Top Container Security Tools

Containers are no exception when it comes to new, quickly developing technologies that require strict supervision and prompt security. Container security is unique since it needs to be secured both during development and while being used. Prioritizing both should be done. Businesses with expanding container systems should spend money on orchestration engines and container-specific solutions so they can identify dangers and stop them.

The management, protection, and security of containerized files, applications, systems, and networks that connect them are all made possible by container security tools.

These technologies are used by administrators to create automated policies that guard against the misuse of vulnerabilities, illegal access, role or privilege abuse, and regulatory compliance with different standards.

This guide covers what a container security tool is, how to choose a container security tool, must-have features of a container security tool, features your business should consider, questions to ask before making a purchase, and the best container security tools. Top container security tools are as follows:

1. PingSafe
2. Datadog Cloud SIEM
3. Wiz
4. Sophos Cloud Native Security
5. Bitdefender GravityZone
6. Sysdig Secure
7. RedHat Advanced Cluster Security
8. Aqua Security
9. Palo Alto Prisma Cloud
10. Qualys Container Security
11. Snyk

Additionally, you can find the best open-source container security tools in this article, including:

1. Anchore

2. Clair

3. Calico

4. OpenSCAP

5. Falco

6. Grafeas

7. Dagda

8. Docker Bench

9. Cilium

10. Trivy

11. Notary

What is a Container Security Tool?

Software known as "container security tools" automates vulnerability searches and alerts IT organizations and developers to potential security risks in container systems. Applications that have been packaged and the associated programming that enables an application to execute in a secluded environment, containers, are not intrinsically secure. Despite having certain built-in security protections, they need extra tools to be protected in runtime and development contexts. However, the fact remains that software programs created specifically to safeguard containers and images are known as container security technologies.

The networks and infrastructure that are connected to containerized files or applications, as well as container security software, are all protected. DevOps teams most frequently use containers as a technique for packaging software modules during the development process. Security is a major problem at every stage of container utilization.

Solutions for container security are used by businesses to control access, test security, and protect the cloud computing infrastructure that runs containerized applications. To decide who has access to container information or may connect with containerized applications, administrators can use management features. Testing assists in informing security policies, locating zero-day flaws, and simulating attacks from known threat domains.

Applications running in containers can make use of several general-purpose security solutions. However, networking, monitoring, and security capabilities for containerized apps and microservices are improved by container-specific technologies.

How to Choose Container Security Tool?

Take the following factors into account while comparing options, if your company intends to purchase container security software:

• Info on security specific to a context: In order to prevent false positives, a security instrument needs the appropriate context. Does the tool, for instance, detect when a specific application is genuinely accessing private company information? Some security measures for containers can determine whether a vulnerability there is being actively exploited and then rank it accordingly.
• A good value for the team and pricing: Choose a container security system that is within the budget of your company. While some security solutions are more affordable, others are best suited for large businesses with substantial budgets. Similarly to this, your company will want to pick a solution that works well for your security and development teams. Small or inexperienced teams would probably require something with an intuitive interface, but more seasoned teams might appreciate completely configuring a more complex solution.
• Primary product emphasis: While some solutions enable real-time threat remediation, others place a greater emphasis on security throughout development. Having strong threat response skills will put you at a larger edge if an attack like ransomware compromises your container orchestration platform, in addition to knowing what your business needs. A large application development team will profit from a dev-focused solution, though.
• Controllable alert volume: Alerts are generated by very responsive threat detection systems. Search for a container security product that restricts false positives and offers a variety of manageable notifications for your IT and security teams. Overwhelming administrators, time wastage, and an increase in breach risk result from too many notifications.

Must-Have Features of Container Security Tool

Many vendors offer cloud security services, which container security falls under. Container security is frequently one product or component of a broader security package. Security features for containers are listed below:

• Checking for code vulnerabilities in containers. Not only during development but also during production, this should be done.
• The capacity to keep track of permissions and access roles.
• Monitoring and identification of network vulnerabilities. A container or pod might become the target of network threats.
• The ability to control policies centrally and enforce laws.
• Testing both before and during the construction of source code. Regular code inspection reveals any weaknesses or problems that might develop throughout the course of the code's existence.
• The capacity to scan entire container stacks and discover image vulnerabilities.
• Emergency reaction. Threats in container settings must be able to be not only identified but also stopped and quarantined by security administrators.
• Enabling the capture of runtime malware in a testing environment and the observation of the effects of implemented controls.
• Controls on access. Only people with permission should be able to use container environments.
• Reporting, auditing, and the preservation of container metadata for analysis and compliance evidence.
• Some solutions have a stronger emphasis on development, giving developers access to security features for use in creating and testing source code. Other tools offer robust runtime threat mitigation and security.
• Possibility of detecting runtime malware, including insider threats, unpatched vulnerabilities, unsafe setups, sensitive data leaks, weak credentials, and unusual behavior.

Best Container Security Tools

The ability to protect against and test the security of containerized apps is a feature of some application security technologies. But for microservices and containerized systems, security-specific solutions boost security, monitoring, and networking.

Using the best container security technologies is the best approach to protecting the security and integrity of the container. The best method to guarantee that the business solutions you implement stay in place and perform as intended is to do this.

Below are four elements that increase both Container Security products and customer satisfaction.

• Has the product been a good business partner?

• Runtime Protection

• Security Auditing

• Network Segmentation

These variables are chosen by an algorithm that chooses the characteristics in this category that are most likely to predict customer pleasure.

Containers provide a way to guarantee the uninterrupted operation of software solutions wherever they are located. It doesn't matter whether it's commercial or not. For example, these solutions are useful both ways, both for exporting from a test environment to a production environment and from a physical environment to the cloud. It helps protect against the compromise of these solutions, both in transit and while residing on temporary hosts, by enforcing container security.

