You may also download a PDF version of this guide.
Product Overview
Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) is a managed Kubernetes service that allows for the deployment and operation of containerized applications on Google's infrastructure. Drawing on Google's experience with its internal cluster manager, Borg, GKE automates cluster lifecycle management, including auto-scaling, auto-upgrades, and node auto-repair to enhance reliability and reduce operational burden. GKE offers two modes of operation: Autopilot, which provides a fully managed, hands-off experience by managing the underlying nodes, and Standard, for users who require more granular control over their node configurations. The platform is designed for production workloads, integrating with Google Cloud's security and observability tools to provide a secure and scalable environment for applications ranging from simple web services to complex AI/ML workloads.
Detection Strategy for Cloud Integrations
Detection
Our cloud security detection strategy focuses on two common signal types at the control plane and resource levels: authentication events and API events. In limited cases, we also ingest certain data plane events such as network activity. We do this by integrating directly with cloud providers as well as cloud security service providers to gain a complete view of your cloud footprint.
We consume these events through a mix of raw log analysis and security alert processing, which are then run through our detection engine to look for signs of post-exploitation activity. When a threat is detected, our automated response bot, Ruxie, takes action by enriching evidence fields with first- and third-party threat intelligence. Additional Ruxie actions query a wide span of technologies in order to directly arm analysts with key pieces of investigative information and related events.
Response
In addition to verbose evidence collection for cloud alerts, cloud technologies are useful for triaging SaaS and identity alerts as well. User activities within the cloud providers, along with related alerts for anomalous indicators, help analysts gain a full picture of the activity that occurred within a session.
To learn more about our overall approach to detection strategy, see About Detection Strategy.
What We Support for Google Kubernetes Engine
To see a comprehensive list of the most up-to-date Expel detection rules, vendor detection rules, opt-in detections, and available DUETs (did you expect this) that we support for Google Kubernetes Engine you can visit the Detections page in Workbench or ask your Sales or Support rep for the most recent download.
| Supported platforms |
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| Supported event log sources |
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| Google Kubernetes Engine detection rules support | Yes. |
| Detection rules written by Expel | Yes. |
| Auto remediations | No. |
| Investigative support through Workbench |
Yes. We are able to take the following investigative actions to gather data for triage and investigation of events:
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| Hunting support | No. Hunting is not currently available for this integration. |
Additional Details and Common Questions
Console Access
A vendor alert does not typically include all of the contextual timeline activity surrounding the event of interest. Because this integration does not allow us to get all necessary data via the API, we will ask you for a certain level of console access during onboarding.
The level of access that we require is meant to support essential triage and research activities, and to help us determine the vector and extent of attacker activity for an identified threat. At minimum, we will ask for visibility into alert data, timeline events recorded, and live response/real time response shell (if applicable).
DUET
A DUET (did you expect this) rule flags certain events as needing an immediate verification or notification, and bypasses the normal internal event triage process. The events subject to DUET rules contain behaviors that are not typically indicative of true security incidents, as they are related to policy violations or potential risk.
There are a number of workflows that a DUET may follow. When enabled, the activity will be flagged for investigation and will be routed to you (rather than to us) to take a specified first action. To see the specific DUET rules currently supported for this integration, visit the Detections page.