in existence for less than a decade. It is the process of securing cloud-native applications and infrastructure. Cloud-native application security has been gaining traction in the past few years, with more organizations adopting it to protect their assets and data. Why? As more and more organization migrate their day-to-day to the cloud, not only software development, but all their assets, they realize that they are more exposed to attacks. Their secrets need a more robust protection model.
In the past, people were using the traditional method of securing their data. This is when networks were not as complex and cloud-native security was not an issue. Nowadays, with the increased capacity, speed, and rollout of networks and cloud-native application protection platforms and tools, it has become a major concern.
3 Rules of Cloud-Native Security
Cloud-native security is a new concept that has emerged to tackle this problem. The idea is to encrypt data at rest and in transit so that you are always safe from any kind of data breach.
Manage Security Throughout the Development lifecycle
Security is a major concern for any business. But, with the increase in cloud adoption, it becomes even more crucial. Here are some benchmarks and practices that can be applied to manage security throughout the development lifecycle. The core principles of these practices are to ensure data protection and reduce the risk of a breach in the cloud environment.
There should be an audit trail for all accesses to data and metadata and encryption should be used wherever possible. Encrypting data is one of the most important aspects when it comes to securing your data in case of a breach or hacking attempt. The most common form of encryption is hashing which converts plain text into unreadable code by using an algorithm, such as MD5 or SHA-1, or by using human-generated cues and passwords.
Provide Security Teams with the tools to block non-Compliant images within the CI/CD Pipeline
It is important to always be on the lookout — monitoring and blocking any non-compliant images that you have in the pipeline. The goal of cloud-native security rules is to provide security teams with the tools to block non-compliant images within the CI/CD pipeline. Either images that have errors or accidental vulnerabilities or images that were forcefully injected, by an attacker, into the pipeline.
This way, they can make sure that their customers are safe from malware and vulnerabilities. Next, it is important to make sure that the images being used for new deployments are compliant with cloud-native security parameters. It is also important to know if the CI/CD pipeline uses images from other sources such as “golden image” or “white label” offerings.
Shared Responsibility Model
The shared responsibility model is a new way to approach the problem of information protection. The model suggests that you should put in place policies and procedures that will allow you to share information with partners and customers, but without compromising on the level of privacy and security.
It’s collaboration, a dynamic one, with a certain level of compartmentalization.
The Future of Cloud-native Application Protection
The future of cloud-native application protection is to make sure that the security rules are in all layers — the application layer and the data layer.
With cloud-native applications, security needs to be applied all the way down. What does this mean? Security should follow strict DevSecOp protocols and a shift-left mindset. Not only devise a security plan and blueprint at a later stage of production or deployment but from the very inception point of your pipeline. That same principle goes for all your products, and services. Today, more than ever, security isn’t an add-on but a critical part of your operation. It’s as important as what your product does, or how it acts. It’s part of its DNA.
Organizations are advised to consider the following pointers:
- It’s important to consider the potential risks of your products.
- Be wary of open-source and third-party services that do not have their code audited by a security professional.
- Look out for any zero-day vulnerabilities, as they can surface at any time.
- The importance of following the trends and new rules that appear in terms of cloud-native application security.
As we take advantage of the cloud, it’s important to understand that we are also putting ourselves on the edge and that hackers are prowling and trying to get into our systems.
