Deploying MISP on Kubernetes

MISP is an open-source platform designed to facilitate the ingestion, analysis and sharing of structured threat intel. Deploying MISP on Kubernetes can improve its scalability, reliability, and security in an enterprise environment. However, production deployment of MISP at any organisation requires careful planning and consideration of security measures to protect sensitive threat data.

In this article, we will explore the steps involved in deploying MISP on Kubernetes and the key security and maintenance considerations for a secure enterprise deployment.

Can you deploy MISP to Kubernetes?

Yes! You can deploy MISP to a Kubernetes cluster. MISP is available as a Docker image, making it a great fit for container orchestration.

Benefits of Deploying MISP on Kubernetes

Kubernetes is an orchestration platform that simplifies the deployment, scaling, and management of containerised applications.

Deploying MISP on Kubernetes offers several advantages for enterprise environments:

  1. Scalability: Kubernetes allows you to scale MISP horizontally to accommodate increased data sharing and analysis requirements.
  2. High Availability: Kubernetes provides built-in mechanisms for ensuring high availability, reducing downtime.
  3. Resource Efficiency: Containers, managed by Kubernetes, optimise resource utilization, making efficient use of computing resources.
  4. Isolation: Containers provide a level of isolation that helps limit security incidents and vulnerabilities.

Now, let's delve into the key considerations for securely deploying MISP on Kubernetes in an enterprise environment:

Key considerations when deploying MISP on Kubernetes

1. Container Security

Containers are fundamental to Kubernetes deployments. Ensuring the security of these containers is crucial. Consider these best practices:

  • Container Images: Use trusted MISP container images from reputable sources and regularly update them to patch vulnerabilities.
  • Image Scanning: Employ container image scanning tools to identify and address vulnerabilities in container images.

2. Network Segmentation

Isolate MISP within its own network segment to limit lateral movement by potential attackers:

  • Network Policies: Use Kubernetes Network Policies to define rules for network traffic between pods, allowing only necessary communication.
  • VLAN Segmentation: Consider implementing VLAN segmentation to physically separate MISP from other network segments.

You’ll likely want to restrict MISP web application server access in your Kubernetes cluster to a nominated series of IP addresses or CIDR ranges. This allows for a range of on-premises and other cloud services (e.g. SaaS logging platforms, SIEMs) to gain network connectivity for integration with MISP.

3. Authentication and Authorisation

Robust authentication and authorisation mechanisms are vital for controlling access to MISP:

  • RBAC (Role-Based Access Control): Implement RBAC in Kubernetes to define fine-grained access controls for users and service accounts.
  • MISP Access Controls: Configure MISP access controls to ensure that only authorised personnel can access and modify threat data.

4. Backup and Disaster Recovery

Ensure data resilience through regular backups and a well-defined disaster recovery plan:

  • Backup Strategy: Implement automated backups of MISP data and configurations, with periodic testing of restoration procedures.
  • Disaster Recovery Plan: Create a documented plan outlining steps to restore MISP functionality in the event of a catastrophic failure.

5. Regular Patching and Updates

Thanks to the efforts of a large contributor community, MISP is rapidly evolving open source software with a regular cadence of bug fixes, security patches, and new features. A new version of MISP is released approximately every month.

You'll need to stay vigilant about keeping MISP up to date and establish a process for monitoring and applying updates to MISP components.

6. Outbound HTTP request access

By necessity, MISP performs HTTP requests to fetch feeds, poll APIs, push to other MISP instances, and perform enrichments.

You will need to configure Kubernetes to allow a set of outbound HTTP rules per your specifications. This may be as open or narrow as you wish, though we recommend being as specific as possible as an effective deny-by-default control.

7. Logging

From the bottom up, all MISP and supplementary components provide logging and metrics. These give metrics on performance, alert on application or component problems, and provide historical records of system activity for troubleshooting or incident response.

Logs can be written to services like AWS CloudWatch or Datadog for log parsing, aggregation, analysis, and alerting. Please be mindful of the content of these logs and make sure only operational information and not sensitive data are logged.

Can I use a MISP helm chart to easily deploy on Kubernetes?

A Helm chart for MISP could simplify some parts of the deployment process by automating the installation of MISP and its dependencies (like databases and web servers) on a Kubernetes cluster.

Ideally, a helm chart would configure MISP to run optimally in a Kubernetes environment, including horizontal scaling, load balancing, network settings, storage options, and manage dependencies like MariaDB and Redis.

However, at this stage, there is no official helm chart for MISP.

Are there any alternatives to deploying MISP on Kubernetes?

There are many important factors consider when securely deploying MISP on your Kubernetes infrastructure.

In fact, deploying MISP on Kubernetes can be a big undertaking, requiring extensive planning, consideration, engineering time.

An alternative option is to use a managed MISP service like CloudMISP. We created CloudMISP to provide busy teams with all the benefits of MISP with the convenience of a SaaS. We handle secure deployment, monitoring and maintenance of MISP for you.