There are eleven top lists of container security tools:

1. PingSafe
2. Datadog Cloud SIEM
3. Wiz
4. Sophos Cloud Native Security
5. Bitdefender GravityZone
6. Sysdig Secure
7. RedHat Advanced Cluster Security
8. Aqua Security
9. Palo Alto Prisma Cloud
10. Qualys Container Security
11. Snyk

PingSafe

PingSafe is a cloud platform for security services that offers defense for SaaS and cloud applications. This type of product, known as a cloud-native Application Protection Platform (CNAPP), contains security scanning for Kubernetes and containers.

This system keeps track of containers and checks their settings. Additionally, it checks its source code at the time of invocation to look for any potential security flaws. The CNAPP keeps track of the containers while they run and keeps an eye out for live attacks. The service checks for security flaws in Kubernetes' container management features.

A Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) unit that checks assets for vulnerabilities is part of the CNAPP. This is true for Kubernetes coordinators and containers.

An additional feature of the PingSafe system is the Cloud Workload Protection Platform (CWPP). This implements real-time security monitoring for containers and cloud services. Each container instance will be detected by the service when it is created, and it will continue to do so until its contents have been delivered. If the system notices strange behavior, it will issue a warning and carry out automated actions, such as eliminating processes.

Figure 1. PingSafe

The following are the main characteristics of PingSafe:

• PingSafe checks the installation configurations surrounding them while simultaneously examining the container context code for vulnerabilities.

• Creates an inventory and locates all cloud assets.

• Observes containers as they are launched and keep tabs on a live cloud platform and application activity.

• The Content Disarm and Reconstruction (CDR) process locates and removes harmful code.

• Implements cloud workload protection and cloud security posture management.

• Infrastructure-as-Code is being scanned.

• Scanning for vulnerabilities in the code repository to fix security issues while developing.

• Numerous modules are part of the PingSafe platform; however, they are not sold separately. PingSafe is instead provided as a comprehensive subscription package. The platform's many units collaborate to find and fix security flaws both before and after a cloud application is run. The service examines all auxiliary equipment, including computer systems and cloud storage accounts. The tool has a database of more than 1,400 vulnerabilities, and it will use its Offensive Security Engine to evaluate every exploit that is found. Vulnerabilities are rated and presented in the system console along with a description of the issue, where it is, and instructions for resolving it. Vulnerabilities in the system can be automatically fixed.

• Discovering containers

• Tracking of requests

• Weakness analysis

• Live security surveillance

PingSafe advantages are listed below:

• A collection of container protection and security services

• Security for connected cloud assets

• Tracking each container's lifecycle

• Checks for incorrect Kubernetes configurations

• A complete cloud security solution

• Detection of setup errors and code scanning

• Compliance examination

• Validation of an exploit through offensive security testing

The drawback of PingSafe is that there is no trial offer.

For whom is PingSafe advised?

Any company that provides or makes use of cloud services should consider PingSafe. In comparison to development testing, it is better at providing usage monitoring. This package examines various kinds of cloud services, therefore, it encompasses much more than just container security. Both preemptive scanning and real-time security monitoring are used.

Datadog Cloud SIEM

Leading SaaS-based data analytics services are offered by Datadog. Some of the most well-known servers and tools for managing and monitoring networks are produced by this firm. They produce Container Security, a container tool for real-time threat detection and investigation.

You can create playbooks using the Container Security tool, choosing which alert levels should initiate automated replies and which should only require the development of a staff notification. With the help of shared actionable alerts and collaboration while addressing threats, the service connects with communication and collaboration systems including Slack, Zendesk, Jira, and PagerDuty.

This software gathers log messages from every platform it keeps track of, making the information available for both automated threat hunting and manual activity analysis. The technology is helpful for reporting and auditing compliance.

Figure 2. *Datadog *

Characteristics of Datadog are as follows:

• This is more than just a live threat monitor because the package comes with a vulnerability scanner that can find configuration errors in infrastructure, networks, and apps. It can even quickly identify dangers from workload security events.

• Threat detection and vulnerability scanning take place continuously and simultaneously

• System sturdiness

• Aggregation of log files

• Threat assessment

• Alerts based on tickets

• The cloud is where this utility is stored.

The benefits of Datadog are listed below:

• Combines continual threat detection with system hardening

• Will keep an eye on systems in the cloud and on-premises

• Utilize this application to centralize the management of numerous sites

• Include coverage for the remote devices used by personnel who work from home

• Respond automatically or send alerts and warnings to your technicians

• Through a number of plug-ins, referred to as integrations, that channel logs to the tool from various technologies, Datadog Cloud SIEM is able to monitor real-time activity on cloud infrastructure and on sites. Methods to convey data from containers and Kubernetes are included in this list of channels.

The drawback of Datadog is that tracking web applications requires a separate module.

Utilize a 14-day free sample of Datadog Cloud SIEM to evaluate container security.

For whom is Datadog suggested?

The website for Datadog emphasizes the Cloud SIEM's applicability for monitoring cloud-based systems. But it can simply keep track of containers that are hosted on your own servers. You can install the Cloud Security Posture Management unit if you want your containers hosted in the cloud to be better protected.

Wiz

It is a platform for cloud security that focuses on giving cloud environments visibility, risk analysis, and protection. It is intended to assist enterprises in understanding the security posture of their cloud infrastructure, locating potential flaws and incorrect setups, and putting preventative security measures in place.

Wiz, a 2020 startup that grew from $1 million to $200 million in annual revenue in just two years, is the fastest-growing software firm in the world. Wiz is a CNAPP that unifies container and Kubernetes security, vulnerability management, IaC scanning, CIEM, and DSPM into a single platform. Wiz, Fortune's key feature enables hundreds of businesses around the world to quickly discover and eliminate key risks in their cloud environments, including 35% of 100. Salesforce, Slack, Mars, BMW, Avery Dennison, Priceline, Cushman & Wakefield, DocuSign, Plaid, and Agoda are just a few of the companies it serves as clients. Wiz's investors are as follows: Insight Partners, Sequoia, Index Ventures, Blackstone, Salesforce, Advent, Greenoaks, Lightspeed, and Aglae.

Features of Wiz are as follows:

• Snapshot scanning: Without affecting performance, it takes a snapshot of each VM system volume and statically examines the operating system, application layer, and data layer.

