Essential security patterns in Kubernetes

A Kubernetes cluster can run multiple types of workloads. This includes stateful applications, stateless applications, jobs, and DaemonSets. However, it is critical to secure these workloads from potential security attacks. Native Kubernetes provides some essential security constructs that focus on the fundamentals, including a request being sent to the cluster and how the request is authenticated and authorized. Additionally, it is important to understand how the master plane components are secured and how the pods running the applications can also be secured. We will cover these from a native Kubernetes standpoint, but their implementation in GKE will also be discussed. The first such security construct we will deep dive into is authentication.

Authentication

Authentication is the process of determining the identity of the user. It essentially confirms that the user is who they say they are and eventually provides access to eligible...