Go Behind the Scenes of a Docker Cryptojacking Attack

Containers, Orchestration & Security
2 Min Read •

When Threat Stack security analyst Ethan Hansen saw an alert in a customer’s environment that read /temp [RANDOM] cnrig, he knew his afternoon was about to get interesting. As part of his role in the Threat Stack Cloud SecOps Program℠, Ethan regularly monitors customer environments and proactively investigates alerts like this on the customer’s behalf. In this case, his suspicions were warranted, and Threat Stack had identified an active Docker cryptojacking attack.

Ethan and Threat Stack Security Solutions Engineer John Shoenberger recently sat down with “Your System Called: A Threat Stack Podcast” to recount this investigation into a Docker cryptojacking attack, his process of putting together a specific list of actionable recommendations, and how he worked with the customer within an hour of the alert to mitigate the threat.

Read more “Go Behind the Scenes of a Docker Cryptojacking Attack”

21 Developers & Docker Experts Reveal the Biggest Mistakes People Make When Switching to Docker Containers

Containers, Orchestration & Security
16 Min Read •

Containerized environments are increasingly popular, and Docker remains the most popular container solution for developers. But the process of moving from virtual machines to containers is complex. If you’re just getting started with Docker, check out our list of 50 useful Docker tutorials for IT professionals, which includes tutorials for beginners, intermediate users, and advanced Docker pros.

It’s common to make mistakes during the transition from VMs to Docker containers, and it’s important to remember that Docker won’t fix all your problems in the cloud. There are also security issues you need to weigh in order to keep your environment fully secure both during and after the transition. Threat Stack’s Docker integration offers full visibility into your container environment, alerting you to internal and external threats — along with the context needed to understand what happened during a security event so you can take appropriate action.

Aside from failing to implement robust security measures for your containerized environment, people make other common mistakes make when switching to Docker containers. To gain some insight into the most common, we reached out to a panel of Docker experts and asked them to answer this question:

“What’s the biggest mistake people make in switching to Docker containers?”

Read more “21 Developers & Docker Experts Reveal the Biggest Mistakes People Make When Switching to Docker Containers”

5 Common Myths Around Moving to Docker

Containers, Orchestration & Security
6 Min Read •

As you probably know by now, containers are a high-priority topic at companies of all sizes. But there are a lot of myths surrounding this technology as well, in part because it is new and unfamiliar territory for most, and simply because the technology is so young.

In this post, we’ll debunk five of the pervasive myths and misunderstandings that surround containers, with a focus on Docker (since it is currently the most widely adopted container technology by a sizeable margin). Let’s dive in. Read more “5 Common Myths Around Moving to Docker”

Why Docker Can’t Solve All Your Problems in the Cloud

Containers, Orchestration & Security
5 Min Read •

Docker and other container services are appealing for good reason. They are lightweight and flexible. For many organizations, they enable the next step of platform maturity by reducing the needs of a runtime to the bare essentials (at least, that’s the intent).

When you dig into the benefits afforded by containers, it’s easy to see why so many companies have started projects to:

  • Containerize their apps and supporting services
  • Achieve isolation
  • Reduce friction between environments
  • Potentially improve deployment cycle times

The software development pattern of small things, loosely coupled, can go even further with an architecture built around containerization. We’re big fans at Threat Stack, and continue to invest in supporting our customers who rely on them. In fact, we recently announced official CoreOS support for our agent.

However, we have discovered that there is no shortage of misunderstandings about Docker (no surprise given the rapid growth and pace of change) and other container services in terms of:

  • How their benefits are realized
  • The impact on infrastructure/operations
  • The implications on overall SDLC and Ops processes

Containers certainly offer plenty of benefits, and it makes good sense to explore whether and how they could work for your organization. But it is also a good idea to take off the rose-colored glasses first and approach this technology realistically. Read more “Why Docker Can’t Solve All Your Problems in the Cloud”

Threat Stack Year-End Update

Threat Stack Use Cases
3 Min Read •

It’s December, which in Boston means we’re stocking up on L.L. Bean boots and hunkering down for a cold, snowy winter. 2015 has been an incredible year here at Threat Stack — this last quarter, in particular. We’ve been hard at work developing several important integrations to the Threat Stack platform as well as celebrating a few very big milestones. But most of all, we wanted to take a moment to thank you — our incredible community — for all of your support since our launch out of beta last year, and for providing feedback that has inspired several of this quarter’s featured announcements (see below).

To see what we’ve been up to this quarter and what Threat Stack has to offer you (just in case you’ve been considering a solution like ours for 2016), take a look at our year-end update: Read more “Threat Stack Year-End Update”