The Challenge of Ephemeral Infrastructure

In modern software development, containers move at an incredible pace. Their ability to be created and destroyed in seconds offers unparalleled agility, but this speed introduces significant security challenges. While individual containers are ephemeral, the vulnerabilities they carry can create persistent risks within an organization’s infrastructure. Effectively managing this dynamic threat landscape is crucial for maintaining a strong security posture.

The core issue is that vulnerabilities often originate in the base images used to build containers. If not addressed, these flaws are replicated every time a new container is spun up, spreading the risk across applications and environments. The transient nature of containers makes traditional security monitoring difficult, allowing threats to potentially go unnoticed.

A Holistic Approach to Container Security

To combat these risks, engineering and security teams must adopt a strategy that secures containers throughout their entire lifecycle, from the initial build to final runtime. This requires a collaborative effort to integrate security practices directly into the development pipeline. The source material highlights five core practices designed to help teams manage container risk at scale.

By focusing on security from the very beginning, organizations can prevent vulnerabilities from ever reaching production. This proactive stance involves scanning images, enforcing security policies during development, and continuously monitoring running containers for anomalous behavior. A comprehensive, lifecycle-aware approach is essential for harnessing the speed of containers without compromising on security.

Source: https://thehackernews.com/2025/11/from-tabletop-to-turnkey-building-cyber.html