k8s-security-policies

Network isolation in Kubernetes uses NetworkPolicy resources to control traffic between pods. Default-deny policies block all ingress, then you explicitly allow required frontend-to-backend communication and DNS queries, hardening your cluster against lateral movement and unauthorized access.

Pod security standards define three levels—Privileged, Baseline, and Restricted—that govern container capabilities, privilege escalation, and filesystem access. Apply them at the namespace level via labels to enforce consistent security posture across your workloads.

Least-privilege RBAC uses Roles and ClusterRoles paired with RoleBindings to grant only the minimum permissions required. Define granular rules scoped to specific namespaces or cluster-wide, then bind them to service accounts to prevent privilege escalation.

Yes. OPA Gatekeeper and Kyverno enforce admission control policies by validating or mutating resources before they're persisted. Both integrate with Kubernetes webhooks and support CIS Benchmark compliance and multi-tenant security requirements.

RBAC and NetworkPolicy serve different functions and can be implemented independently, but combining both follows defense-in-depth principles. RBAC controls API access and actions; NetworkPolicy controls runtime pod-to-pod communication.

Audit compliance by reviewing applied policies against CIS Kubernetes Benchmark and NIST defense-in-depth standards. Use policy enforcement tools to log policy violations and track which pods and namespaces violate restricted pod security standards or network policies.