• Inventory and Asset Management: Wiz creates an exhaustive and up-to-date inventory of every service and piece of software that is present in your cloud environment. This inventory provides a reliable record of the services and software components in your cloud infrastructure by including information like the application version and package.

• Secrets Scanning and Analysis: Wiz detects clear-text keys kept on virtual machines (VMs) and containers, examines and deciphers the keys to understand their function, and maps the rights related to the keys inside your environment. Understanding the scope of access and privileges allowed by these keys within your system is made easier by this method.

Sophos Cloud Native Security

Workload protection is available for Windows and Linux systems hosted on cloud platforms by Sophos Cloud Native Security. Windows is not covered by container security tracking, but Linux-based systems on-premises and in the cloud are. On the servers that host your containers, the system installs agents. It then centralizes reporting and provides real-time feedback on container activities.

The Sophos tool detects attacker behavior, including initial access via software or operating system features and subsequent system changes, lateral movement, data attacks, and defensive measures like persistence. These traces include container activity and work across platforms.

The Sophos XDR service receives the findings of the cloud detection system. This links data from cloud platforms and containers to data collected by the XDR from software and hardware, including switches, firewalls, and access rights managers.

The system can prohibit the container's permissions, such as its ability to write out to the operating system, in order to stop the suspicious behaviors that it detects.

An audit trail of security breaches and corrective measures is provided by the Cloud Native Security Service's inspection of each container. This provides a compliance reporting audit trail.

Figure 3. Sophos Cloud Native Security

The Best of Sophos are listed below:

• Watches over Linux hosts

• Keeps track of container workloads

• Real-time assault detection

• An agent is installed by the cloud-based Sophos Cloud Native Security solution on each platform you use, covering both on-premises and cloud environments.

The advantages of Sophos are as follows:

• Examines containers and running systems

• Examines the interior of the crates and the platforms that hold them

• Engage identity and access management (IAM) to conduct research and block threats

• For cloud-based systems, including containers, Sophos Cloud Native Security offers both proactive scanning and real-time security monitoring

• If your on-premises servers run Linux, it may check the security of the containers that are hosted there

• On each platform you want to monitor, you must install an agent

Sophos' drawback is that you must purchase Sophos XDR.

The Sophos system offers a free 30-day trial.

For whom is Sophos advised?

Because the Cloud Native Security service only generates log messages to be broadcast into a SIEM or XDR, the live security tracking feature of this solution requires a threat detection module. Therefore, users of the Sohpos XDR package are the most potential customers for this tool.

Bitdefender GravityZone

A container security technology called Bitdefender GravityZone guards Linux-based cloud workloads as well. It is an AI-powered threat prevention and anti-exploitation solution that offers the best endpoint threat detection and response (ETDR) by taking into account factors like user, device, and location.

The Bitdefender system is a cross-platform technology that can secure containers that are running on any OS or cloud infrastructure. To detect the lateral movement and cross-infection of malicious activity from both human and automated sources, it combines container measurements with data it receives on the operating system and application activity.

It is able to detect and prevent attempts to escape containers because it tracks supporting systems concurrently. All intrusion occurrences and the steps taken to stop them are recorded by the system. This provides a compliance reporting audit trail.

Figure 4. Bitdefender

Characteristics of Bitdefender are as follows:

• Security for applications, platforms, and containers

• A vulnerability scanner is provided

• Comprises both backup and recovery

The benefits of Bitdefender are listed below:

• Correlates events across many places using AI

• Check inside and beneath containers

• Detection of anomalies with zero-day attack defense capabilities

• Businesses that use a hybrid environment with on-premises Linux servers and cloud platforms should consider Bitdefender GravityZone Security for Containers.

• As part of a comprehensive system defense plan that also includes data backup and antimalware scanning, it monitors containers.

• Examining host memory access is included in the protection.

The drawbacks of Bitdefender are given below:

• A large selection of modules with many unique features

• Bitdefender GravityZone's main software component runs as a virtual appliance. On Linux, the container security agent is installed.

Sysdig Secure

Another security tool that operates during the entire lifecycle of a container is Sysdig Secure. It delivers security and compliance tools that can quickly thwart known vulnerabilities before they have a chance to do significant harm.

A tool for cloud, Kubernetes, and container security called Sysdig Secure works in both cloud and on-premises settings. Before a container enters production, Sysdig users can automatically check CI/CD pipelines and registries for vulnerabilities and prevent them. The vulnerability management system scans hosts and containers as well, allowing users to scan both with a single tool. Prometheus is an open-source application and Kubernetes monitoring tool that Sysdig uses.

Continuous Cloud Security posture Management (CSPM), a service provided by Sysdig, comprises notifications for misconfigurations and compliance checks for a variety of rules. Additionally, it offers micro-segmentation that is native to Kubernetes and zero trust network security.

Figure 5. Sysdig Secure

Characteristics of Sysdig are listed below:

• Automatic picture scanning in the preferred CI/CD pipeline

• Management of cloud security posture

• Integration of Prometheus

• Notifications in Slack about the health of Kubernetes pods and nodes

• Review of Kubernetes, hosts, containers, and cloud compliance

• Helpful for DevOps

• The detection of vulnerabilities prompts alarms, which technicians get as notifications for manual resolution

• Both through log collection and as a live performance tracking feature, data is gathered

• Administrators are able to set up automated responses as well as their own alert rules

• In the Sysdig community forum's package exchange, you can find alert and response automation rules that other people have created and tested

• For compliance reporting, Sysdig Secure produces an audit trail, and the detection rules can be adjusted to meet the needs of data protection regulations

Benefits of Sysdig are as follows:

• Reputable customer service team

• Incredibly flexible solution

• A CNAPP bundle from Sysdig Secure includes container security monitoring. All of your cloud services will be examined by this platform, which also provides proactive scanning to spot misconfiguration and real-time threat monitoring

• Tracking real-time performance and logging

• Reporting and auditing of compliance

• Extension options for threat detection

Sysdig's drawbacks are given below:

• It took some users some time to modify the alerts so that the event notifications weren't too many. Even though this is a common issue with advanced security solutions, it could be a barrier at first for smaller teams or overworked administrators.

