Infrastructure & Virtualization Security

Master cloud security, container orchestration, virtualization, and infrastructure security for modern distributed systems.

Cloud Security
Kubernetes
Docker
Infrastructure

Cloud Security Fundamentals

Understanding security challenges and best practices in cloud computing environments.

Shared Responsibility Model

Understanding who is responsible for security in cloud environments.

Cloud Provider Responsibilities:

  • • Physical infrastructure security
  • • Hypervisor and virtualization layer
  • • Network infrastructure
  • • Platform and managed services

Customer Responsibilities:

  • • Application security and configuration
  • • Data encryption and access control
  • • Identity and access management
  • • Compliance and governance

Cloud Security Challenges

Common security challenges in cloud computing environments.

Key Challenges:

  • • Data breaches and unauthorized access
  • • Misconfigured cloud services
  • • Insecure APIs and interfaces
  • • Account hijacking and credential theft
  • • Insider threats and privilege escalation
  • • Compliance and regulatory requirements

Container Security

Securing Docker containers and Kubernetes clusters in production environments.

Docker Security Best Practices

Essential security practices for Docker container deployment and management.

Image Security:

  • • Use official base images from trusted sources
  • • Scan images for vulnerabilities before deployment
  • • Keep base images updated and patched
  • • Use multi-stage builds to reduce attack surface
  • • Remove unnecessary packages and dependencies

Runtime Security:

  • • Run containers as non-root users
  • • Implement resource limits and quotas
  • • Use read-only filesystems where possible
  • • Enable security profiles (AppArmor, SELinux)
  • • Monitor container behavior and network traffic

Secrets Management:

  • • Use Docker secrets or external secret managers
  • • Never hardcode credentials in images
  • • Rotate secrets regularly
  • • Implement least privilege access

Kubernetes Security

Security considerations for Kubernetes cluster management and deployment.

Cluster Security:

  • • Secure etcd with TLS encryption
  • • Use RBAC for access control
  • • Enable Pod Security Policies (PSP)
  • • Implement network policies
  • • Regular security updates and patches

Pod Security:

  • • Run pods as non-root users
  • • Disable privilege escalation
  • • Use security contexts and capabilities
  • • Implement resource quotas
  • • Use admission controllers

Network Security:

  • • Implement network policies
  • • Use service mesh (Istio, Linkerd)
  • • Encrypt traffic between pods
  • • Monitor network traffic and anomalies

Infrastructure as Code (IaC) Security

Securing infrastructure deployment through code and automation.

Terraform Security

Best Practices:

  • • Use remote state storage with encryption
  • • Implement state locking
  • • Use workspaces for environment separation
  • • Scan Terraform code for security issues
  • • Use least privilege IAM policies
  • • Implement proper tagging and naming

CloudFormation Security

Security Measures:

  • • Use CloudFormation Guard for policy validation
  • • Implement proper IAM roles and policies
  • • Use parameter validation
  • • Enable CloudTrail logging
  • • Use AWS Config for compliance monitoring
  • • Implement proper resource tagging

CI/CD Pipeline Security

Pipeline Security:

  • • Scan IaC code before deployment
  • • Use signed commits and tags
  • • Implement approval gates
  • • Secure pipeline secrets
  • • Monitor pipeline execution
  • • Use separate environments

Infrastructure Monitoring & Logging

Implementing comprehensive monitoring and logging for infrastructure security.

Security Monitoring

Monitoring infrastructure for security threats and anomalies.

Monitoring Areas:

  • • Network traffic and connections
  • • Authentication and access logs
  • • Resource utilization and performance
  • • Configuration changes
  • • Security events and alerts

Tools and Platforms:

  • • SIEM solutions (Splunk, ELK Stack)
  • • Cloud-native monitoring (CloudWatch, Azure Monitor)
  • • Container monitoring (Prometheus, Grafana)
  • • Security scanning tools
  • • Vulnerability management platforms

Log Management

Centralized logging and log analysis for security and compliance.

Log Types:

  • • System and application logs
  • • Security and audit logs
  • • Network and firewall logs
  • • Access and authentication logs
  • • Performance and error logs

Log Management Best Practices:

  • • Centralized log collection
  • • Log encryption in transit and at rest
  • • Log retention policies
  • • Real-time log analysis
  • • Automated alerting and response

Compliance and Governance

Meeting regulatory requirements and implementing governance frameworks for infrastructure security.

Compliance Frameworks

Common Frameworks:

  • • SOC 2 Type II - Security, availability, processing integrity
  • • ISO 27001 - Information security management
  • • PCI DSS - Payment card industry security
  • • HIPAA - Healthcare data protection
  • • GDPR - European data protection
  • • FedRAMP - Federal cloud security

Governance Best Practices

Governance Areas:

  • • Security policies and procedures
  • • Risk assessment and management
  • • Change management processes
  • • Incident response planning
  • • Regular security audits
  • • Training and awareness programs