VMware, Inc. unveiled expanded cloud workload protection capabilities to deliver security for containers and Kubernetes. The new solution will help increase visibility, enable compliance and enhance security for containerized applications from build to production in public cloud and on-premises environments.

"Containers and Kubernetes are enabling organizations to develop and modernize applications faster than ever, but the innovation is also expanding the attack surface," said Patrick Morley, senior vice president and general manager, Security Business Unit, VMware. "Our solution extends security to containers and Kubernetes to deliver one of the industry's most comprehensive cloud workload protection platforms. With security built into the development and deployment of applications, we are bridging the gap between the SOC and DevOps teams to help our customers reduce the risks that come with running containers across clouds."

For many organizations, migrating to the cloud has had to happen quickly and at a large scale to ensure business continuity amid the global pandemic. Development teams are looking to containers and Kubernetes for speed and the ability to scale application delivery. According to Gartner, "by 2025 more than 85 percent of global organizations will be running containerized applications in production, which is a significant increase from fewer than 35 percent in 2019." Organizations now need security for modern workloads to address a new set of threats and build resilient digital infrastructure.

Better Secure the Complete Lifecycle of Kubernetes Applications

Security is especially complex in multi-cloud infrastructures. VMware Carbon Black Cloud Container builds security into the continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) pipeline to analyze and control application risks before they are deployed into production. Expanding the VMware Carbon Black Cloud Workload offering, the new capabilities will enable organizations to better secure containerized applications in Kubernetes environments. The solution shifts security left to protect the entire lifecycle of Kubernetes applications. InfoSec teams can now scan containers and Kubernetes configuration files early in the development cycle to address vulnerabilities with unparalleled visibility. The solution provides continuous cloud-native security and compliance to better secure applications and data wherever they live.

Enable Collaboration for InfoSec and DevOps Teams

Containers and Kubernetes offer development teams flexibility with an infrastructure-as-code approach. However, security is often a roadblock to faster production deployments and later bolted-on as an afterthought. The VMware container security module will empower InfoSec and DevOps teams to better collaborate and identify risks earlier in the development cycle with built-in security. The expanded offering will provide a new vantage point to allow cross-functional teams to detect and fix vulnerabilities to achieve simple, more secure multi-cloud Kubernetes environments.

VMware's expanded cloud workload protection capabilities will deliver a comprehensive solution for InfoSec teams including:

• Security Posture Dashboard: Provides a combined view of vulnerabilities and misconfigurations to enable complete visibility into security posture across Kubernetes workload inventory. InfoSec and DevOps teams can gain deep visibility into workload security posture and governance to enable compliance, with the ability to freely explore Kubernetes workload configuration via customized queries.
• Container Image Scanning and Hardening: InfoSec and DevOps teams can scan all container images to identify vulnerabilities and restrict the registries and repositories that are allowed in production. Teams can set minimum standards for security and compliance, generate compliance reports and follow CIS benchmarks and Kubernetes best practices.
• Prioritized Risk Assessment: Vulnerability assessments allow InfoSec and DevOps teams to review images running in production and only approved images are deployed. Security teams can use the prioritized risk assessment to detect and prevent vulnerabilities by scanning Kubernetes manifests and clusters.
• Compliance Policy Automation: Infosec teams can shift-left into the development cycle, streamline compliance reporting, and automate policy creation against industry standards such as NIST, as well as the customer's organizational requirements. This enables the integrity of Kubernetes configurations through control and visibility of workloads that are deployed to an organization's clusters. Customizable policies help enforce configuration by blocking or alerting on exceptions.

The Future of Intrinsic Security with VMware Carbon Black and Tanzu

The container security module compliments the VMware Tanzu portfolio. Select Tanzu editions include a global control plane for centralized management of all aspects of cluster lifecycle, including policies for access, data protection, and more. Customers can now add powerful security for containers and Kubernetes applications while simplifying operations for InfoSec and DevOps teams.

"It's important that we have full visibility into the risk of our entire Kubernetes workload environment, as well as the ability to detect and prevent vulnerabilities before containers are deployed," said Roy Berko, Senior Director of DevOps, DoubleVerify. "With VMware's container security offering, we now have instant visibility to help reduce risk of our containerized applications all from a single dashboard."

"Kubernetes has become the de-facto best practice standard for developing cloud-native applications, yet developers are still leveraging siloed and inefficient tools with limited cross organization visibility," said Frank Dickson, Program Vice President, Security & Trust at IDC. "VMware's container security offering provides an opportunity for security and DevOps teams to work more closely together to leverage the power of Kubernetes and better secure the unique lifecycle development processes of container-based applications."

Product Availability

VMware container image scanning and CI/CD integration capabilities are expected to be available in April 2021. Runtime security for detection and response will be available later this year.