GigaOm Key Criteria for Evaluating Container Security Solutionsv3.0

1. Executive Summary

Container security solutions are comprehensive tools designed to protect containerized applications and their underlying infrastructure throughout the software development lifecycle, from development to deployment and runtime. Addressing a broad range of security concerns, these solutions have become critical as organizations increasingly adopt container technologies like Docker and orchestration platforms like Kubernetes to build and deploy cloud-native applications. The primary goal is to maximize the benefits of containerization, such as application isolation and resource efficiency, while minimizing the risks associated with increased attack surfaces and resource sharing.

While security efforts initially focused on securing the build pipeline and ensuring container images were free from vulnerabilities before deployment, as threats have become more sophisticated, the focus has expanded to include runtime protection and network security. Key capabilities typically include:

• Configuration management: Ensuring containers, orchestration platforms, and underlying infrastructure are configured securely, including proper access controls and network configurations.
• Vulnerability scanning: Continuous scanning of container images and registries for known vulnerabilities before deployment and during runtime to prevent exploitation by malicious actors.
• Runtime threat detection and prevention: Monitoring and protecting running containers from threats by establishing behavioral baselines and detecting anomalies that deviate from these baselines.
• Network segmentation and firewalling: Implementing microsegmentation, encryption, and access controls to secure container communications and prevent lateral movement of threats within the network.
• Compliance monitoring and enforcement: Automating compliance checks and enforcing security policies throughout the CI/CD pipeline to ensure adherence to industry regulations and best practices.

However, the dynamic and ephemeral nature of containers expands the attack surface and makes traditional security approaches insufficient. A single compromised container can become a gateway for attackers to infiltrate the broader environment, leading to potential data breaches and system compromises. Additionally, the rise in sophisticated attacks targeting containerized environments, such as cryptojacking and supply chain attacks, underscores the need for robust container security solutions.

Container security solutions aim to address these challenges by integrating security directly into DevOps workflows and container orchestration platforms, with continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines automating and integrating security measures to keep up with the rapid pace of development and deployment. This “shift-left” approach embeds security earlier in the development process, allowing teams to identify and remediate vulnerabilities before containers are deployed to production.

As container adoption grows, container security solutions are rapidly evolving to enhance threat detection and response capabilities. Key trends include:

• Increased automation and integration with CI/CD pipelines.
• Expanded use of machine learning for anomaly detection.
• Enhanced support for serverless and service mesh architectures.
• Improved container image scanning and software composition analysis.
• Greater emphasis on supply chain security and artifact provenance.

Furthermore, container security is increasingly being incorporated into broader cloud-native application protection platforms (CNAPPs) that provide unified security across containers, Kubernetes, and cloud infrastructure.

For organizations leveraging containers, implementing a robust container security solution is essential for safeguarding containerized applications and their infrastructure against a wide range of threats. By relying on advanced capabilities and evolving practices, these solutions help organizations mitigate risks, ensure compliance, and maintain the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of their containerized environments. As containerization continues to transform application development and deployment, container security will remain a critical focus area for DevOps and security teams alike.

Business Imperative
Deploying a container security solution is crucial for organizations leveraging containerized applications to protect their digital assets, ensure regulatory compliance, and maintain business continuity. As containers become increasingly prevalent in modern cloud-native architectures, they introduce unique security challenges that traditional security measures may not adequately address, including vulnerabilities in container images, runtime threats, and misconfigurations in orchestration platforms. By implementing a comprehensive container security solution, organizations can mitigate risks throughout the container lifecycle, accelerate secure application development, and gain the visibility and control needed to confidently embrace the agility and scalability benefits of containerization while safeguarding their critical data and infrastructure.

Sector Adoption Score
To help executives and decision-makers assess the potential impact and value of deploying a container security solution, this GigaOm Key Criteria report provides a structured assessment of the sector across five factors: benefit, maturity, urgency, impact, and effort. By scoring each factor based on how strongly it compels or deters the adoption of a container security solution, we provide an overall Sector Adoption Score (Figure 1) of 4.6 out of 5, with 5 indicating the strongest possible recommendation to adopt. This indicates that a container security solution is a very credible candidate for deployment and worthy of thoughtful consideration.

The following sector brief section explains in more detail the factors contributing to the Sector Adoption Score for container security.

Figure 1. Sector Adoption Score for Container Security

This is the third year that GigaOm has reported on the container security space in the context of our Key Criteria and Radar reports. This report builds on our previous analysis and considers how the market has evolved over the last year.

This GigaOm Key Criteria report highlights the capabilities (table stakes, key features, and emerging features) and nonfunctional requirements (business criteria) for selecting an effective container security solution. The companion GigaOm Radar report identifies vendors and products that excel in those decision criteria. Together, these reports provide an overview of the market, identify leading container security offerings, and help decision-makers evaluate these solutions so they can make a more informed investment decision.