• Does not keep track of on-premises systems.

Falco, an open-source container risk assessment tool that installs on Linux, can be used to expand the system. Get Sysdig Secure for a 30-day free trial, and use Falco for free.

Pricing details are available from the vendor, but the going rate on the market right now is roughly $720 per host, payable yearly.

For whom is Sysdig advised?

Both operations and development teams can benefit from using this package. It checks the software that the container will supply as it is being developed and scans container configurations. The service will monitor individual containers, clusters, and Kubernetes controllers.

RedHat Advanced Cluster Security

The Red Hat OpenShift platform has this, but it can also scan containers hosted by Amazon AKS, Azure EKS, and Google Cloud Platform GKE. To utilize ACS, OpenShift must be installed. No matter if they are on your premises or in the cloud, this tool will keep an eye on your Kubernetes clusters.

The main focus of Red Hat Advanced Cluster Security for Kubernetes is on the potential for hackers to obstruct the coordination of information and command transfers across containers in a cluster.

Red Hat Advanced Cluster Security tool uses AI to establish a baseline of performance and identify irregularities, in addition to searching a database of well-known Kubernetes-related hacker techniques. Additionally, it can monitor the operations of the tools used to support Kubernetes clusters.

Your containers, images, or Kubernetes clusters within, above, and below are all scanned by the security monitor to see whether they have been compromised or might have been.

The system's dashboard has analysis tools for manual activity evaluations as well as pre-written threat-hunting guidelines and compliance reporting templates that adhere to HIPAA, PCI, and NIST standards. More than 300 controls and evaluations can be modified in order to develop your own security guidelines.

Figure 6. RedHat Advanced Cluster Security

RedHat Advanced Cluster Security's main characteristics are as follows:

• Blocking of images for containers with insecure images

• Support for a variety of external image scanners

• Segmenting the network for Kubernetes installations

• Configuration management, including correcting erroneous configurations

• Runtime detection and reaction on platforms for OpenShift

• Quay hosts free container images and serves as a vulnerability scanner

• For construction and operations

• Able to be included in CI/CD pipelines

RedHat Advanced Cluster Security's benefits are listed below:

• Open-source approach

• Beneficial for current Red Hat users

• Flexible security measures with a variety of controls that can be adjusted

• Reporting and the audit trail for compliance

• Decide whether you want a notification just or a response

RedHat Advanced Cluster Security's drawback is that Red Hat might not be appropriate for businesses that run containers in other settings because it is heavily tailored for Kubernetes.

Two pricing tiers are available for Red Hat's Advanced Cluster Security for Kubernetes. The annual fee for the Standard plan, which includes standard support, is $500 per instance. The annual fee for the Premium plan is $750 per instance. OpenShift with ACS is available for a free 60-day trial, but you must promise not to use it for production during that period.

Who should use RedHat Advanced Cluster Security?

This DevOps solution is designed for use by teams that create and maintain apps and services that are provided using containers. In order to offer configuration and compatibility assessments during development, the tool can be incorporated into CI/CD processes. When clusters are active, it will still keep an eye on them. Additionally, it is best for businesses using other OpenShift products and systems running only Kubernetes

Aqua Security

A container security monitoring module is part of the platform of workload security monitoring services known as Aqua Security. Aqua Security, commonly known as Aqua or AquaSec, provides Container security, Kubernetes security, serverless security products, and other local cloud services security. Aqua offers both on-premises and cloud deployment options, and it supports both Linux and Windows containers. The other advantage businesses get by using Aqua is that they can view the scans of their container images and the severity of their sensitivity. Additionally, they have access to audit information for Kubernetes runtime environments, improving compliance.

Aqua Dynamic Threat Analysis (DTA) is the name of the program that examines photos for behavioral irregularities before putting them in a safe environment and detects sophisticated malware. Additionally, it may stop the deployment of images in a working environment. DTA provides activity information on risks like cryptocurrency miners and backdoors for code injection. Teams should use Aqua Security if they want to create advanced threat analysis and sandboxing in their Containers.

Using data from sources including the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) dictionary, vendor update advisories, and research entities, both public and private, the program updates its threat awareness. This increases accuracy and decreases false positive detections, making it a powerful tool against any current threats.

Figure 7. Aqua Security

Key features of Aqua Security are as follows:

• Patching difficult or unfixable vulnerabilities using vShield, which stops attackers from using them,

• Immutability of container pictures using digital signatures

• Aqua DTA for advanced threat detection and behavioral abnormality

• Firewall rule recommendations that restrict network connections according to factors like IP address or URL

• Security risk evaluations

• Malware detection

The advantages of Aqua Security are listed below:

• Gives Kubernetes runtime environments audit data

• Creates behavioral profiles for containers that make system calls, file access, and network access into account.

• As part of a CNAPP package, Aqua Security offers Kubernetes Security Posture Management. This technology offers continuous testing and may be incorporated into your development management structure. It searches for container clusters using Kubernetes management and notifies users of any setups that could be used by hackers as an exploit.

• Searches the environment for abnormal activity, such as connection requests to unauthorized URLs or port scanning.

• Makes a certificate of security approval for containers

Drawbacks to Aqua Security are given below:

• For small or inexperienced teams, learning to use Aqua's platform could take some time due to its complete approach to sophisticated security.

• This technology comes close to enabling Zero access but falls short.

You can ask for a demo of the whole Aqua platform from potential customers. The cost of the cloud security tool depends on the number of workloads, whereas the cost of the developer security tool depends on the total number of code repositories. You can sign up for a 14-day free trial to use the SaaS platform known as Aqua Security.

For whom is Aqua Security advised?

This is a DevOps tool aimed at service providers. It is a component of a cloud workload protection package that applies CSPM to cloud systems at the same time, scanning them for vulnerabilities before outsiders do. To extract statistics, the system works with Kubernetes' internal processes.

