Docker Security: Using Containers Safely in Production

by Adrian Mouat

To use Docker safely, in both production and development, you need to be aware of the potential security issues and the major tools and techniques for securing container-based systems. In this O’Reilly report, Adrian Mouat—Chief Scientist at Container Solutions—provides guidance and advice for developing container security policies and procedures.

Mouat addresses threats such as kernel exploits, DoS attacks, container breakouts, and poisoned images throughout the report with solutions that include defense-in-depth (using the analogy of a castle’s layered defenses) and least privilege.

43 pages, ebook

First published August 17, 2015

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

A meaty deep-dive into securing Docker containers. This is definitely a book where you'll want to make notes as you go along. It was my first exposure to many of these tips and tricks, so I got a lot out of it.

[Aad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the advice there is a bit dated now, but most of it still applies. Short and useful read for anyone thinking about deploying containers to production environments.

[Anton Antonov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very reasonable set of tips to apply in your infrastructure to harden your Docker container security.

Most of them don't take much time to apply and it's usually within a day or two.

There's a good amount of reason why Docker containers **may** be insecure in some cases.

A good note to take is that there's no "if" in the tips meaning that people may take the tips wrongly and apply them in a zealot-like manner. Not everything is applicable for everyone meaning that by trying to do good and harden the security, you'll have more troubles than benefits. Think wisely whether it's worth in your infrastructure.

[Willian Molinari · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm migrating all my reviews to my blog. I'm keeping the old version here (because it makes sense to do it) but you can read the latest one on my blog: https://pothix.com/dockersecuritybook

It's a good book for who is using or planning to use Docker in production. There are some very good tips that are not so obvious about Docker.

[Jim Bertsch]

To use Docker safely, in both production and development, you need to be aware of the potential security issues and the major tools and techniques for securing container-based systems. In this O’Reilly report, Adrian Mouat—Chief Scientist at Container Solutions—provides guidance and advice for developing container security policies and procedures.