This directory is the home of materials for operator security and hardening including the DoKC Operator Security and Hardening Guide.

Kubernetes operators are essential to manage cloud native databases. We propose a guide for hardening database operators that will form a baseline for secure management of data on Kubernetes.

The guide will identify common attack surfaces for databases running on Kubernetes. It will define a set of best practices for securing them using operators.

Best practices will cover a range of topics including software supply chain, operator features, and integration with Kubernetes itself. They may include any or all of the following.

• Required Kubernetes privileges
• Data in flight and at rest protection
• User management and handling of credentials
• Certificate management
• Secure exchange of data with database clients
• Secure exchange of data within clusters
• Backup/DR data protection
• Operator build process, e.g., signing, testing, scanning
• CVE management

It is our goal to keep the Operator Security & Hardening Guide simple and practical. We will focus on operator security for databases only. Where possible we will build upon rather than repeat existing best practices for Kubernetes, cloud environments, etc.

This proposal is inspired by the well-known OWASP guidelines as well as practical efforts for specific operators such as the ClickHouse Kubernetes Operator and many others.

• Operator producers - Developers creating or maintaining operators for data services
• Operator consumers - Developers seeking secure operators for data services

Please join the #sig-operator channel on the DoKC Slack Workspace. You can also file issues for problems. We accept pull requests. Please DM Robert Hodges in the DoKC Slack Workspace if you have questions or would like to help.

Robert Hodges, Altinity