Palo Alto Prisma Cloud

A comprehensive security solution for workloads and containers called Prisma Cloud, formerly known as Twistlock, enables companies to control risks to the workloads they use in public clouds. Both AWS and Azure are supported by Prisma Cloud. Seven fundamental solutions make up the platform, and they all integrate with one another. These include Cloud Workload Protection, Cloud Network Security, Cloud Security Posture Management, and Cloud Security. One component of the Cloud Workload Protection system is container security.

Characteristics of Palo Alto Prisma Cloud are listed below:

• Integrations with CI technologies to prevent the download of potentially dangerous photos

• Docker command access controls for a single management console

• Customizable and default policies for assessing container compliance

Palo Alto Prisma Cloud's benefits are as follows:

• Checks for errors in container repositories and registries

• A part of a broad security platform

• Suitable for large businesses and knowledgeable DevSecOps teams

Palo Alto Prisma Cloud's drawbacks are given below:

• Prisma Cloud configuration and learning can be difficult, especially for teams with little experience.

• The exorbitant price of Prisma Cloud was mentioned in numerous user evaluations.

• The diverse acquisitions that make up Prisma Cloud's separate solutions could result in unreliable product interactions.

Customers can buy credits, which are used to calculate the enterprise pricing for Prisma Cloud, in increments of 100. The quantity of credits per resource instance is used to evaluate tools and particular features. Credits can be bought directly from Palo Alto, through channel partners, or through online markets.

Figure 8. Palo Alto Prisma Cloud

Who is Palo Alto recommended for?

For medium-sized and big businesses that require strong network visibility and security, Prisma Cloud is an excellent option. It offers visibility for cloud and container environments to DevOps and security operations teams. For the DevOps and security teams to properly implement and use the solution, there must be adequate planning and ownership.

Qualys Container Security

A comprehensive risk-based vulnerability management system that quantifies cyber risk is Qualys VMDR. It offers firms never-before-seen insights into their risk profile and offers doable risk-reduction strategies. Additionally, it provides a platform for collaboration between cybersecurity and IT teams, as well as the ability to swiftly align and automate no-code procedures to respond to risks using automated remediation and integrations with ITSM products like ServiceNow.

Both the container host and the individual containers are covered by Qualys Container Security's security data. Additionally, it helps the user recognize and stop security issues before they arise. It gathers images, image repositories, and image-based containers. Additionally, installing plugins like Jenkins or Bamboo or making use of REST APIs help you determine whether photographs are being saved on several hosts. Discovering that containers have open network ports allows us to check whether they have advanced functionality.

Businesses can monitor container runtime with the help of Qualys' Container Runtime Security (CRS) capability. Administrators establish the rules that regulate container activity, and CRS alerts users when those rules have been violated.

Figure 9. Qualys

Qualys's main characteristics are as follows:

• Add-on for Container Runtime Security that gives active containers great visibility

• Restrictions on pictures that contain specific vulnerabilities

• Pre-built dashboards and dashboards that can be customized

• XML-based APIs for connecting to tools for governance, risk, and compliance, as well as other security solutions like Security Information and Event Management (SIEM).

• Whether they are on-premises or in the cloud, secure containers

• Create regulations that prohibit the use of photographs with known defects and other risks.

• Using REST APIs or by installing plugins like Jenkins or Bamboo.

• Find and look at any photos that have tags for beta or earlier releases, unapproved packages, or high-severity vulnerabilities.

• Container Runtime Security (CRS) offers functionality to govern the behavior of such containers as well as information about what is happening inside running containers.

• Locating and keeping track of containers and images in one place

• Examine any labels, tags, installed programs, or layers that are included in the metadata of any containers or images.

• Examining Linux's contribution to container-centric OS architecture across a wide range of operating systems, applications, and programming languages.

Benefits of Qualys are listed below:

• AssetView enables administrators to view all of the company's IT resources from a single console.

• Qualys supports identity service providers using SAML 2.0.

• outstanding user interface

• can monitor the access and use of numerous photos

• enables native alerting and redress

Qualys' drawbacks are given below:

• Response times were delayed, and customer support garnered negative comments.

• Perfect for SMBs

A trial is available from Qualys. The number of IPs, web applications, user licenses, and Cloud Platform Apps in the user's environment all affect how much the platform costs. All Cloud Platform subscriptions come with support and training.

Who should use Qualys?

It is best for large businesses looking for a cloud platform with a container module that is more comprehensive

Snyk

Software developers' demands are catered to by Snyk, a developer-focused security solution. It provides vulnerability reports for each package detected in a repository and specializes in locating license violations within Docker images. Multiple programming languages are supported by Snyk, making it easier for users to embrace them. It provides developers with simple networking choices through seamless interfaces with well-known developer platforms like GitHub and GitLab.

Users can search and contrast a variety of open-source projects using Snyk Advisor, which provides the safety and history of third-party dependencies. It assigns them a Package Health Score and scores them on a scale of 0 to 100.

Characteristics of Snyk are listed below:

• GitHub and GitLab integration

• There are several integrations, including suppliers of continuous integration and container registries

• Rapid code base scans

• Automated open-source software inspection

Benefits of Snyk are as follows:

• Robust CLI

• Simple to learn, use, and implement

• Free offer

Snyk's drawback is that customer opinions on Snyk's reporting capabilities are conflicting.

The three plans offered by Snyk are Free, Team, and Enterprise. Small enterprises and startups should use the Free plan. Every contributing developer on the Team Plan is charged $52 per month. Potential clients can ask Snyk for a live sample, and the Enterprise package includes customized pricing.

Figure 10. Snyk

Who ought to utilize Snyk?

Most beneficial for programmers using code repositories

Best Open-Source Container Security Tools

You don't want your application to operate on an unsafe container if you've taken the effort to select the finest application security testing tool and make sure it's as secure as it can be. Thankfully, there are technologies for commercial container security on the market, but open-source initiatives can also go quite far.

