Overview
Cybersecurity Report: Strengthening Private Cloud (VMware + Kubernetes) Security for Client Organization
Client Organization operates a multi-datacenter private cloud on VMware with Kubernetes clusters managing multiple environments (DEV, TEST, UAT x2, PROD x2). Each environment runs dedicated DB clusters and Redis Sentinel clusters. The organization hosts critical applications including Apache Superset (analytics), Grafana, Prometheus, and Loki (observability stack). Infrastructure is provisioned using Terraform, with state stored in AWS S3, and application deployments are automated via GitHub Workflows. This report provides a comprehensive security assessment and a governance-to-resolution roadmap focusing on identity, Kubernetes, applications, monitoring, CI/CD, and infrastructure provisioning.
Current Infrastructure Overview
- Private Cloud Platform: VMware-based, multi-datacenter setup.
- Kubernetes: Clustered workloads per environment (DEV, TEST, UAT, PROD).
- Databases: Dedicated DB clusters for each environment.
- Redis: Sentinel clusters for high availability.
Applications: - Apache Superset (BI analytics)
- Grafana, Prometheus, Loki (observability & monitoring stack)
- CI/CD: GitHub Workflows for app deployment.
- IaC: Terraform for infra provisioning, state stored in AWS S3 bucket.
Cybersecurity Threat Landscape
- Identity & Access Risks: Lack of centralized identity management across VMware,
- Kubernetes, and GitHub. Weak RBAC could lead to privilege escalation.
- Kubernetes Risks: Pod misconfigurations, lack of admission control, exposed APIs.
- Data Risks: Database/Redis cluster misconfigurations, lack of encryption at rest and in transit.
- Application Risks:
- Superset: Sensitive data exposure via misconfigured roles.
- Grafana/Prometheus/Loki: Unauthorized access to metrics/logs could leak sensitive infra details.
- CI/CD Risks: Compromised GitHub pipelines could push malicious containers. Terraform state in S3 risks exposure if not properly encrypted & access-controlled.
- VMware Risks: Lack of segmentation across datacenters; ESXi management plane exposure.
- Monitoring Risks: Alert fatigue, insufficient anomaly correlation.
Security Analysis
Identity & Access
Data Security
CI/CD
Kubernetes Security
Application Security
VMware & Private Cloud
Recommended Security Enhancements
- Integrate VMware + Kubernetes + GitHub with centralized IdP (e.g., Keycloak, Okta).
- Enforce MFA across all platforms.
- Implement RBAC & least privilege on Kubernetes, Superset, Grafana.
- Enforce Pod Security Standards with OPA Gatekeeper/Kyverno.
- Enable admission policies for signed/container-registry-only images.
- Segment DEV/TEST vs UAT/PROD with network policies.
- Encrypt DB & Redis clusters at rest (AES-256) and enforce TLS in transit.
- Enable automated replication and failover between datacenters.
- Sanitize logs before retention in Loki.
- Superset: Apply row-level and dataset-level security controls.
- Grafana: Enforce SSO + granular dashboard access.
- Prometheus: Restrict metrics scraping endpoints.
- Loki: Implement retention policies and log redaction.
- GitHub: Enable Dependabot, CodeQL, branch protections, signed commits.
- Store pipeline secrets in Vault or Azure/AWS Secrets Manager.
- Terraform:
- Encrypt S3 backend with KMS.
- Enable DynamoDB state locking.
- Integrate tfsec/Checkov for IaC scanning.
- Enforce MFA for vCenter & ESXi management.
- Use NSX micro-segmentation for east-west traffic.
- Regularly patch hypervisors & run compliance scans.
- Integrate Grafana/Prometheus/Loki logs with SIEM (ELK, Splunk, or Sentinel).
- Configure GuardDuty-like anomaly detection for private infra.
- Build automated playbooks for incident remediation.
Governance & Compliance Alignment
- Zero Trust Architecture (network segmentation, least privilege).
- CIS Benchmarks for Kubernetes & VMware.
- OWASP Top 10 for Superset, Grafana.
- ISO 27001 & NIST CSF governance models.
Governance to Resolution – Prioritization
Critical (1–2 months)
– Enforce MFA across VMware, Kubernetes, GitHub.
– Encrypt Terraform S3 backend + enable DynamoDB locking.
– Apply RBAC for Kubernetes, Superset, Grafana.
– Enable TLS for Redis Sentinel clusters.
Medium (3–6 months)
– Apply OPA Gatekeeper for Pod Security & image policies.
– Automate DB & Redis replication across datacenters.
– Integrate SAST/DAST scanning in GitHub workflows.
– Lock down Superset admin and Grafana dashboards with SSO.
Long-Term (6–12 months)
– Deploy micro-segmentation in VMware NSX.
– SIEM integration for Grafana/Prometheus/Loki telemetry.
– Regular red-team testing on CI/CD pipelines.
– Implement full disaster recovery for multi-datacenter failover.
Conclusion
By implementing identity unification, Kubernetes governance, application-level RBAC, Terraform backend hardening, and VMware micro-segmentation, Client Organization can achieve a resilient private cloud security posture. The governance roadmap ensures critical risks are resolved first, while enabling long-term compliance and operational resilience across all environments and datacenters.
