Security within the development environment needs to be a top concern, as well as software problem areas or weak areas of entry for hackers and cyber criminals. Whenever a component is consumed, developers 100 percent need to ensure that the component is not going to be the source of a security breach, or vulnerability for customers and/or clients. Whether it’s Maven or NPM, things need to be scanned thoroughly for threats, and this goes for Docker images as well.
You may have or are considering Docker registry for production already. This is a pretty common thing nowadays, since Docker is one of the most popular automated container software tools available. But the fact remains, you need to be ready for threats. Docker, of course, is no exception. The containerized images have multiple layers for security issues and vulnerabilities to arise.
Let’s take a deeper look at the security needs you absolutely need to know about for your next project using Docker containerized images. Here we go!
The Development Environment Security Issues At Hand
There are a variety of security issues that exist in the development environment, exposing software and making it accessible to those who shouldn’t have access. These security risks and vulnerabilities can bring about unauthorized activity from people that otherwise should not have access. For example, SQL injection can cause database exposure to cyber criminals and hackers.
“SQL injection attacks pose a serious security threat to organizations,” By Paul Rubens of eSecurity Planet noted. “A successful SQL injection attack can result in confidential data being deleted, lost or stolen; websites being defaced; unauthorized access to systems or accounts and, ultimately, compromise of individual machines or entire networks. Twenty years after its discovery, SQL injection remains a top database security concern.”
The injection of code is another serious security risk and often one of the most common vulnerabilities within the development environment, due to the operational level and how a software program executes. These types of security risks and vulnerabilities need to be taken very seriously to reduce hacks and other security issues.
Going The Extra Mile To Ensure Development Security Is Priority
When it comes to Docker images, developers need to dig deeper, not simply scanning the first layer for security risks and vulnerabilities. Sure, it may be easier to scan the base image, but it doesn’t fully protect the software. This is because each layer in a Docker containerized image has its own software components.
T identify and fix security issues in Docker images and your overall development environment, you need to scan each image layer in a container. This also include scanning every private and public Docker registry too. If you find a vulnerability in an image, you should then run an impact analysis to get a clear picture of all layers that the specified component was used. Even if the components are in a different Docker image.
Once all components, layers, and versions have been scanned and checked for vulnerabilities, you can dig deeper into the latest version to remediate the security risk and issues at hand. This is a clear call to action for a multi-layer scan of all images.
Continuous Integration Can Be Useful
You will always find bugs in your development environment for different software projects. It is just the nature of developing software. However, if bugs are not identified and fixed as early as possible into the development process, it could be costly. In fact, if bugs are not identified until production, the fixes needed could be 100 times more costly on money and time. It could essentially derail an entire software development project.
To find bugs as early as possible, you can implement a continuous integration (CI) pipeline into your development process. This allows you to scan in a cycle and in an automated way to identify bugs before they get too far along in the development stages. For instance, a CI server can quickly detect bugs and other vulnerabilities and allow you to schedule them for updates fast and easy.
Wrapping Up . . .
Security issues and software development vulnerabilities will always be in play. However, with the right mindset and processes in place to combat these issues can have a big impact on your software’s time to market, overall cost, and the ability to release a quality product.
You will always find bugs and they will sometimes not be found until you reach production. But making security a priority can have a positive impact on your entire development environment, from start to finish. Are you scanning your Docker images correctly?