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) databases and benchmarks created by the Center for Internet Security (CIS), the National Vulnerability Database, and other organizations are often the subject of auditing and tracking efforts. Then, using tools, the contents of the container image are revealed and compared to these manifests of known vulnerabilities.

Enterprises can greatly benefit from automating container auditing and other container security procedures by allowing teams to identify issues early in the build pipeline.

DevOps engineers' #1 priority right now is container security. Fortunately, there are several open-source tools that can scan containers and container images. Let's examine these tools.

1. Anchore
2. Clair
3. Calico
4. OpenSCAP
5. Falco
6. Grafeas
7. Dagda
8. Docker Bench
9. Cilium
10. Trivy
11. Notary

Anchore

Container images are analyzed, and CVE-based security vulnerabilities are reported using the open-source Anchore Engine. In order to support automatic certification and validation, the Anchore Engine evaluates Docker images using custom criteria.

A software inventory composition tracker called Anchore keeps track of the architecture of your cloud services and Web apps. An SBOM, or "software bill of materials", is what this is. The instrument finds and catalogs software dependencies before checking each component for vulnerabilities. As part of this service, the tool has the ability to check on containers.

Anchore is developer-focused and supports DevOps teams in their early efforts to secure apps. Additionally, Anchore provides two open-source container security tools: Grype for scanning container images and generating a list of vulnerabilities, and Syft for creating software bills of materials (SBOMs) and viewing dependencies with a command line interface (CLI) tool. The Anchore community Slack channel is also open to users.

It works similarly to SaaS because the Anchore Enterprise GUI is used to create user-defined rules.

Key features of Anchore are as follows:

• Future-proof vulnerability scanner

• Tools for SBOMs and container vulnerability scanning that are available for free

• Platforms for container orchestration, Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD), image registries like Red Hat, and collaborative applications all have DevOps connections.

• Runtime compliance checks using the Application Programming Interface (API)

• Container examination

• Lists a CVE ID

Pros of Anchore are listed below:

• Supports six different role permissions and role-based access control

• Open-source capabilities and a Slack channel for collaboration make it developer-friendly

• Container monitoring across all platforms

• Examines container contents for security problems

• In development environments, integrated tasting might be used

• Send out notifications via teamwork tools

Cons of Anchore are given below:

• Continuous background operations may cause it to be disregarded

• It can be used as a standalone solution or on orchestration systems like Kubernetes, Rancher (Kubernetes-as-a-Service), Amazon ECS, or Docker swarms. Anchore is a flexible tool with a variety of setup possibilities

• For businesses that require intensive real-time threat response, a focus on scanning and compliance may not be enough

The four enterprise programs offered by Anchore are Team, Business, Ultimate, and Ultimate+. All plan prices are available from Anchore upon request.

Figure 11. Anchore

For whom is Anchore advised?

Because you may use it to check on components that will connect to your new application before they are included in development and during coding, Anchore can be utilized in DevOps setups. This includes the settings for creating container images and how they work with the given software.

Clair

Clair is a free vulnerability scanner for containers developed by CoreOS. It examines container images and provides thorough information on identified security flaws. Clair enables simple vulnerability scanning integration into your container deployment workflow through connections with container registries and orchestration systems. Utilize Clair to improve the security of your containerized settings and stay ahead of any risks.

Clair performs a static analysis of container weaknesses. Currently, OCI and Docker containers are compatible. Clair uses a variety of sources for vulnerability data, such as Red Hat Security Data, Debian Security Bug Tracker, and Ubuntu CVE Tracker. Clair imports a substantial number of CVE datasets for thorough auditing.

Clair first indexes a collection of objects contained in a container picture. Developers can then use the Clair API to query the database for any flaws related to a particular image.

The feature set of Clair is adaptable; you can design your own drivers for more behaviors. Additionally, you may use unrelated API requests to audit specific container pictures, which offers a faster, automated substitute for browsing through extensive report logs.

Figure 12. Clair

Features of Clair are listed below:

• Searches for present weaknesses and take action to stop them from being used against you in the future.

• Using its REST API, this utility can be integrated with other programs.

• Sends a notification if any of its systems have a vulnerability.

• Provides an HTML report outlining the results of the scan.

• This application updates the metadata at regular intervals. In this instance, a container-level application layer analysis engine powered by an API searches for security flaws. You can build services that continuously check your containers for potential security flaws using Clair. You are made aware that there may be danger inside the container. It alerts you to a potential danger in the container using data from the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures database (CVE) and other similar databases, among other sources.

Pros of Clair are as follows:

• Provides a variety of automatic alert and remediation options on a platform that is totally free and open-source.

• vast project funded by the community

• the establishment of simple monitoring services

Cons of Clair are given below:

• Unsuitable for individuals who want to stay away from open-source solutions

• If a threat or problem has already been documented, the National Vulnerability Database (NVD) will be reviewed. After that, the NVD will gather the pertinent data and put it in the report.

For Docker and application (appc) containerized apps, static security and vulnerability analysis are provided by the free and open-source tool Clair.

Calico

Open-source project Project Calico has a vibrant user and developer community. This initiative gave birth to Calico Open Source, which has since become the most frequently used container networking and security solution, powering more than 2 million nodes every day across 166 nations.

Calico Open Source is a networking and security solution for virtual machines, native host-based applications, and containers. It supports a wide range of platforms, including bare metal services, OpenShift, Docker EE, and OpenStack.

Whether you choose to use Linux's default networking pipeline, Windows' data plane, or Calico's eBPF data plane, Calico offers lightning-fast performance and full cloud-native scalability. Calico offers developers and cluster operators a consistent user interface and set of features, whether running on-premises or in the public cloud, on a single node, or in a cluster with more than a thousand nodes.

