Layered Prevention: AppSec, Container Hardening, and Cluster Configuration

How do you perform incident response on a Kubernetes cluster when you're not even on the same network? In this episode, Damien Burks, Senior Security engineer breaks down the immense challenges of container security and why most commercial tools are failing at automated response.

While many CNAPPs provide runtime detection, they lack a "sophisticated approach to automating incident response or containment" in complex environments like private EKS . He shares his hands-on experience building a platform that uses a dynamically deployed Lambda function to achieve containment of a compromised EKS node in just 10 minutes, a process that would otherwise take hours of manual work and approvals .

This is a guide for any DevSecOps or cloud security professional tasked with securing containerized workloads. The conversation also covers a layered prevention strategy, the evolving role of the cloud security engineer, and career advice for those looking to enter the field.

Guest Socials -⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Damien's Linkedin

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If you are interested in AI Cybersecurity, you can check out our sister podcast -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ AI Security Podcast

Questions asked:

(00:00) Introduction(02:15) Who is Damien Burks?(03:20) The State of Cloud Incident Response in 2025(05:15) Why There is No Sophisticated, Automated IR for Kubernetes(06:20) A Deep Dive into Kubernetes Incident Response(07:30) The Unique Challenge of a Private EKS Cluster(12:15) A Layered Approach to Prevention in a DevSecOps Culture(17:00) How to Automate Containment in a Private EKS Cluster(17:40) From Hours to 10 Minutes: The Impact of Automation(22:00) The Evolving & Complex Role of the Cloud Security Engineer(25:40) Do We Have Too Much Visibility or Not Enough?(29:00) Career Path: The Value of Learning to Code for DevSecOps(35:00) Damien's Hot Take: "Multi-Cloud Just Means Chaos"(44:20) Career Advice for Traditional IR Professionals Moving to Cloud(47:50) Final Questions: Video Games, Life's Journey, and Gumbo

Resources spoke about during the interview

Damien's Website