Docker Buffs Container Security With Yubico Partnership

Container giant Docker has partnered with an online identity protection provider to beef up security of containers.

The deal with Yubico was announced this morning at DockerCon 2015, held in Barcelona, and is related to Yubico’s Yubikey touch-to-sign feature.

The Yubikey 4 is Yubico’s new flagship product, and features a revamped hardware and software stack, allowing Docker to integrate seamlessly provide the best security for Docker image signing.

Simple touch

“Our collaboration with Yubico adds to our growing portfolio of container security capabilities, enabling developers to sign their code with a simple touch,” said Scott Johnston, SVP of Product Management, Docker.

“Our ability to ensure security while maintaining a consistent developer experience is paramount, and this solution helps us and our users achieve both.”

California-based Yubico said that the capability that comes with the Yubikey technology is the first hardware signing key to provide content integrity for containers that are part of Docker Content Trust, and it enables secure software lifecycle development for Docker developers, sysadmins, and third-party ISVs.

“We think it’s slick, and cool, and the future of hardware-backed keys,” said Yubico.

“This is an important milestone for Yubico and our community as we move beyond authentication to address another area in which the YubiKey shines, using our hardware to perform cryptographic sign operations,” said Jerrod Chong, VP, Solutions Engineering, Yubico.

“Having root keys stored in the secure element of the YubiKey means attackers cannot duplicate the keys and forge sign operations; insecure storage of keys in software modules is often the root cause for many of the vulnerabilities found in software packages.”

Technical information on how YubiKey 4 can be implemented can be found on Docker’s blog post here.

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