Figure 13. Calico

Characteristics of Calico are outlined below:

• Linux eBPF for the data plane

• Policy for Kubernetes Network

• Scalable, high-performance pod networking

• Hybrid and Multi-Cloud

• Linux iptables for the data plane

• Kubernetes, hosts, and VMs policy

• More sophisticated IP address management

• On-premises

• Windows Security Policy for Kubernetes Service Data Plan

• No-overlay direct infrastructure peering

• Encrypting data as it travels

• Data plane - VPP Workloads with high connections: Security policy

• Networking with Kubernetes

Advantages of Calico are listed below:

• Windows, Linux, VPP, and eBPF are examples of pluggable data planes

• Any cloud, any Kubernetes distribution, and any container

• Unmatched scalability and effective resource use

• Hardened for real-world production

The control plane and policy engine of Calico are adjusted to reduce total CPU occupancy and usage, resulting in improved performance and cheaper monthly costs.

OpenSCAP

A command-line tool for auditing is called OpenSCAP. Users can import, scan, modify, export, and validate SCAP documents with this software. For enterprise-level Linux infrastructure, SCAP (Security Content Automation Protocol) is a system that verifies compliance. NIST is in charge of it. It explains security checks by using the Extensible Configuration Checklist Description Format (XCCDF), a popular method of expressing checklist content.

Figure 14. OpenSCAP

Options for OpenSCAP are as follows:

• A number of tools are available from OpenSCAP (also known as oscap) for managing and scanning container images for compliance. Examples comprise:

• For vulnerability and configuration scans, use OpenSCAP Base.

• For compliance scans, use oscap-docker

• SCAP Workbench is a graphical tool that makes it easier to carry out common oscap tasks.

• OpenSCAP Daemon: A background-running service

• SCAPtimony is a piece of middleware that stores SCAP results for the user's infrastructure.

• To execute scans on virtual machines, containers, and images, you can install the OpenSCAP Workbench as a GUI if you're using Fedora, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS, or Scientific Linux.

• You can use the oscap-docker tool that comes with OpenSCAP to check containers against SCAP policy manuals and CVEs.

Benefits of OpenSCAP are given below:

• Creates security policies for numerous platforms and keeps them up to date.

• OpenSCAP is a toolset ecosystem for administrators and security auditors that includes a variety of free configuration baselines, security benchmark guidelines, and open-source tools.

• Numerous machine-readable security rules are offered by OpenSCAP, which makes use of the NIST-certified Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP).

• Some people might prefer utilizing OpenSCAP to build security policies for the operating system or environment as well as for containers because it has a wider range of capabilities than the other options on this list.

Falco

Falco, a Kubernetes-aware security auditing utility from Sysdig, focuses on monitoring the behavior of hosts, containers, and network activity. Falco is used to implement ongoing infrastructure checks, find anomalies, and provide warnings for any kind of Linux system call.

It is a runtime security tool and open-source project that is used to spot odd activity in hosts and containers that are using Kubernetes. It identifies any odd behavior in your application and alerts you to potential dangers in real-time.

It makes use of libraries like libinsp and libscap, which can enter and retrieve data from your container runtime environment or Kubernetes API server, and uses tcpdump-like syntax to set the rules.

You can then create rules specific to a certain namespace or container image using the metadata about pods and namespaces. Which system calls are allowed and prohibited on the system are determined by the rules.

Figure 15. Falco

Sysdig Falco's primary features are given below:

• Monitoring network behavior, host behavior, and container behavior, which are given priority in Sysdig's Falco security auditing system.

• Give Falco permission to continuously check your infrastructure for problems, spot anomalies, and alert you to any Linux system calls.

• People are instructed to run it through Docker under the official recommendations.

• You will need to issue the following commands in order to install it.

• With Falco, you may monitor unintentional attempts to read important files, leave the local network, or place other odd calls, as well as the execution of container shells and container mount points.

Benefits of Falco are as follows:

• A platform that is entirely open-source and free

• Gathers all information in one place

• Monitors calls, access, and changes to containers

Falco's drawback is that it could use more features for data visualization.

A free and open-source container security monitor called Sysdig Falco is made to look for suspicious activity in your applications.

Grafeas

Grafeas is a container security scanning tool created by IBM and Google that makes use of components with container information APIs. By creating the necessary metadata regarding component relationships using the container metadata API, it makes it possible to develop projects. By enforcing them across an ever-growing number of development teams and pipelines, Grafeas, a single-source repository, enables businesses to manage and guarantee compliance with all internal rules. Notes and occurrences are the two categories into which Grafeas divides metadata information. Notes are high-level summaries of particular types of gathered metadata. When compared to instances, which describe how and when a specific note occurs on a resource, occurrences are distinct. Independent metadata developers and maintainers can create and update metadata on behalf of numerous consumers through this section. Additionally, it offers a complete answer for precise metadata access control.

Grafeas is a component metadata API that is well-known. This utility allows developers to set up information for virtual machines and containers. As part of the research, IBM's Vulnerability Advisor is involved.

On Kubernetes clusters that make use of Grafaes metadata, you can use Grafaes combined with Kritis, another open-source program, to implement security policies.

You may speed up remediation efforts and reduce the time between a zero-day exploit and a fix by promptly sourcing container metadata.

Figure 16. Grafeas

Features of Grafeas are listed below:

• Software development, auditing, and compliance tools can store, query, and retrieve detailed metadata about all kinds of software components using the Grafeas API.

• Grafaes-using Kubernetes clusters can have security policies applied to them using the metadata from Grafaes.

• An open-source artifact metadata API called Grafeas, which means "scribe" in Greek, offers a standardized procedure for auditing and managing your software distribution chain.

• For containers, Virtual Machines, JAR files, and other software resources like script files, Grafeas creates a metadata management API.

• Grafeas software can be used to specify and aggregate data on the project's constituent parts.

Benefits of Grafeas are given below:

• Provides a platform for comprehensive testing, auditing, and vulnerability detection

• Fantastic for larger businesses trying to manage compliance

• Provides a variety of choices for access control

The drawback of Grafeas is that it may take some time to fully grasp and explore the platform.

Dagda

Static analysis of known malware, vulnerabilities, Trojans, viruses, and other possible risks in Docker containers or images is done using the Dagda tool. You can monitor the Docker daemon with this open-source program. Docker containers are run through Dagda to look for strange behavior. In addition to CentOS, Red Hat, Debian, Fedora, OpenSUSE, Ubuntu, and Alpine, it supports a number of other Linux base images.

