Container Service for Kubernetes (ACK) clusters support confidential computing based on trusted execution environments (TEEs). This topic describes the basic concepts, core features, scenarios, and solutions of TEE-based confidential computing. This topic also describes the collaboration between TEE-based confidential computing and sandboxed containers.
Basic concepts
ACK provides TEE-based confidential computing, which is a cloud-native and all-in-one solution based on hardware encryption technologies. TEE-based confidential computing ensures data security, integrity, and confidentiality. It simplifies the development and delivery of trusted or confidential applications at lower costs. Confidential computing allows you to isolate sensitive data and code in a TEE. This prevents the data and code from being accessed by the rest of the system. The data stored within TEEs is inaccessible to external applications, the BIOS, the operating system, the kernel, administrators, O&M engineers, cloud service providers, and hardware components except the CPU. This reduces the possibility of data leakage and simplifies data management.
Core features
Ensures the integrity of code and data in the cloud.
Encrypts data and code to prevent data breaches.
Enables lifecycle management of data.
Use scenarios
Blockchains
Enhances confidentiality and security for transaction processing, consensus, smart contracts, and key storage.
Key management
Deploys the key management feature in an enclave. This feature is similar to a hardware security module (HSM).
Genetic computing
Ensures data confidentiality by isolating sensitive data in computing scenarios in which multiple parties are involved.
Finance
Supports secure payments and transactions.
AI
Protects intellectual property rights by encrypting confidential information such as models.
Edge computing
Supports secure and confidential communications among clouds, edges, and terminals.
Data sharing and computing
Protects data from breaches when users or vendors share data for higher economic value.
Solution
The following figure shows the TEE-based confidential computing V1.1.
ACK released managed Kubernetes clusters for confidential computing based on Intel Software Guard Extensions (SGX) 2.0. This simplifies the management of trusted or confidential applications and reduces costs on the delivery of these applications. Confidential computing ensures the integrity and confidentiality of data and code in public clouds and prevents access from cloud vendors. For more information about how to create a managed Kubernetes cluster for confidential computing, see Create a managed Kubernetes cluster for confidential computing.
Make sure that the following requirements are met:
The worker nodes must be deployed by using instance types of the following instance families: c7t security-enhanced compute-optimized, g7t security-enhanced general-purpose, and r7t security-enhanced memory-optimized.
NoteIntel Ice Lake supports the remote attestation service only based on Intel Software Guard Extensions Data Center Attestation Primitives (SGX DCAP). Remote attestation services based on Intel Enhanced Privacy Identification (EPID) are not supported. You must adapt your applications before you can use the remote attestation service. For more information about the remote attestation service, see attestation-services.
The SGX 2.0 driver and TEE SDK are automatically installed when the nodes of the cluster are initialized. TEE SDK is a development kit provided by Alibaba Cloud to develop applications for confidential computing. This kit provides development models and programming interfaces that are consistent with those of Intel Linux SGX SDK.
By default, Intel SGX Architectural Enclave Service Manager (AESM) DaemonSet is installed. This allows applications of SGX 2.0 to access AESM.
You can use the SGX device plug-in developed by Alibaba Cloud to detect, manage, and schedule memory resources in Enclave Page Cache (EPC) of SGX nodes.
TEE-based confidential computing collaborates with sandboxed containers
Containers in runC are vulnerable to attacks
A container in runC shares a kernel with the host. When a container escape vulnerability occurs in the kernel, malicious applications in the container may escape into the backend system. This may harm other applications and the entire system.
Sandboxed containers isolate malicious applications and block attacks
Sandboxed containers provide enhanced isolation based on the lightweight Kangaroo framework. Each pod runs on an independent operating system and kernel. When a vulnerability occurs in a kernel, only the pod that runs on this kernel is affected. This protects other applications and the backend system.
TEE-based confidential computing protects applications in use
TEE-based confidential computing is an encrypted computing solution provided by ACK. It protects sensitive code and data, such as IP addresses, keys, and confidential communications.
Cloud computing is a technology that brings benefits to enterprises. However, when you migrate data to the cloud, the possibility of data breaches becomes a core concern. Data breaches may occur in the following scenarios:
Attacks
Untrusted cloud vendors
Security flaws of cloud infrastructure
Unqualified O&M staff and administrators
TEE-based confidential computing collaborates with sandboxed containers to isolate malicious applications and protect sensitive data
TEE-based confidential computing and sandboxed containers provide different features. You can combine the features in your cluster to isolate malicious applications and protect sensitive applications and data.
