¶ Aqua Security
¶ Dev Ops
¶ Introduction to Aqua Security: Strengthening DevOps With Confidence and Clarity
In the fast-moving world of DevOps, there’s a constant sense that everything is accelerating—build pipelines run faster, deployments happen more frequently, teams release updates by the hour rather than by the month, and the infrastructure behind it all shifts like a living organism. Containers spin up and vanish within seconds. Microservices chatter between themselves across clusters. Cloud resources appear, scale, and retire dynamically. Every part of the software delivery chain has become fluid. And as this rapid movement becomes the norm, one truth becomes impossible to ignore: speed without security is a dangerous illusion.
Enter Aqua Security, a platform built for the realities of modern software delivery. It’s not just another security tool bolted onto DevOps pipelines; it represents a different way of thinking about how to protect systems that are continually changing, scaling, updating, and communicating. Aqua grew out of a fundamental realization that traditional security approaches simply cannot keep up with environments that are ephemeral by design. When containers may only exist for a few seconds, when serverless functions run fleeting fragments of logic, when clusters automatically heal themselves and shift workloads across nodes, security must evolve as dynamically as the systems it protects.
This course begins with Aqua Security because understanding its philosophy helps illuminate what modern DevOps security truly demands. Aqua doesn’t try to force old security models into new architectures. It embraces the ephemeral nature of today’s infrastructure and turns it into an advantage. Instead of relying solely on perimeter defenses, static vulnerability lists, or manual audits, Aqua weaves security into the automated, continuous nature of DevOps itself. Security becomes not a checkpoint but a living part of the pipeline—always evaluating, always adapting, always aware of the state of the environment.
One of the first things people notice about Aqua Security is how deeply it integrates with the technologies that define modern DevOps. Whether a team is working with Kubernetes clusters, Docker containers, serverless functions, cloud workloads, or hybrid environments, Aqua meets them where they are. It understands container images, knows how to evaluate runtime behavior, monitors communication patterns, and provides guardrails without slowing down delivery. This tight integration matters because contemporary systems are too intricate to secure manually. If security tools cannot interpret the building blocks of cloud-native applications, they become blind spots rather than shields.
But Aqua goes beyond understanding modern infrastructure—it helps shape better development and operational habits. By embedding itself into CI/CD pipelines, Aqua encourages teams to treat security as part of the build process rather than a final review. Vulnerability scans happen automatically. Misconfigurations surface before deployment. Policy violations are flagged in real time. Instead of discovering issues after they reach production, teams can address them while the code is still being written. This proactive mindset is one of the pillars of DevSecOps, and Aqua embodies that philosophy with remarkable clarity.
One of the most compelling aspects of Aqua Security is its ability to evaluate container images long before they’re deployed. In traditional environments, security often begins once software reaches production, but in cloud-native workflows the earlier you catch issues, the lower the risk of introducing vulnerabilities into the ecosystem. Aqua analyzes image layers, libraries, base images, and build artifacts. It surfaces CVEs, outdated dependencies, insecure configurations, leaked secrets, and unexpected binaries. It gives developers insight into the makeup of their images, and over time this awareness leads to cultural change—teams begin building more secure images by default because the feedback becomes part of their routine.
What makes Aqua especially powerful is that it doesn’t stop at static analysis. Runtime security is where Aqua distinguishes itself in a world where threats constantly adapt. Containers behave differently under attack than they do in normal operation, and simple static scanning can miss behaviors that only become apparent in motion. Aqua monitors how containers behave at runtime—what processes they spawn, what file system paths they access, which network connections they initiate. If a container suddenly behaves in a way that deviates from its expected pattern, Aqua can intervene.
This ability to understand and enforce expected behavior is one of the most transformative ideas in container security. Because containers are immutable by design, any deviation from their intended behavior is inherently suspicious. Aqua leverages this fact not just to detect threats, but to enforce a form of behavioral minimalism—containers can only do what they’re supposed to do. If malware attempts to latch onto the container, if an attacker tries to execute unauthorized commands, if a container attempts to escalate privileges, Aqua recognizes the violation instantly. In an age where zero-day vulnerabilities and supply chain compromises are increasingly common, having a guardrail at runtime is invaluable.