Dagda is easy to analyze because it contains a Docker Compose file. Daga can monitor containers, but it requires integration with Sysdig Falco, an open-source runtime security project that is cloud-native.

Dagda is better suited for on-demand scans than for planned registry scans because it doesn't support the scanning of repositories or registries. After installation, databases of known exploits and vulnerabilities are imported and kept in MongoDB. The software deployed into a Docker image is then examined by Dagda to ensure that each product (and its version) is free of vulnerabilities. This is checked against the data that is kept in MongoDB.

As an antivirus for Docker images and containers, this program uses ClamAV. System administrators, developers, and security experts are the main users of this product.

The process begins by importing into a MongoDB all of the known vulnerabilities from CVE, Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA), Red Hat Bug Advisories (RHBA), Bugtraq IDs (BID), and the Offensive Security database. The photos and containers are then examined in accordance with the imported vulnerabilities.

Figure 17. Dagda

Dagda has the following features:

• Numerous Linux images are supported, including CentOS, Ubuntu, OpenSUSE, Alpine, etc.

• Examines PHP, Java, Python, Node.js, JavaScript, and other requirements

• Use integration with Falco to track the active containers

• Maintains the history of every container or Docker image by storing each analysis report in MongoDB.

Docker Bench

An open-source tool called Docker Bench for Security was developed by Docker to assist developers in doing audits of containers using Docker Community Edition to make sure the containers adhere to accepted security best practices. The tool is intended for developers using Docker Community Edition to run containers. Several open-source packages, including Actuary, drydock, and Docker Bench Test, have improved the Docker Bench package.

Its goal is to help developers audit containers created with Docker Community Edition and make sure they follow accepted security best practices. This tool was created specifically for programmers who use the Docker Community Edition to operate containers.

The Docker Bench for Security open-source script is used to audit containers against accepted security best practices. It is aimed at developers who manage containers with the Docker community edition.

By basing its tests on the widely used CIS benchmarks, Docker Bench helps automate the laborious process of manual vulnerability testing.

Figure 18. Docker Bench

The following are some features of Docker Bench:

• This program functions as a container made especially for testing other containers.

• The output from the security setting benchmark tests is made available in the current directory's response logs.

• Additionally, you can use Docker Compose to access this tool or run it directly on your host system.

• The security lead for Docker, Diogo Monica, described it as "a container that tests containers.

• For each benchmark security setting, the results are output in response logs to the current directory.

• This tool can be used directly on your host system or using Docker Compose.

• The tests conducted by Docker Bench are based on widely-used CIS benchmarks, which shortens the time required for the labor-intensive manual technique of vulnerability testing.

Docker Bench advantages are given below:

• Project that is transparent and open-source

• Exceptionally light

• A great CLI security tool, I might add

Docker Bench cons are listed below:

• The fact that the output results cannot be read by machines is a drawback.

• Data is not visualized

There are four different pricing tiers for Docker Bench: Personal, Pro, Team, and Business. The Personal Plan is the only one that is free; the others have monthly fees of $5, $9, and $24, respectively.

Cilium

Among container applications, Cilium offers network security that is invisible to the user. It is based on a brand-new feature of the Linux kernel called eBPF, which enables you to set and enforce network-layer and HTTP-layer security limitations depending on the container or pod in which the application is operating.

It is driven by BPF, a feature of the Linux kernel originally known as Berkeley Packet Filter. The intriguing feature of its low-level implementation is that Cilium security policies can be updated and applied without affecting application code or container configuration.

In reaction to the unstable lifecycles of contemporary microservices development and rapid container deployment, Cilium was created.

Figure 19. Cilium

Cilium's salient characteristics are as follows:

• Networking and security with API awareness at the kernel layer

• Network connectivity and security are the focus of Cilium. The Linux container platforms Docker and Kubernetes are compatible thanks to Cilium's addition of security visibility and control mechanisms.

• There are comprehensive instructions and documentation, a specific Slack channel, and even a weekly development meeting, all of which are accessible.

• For Linux container frameworks like Docker and Kubernetes, Cilium is a network security filtering solution that is API-aware.

• Depending on the identity of the container or pod being secured, Cilium, which makes use of a new Linux kernel feature called BPF, offers an easy and effective method to build and enforce both network-layer and application-layer security policies.

• It is powered by BPF, a feature of the Linux kernel formerly known as Berkeley Packet Filter. Because you can apply and update security policies without ever having to change the application code or container configuration, Cilium's low-level solution is distinctive.

Cilium's benefits are listed below:

• Uses process visualization to assist with visualizing container security

• Able to update applications dynamically

• Supports bigger microservices-based environments

• Cilium has excellent community support for an open-source project.

• A dedicated Slack channel, thorough guidelines, and even a weekly developer meeting are all available.

Cons of Cilium are given below:

• Technical knowledge is necessary to use all features and options.

• Modern microservice development's dynamic life cycles and the necessity for quick container deployment led to the creation of Cilium.

Trivy

A straightforward vulnerability scanner for containers and other artifacts is called Trivy by Aqua Security. It can analyze file systems, Git repositories, and container images for vulnerabilities in OS packages and dependencies on programming languages. Trivy is made to be used as part of a CI/CD process to check for vulnerabilities prior to sending containers to a registry or deploying software. your CI pipeline scans photos for vulnerabilities

Figure 20. Trivy

Notary

Notary, which was first created by Docker, was given to the Cloud Native Computing Foundation in 2017. The de facto system for signing Docker images is called Notary, and it is now open source for additional implementations.

Figure 21. Notary

The Notary's function is outlined below:

• Provides a server that enhances container security by cryptographically assigning responsibilities

• The main idea behind notaries is the separation of duties. By utilizing Notary, developers can assign roles and specify duties among containers.

• To provide a cryptographically safe method of publishing and verifying material, the package includes a server and a client.

• The reason the notary uses Update Framework (TUF) and Go as dependencies is to "verify the cryptographic integrity of a container application image".