Kubernetes Compliance: NIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0 Guide

Kubernetes has revolutionized how organizations develop and deploy applications by offering scalability, flexibility, and efficiency. However, the dynamic and distributed nature of Kubernetes environments introduces unique security and compliance challenges too.

To address these challenges, organizations must better understand, manage, and reduce their cybersecurity risk and protect their networks and data. To help organizations do this effectively, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) at the U.S. Department of Commerce has provided a voluntary framework with best practices that address where to focus your time and money when it comes to cybersecurity protection.

The original framework, formally named the Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity, was extremely effective. It set the bar for organizations across all industry verticals and informed other standards for compliance within their organizations. This February, the agency finalized its first major update since its inception in 2014 with an updated name and refreshed mission to broaden the framework’s scope. NIST CSF 2.0 aims to modernize and improve accessibility.

In this blog, we’ll highlight the framework’s core best practices for cybersecurity, what’s new in NIST CSF 2.0, and how your organization can easily comply in your cloud-native environment with Veeam Kasten, the leader in Kubernetes data protection and mobility.

Kubernetes’s Impact on Regulatory Standards and Compliance

As the adoption of Kubernetes has grown in the past 10 years, it has significantly influenced regulatory frameworks and standards in IT, especially in the realm of security, data protection, and compliance.

In container security, Kubernetes has brought an enhanced focus to the forefront of regulatory considerations. Since containers provide a portable, reusable, and automated way to package and run applications, they can also introduce security risks like image vulnerabilities, container runtime, and network segmentation.

One 2024 study by Red Hat found that nearly 9 in 10 organizations had a container or Kubernetes security incident in the last 12 months and 46% of the organizations surveyed lost revenue or customers due to such incidents. 

Risks like these have led to the development of container-specific security benchmarks, such as the Center for Internet Security (CIS) Kubernetes Benchmarks and standards like the NIST Application Container Security Guide Special Publication 800-190, which provide consensus-based best practices for securing Kubernetes environments.

Understanding Kubernetes Compliance in the Context of NIST CSF 2.0

Kubernetes compliance entails adhering to industry regulations and security standards to safeguard data integrity, confidentiality, and availability within containerized environments. The NIST CSF 2.0 standard provides a valuable framework to help organizations better manage and mitigate cybersecurity risks. By mapping Kubernetes practices to the NIST CSF 2.0 core functions, organizations can establish a more structured approach to compliance.

1. Identify: This initial step involves understanding the cybersecurity risks associated with Kubernetes environments. This includes identifying vulnerabilities in container images, runtime security concerns, and potential misconfigurations. Veeam Kasten provides observability for compliance purposes by automatically discovering all applications on the namespace. This makes it easy for users to view and report on which applications are currently protected according to the service level agreements (SLAs) defined in their respective Veeam Kasten policies, and quickly identify any applications that have fallen out of compliance.
2. Protect: Veeam Kasten fortifies Kubernetes environments with a comprehensive suite of data protection features that underpin the “Protect” function of this cybersecurity framework. It secures sensitive data through always-on AES-256-GCM encryption for both in-transit and at-rest data, with the flexibility to manage keys internally or via integration with key management systems like AWS KMS and HashiCorp Vault. Authentication options also span Kubernetes bearer tokens to SSO with OIDC and LDAP/S, while tight integration with Kubernetes role-based access control (RBAC enables fine-grained, namespace-level permissions for secure self-service operations. Automated recovery point objectives (RPOs) and data retention policies means Veeam Kasten can enhance ransomware resilience with support for immutable storage options like Amazon S3 and Veeam Hardened Repositories. Additionally, Veeam Kasten excels in air-gapped and highly regulated environments that offer offline installation, FIPS 140-3 mode, and compliance enforcement through admission controllers like Kyverno or OPA. This allows the solution to deliver a robust, flexible solution for safeguarding Kubernetes data assets against a spectrum of threats.
3. Detect: Detecting security events early is essential. Veeam Kasten offers comprehensive monitoring and alerting capabilities by leveraging Prometheus and Grafana to provide real-time visibility into cluster health, application performance, and potential anomalies. Integration with Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions further enhance threat detection and investigation.
4. Respond: In the event of a security incident, taking a swift and effective response is crucial. Veeam Kasten’s Kubernetes-native API interface allows you to integrate operations with dedicated SOAR platforms to automate recovery operations. This enables organizations to quickly restore their impacted applications from backups to minimize downtime and potential damage.
5. Recover: Recovering from a cybersecurity incident involves restoring systems and data to their pre-incident state. Veeam Kasten provides you with the ability to create both local application snapshots and exported, portable backups. While snapshots are definately an option for rapid data recovery, they may not be available in the event of cluster or storage loss and attack. Exported Veeam Kasten backups provide a secure offsite option for recovering data. This solution also provides customers with the ability to choose exports, with support for AWS S3, Azure Blob, Google Cloud, S3-compliant, NFS, and Veeam Backup & Replication targets. Moreover, Veeam Instant Recovery also enables the rapid recovery of workloads directly from backup storage, which further ensures business continuity.
6. Govern: This function was added to the framework in 2024 to inform how an organization may implement these five pillars to ensure that a cybersecurity risk management strategy is well established, communicated, and monitored. Veeam Kasten’s Kubernetes-native data management platform is designed to enforce data governance and compliance across all your deployment environments. This is achieved through a policy-driven approach that automates and enforces data protection policies at-scale. These policies can also be tailored to adhere to various compliance frameworks, including NIST. This helps ensure that your sensitive data is handled correctly. Every Veeam Kasten release is accompanied by a Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) to help you govern your software supply chain.

