Container Orchestrator Risk Assessment for Secure IoT Deployment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Container technology lacks inherent isolation and security visibility, leading to increased security threats, especially in IoT devices, and lacks effective deployment policies and continuous monitoring for application compatibility and security.
Innovation Solution
An orchestrator system performs dynamic risk analysis of applications, containers, and devices, assessing security patches, threats, resource usage, and geographical location, generating a risk score to ensure compliance with deployment policies, and continuously monitors for changes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If container technology is used to run multiple applications on a common operating system, then resource efficiency and packing density are improved, but security isolation and visibility are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary security layer that sits between the containerized applications and the host operating system. This intermediary component provides the missing security isolation and visibility without requiring changes to the container architecture itself, allowing multiple applications to run efficiently while maintaining security boundaries through the mediating security layer.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the security management function into a separate, dedicated component that operates independently from the container runtime. This segmentation allows the security layer to monitor and control containerized applications without interfering with their efficient execution, providing granular security policies for each container while maintaining overall system security.
2Use of energy by moving object
If container images share the same operating system, then resource usage is reduced, but security threats increase due to reduced isolation
Solution Approach 1:
The security intermediary monitors and controls access between containers that share the host operating system kernel. It provides namespace isolation and capability restrictions that prevent harmful interactions between containers while allowing them to efficiently share kernel resources, thus maintaining low resource usage while reducing security threats.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by implementing security policies that are specific to each container's requirements. Instead of uniform isolation, the security layer applies targeted restrictions and permissions tailored to each container's function, allowing containers to share resources efficiently while maintaining appropriate security boundaries for each application.
3Reliability
If container features such as user spaces and control groups are configured to increase isolation, then security is improved, but complexity increases due to detailed knowledge required
Solution Approach 1:
The security intermediary operates autonomously to manage container isolation and security policies. It automatically configures appropriate security settings for containers based on their metadata and declared requirements, eliminating the need for users to manually configure complex container security features. The system self-adjusts security parameters while maintaining high security standards.
Solution Approach 2:
The intermediary abstracts the complexity of container security configuration from users. It provides a simplified interface and automated policy management that handles the intricate details of user spaces and control groups, allowing users to deploy containers securely without needing deep knowledge of container security mechanisms.
4Ease of operation
If a banned list approach is used to control application deployment, then security control is simplified, but accuracy decreases due to false positives and negatives
Solution Approach 1:
The patent moves from a static banned list approach to a dynamic parameter-based security assessment system. It evaluates multiple parameters including container metadata, application behavior, resource requirements, and security policies to determine deployment suitability. This multi-parameter approach provides accurate security assessment without false positives or negatives while maintaining ease of operation through automated evaluation.
Solution Approach 2:
The security intermediary implements continuous feedback mechanisms that monitor container runtime behavior and adjust security decisions accordingly. It provides feedback loops that learn from deployment outcomes and refine security assessments, improving accuracy over time while maintaining simple operation through automated adaptive security management.
Data Source
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AI summary
A containerisation orchestrator (26) is controlled by an analysis system (20, 21, 22) which assesses an application and a device for compatibility to have a candidate application installed on the device using the orchestrator. The analysis includes an assessment of the vulnerability of the installed application to failure or malicious attack, and a risk assessment of the consequences of such an event. The candidate containerised configuration (20) for the application is also assessed for compatibilities and vulnerabilities.