CNCF Security Technical Advisory Group
Quick links
Objective
The CNCF Security Technical Advisory Group facilitates collaboration to discover and produce resources that enable secure access, policy control, and safety for operators, administrators, developers, and end-users across the cloud native ecosystem.
Background
Cloud Native describes the building, deploying, and operating of modern applications in cloud computing environments, typically using open source. This complex ecosystem composed of different open source projects presents an increasingly complicated technology risk landscape. While there are several projects in the cloud native ecosystem that address trust, safety, and security in the dynamic interplay between the different layers of infrastructure and application services, the technological shift demands application and information security be rethought through the lens of developer experience as close to applying software engineering to design for security considerations in the effort to safeguard an integrated cloud native ecosystem as a whole.
Vision
We believe in a future where the probability and impact of attacks, breaches, and compromises are significantly reduced. Where the most common risks of today are not just mitigated but made implausible. We believe developers and operators can be empowered to understand better and be reassured by the posture of the systems they build and run through the informed use of cloud technologies with clear understanding of responsibility and risks and the unlocked ability to validate that their architectural intent meets compliance and regulatory objectives.
There is a growing ecosystem of tools that promises to unlock developer productivity and operational efficiency. We strive to fulfill the human side of the sociotechnical equation to acceleration and attain that promise including:
- Consumable system security architectures that account for the ever growing heterogeneity of systems and provides a framework to protect resources and data while servicing their users.
- Common lexicon and open source libraries that make it easy for developers to create and deploy apps that meet system security requirements.
- Common libraries and protocols that enable people to reason about the security of the system, such as auditing and explainability features.
Publications
TAG Security has published several resources for the community, which can be found in the publications document.
Governance
Security TAG charter outlines the scope of our group activities, as part of our governance process which details how we work.
Communications
Anyone is welcome to join our open discussions of Security TAG projects and share news related to the group's mission and charter. Much of the work of the group happens outside of Security TAG meetings and we encourage project teams to share progress updates or post questions in these channels:
Group communication:
- Email list
- CNCF Slack #tag-security channel
Leadership:
- To reach the leadership team (chairs & tech leads), email [email protected]
- To reach the chairs, email [email protected]
Slack governance
Refer to the slack governance document for details on slack channels and posting to the channels.
Meeting times
Group meeting times are listed below:
- US: Weekly on Wednesdays at 10:00am UTC-7 (see your timezone here)
- EMEA: Bi-weekly on Wednesdays at 01:00pm London (see your timezone here)
Calendar
- Here is a TAG-Security curated calendar with the main meetings and working groups.
- See the CNCF Calendar for a list of all CNCF calendar invites.
Got something to bring up or share? Review how to get a topic or presentation added to the Agenda on our process page.
Zoom Meeting Details
Meeting Link: zoom.us/my/cncftagsecurity (Password: 77777)
Meeting ID: 737 567 7271
Gatherings
Please let us know if you are going and if you are interested in attending (or helping to organize!) a gathering. Create a github issue for an event and add to list below:
- Cloud Native SecurityCon North America, Feb. 1-2 2023
New members
If you are new to the group, we encourage you to check out our New Members Page
Related groups
There are several groups that are affiliated to or do work and cover topics relevant to the work of Security TAG. These can be seen here
History
- TAG-Security - renamed Security TAG (TOC Issue 549)
- SAFE WG - renamed to CNCF Security TAG
- (Proposed) CNCF Policy Working Group - Merged into SAFE WG
Members
Security TAG Chairs
- Aradhana Chetal (@achetal01), TIAA [Chair term: 6/3/2021 - 9/3/2023]
- Andrew Martin (@sublimino), ControlPlane [Chair term: 3/17/2022 - 3/17/2024]
- Pushkar Joglekar (@PushkarJ), Independent [Chair term: 6/3/2023 - 6/3/2025]
Tech Leads
- Justin Cappos (@JustinCappos), New York University
- Ash Narkar (@ashutosh-narkar), Styra
- Andres Vega (@anvega)
- Ragashree Shekar (@ragashreeshekar), Independent
- Michael Lieberman (@mlieberman85), Kusari
- Marina Moore (@mnm678), NYU
Security TAG Chair Emeriti
- Dan Shaw (@dshaw), PayPal [Chair term: 6/3/2019 - 9/3/2020]
- Sarah Allen (@ultrasaurus), [Chair term: 6/3/2019 - 6/3/2021]
- Jeyappragash JJ (@pragashj), Tetrate.io [Chair term: 6/3/2019 - 6/3/2021]
- Emily Fox (@TheFoxAtWork), Apple [Chair term: 9/28/2020 - 2/4/2022]
- Brandon Lum (@lumjjb), Google [Chair term: 6/3/2021 - 6/3/2023]
On-going projects
Policy team
Policy is an essential component of a secure system.
Bi-weekly meetings at 3:00 PM PT focus on policy concerns and initiatives.
Co-leads
- TBD
Co-chair representative: @achetal01
Security reviews
Security reviews are a collaborative process for the benefit of cloud native projects and prospective users by creating a consistent overview of the project and its risk profile.
Facilitator: Justin Cappos (@JustinCappos), New York University
Facilitator: Andres Vega (@anvega), ControlPlane
Co-chair representatives: @sublimino @PushkarJ
Software Supply Chain Security
Software Supply Chain attacks have come to the wider community's attention following recent high-profile attack, but have been an ongoing threat for a long time. With the ever growing importance of free and open source software, software supply chain security is crucial, particularly in cloud native environments where everything is software-defined.
Weekly meetings at 8:00 AM PT (50 min) (see your timezone here) See CNCF calendar for invite.
Facilitator for current deliverables is listed on the issue
Additional information
CNCF Security TAG reviews
As part of the CNCF project proposal process projects should create a new security review issue with a self-assessment .
Past events and meetings
For more details on past events and meetings, please see our past events page