And yet, Aqua Security doesn’t limit itself to containers alone. As DevOps evolves, so does Aqua’s reach. It extends into serverless workloads, protecting functions that execute in milliseconds. It safeguards virtual machines when needed, ensuring workloads running on traditional compute aren’t left behind. It helps validate the configuration of cloud environments, identifying misconfigured storage buckets, overly permissive IAM roles, public endpoints that should be private, and a range of risks that stem from human error. Whether a team operates fully in containers, relies on serverless functions, or manages hybrid workloads with both legacy and cloud-native components, Aqua brings them under a unified lens of visibility and control.
Aqua’s value also becomes clear when discussing supply chain security—an area that has gained major attention in recent years. With modern systems relying heavily on third-party images, open-source libraries, and automated pipelines, the supply chain has become a prime target for attackers. Aqua helps control this by validating image origins, enforcing policies on image signing, ensuring that build environments aren’t tampered with, and verifying the trustworthiness of artifacts. In a landscape where a single compromised dependency can ripple across thousands of deployments, supply chain auditing is no longer optional; it’s essential.
Beyond technical protection, Aqua Security influences team culture. DevOps aims to bring development and operations closer together, and Aqua expands that union by inviting security into the conversation. Instead of treating security as a gatekeeper, Aqua transforms it into a facilitator—an ally that guides decisions and surfaces risks early. Over time, teams that adopt Aqua tend to develop stronger collaboration patterns. Developers gain confidence in their builds. Operations teams gain visibility into what’s running. Security teams gain tools that reduce noise and focus on meaningful alerts. Everyone benefits because security is woven into the workflow rather than tacked on at the end.
This 100-article course is designed to take you deep into these ideas—to help you understand not just Aqua’s capabilities, but the broader mindset shift it encourages in modern engineering. You’ll explore how Aqua evaluates container images, how it integrates with CI/CD pipelines, how it enforces runtime policies, how it protects Kubernetes clusters, how it monitors cloud environments, and how it supports compliance frameworks. You’ll gain a sense of how threats evolve in cloud-native architectures and how Aqua responds to those threats with intelligent prioritization.
But before diving into the details, it’s worth stepping back and reflecting on why Aqua matters so much in the first place. Modern DevOps teams are dealing with an unprecedented level of complexity. Infrastructure abstraction is both empowering and risky. Containers make deployments easier but can hide vulnerabilities within shared layers. Kubernetes enables enormous scalability but introduces intricate configuration surfaces. Serverless architectures eliminate server management but create environments where functions interact in unpredictable ways. Everything has become modular, automated, distributed—and that complexity forms new attack surfaces that didn’t exist a decade ago.
Aqua Security steps into this landscape with an understanding that no single security mechanism is enough. Vulnerability scanning alone can’t protect systems from runtime exploitation. Runtime protection alone can’t defend against misconfigurations in cloud environments. Configuration auditing alone can’t prevent supply chain attacks. And supply chain controls alone can’t stop insider threat patterns. Security today must be layered, adaptive, automated, and deeply aware of context—and Aqua reflects this philosophy by unifying these layers rather than treating them as isolated tools.
A key strength of Aqua is that it provides clarity in environments where visibility is often lacking. Traditional monitoring tools see infrastructure at a coarse level—CPU, memory, logs—but Aqua sees the inner workings of each container, each function, each cluster node. It sees which libraries are loaded, which processes are active, which secrets are accessible. It can map relationships between services, highlight risky configurations, and provide context that turns raw data into actionable insight. In ecosystems where microservices and containers can number in the hundreds or thousands, human understanding alone cannot keep up. Aqua becomes an extension of that understanding, amplifying the team’s ability to recognize what’s happening beneath the surface.
Another dimension where Aqua shines is in compliance and governance. Many organizations operate under regulatory requirements—PCI, HIPAA, GDPR, SOC 2, and others. Meeting these standards in rapidly changing DevOps environments is notoriously challenging. Aqua helps teams build security policies that align with these frameworks, enforce them automatically, and provide audits that show evidence of compliance. Instead of relying on manual reporting or after-the-fact reviews, teams can demonstrate continuous compliance rooted in their development pipelines and runtime environments.