Veeam Kasten: Your Kubernetes Compliance Partner

Veeam Kasten empowers organizations to navigate the complexities of Kubernetes compliance by offering a range of features and capabilities, including:

• Policy-driven protection: Automate data protection policies to ensure compliance with various regulatory frameworks.
• Immutability and air-gapped installations: Safeguard backup data from tampering and unauthorized access.
• Monitoring and alerting: Gain real-time visibility into Kubernetes environments and receive timely alerts for potential security events.
• Enhanced auditing and SIEM integration: Track user activity and integrate with SIEM solutions for comprehensive threat detection.
• Snapshot exports and granular recovery: Ensure data recoverability and minimize disruptions to running applications.
• Veeam Instant Recovery: Enable rapid workload recovery to maintain business continuity.

Best Practices for Kubernetes Compliance

In addition to leveraging Kasten, organizations should adopt the following best practices to enhance Kubernetes compliance:

1. Establish a strong security posture: Implement RBAC, network policies, and pod security policies to control access and traffic flow within your Kubernetes environment.
2. Securely manage configurations and secrets: Automate configuration management and use external secret management tools to protect sensitive information.
3. Monitor and log activities: Enable comprehensive logging and deploy monitoring solutions for real-time visibility and anomaly detection.
4. Adopt compliance-as-code: Define and enforce compliance policies via policy-as-code frameworks and integrate compliance checks into CI/CD pipelines.
5. Ensure data protection: Encrypt sensitive data, control access through RBAC and network policies, and regularly audit configurations and access controls.
6. Continuously assess and improve security posture: Keep Kubernetes clusters updated with the latest security patches and regularly audit configurations against compliance requirements.
7. Implement business continuity and disaster recovery (BC/DR) plans: Regularly back up Kubernetes data and configurations, test restoration procedures, and implement a 3-2-1 backup strategy.
8. Educate and train your team: Provide regular training on Kubernetes security and compliance best practices to developers, operators, and security teams.

Conclusion

Kubernetes compliance is an ongoing process that requires a proactive and comprehensive approach. By aligning Kubernetes practices with the NIST CSF and leveraging Veeam’s robust solutions, organizations can effectively manage cybersecurity risks, protect their valuable data, and ensure the smooth operation of their containerized environments. Veeam Kasten, with its Kubernetes-native capabilities, simplifies compliance, empowers organizations to confidently embrace Kubernetes, and fosters a secure and resilient IT infrastructure.

To dive deeper, read our white paper “Kubernetes Compliance Essentials and Mapping to the NIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0.” or contact Veeam to learn more about how our solutions can help you achieve Kubernetes compliance and fortify your cybersecurity posture.

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