The New Stack Podcast Container Security and AI: A Talk with Chainguard's Founder
Apr 22, 2025
Ville Aikas, founder of Chainguard and an early Kubernetes contributor, shares insights on the evolution of container security. He discusses the initial security challenges, including unrealistic trust in user validations and the implications of lack of secure defaults. Aikas emphasizes the importance of trusted, minimal, and verifiable container images and the move towards locked-down AI images. The conversation also addresses the complexities surrounding AI/ML security in Kubernetes and the growing need for community collaboration in enhancing software supply chain security.
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Early Kubernetes Trust Assumption
- Early Kubernetes creators assumed users wouldn't pull random container images without validation.
- They trusted strong internal Google security practices would apply externally, which proved unrealistic.
Importance of Secure Defaults
- Secure defaults are crucial because users often skip non-default security measures.
- Running containers as root should require deliberate, exceptional action, not be the default.
Container Security Standards Today
- Standards for container security now emphasize least privilege and secure defaults.
- Known best practices like avoiding root access took years to become common in container environments.