Over the past year, 89% of organizations encountered at least one security incident related to containers or Kubernetes, establishing security as a top priority for DevOps and security teams.
Despite skepticism surrounding Kubernetes' security, it dominates 92% of the container market. Gartner predicts that by 2029, 95% of enterprises will run containerized applications in production, a significant increase from less than 50% last year.
Misconfigurations account for 40% of these incidents, and 26% of organizations reported failing audits. However, critical issues within Kubernetes security largely remain unresolved. A pressing concern is the overwhelming number of alerts generated, making it challenging to identify credible threats.
The Rise in Kubernetes Attacks
Kubernetes environments are increasingly appealing targets due to a mounting number of misconfigurations and unaddressed vulnerabilities. According to Red Hat’s latest state of Kubernetes security report, 45% of DevOps teams experienced security incidents during the runtime phase, where attackers exploit live vulnerabilities.
The Cloud Native Computing Foundation's report reveals that 28% of organizations have over 90% of their workloads operating in insecure Kubernetes configurations, and more than 71% of workloads run with root access, heightening the risk of system compromises.
Traditional defense strategies are inadequate as attackers can exploit misconfigurations, vulnerabilities, or exposed services faster than organizations can react. Known for their speed, attackers can take control of a container within minutes, while conventional security tools may take days to detect and remediate critical vulnerabilities.
Limitations of Alert-Based Systems
Nearly all organizations implementing Kubernetes in their DevOps processes rely on alert-based systems for initial threat defense. Solutions from Aqua Security, Twistlock (now part of Palo Alto Networks), Sysdig, and StackRox (Red Hat) offer threat detection and vulnerability scanning but generate a high volume of alerts often requiring manual intervention. This not only wastes valuable time for security operations center (SOC) analysts but also leads to alert fatigue; over 50% of security professionals report feeling overwhelmed by notifications.
As Laurent Gil, co-founder and chief product officer at CAST AI, remarked, “If you’re using traditional methods, you’re spending time reacting to hundreds of alerts, many of which might be false positives. It’s not scalable. Automation is key—real-time detection and immediate remediation make the difference.”
The Goal: Secure Kubernetes Containers with Real-Time Threat Detection
Attackers focus on the most vulnerable aspects of Kubernetes containers, especially during the runtime phase. This is when containers are processing workloads, making them susceptible to misconfigurations, privilege escalations, and unpatched vulnerabilities, particularly attractive for crypto-mining operations. Gil shared, “One of our customers saw 42 attempts to initiate crypto-mining in their Kubernetes environment. Our system identified and blocked all of them instantly.”
Furthermore, large-scale attacks, including identity theft and data breaches, often begin during runtime when sensitive information is exposed. In response to observed threats, CAST AI launched their Kubernetes Security Posture Management (KSPM) solution, enabling DevOps teams to detect and automatically remediate security threats in real time.
While competitors provide strong visibility and detection, CAST AI distinguishes itself with real-time remediation that addresses issues before they escalate. Adrien Carreira, head of infrastructure at Hugging Face, noted, “CAST AI’s KSPM product identifies and blocks 20 times more runtime threats than any other security tool we’ve used.”
Importance of Real-Time Threat Detection
Real-time capabilities within any KSPM are critical for combating Kubernetes attacks during runtime. Jérémy Fridman, head of information security at PlayPlay, emphasized, “Since adopting CAST AI for Kubernetes management, our security posture has become significantly more robust. The automation features—both for cost optimization and security—embody the spirit of DevOps, making our work more efficient and secure.”
The CAST AI Security Dashboard exemplifies how their system provides continuous scanning and real-time remediation, monitoring nodes, workloads, and image repositories for vulnerabilities and displaying actionable insights.
A significant advantage of integrating real-time detection into any KSPM solution is the ability to patch containers immediately. “Automation ensures your system is always operating on the latest, most secure versions. We don’t just alert you to threats; we fix them before your security team even gets involved,” Gil added.
Enhancing Kubernetes Security in 2025
In conclusion, the increasing frequency of runtime attacks on Kubernetes containers poses considerable risks for enterprises. As cryptocurrency values rise amid global uncertainties, organizations must remain vigilant against illegal crypto mining, which can lead to substantial costs, particularly on platforms like AWS. Effective real-time monitoring and robust security measures are essential to protect against these costly breaches.
Ranking
