Securing Modern Containerized Applications: A Guide to Defense in Depth with Edgecast WAAP

Securing Modern Containerized Applications: A Guide to Defense in Depth with Edgecast WAAP

As modern applications embrace microservices, containers, and edge-first architectures, the traditional network perimeter no longer exists. Security must shift left and scale right. From Dockerized APIs to globally distributed frontends, today’s apps are fast, flexible — and exposed.

This guide outlines best practices to secure your containerized application and demonstrates how Edgecast’s Web Application & API Protection (WAAP) platform delivers a holistic, multi-layered defense tailored for cloud-native environments.

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The Threat Landscape Has Changed

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Modern web apps face a broad range of threats:

• OWASP Top 10 risks: SQL injection, XSS, broken access control
• Advanced bots: Scrapers, credential stuffers, scalpers
• DDoS attacks: L3-L7 volumetric and application layer attacks
• API abuse: Over-posting, injection, and rate-limit evasion
• Supply chain exploits: Vulnerable containers or third-party services

With apps now deployed in Docker, Kubernetes, and on edge nodes, the attack surface has shifted outward. Traditional firewalls and static rules aren't enough.

Container Hardening: A Practical Guide

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Before you think about DDoS mitigation or WAF rules, it’s worth asking: is your app secure from the inside out? A solid container security baseline makes a big difference when defending against real-world threats.

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Best practices every team should implement:

• Start with a minimal base image
  Use Alpine-based images or language-specific slim variants. Smaller image = smaller attack surface.
• Avoid running as root
  Run your app as a non-root user inside the container to prevent privilege escalation.
• Make your filesystem read-only
  If your app doesn’t need to write to disk, use a read-only filesystem to block tampering.
• Strip out build tools and debuggers
  Remove shell utilities and compilers from production containers to reduce risk.
• Use environment-based secret management
  Never hardcode credentials. Use tools like HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, or environment injection.‍
• Set resource limits
  Memory and CPU limits protect against DoS-style attacks or misbehaving containers.
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Example: Hardened Dockerfile for Node.js

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FROM node:18-alpine as build

WORKDIR /app

COPY . .

RUN npm ci && npm run build

FROM node:18-alpine

WORKDIR /app

COPY --from=build /app .

USER node

CMD ["node", "server.js"]

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CI/CD Security Enhancements

Secure your pipelines to catch issues early:

• Scan containers with tools like Trivy, Grype, or Docker Scout
• Sign images using Cosign for supply chain integrity
• Automate updates and vulnerability remediation
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Shift Left with Edgecast Attack Surface Management

Security doesn't start at deployment — it starts with code. Edgecast’s Attack Surface Management (ASM) helps you discover, inventory, and protect all public-facing assets before they become entry points.

Security doesn't start at deployment — it starts with code. Edgecast’s Attack Surface Management (ASM) helps you discover, inventory, and protect all public-facing assets before they become entry points.

With native integrations for GitHub and Snyk, Edgecast ASM offers:

• Continuous scanning of code repositories for hardcoded secrets, exposed credentials
• Integration with Snyk to detect vulnerable open-source dependencies
• Full visibility into external assets: APIs, containers, services, subdomains
• A unified dashboard offering a single pane of glass for your app's security posture

ASM helps teams shift security left — identifying misconfigurations and vulnerabilities during development — while enabling a seamless handoff to runtime protection.

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Runtime Protection with Edgecast WAAP

Once your app is deployed, real-time protection becomes critical. That’s where Edgecast WAAP (Web Application & API Protection) comes in — securing every request before it hits your container.

Edgecast WAAP offers a tightly integrated suite of features designed for runtime resilience:

• Web Application Firewall: Blocks OWASP Top 10 threats like SQL injection (SQLi), cross-site scripting (XSS), and remote code execution (RCE).
  • Deploy strict WAF rule sets (e.g., CRS v3.3) in blocking mode.
  • Enable virtual patching for unpatched container vulnerabilities.
  • Use context-aware rules to avoid false positives in microservices.
• API Protection: Enforces OpenAPI schemas, detects abuse patterns, and ensures token validation.
  • Upload OpenAPI (Swagger) specs to validate allowed methods, params, and payloads.
  • Require JWT or OAuth2 tokens for all internal API-to-API communication.
  • Enable schema fuzzing detection to catch attempts to bypass input validation.
• Bot Mitigation: Uses behavioral analysis to stop scrapers, brute force attempts and credential stuffing.
  • Use JA3 fingerprinting and behavioral profiling at the edge to detect headless bots.
  • Implement CAPTCHA or JavaScript challenges selectively for high-risk paths.
• Access Control: Enables geo-blocking, IP filtering, and granular allow/deny rules.
  • Geo-restrict admin panels, CI/CD dashboards, and internal APIs.
  • Block cloud provider IP ranges from accessing public APIs unless required.
  • Maintain dynamic IP blocklists updated via WAAP threat feeds.
• Rate Limiting: Throttles requests to critical endpoints to prevent overload and abuse.
  • Apply burst + sustained rate limits per user, token, or IP.
  • Use Kubernetes annotations to set rate-limiting policies per Ingress.
  • Prioritize limits on endpoints like /auth, /cart, /checkout, and /search

This layered approach ensures every entry point is monitored, filtered, and defended.

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Zero Trust Starts at the Edge

Edgecast WAAP helps enforce zero-trust principles for modern apps:

• Validate every request
• Inspect and sanitize all input
• Rate-limit and log suspicious behavior
• Authorize all API calls
• Continuously monitor and adapt

Whether you're running a Kubernetes cluster behind a CDN or deploying containers on a VM, Edgecast embeds security directly into the delivery layer.

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Built for Developers, Trusted by Security Teams

Edgecast empowers both DevOps and security teams with:

• Easy deployment: Reverse proxy or DNS edge gateway
• Real-time dashboards: Logs, attack analytics, and visualizations
• Policy-as-Code: Automate WAF rules, access policies, and rate limits with CI/CD
• Unified visibility: One platform to secure code, containers, APIs, and traffic
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Secure the Future, Today

Securing your containerized app doesn't end with docker build. It begins there.

Edgecast provides a modern, cloud-native security platform that integrates:

• Container and pipeline hardening
• Attack surface discovery and proactive scanning
• Runtime protection for APIs, apps, and endpoints
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Ready to shift security left and scale it right?

Learn more about Edgecast WAAP and Attack Surface Management

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