Over the span of this course, you’ll become comfortable with these ideas—not just as concepts, but as practical skills. You’ll explore how Aqua fits into CI platforms like Jenkins, GitLab, GitHub Actions, and Azure DevOps. You’ll work through examples of securing Kubernetes clusters. You’ll understand how Aqua interprets image metadata, how its runtime engine detects anomalies, how cloud security posture management works, and how policy enforcement creates trustworthy pipelines. By the end, Aqua Security will no longer feel like a set of tools; it will feel like an integral part of how you think about building and safeguarding modern software.
Aqua Security represents a turning point in how we approach DevOps. Instead of seeing security as an obstacle to speed, it shows that proper guardrails actually empower teams to move faster with confidence. Instead of relying on manual reviews that slow down releases, Aqua automates the tedious parts and leaves human attention for what truly matters. Instead of treating cloud-native systems as chaotic or unpredictable, Aqua brings order and insight to them. And instead of patching problems after the fact, it shifts security left—embedding it into development, testing, and deployment from the beginning.
This mindset isn’t just about tools; it’s about building systems that can thrive in a world defined by constant change. Aqua reminds us that modern applications aren’t static artifacts—they are living ecosystems of containers, services, functions, and orchestration layers. Securing them requires a platform that moves with them, adapts with them, and understands their rhythm. That’s what Aqua Security aims to provide.
As you begin this journey through one hundred articles, keep that idea close: DevOps is ultimately about harmonizing speed, collaboration, and reliability. Aqua Security adds the missing piece—trust. Trust that your images are clean. Trust that your clusters are protected. Trust that your cloud configurations follow best practices. Trust that your pipelines will catch issues before they reach production. Trust that when something behaves strangely at runtime, it won’t go unnoticed.
Welcome to the world of Aqua Security—where DevOps meets clarity, automation meets insight, and modern software finally gets the protection it deserves.
¶ Aqua Security
¶ Beginner (Introduction to Aqua Security and DevOps Basics)
1. What is Aqua Security? An Overview
2. Understanding the Need for Container Security in DevOps
3. Introduction to Cloud-Native Security Challenges
4. Why Aqua Security for Kubernetes and Containers?
5. Getting Started with Aqua Security on Your Local Machine
6. The Aqua Security Architecture
7. Installing Aqua Security: A Step-by-Step Guide
8. Getting to Know Aqua Console and CLI
9. Aqua Security: Protecting the DevOps Pipeline
10. Key Concepts in Aqua Security
11. Containerization Basics: Docker and Kubernetes
12. Container Security Risks and Threats
13. Aqua Security and Kubernetes Security: A Perfect Match
14. Deploying Aqua Security in a Kubernetes Environment
15. Getting Started with Aqua Security’s Container Scanning
16. Using Aqua Security for Vulnerability Scanning
17. Scanning Docker Images with Aqua Security
18. Configuring and Running Security Scans in Aqua Console
19. Integrating Aqua Security with Your CI/CD Pipeline
20. Basic Aqua Security Alerts and Notifications
21. Understanding Aqua Security Policies and Rules
22. Protecting Your Containers with Aqua Security Profiles
23. An Introduction to Aqua Security Compliance Standards
24. Leveraging Aqua Security for Continuous Security Integration
25. Creating Your First Aqua Security Policy
26. Securing Docker Hosts with Aqua Security
27. Aqua Security’s Runtime Protection: A Deep Dive
28. Best Practices for Securing Containers in DevOps
29. Understanding Aqua Security’s Risk Assessment and Mitigation
30. Introduction to Aqua Security’s Registry Scanning
¶ Intermediate (Building Stronger Security and Integrating with DevOps)
31. Aqua Security in Multi-Cloud Environments
32. Using Aqua Security for Securing Kubernetes Clusters
33. How Aqua Security Integrates with CI/CD Pipelines
34. Implementing Aqua Security in Jenkins
35. Securing Helm Charts with Aqua Security
36. Using Aqua Security with Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)
37. Securing Containerized Microservices with Aqua Security
38. Understanding Aqua Security’s Image Assurance
39. Implementing Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) with Aqua Security
40. Integrating Aqua Security with GitLab for DevOps Automation
41. Security Automation with Aqua Security in Azure DevOps
42. Leveraging Aqua Security to Harden Kubernetes Nodes
43. Using Aqua Security for Cluster Network Policies
44. Securing Cloud-Native Applications with Aqua Security
45. Protecting Against Container Escapes with Aqua Security
46. Securing Kubernetes Secrets with Aqua Security
47. Introduction to Aqua Security’s Compliance Dashboard
48. Automating Vulnerability Management with Aqua Security
49. Using Aqua Security’s Cloud Infrastructure Protection
50. Integrating Aqua Security with Cloud Security Platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure)
51. Securing Serverless Architectures with Aqua Security
52. Detecting and Preventing Malicious Container Activity in Aqua Security
53. Aqua Security in Action: Case Study on Kubernetes Security
54. Using Aqua Security for Continuous Image Scanning
55. Securing Docker Registries with Aqua Security
56. Preventing Privilege Escalation in Containers with Aqua Security
57. Aqua Security’s Vulnerability Management Workflow
58. Securing Containerized Network Traffic with Aqua Security
59. Using Aqua Security for Compliance Auditing
60. Aqua Security for Secrets Management in DevOps
61. Best Practices for Security Posture Management in Aqua Security
62. Monitoring and Logging with Aqua Security
63. Integrating Aqua Security with Prometheus for Metrics Collection
64. Aqua Security’s Integration with Sysdig for Deep Monitoring
65. Mitigating Security Threats with Aqua Security Runtime Policies
66. Leveraging Aqua Security for Threat Intelligence
67. Configuring Aqua Security’s Runtime Protection in Production
68. Aqua Security for Securing Kubernetes Ingress Controllers
69. Deploying Aqua Security in Hybrid Cloud Environments
70. Understanding Aqua Security’s Container Firewall Capabilities
71. Customizing Aqua Security Policies for Your Environment
72. Protecting Multi-Tenant Applications with Aqua Security
73. Integrating Aqua Security with Third-Party SIEM Systems
74. Secure Configuration Management with Aqua Security
75. Managing Aqua Security with Kubernetes Operators
¶ Advanced (Mastering Aqua Security and Optimizing DevOps Automation)
76. Advanced Aqua Security: Deep Dive into Runtime Protection
77. Implementing Aqua Security in Large-Scale Kubernetes Environments
78. Building Advanced Security Policies for Containerized Apps
79. Automating Security Audits with Aqua Security and CI/CD
80. Aqua Security in Multi-Cluster Kubernetes Deployments
81. Implementing Custom Aqua Security Profiles for Specific Use Cases
82. Using Aqua Security for Threat Detection and Response
83. Securing CI/CD Pipelines from End to End with Aqua Security
84. Using Aqua Security to Protect Kubernetes Operators
85. Advanced Vulnerability Scanning Techniques with Aqua Security
86. Deploying Aqua Security in Edge Computing Environments
87. Aqua Security’s Role in Cloud-Native Security Automation
88. Aqua Security for Immutable Infrastructure Protection
89. Managing Container Security at Scale with Aqua Security
90. Aqua Security for Network Segmentation and Microsegmentation
91. Deep Integrations: Aqua Security with HashiCorp Vault
92. Zero Trust Security with Aqua Security for Containers
93. Advanced Threat Hunting with Aqua Security’s Forensics Features
94. Securing DevOps Pipelines at Scale with Aqua Security
95. Aqua Security’s Role in Continuous Compliance
96. Building a Secure DevOps Pipeline with Aqua Security and Terraform
97. Advanced Aqua Security Configuration for High-Security Environments
98. Using Aqua Security for Securing AI/ML Workloads
99. Future of Container Security: Aqua Security’s Vision
100. Aqua Security’s Evolution: Staying Ahead of Emerging Threats